Customer Reviews

Ultra Blue

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The musical direction of ULTRA BLUE should be of great interest to Utada Hikaru's many fans around the world. Her Japanese albums -- from 1999's FIRST LOVE to 2002's DEEP RIVER -- showed off a career that started strong and rapidly improved, as she became a superstar in Asia while transcending mainstream trends in pop, soul, club, and hip-hop. Rather than rework her Japanese successes for Hikaru's 2004 USA debut EXODUS, Utada arguably created somewhat of an alter-ego for the American market that got a mixed reception among her fans (I'm one of those who thought highly of it). Probably the lack of universal support among fans plus inadequate promotion kept EXODUS on the fringes of pop culture here in the States. Whether or not one thought of EXODUS as a hit or a miss, I think it's safe to say that all Utada fans are united behind wondering where she would go from there.

The answer is on ULTRA BLUE, and overall I'd call it a best-of-both-worlds progression from both DEEP RIVER and EXODUS. Back into progressive j-pop and singing mostly in Japanese, don't look for a USA release unless Hikki decides to translate the lyrics and re-record the vocals (which btw I think would be a great idea, with the potential for a commercial breakthrough outside of Asia that eluded her with EXODUS). UB's arrangements carry some of the techno elements of the latter album, while the tunes seem more a direct extension of DEEP RIVER than were the songs on EXODUS. As much as I liked EXODUS, I'd say she has really found a satisfying way to integrate that album's techno-based sound with the often-stunning melodies and interacting vocal parts that marked DEEP RIVER. The result is Utada's best album to date.

ULTRA BLUE's thirteen tracks do include all of the post-DEEP RIVER Japanese singles (e.g., "Colors," "Be My Last, "Keep Tryin'" etc.). They unite with the newly-recorded tracks to present a coherent, mature musical vision, taking Hikki's career to the next step yet again. For the most part the music has no easy fit with genre labels, which indicates that the synthesis of her influences into a unique, eclectic musical approach is complete. It's hard to name favorite tracks on such a consistently strong album, but I was particularly amazed by "Nichiyou no asa" (track 4, beautiful melody meets funky rhythms), "Dareka no negai ga kanau koro" (track 6, a sophisticated ballad with mostly acoustic accompiament), and ... well, if I keep this up I'll soon have mentioned all 13 cuts! ULTRA BLUE offers further proof that Utada Hikaru is an extremely gifted musical artist, one of the best on the world music scene today.

Utada Hikaru has come a long way from the little girl who won the heart of Japan with her debut album "First Love." Each album that she has put out since then has been marked by a large jump in creativity and innovation. Ultra Blue proves to be her most innovative yet, with the daring nature of Exodus mixed with the sheer likeableness of Deep River. Ultra Blue is the most personal of all of Hikki's albums. Not only has she written the music and lyrics for all of the songs (as she has always done) but she has written all of the arrangements (save for colors, where she co-arranged the song), and most of the keyboard and programming work. Ultra Blue stands out from her previous albums where it uses mostly electronic arrangements instead of instruments.

Perhaps "Ultra Blue" greatest strength and weaknesses is the large amount of tracks that came from singles. It makes it a stronger album because all of the songs are wonderful tracks, but weak because many of Hikki's fans might feel as if they're getting short changed when it comes to new material. The strongest of the single tracks is her oldest, "Colors," a beautiful personal pop piece that flows effortlessly from chorus to verse to verse and is marked by beautiful and expressive Japanese lyrics. Almost equally strong is "Passion," the final track on this album and the theme song to Kingdom Hearts 2. "Passion" makes use of an unconventional chorus where Hikki's voice stretches up and down notes while drums play rhythmically in the background. "Passion" is a ground breaking song and an instant classic. Another strong single track is "Keep Tryin'" a fun and light hearted pop piece that will make you want to smile. It's B-side, "Wings" is also included. Although the song doesn't really fit the rest of it's album with it's toned down atmosphere and use of real instruments, it is very likable and fun. Another strong single track is "Be My Last" an emotional ballad marked by simplistic verses sang in a low voice, and a more expressive chorus sung high. The last single track is "dareka no negai ga kanaukoro," which, like "Wings," doesn't seem to quite fit with the rest of the album. Still it is a beautiful song and Hikki classic.

The non single tracks are not as instantly likable. Still, they grow on you so quickly that they'll soon turn to favorites. One of the strongest non-single tracks is the opener, "This is Love," an energetic dance song with a bit of a Latin beat that will remind Utada's long time fans of "Traveling" from "Deep River." Another strong one is "Blue," a slow, layered song that goes from calm to manic in the chorus. "nichiyo no asa" is a throw back to the classic First Love/Distance r&b era of Utada but at the same time is more mature and polished. "Making Love" and "One Night Magic feat. Yamada Masashi" despite their risqué titles are both very fun electronic tracks. "One Night Magic" manages to strand out due to the participation of The Black Horn's lead singer Yamada Masashi's participation. The last new track (besides the interlude) is "kairo" a mystical piece that sounds like it could have come out of a video game.

Utada Hikaru sure has come a long way from First Love. She even said in a recent interview that she's finally getting to make the music she wants. "Ultra Blue" is a must for all Hikki fans and will make you wonder, where is she going to go next?

Utada Hikaru is an amazing and unique artist with an incredible voice. I first was introduced to Hikaru's music when I played the original Kingdom Hearts back in 2002. As time went on, I came to listen to her other music and she has an amazing talent. "Ultra Blue" is one more spellbinding work from Hikaru, and I'm very excited to see much more from her. The album features all of her recent singles, including "Passion" with which Hikaru once agained graced the Kingdom Hearts universe in Kingdom Hearts II. Aside from her awesome singles Keep Tryin', Dareka No Negai Ga Kanau Koro, Colors, Be My Last, and Passion, some other great tracks include, but are not limited to, This Is Love, Blue, Nichiyou No Asa, One Night Magic (feat. Yamada Masashi). Also, the interlude Eclipse is a nice little transition into the awesomely powerful Passion, the perfect way to wrap up the album. Overall, the album is fantastic and so is Hikaru!

If you are new to Japanese pop culture, as I am, or not familiar with it at all, you probably have no idea just how big a deal Hikki is. Americans have no idea what they are missing. Her voice is amazing, her lyrics are beautiful and I can't recommend her highly enough.
This CD is a good place to begin. Blue, Be My Last are great songs. Some lyrics are in English but its mostly in Japanese. Translations are easy enough to come by on the the internet. And, anyway, how many times can you not understand some lyrics sung in English anyway.

I discovered the magic of Utada a year ago while on military deployment to Okinawa . I thought i had disassociated myself from pop music long ago but Utada's music had something irresistible about it. It started with Passion and then Keep Tryin'. I could not get enough. So when the album Ultra Blue came out I got my first ever Japanese album in a Japanese Tower Records. Ultra Blue is a perfect album. Since then I have searched the web for everything Utada. The most recent purchase was her second ever tour called Utada United 2006 (DVD). I watch it every frickin' day practically. For the best possible affordable and mobile sound I converted the cd and dvd (audio portion) to flac files and put them on an IAudio U3 with Shure SE530 earphones! The sound is phenomenal. If you don't get this album, I don't want to know you.

I have been an Utada fan from the beginning... I have to say, although I loved "Exodus" (and apparently, I'm one of the few), it's very nice to see Hikki continue making albums in Japanese. With Ultra Blue, it's more of the same, and luckily with Utada, that's a good thing. An artist doesn't always need to be groundbreaking with each new release, and with this LP its obvious she's doing what she knows and is good at. If she made 8 more discs without changing anything, I'd still be happy. Now, the only problem is getting her to come to the states to marry ME. lol

This is Utada at her best. This CD is so upbeat and full of emotion.I have 3 words for anyone who is considering getting this album...BUY IT NOW!!! You won't regret it.

Although Utada Hikaru likes to experiment with new music, this one has to be her best. Her outstanding vocals accompany the beats and blend perfectly. Some of my favorite songs are:
Nichiyo no Asa
Blue
Kairo
Keep Trying
Be My Last
I even like Eclipse (Interlude). This is one of her albums where you listen to over and over again without getting tired of it. She has once again outdone herself.

This CD is the best, like First Love, Kingdom Hearts. I am a die hard Hikaru Utada fan and I loved this CD.

This album is beyond great, no joke. The songs are not the typical "poppy" songs you hear in clubs throughtout Japan...these songs have souls to them that Hikki's has carefully crafted. "Keep Tryin'" is one my favourites because it is so untraditional...I don't know how to describe it. "Dareka no Negai ga Kanau Koro" (written as "japanese title above) is also a slow and solemn song but filled with emotion that seriously is moving. "This is Love" and "Be My Last" are also good. "Passion" and "BLUE" are also great songs...an all-around good CD.