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43 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An ultra-stunning musical event!, June 25, 2006
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.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Exciting Expiramental CD, October 2, 2006
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?
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Utada Hikaru & "Ultra Blue", July 8, 2006
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!
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