宇多田ヒカル- HEART STATION
HEART STATION is Utada Hikaru’s 5th Japanese Album (7th Overall). The recordings started in 2006 and were mastered in February 2008. 4 Singles were released to promote the Album and they were all met with big success, especially 2007’s biggest hit Flavor Of Life which is currently the best selling ring-tone of all time and the second best downloaded song in 2007 beating Rihanna’s Umbrella but beaten by Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend. HEART STATION was released on March 19th and it ranked #1 , it sold 115,00 on its first day of release.
Review:
I wasn’t expecting much from this album to be honest since I wasn’t really fond with ULTRA BLUE. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I listened to it. Every song on it has this “uniqueness” and “passion”… I can’t find the right words to describe my thoughts and feelings, lol. I loved how “dark” the atmosphere was while I was listening to the songs, they reminded me of a very well-known French Singer who I’m in love with, Mylène Farmer, she has those dark…mysterious songs that make you literally melt while listening to them. And of course, Hikaru‘s voice is so pleasant that you don’t ever get tired of it! HEART STATION is a perfectly well-mixed album that is sung with great passion and filled with uniqueness, it’s definitely worth your time and… of course, money!
Tracklist:
- “Fight The Blues”
- “Heart Station“
- “Beautiful World
- “Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-“
- “Stay Gold“
- “Kiss & Cry“
- “Gentle Beast Interlude”
- “Celebrate”
- “Prisoner Of Love”
- “テイク 5 “
- “ぼくはくま “
- “虹色バス “
- “Flavor Of Life” [Bonus Track]
Recommended tracks: Fight The Blues, Beautiful World, Stay Gold, Kiss & Cry, Gentle Beast+Celebrate Prisoner of Love & Take 5
Tracks to skip: none
Rating: 98%
Best Album in 2008? Maybe, just wait & see ~risk~ XD
One Single Tear 
I LOVED THIS ALBUM, but i hate one thing
all the song has the same vibe + 80% of the album have been released as singles…
Prisoner of Love, is my best
and i like Celebrate the least seems like she was trying to re-invent Traviling in a bad way =P
88% for me =D
Wahh~! How dare you not recommend “Prisoner of Love” ?! I’m with Aizmov, no doubt best track ❤ .. Flavor Of Life doesn’t need a recommend ’cause everyone should have been exposed by its loveliness by now ❤ This album is definitely a Heart Station ❤
lol @ the ending, ~risk~ =D
i’m buying the album!
I just got Heart Station today =]
Hm…
I wish she included more tracks. Listening through it, the album seemed sooo short!
Plus, most of the songs were already released as singles, so it’s just not as “fresh” as I would’ve liked it to have been.
I liked Boku wa Kuma, but I don’t like it on the album. It was too random to include with the other songs.
I personally didn’t like the last song before Flavor of Life. I mean, lyrically speaking, it’s probably appropriate to place it there as the last song (I’m not considering Flavor of Life as the official last song… that’s just my opinion XD). But musically, it just wasn’t the strongest way to end the album. What is that song called? (I can’t read Japanese, could you write it in English? XD)
I agree that the album is great in that it is unique from what’s out right now and it’s passionate (I feel like the whole album is just her way of dealing with the divorce with her husband of four years =/). But I also agree that there wasn’t quite as much variety song to song. I’m not talking about genre, because all the songs fall into the same category. But the songs themselves sound much too similar to each other. Perhaps with a few more listens, I’ll begin to tell the difference XD But it just seems like they are all variations of each other, don’t you think?
Some of Hikki’s fans thought Beautiful World would’ve been a better album title. I think I agree, Heart Station seems a bit random… Har har har.
Favorite vocal moment? When she sings “onegai” in Flavor of Life – ballad version. She sounds so vulnerable. It’s lovely.
Favorite musical moment? Stay Gold, the piano part after the chorus. Ahhh. ❤
Now, PLEASE GROW OUT YOUR HAIR HIKKI. I miss it long (;__;)
i agree with you Vnikki, actually when i hear song after song from the start of the album i actually feels that the songs doesn’t change lol they are so similar, second thing i want her different style of Hikki
i REALLY do, i wanna her try some of the R&B style songs she pulled up on EXODUS 04 =)
She’s going to release her second English album later this year. Perhaps she’ll bring back some R&B on it? It’s most likely going to sound like something she doesn’t normally do in her Japanese singles/albums (she stated in an interview that her purpose for releasing an English album wasn’t only to break into a foreign market, but also to have the opportunity to explore other genres of music). As a song-writer as well, I can understand where she came from when creating Exodus (the album). It wouldn’t be too good an idea for her to experiment when she’s already established her own style in Japan, although I find that silly because an artist grows when they do something different. Sometimes the end result is wooooo~! Awesome :3
VnikkiR: I actually liked the ending of the album though there are better songs to end the album with, but yeah! The name of the song is “Niji Iro Bus”, it means, “Ranbow Colored Bus”. The song is fun & fantasist =p
As for variety, yup I agree, it’s not bad I think… you’ll start differing songs from each others after a few listens XD
Aizy: Celebrate and K&C were cool RnB songs XD
I like this style the most, though it’s ok to switch to another one like she usually does with each album :p a song like COLORS would be perfect <333
Kiss & Cry = Hotel Lobby in her english album they have THE EXACT MELODY lol, so it is not THAT NEW
Celebrate, it grew into me lol, but i would like it if it was more ” TRANCY ” than this ^__^
hmm the cover looks so humble, and i dun really like LOVE STATION song -___-
^
HEART STATION it is =P
and yeah i wonder what with Utada and her ” FACE ” albums >_> ?!!
she is the suppose to have an album called ” THE FACE “
No, it will be better if the title is
“DEPRESSED FACE”
look at her expression, looks like she got many hairscalp on there
I prefer this over BoA’s 3 covers
I hate how BoA named her album after the covers and not over the album content, superficial! :s
agrre karimu, hey does karimu mean crime?
^NOO! It’s my real name. كريم (Karim) in Arabic; カリム (Karimu) in Japanese ;____;
kuraimu = crime I guess ;p
this cover better than the face’s O_O
GIVE ME A BREAK O_O
^At least she showed some facial expressions, BoA looked like a doll on her 3 covers especially the CD+2DVD one!
^
have you seen the making, or THE FACE TV ?!!!
the shooting was FABULOUS, even the booklet, Utada Scans never cought me >_>
still this is not gonna be the CD i am gonna buy for Utada, i started to be BoA and Namie Collector now, who is coming along i wonder XD
I personally liked Boa’s The Face covers (the one where she’s putting on lipstick is my favorite) better than Hikki’s Heartstation cover. This cover is too bland and ordinary for me. For an album full of amazing songs, it needs a more amazing cover… maybe it’s cuz I still don’t like the short hair (>.<)
Some of her fans thought she should’ve named the album Beautiful World instead of Heartstation. Hm… I personally think Beautiful World was a stronger song than Heartstation, so… hm.
ARRRG, it’s starting to drive me crazy now how SIMILAR the songs sound. I can definitely tell the difference now (hehe) but seriously, like 75% of the songs on it sound like variations of each other (-__-) I still won’t be sick of it for a while though (^_^)
^Beautiful World is definitely a better song, but I think HEART STATION is a better name. She means that this album is a heart station which is true ❤
As for the similarities between the songs, I’m not complaining at all. This is my “favorite” type of music anyway. Though I do agree that the album needs some variations… ummm.. again, I’m not complaining XD
^
people who likes R&B songs wasn’t satisfied T_T
about the album cover, name me a cover by Utada that is cool except Keep Tryin’, lol i can’t recall any XD
somehow i think HEART STATION is something like GUILTY.. coz it feels like utada is tryin to convey a message in this album.. the whole theme or should i say feel of the album tracks sounds more mature to me.. u hav fight the blues.. take 5 that is linked to death? flavour of life, stay gold doesnt sound happy also..
the rainbow coloured bus, boku wa kuma and celebrate goes to the other extreme..
hmmm.. maybe i’m thinkin too much..
^Celebrate & Nijiiro Bus represent both Happiness & Sadness IMO. Nijiiro Bus talks how she wants to ride the Rainbow Colored Bus and go somewhere where “everybody feels the same”, it sounds happy but it’s all about runnig from (this world)! Celebrate shows how she wants to “celebrate” and “dance” but she is still hesitating…and afraid… “Stop, wait, let me breath… take it back!”
There’s a difference between someone that prefers another genre and isn’t satisfied with this album because it wasn’t included… and someone that prefers variety within a genre. I loved the songs INDIVIDUALLY, but together as a whole, it didn’t have as many… personalities, if that makes sense? XD
I like the full version of Take 5 (which is a shame cuz the END after it cuts off was sooo beautiful!), even though I loved her artistic choice of cutting it abruptly to emphasize that death may come so unexpectedly.
And I agree about the message. For GUILTY, Ayu had been diagnosed as deaf in the left ear, broken up with her boyfriend of 7 years, and lost her best friend to suicide. For HEARTSTATION, I feel like it’s about Hikki’s divorce with her husband of 4 years (with some exceptions)
BOKU WA KUMA KUMA KUMA KUMAAA! I [heart] that video :3
^
*puts 100 line under I [heart] that video*
somehow, i love HEARTSTATION more than Beaty World
i just give the album the real first listen lol
cuz my car was on the repair and i only give A REAL listen when i am on the car because of the high volume, in the PC i give it fast listen and errr almost all the time i stay writing stuff for the university hoho
anywayz, it is easy to listen to ^__^
i like it ^__^
I’ve finally come up with my top 5 songs on this album:
#1 Beautiful World
#2 Take 5
#3 Prisoner Of Love
#4 Kiss & Cry
#5 Flavor Of Life (Original Version)
#1 Flavor of Life
#2 Prisoner of Love
#3 Kiss & Cry
#4 Heart Station
#5 Beautiful World
almost all of them were singles ^__^
Have you seen her REAL Kuma? Well, not like an alive one, but her stuffed teddy bear? Kuma chaaang. She takes pictures with him ALL the time! Real cute =]
Aizmov got one in summer 2006 ne? I remember he was talking about it with a friend (sehro) during Ultra Blue era…
btw Aizy: any news about Saher? it’s been so long
Ohh yeah, didn’t some of her UB promo pix have him sitting on the couch and stuff? I completely forgot about that. He’s huge (o.O) I want a big teddy bear (;__;)
yes i got the REAL kuma they sell it for incredibly HIGH price in japan just because Utada has one =/
about Saher he is alive, somehow, i see him from TIME to TIME on the MSN
^Did he go to Japan or not? I miss him so damn much!
no, he is going to malyisia