HEART STATION

宇多田ヒカル
[Utada Hikaru]
HEART STATION
March 19, 2008
Oricon
Daily Album Chart: #1
Weekly Album Chart: #1
Billboard
Hot 100: #1 (Fight the Blues)
Hot 100 Airplay: #1 (Fight the Blues)
Top Albums: #1
United World
Global Album Chart: #1
Sales: 615,938 (2 weeks)
Label: Sony Music Japan
Executive Producer: Utada Hikaru
All Lyrical and Musical Composition by Utada Hikaru

~~~

Fight the Blues
4:10

Utada has found the synth pad and she is sticking with it and ‘Fight the Blues’ is no exception. A huge amount of synthesizer is used throughout the peice including a cloudy overlay and bouncing mid-range tempo-keepers. Vocally, the song is beautiful. The melody fits her voice perfectly (she did write the song) and she hits some beautiful low notes. I personally think that she is very gifted Alto (that’s the lower female voice part in choral music). The song uses a windy feeling extensively throughtout and gives the song an interesting movement against the lyrics and melody.

HEART STATION
4:36

Please see HEART STATION / Stay Gold for the full review.

Beautiful World
5:17

Please see Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry for the full review.

Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-
5:25

Please see Flavor of Life for the full review.

Stay Gold
5:14

Please see HEART STATION / Stay Gold for the full review.

Kiss & Cry
5:06

Please see Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry for the full review.

Gentle Beast Interlude
1:13

I think this is one of her best interludes. It might even surpass the interlude at the end of DEEP RIVER. Coming with more synth and a quick beat and a very sub-continental emotive property, ‘Gentle Beast Interlude’ samples from ‘HEART STATION’ and intersperses it throughout. The transition to the next track is flawless. Almost unintelligible.

Celebrate
4:26

More than half-way through the album we finally get a real, non-single song. This song borders on some of her material from EXODUS (her American album). I actually like this. It doesn’t feel forced and it uses some great acoustic elements and a myriad of synthesizer. It’s a happy song, but not what I would call a dance song. It’s like a newer, more streamlined ‘traveling’.

Prisoner of Love
4:46

More synth filters this track through the digital screen she’s had erected for the album. A steady beat and a lovely melody really make this song one of the best non-single tracks on the album. I really love the chorus which is fast and uses some very pretty interval tricks and really pulls me into the song. I lyrics are really sweet, too.

テイク 5
(Taiku Go)
(Take 5)
3:42

Eerie, swishing synth lead us down a path into a forest of, wait for it, more synth. The song is gorgeous though. A slow, un-hurried pace and a melody that just melts across your senses. It has an Enya feel and really is just spectacular. It has my vote for best track on the album.

ぼくはくま
(Boku wa Kuma)
(I am a Bear)

A really sweet song. It’s so kawaii ne! It’s very childish with extra simple lyrics for little kids. More synth, naturally. 

虹色バス
(Nijiiro Basu)
(Rainbow-Colored Bus)
Another beautiful track, this Rainbow-Colored Bus is not saccrine but happy-go-lucky. This is probably the happiest song on the album with a positive message of, “Everyone feels the same…” so don’t get yourself down.

Flavor of Life
4:42

Please see Flavor of Life for the full review.

~~~

The only reason that this album is not an A+ is because I found it very, very redundant. Not each track individually, but the album as a whole just felt like a rehash of ULTRA BLUE. And I suppose that’s not a bad thing, but I expect a lot of Hikki. Nothing was bad, not one single track recieved less than a A, but I just was slightly unimpressed by the entire release. Still a good album, though.

A
96%

P.S. And I thought putting two versions of ‘Flavor of Life’ on this album was a little much and especially as one of the end tracks…

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~ by vinyabarion on April 2, 2008.