Amazon UK has just posted 30 second clips of all tracks off of Utada’s upcoming “Single Collection Vol. 2.” These include all 5 new tracks on Disc 2. Check them out here! Thoughts?
- A Message March 25, 2011
- A Message March 25, 2011
- Hi from Japan! December 7, 2010
- Live is just around the corner December 6, 2010
- Video viewing manual "Kuma's pot" November 17, 2010
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- InnerRise on Oricon Sales 12/13: “Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2″
- hiritofatsuge on Poll: What should be on a Utada cover album?
- InnerRise on Oricon Sales 12/13: “Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2″
- vieya on Oricon Sales 12/13: “Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2″
- hiritofatsuge on Oricon Sales 12/13: “Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2″
Show Me Love is my favourite of the 3 remaining. It sounds really dark and exciting.
These are different than what I expected. I like them very much, it’s much more, I dunno, stripped down, just voice and emotion and stuff. I expected them to be kinda flashy. She sounds almost like her mum in some of them.
ベリーベリーグー！( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
Yeah, I wasn’t one to underestimate Utada either in the past, but ALL these clips show more artistic growth and excitement for the full versions most promisingly since I ordered her Ultra Blue CD and hadn’t heard a note off of it. They’re all fairly cohesive in terms of the instrumentation and the lyrical sentiments; “Arashi No Megami (Storm Goddess)” reminded me of the vocal trips of Christina Aguilera’s “Hurt” and “This One (Crying Like A Child”’s electric guitar strings, with that ominous lyrical abandonment of Kairo (Sea Route) from UB. “Show Me Love” was somewhat suprisingly the the darkest and grooviest of the EP bunch here with the overall most distinct melody (had that electronica buzz of Madonna’s non-single tracks ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ and ‘Impressive Instant’ from her MUSIC album), ‘Goodbye Happiness’ will probably be the most re-played and talked about here, what with the sad lyrics to such an upbeat synthpop background (ala Beautiful World and This Is Love) and the wholly excellent PV making rounds. We’ve already had everything from terrible to terrfic in terms of critical reception of ‘Hymne’ but I think in due time it will grow on her most arduous fans, it has a lot of soul and jazzy sass to it and will probably always be the most polarizing single in her catalogue because of the experimentalism and language disparities (still a winner on my terms that breaks up the more hushed atmosphere of the rest of its co-horts!). ‘Can’t Wait ‘Till Christmas” seems more piano-driven and introspectively depressive then anything since ‘Be My last’ by her (not the winter holiday jam I was contemplating but still captivating nevertheless). Overall, a definite B+ all together but I don’t want to throw down the gavel yet until I heae the immutable full versions in MP3 or otehr hi-def quality! I personally wasn’t expecting her to do as many brooding torch ballads with these songs (3 to 2), but I’m sure her feelings and heart are deeply imbedded into each of them, and the final versions will be something we as her fans and the rest of the industry will be specualting and reminiscing on for quite some time…Good stuff Hikki, can’t wait to see that OTHER PV, to whichever of these songs it as for.
*Sorry, whichever of these songs IT IS for! I wonder why her dad or staff hasn’t brought it up again???…Maybe there’s another major suprise release and promo activity around the bend!
Hmm…dunno if I like them yet. I do think Show Me Love (Not A Dream) is the most intriguing of the 3. They all have that ethereal feel we’ve all come to know from Hikki in the last 4 years or so.
Er… wasn’t expecting the other three tracks to be power ballads. But 30-sec previews can be misleading so I’ll wait for the full versions before venturing an opinion. On the plus side, her voice is magic!
The songs are so good. I actually want to hear Storm Goddess and..well..wait maybe Can’t wait til’ Christmas..or maybe Show me love? OMG I want to hear everything! UTADA IS AMAZING!
It seems like every time I check U.Blog, there’s another exciting development! First a new song, then a new music video, then new samples… slow down, Hikki, and give us time to catch our breath – on second thought, please don’t!
I think it’s way too early to pass any judgment at all on the three new songs based on the samples, especially considering the fact that in none of them were we given the chorus (which, in my opinion, is where Hikki’s true melodic talent lies). Personally, I’m going to wait until I can hear the full songs before developing an opinion on any of them. So excited!
I agree with Alex about the Choruses. I feel like I haven’t really heard the song until I’ve heard those because for songs in general, that tends to be where the meat of the song is at. Verses rarely get that much attention, not that that’s the case here.
Must say, I’m shocked at the sparseness of the songs as someone mentioned way up above. Not full of the Synth-Gasms we’ve grown use to. A lot of empty space with nothing but her voice to carry the little bits that we hear. It’s hard to find a melody as well.
I’m not a big fan of ballads, but considering this is Utada, these do have the potential to be epic. Her ballads tend to lead away from the generic side that so many other artists fall back on to fulfill that obligatory spot on an Album, unless you’re a certain artist who shoots them out every other week of every month. *Ahem*
It seems she’s doing some interesting thing with her voice as well in some of them so here’s hoping for another “Passion” esque song.
I wish they gave us the chorus but that would be a bit too much, and it’d spoil the album, but I’m def loving all the new tracks.
These all sound awesome! I really can’t wait to hear Storm Goddess and although at first I thought Can’t wait till chistmas was going to be the similar to the jingle bell song, I can’t wait to hear that one as well! I’m so happy, I wish I could have her album in my hands right now 30 seconds is nothing!
Just so everyone knows, the previews were taken down…..which sucks.
NOoooooooooo!! i stil haven’t had the chance to listen to any of the previews yet ;;
Hikaru_Kuma (that’s me on twitter)
Amazon Japan still have the previews http://amzn.to/azhTLi #utadahikaru #UH_SC2
SUPER THANKS Uranus Hikaru! I thought I wouldn’t have a chance to listen to the previews anymore! *sigh* what a relief! I thought it was just a technical issue. I was really mad when I read atlier00 coz that confirmed that it wasn’t a tech issue. arg! so i say thanks to Uranus Hikaru.. hhhayyss..
I like them all! Storm Goddess, again, reminded me of an old school j-drama. could’ve been a soundtrack of one. closing theme. just like goodbye happiness. but goodbye happiness is for an opening theme! heheheh.. Show me Love reminded me of TAKE 5! strange and heavy. but this one is, yeah, darker. kind of Hell-Girl-dark. and cant wait till xmmas, i think, is the most emotional. i think its he next hikki song that’ll make me cry.
arg! cant wait to hear the full versions! waaaaaaaa!
In my opinion, Arashi no Megumi seems along the lines of Kremlin Dusk or Blue whose verses sound more like ballads and then choruses pick up the pace big time, I guess that’s why it’s the album opener. Show Me Love (Not A Dream) is a ton darker and electronica/alternative-ish than what I expected from such song title, sounds like something off of Madonna’s Ray of Light album. Can’t Wait ‘Til Christmas sounds like the saddest ballad ever but its melody still hints the spirit of the holiday. I might be all wrong but I’m pretty sure they’ll turn out awesome!
i dont supposed anyone has rip of the previews :’( they are now taken down from amazon japan too…
AGAIN! But you can download the previews here
http://www.mediafire.com/?ovzpj8d9u73zm7s
I can’t help but feel sad as I hear the previews…don’t get me wrong, the songs sound superb but just thinking that these 5 songs will be her last for a while, I don’t know…but as far as the previews goooo
The one that caught my attention more is Arashi no Megami, I just love her ballads!!!! and Can’t wait til christmas surprised me! I was expecting something more jingle bells lol but it’s great nonetheless…the song that i think has more potential thou (and by this I mean more unique and interesting) is Show me Love. It sounds so different, I can’t wait to hear this song in its entirety! and here’s to hoping the other pv comes out soon! can’t get enough of this lady xD
I know a lot of people have heard them, but a lot more people have not; does anybody have any new links or MP3 peer-2-peer sharing download sites where we can get or just play them back now? Someone (likely from Utada’s staff or some anti-piracy advocates) snatched the preview clips from Amazon JP and UK as well as the mediafire link (it just downlaods and appears as a blank Microsoft Word document…?) If anyone has any updates, just post it up here! :bwaha:
Hmm? The mediafire link works for me “5 new songs preview.rar”, unrar it and there you go …
If it doesn’t work for you I will reup it in the morning cause it’s 2.35am here and I’m using my mobilephone.
ive already begun to hear arashi no megami in my dreams, lol.
i love how her lyrics can be abstract, but easily relatable at the same time.
the heartfelt tone of her music in this upcoming album really makes me feel like im saying goodbye to a friend
the preview – mirror: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=LG1ZLXZQ
arashi no megami really sounds like good bye…so sad~~~
THANKS SO MUCH URANUS HIKARU!!! <3
Oh man, it’s EXTREMELY tempting to listen to the previews of the new tracks. I only read a couple comments (as to not spoil anything), and so far it seems like the new tracks sound really good. But I have to be strong and restrain myself from going on that website and listening to the new songs, although I have alrady listened to Hyme a L’amour and Goodbye Happiness in full. I want to keep the rest of the new tracks a surprise for when I get my copy of SCV2
Made a simple video
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=459434314315
Edit link
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=459447654315
wth i cant access them
nvm i lied
it’s not existing? why?
Didn’t I hear some of those new tracks on itunes before…?
Why, yes. At least 2 of them. AWHILE back…and STILL up for buying.
Ah Wo Noss – released Feb. 2009
I Will Win Over You – released June 2008
That disappoints me, since these songs weren’t even done by Utada herself. So in reality, the only ‘new’ song we get out of this hiatus is “Goodbye Happiness.” (”hymne a l’amour” being a cover…)
Don’t get me wrong, these songs sound amazing. I’m just kind of down about the fact “these” were considered new songs from her.
^dnangelsora:
I listened to both songs and I have to say there is SOME similarity. But that in no way means that Utada went out of her way to search up these songs just to copy them. Not to mention that the songs are Indian/Arabian/MiddleEastern? and have no connection whatsoever to her American/Japanese influences.
Besides, it is impossible for a person to create a TOTALLY new beat nowadays. Songs have melodies that have been made before, only presented in a new and contemporary way. It’s the lyrics and meaning that counts as a huge portion of the song.
Tawher saying “I will win over you” 20 times doesn’t have the same meaning as Utada’s music, Hands down.
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Well, this is embarrassing.
I was under the assumption that the link given in the comments earlier by “Uranus Hikaru” went straight to the Single Collection 2 previews. So those songs I mentioned in my earlier post have NOTHING to do with this.
I wish I could edit a strikethrough…
^ Err,sorry they took it down on amazon japan after a few hours.
^
Not your fault at all. No worries.
Although the other 3 songs (the REAL ones) are effing AMAZING~!!
@dnangelsora I really DON’T even see a small bit of similarity from these songs and hikki’s songs. The songs on Disc: 2(other than HLM) are all new…I haven’t heard any similarities with these songs and other songs. When I first opened up I tunes to hear Ah Wo Noss, I was just like “WTH? this isn’t similar.” I personally also disagree with @JayUtada, music can still create different beats to not sound like similar ones, it just takes a harder masking of the process. The only reason why plagiarism occurs with music is because its done intentionally or they sampled it and gave credit which then wouldn’t be called plagiarism.
^
I corrected myself earlier for my mistake.
The message was unclear, but I didn’t mean for it to sound like I was comparing THOSE songs to Hikki’s songs.
^ Sorry about that! I must have come off as very threatening, that was not my purpose. I just read your post and had to write a rant on it haha, like you said, I also really wish I could use the strike out or edit button right now. my bad.