Utada

Exodus

Review by: Mimi P

US Debut Album

Company: Island Def Jam Records

CD Length: approx 60 min

Rated: PG-13 (mild language, suggestive themes)

EXTERNAL EXAM

J-pop sensation Utada Hikaru is ready to take America by storm with her Island DefJam debut, Exodus. You’ll be grooving to sensual R&B tracks like “Tippy Toe” while going all out on the dance floor with songs like “The Workout”. Utada leaves a little something for everyone on Exodus.

FINAL EXAM:

As some of you may know, “Exodus” isn’t Utada Hikaru’s first English language album effort. Back in 1996, a young Utada released an album titled “Precious” under the alias, “Cubic U”. Although “Precious” didn’t do too well, it didn’t stop Utada from continuing to pursue her dreams of a successful singing career. Not long after, Hikaru signed with Toshiba EMI. Under the label, she released her first Japanese language album “First Love”. First Love became an instant hit, racking up about 10 million copies in sales. Utada’s unique style and sound gave her credit to introducing western-influenced R&B to Japan, and opened the door to a flourishing musical career. Hikaru continued to enjoy success with her next two albums, “Distance” and “Deep River”. In 2001, Hikaru recorded “Blow My Whistle” with Foxy Brown for the Rush Hour II soundtrack. In the following year, she signed a contract with Island Def Jam Records. Initially, the album was slated for a late 2003 release. Due to various reasons, the album was finally released in October of 2004.

Utada Hikaru is following in the footsteps of many Asian musical acts that have tried to make it in America. Back in 2000, Coco Lee, a popular Chinese pop-start, released “Just No Other Way”. Even though it was widely publicized (I remember seeing this album in various advertisements), it failed due to poor album production. Shayla, a Vietnamese pop-singer, also tried making it in the states with “Only In My Dreams”. Her album fell flat on its face due to poor album quality as well as lack of endorsement. I don’t think you can carry an album if the songs don’t work with you. In addition, how would anyone know about your work if there’s not a great deal of advertisement? Many artists fell victim to this, and Exodus is no exception.

Best track

More songs like “Kremlin Dusk” should be on this album. I think this will be the closest you get to the original Hikaru that you’ll get. (at least the squeaky clean Hikaru that we all know of) The lyrics are superior to what I’ve seen on the album so far. This soft pop number manages to showcase Utada’s true singing abilities perfectly.

Worst Track

“You’re Easy Breezy and I’m Japaneesy” is a line in “Easy Breezy”, Utada’s fifth track in Exodus. I must say that is one of the cheesiest lines I’ve ever heard especially one made for a song. Taking this in consideration, I can safely say that this song has the worst lyrics I’ve heard in my life. Even with the bouncy pop beat, it doesn’t save the song from being a disaster. The whole concept of “being played” could be written so much better.

Perfect for Fans of:

Utada Hikaru (Japanese Albums), Aaliyah, Brittany Spears

Once word got out that Hikaru was releasing an English album, I was overwhelmed with excitement. I’ve seen other artists try making it here, and always thought she should give it a try as well. Utada met all the requirements needed to be successful here in the states. She’s pretty, has a great voice, and is fluent in English. Being a big fan of hers, I had high expectations for her. Unfortunately, those expectations weren’t met with Exodus.

First of all, I can’t say that I like many songs on this album. There were too many skip tracks to count. If it had more tracks like "Kremlin Dusk", it would have been a superb album. I am aware that Utada was experimenting with many different styles in this album. Experimenting isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s always good to see an artist try something new. With this album, there were just too many of them that didn’t work with her very well. Secondly, it is very obvious that Utada is trying to shed her “good girl” image. It’s made clear through the themes running around the album such as “one night stands”, “prostitution”, and “infidelity”. I didn’t think it was necessary for her to become “sexy” just to get a larger audience. Hikaru has already gained a large fanbase outside of Japan with her clean image. I believe she could have succeeded with bringing over her usual singing style and lyrics in English as well as image. Doesn't it make sense to use what’s been working for you all along? We’ll just leave that up for debate another time. Personally, I don’t want to see her succeed with an album like this. If she does, it would just allow her to continue to produce music of similar quality in the future. Exodus was a poor Utada effort. It’ll most likely leave her fans wanting to erase the memories of even hearing this album with her old ones or wishing that she’ll release another Japanese record very soon.

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