Tracklist

1. Fight The Blues
2. HEART STATION
3. Beautiful World
4. Flavor Of Life -Ballad Version-
5. Stay Gold
6. Kiss & Cry
7. Gentle Beast Interlude
8. Celebrate
9. Prisoner Of Love
10. Take 5 (テイク 5)
11. Boku wa Kuma (ぼくはくま; I’m a Bear)
12. Niji-iro Bus (虹色バス; Rainbow Colored Bus)
13. Flavor Of Life (Bonus Track)

This is Utada Hikarus 7^th album overall and 5^th Japanese album. It was released on March 19, 2008, and has reached #1 on the Oricon Charts and has sold about 818,335 copies.

“Hey look! Finally! The review blackmager promised ever since the opening of his blog, and it’s only taken him 3 months to get to it! YAY!”

Anyway, Fight The Blues, the opening track of the album, opens up with the sound of gentle synth along with a rather interesting instrument that provides the constant beat throughout the song, and with Utada ad-libbing, until everything gets into a nice mid-tempo pace. (Wow, that’s one long ass sentence) Overall, Fight The Blues is a very carefree uplifting song (if the title didn’t tell you enough) that is strangely catchy. My favorite parts of the song would have to be the rather strange “breathing” parts during the pre-chorus (I wonder why she did that, Britney Spears style maybe? XD), and the pure synth instrumental after the second chorus and at the end of the song. It’s like sex to my ears, and I wish there were more sections like that in the song.

Strangely enough, the next 5 tracks on the album are all singles Utada released beforehand. Heart Station comes up first. While I did find this song incredibly boring and a disappointment at first, it has definitely grown on me. I will never understand why this song is so damn catchy. Also, the main reason why she seems to strain a lot in this song is because of how soft the music actually is. In Beautiful World, the music was rather strong, so it was harder to notice her straining (or maybe that’s just me).

Why hello there Beautiful World (we were just talking about you during Heart Station). Anyway, I find Beautiful World a perfect example of Utada and her new ethereal pop sound. The only problem I had with this song was that it was a bit too long for me to put up with.

The very popular Ballad Version of Flavor of Life then makes an appearance (and somehow, everything is going smoothly!) While this ballad really is beautiful, and just as good as the original, I still find Utadas very strained vocals a problem. She sounds like she’s killing herself just trying to reach those notes. On a side note, has anyone here ever tried to talk about this song with your friends, and all they ever think of is that retarded dating show Flavor of Love and that retarded dude with the big clock? D:

The trend of ballads continues with Stay Gold. I absolutely loved the mystical feeling this song gives off, and I still play it constantly. It surprisingly hasn’t gotten old for me yet.

Utada decides to end this string of singles with a bang by placing Kiss & Cry last. I enjoy the playfulness and sillyness of this song, and it was nice to see that it has the R&B feel her older works had.

FINALLY DEAR GOD FINALLY, SOMETHING NEW. Gentle Beast Interlude has to be one of the best interludes I have actually heard (it even made it to my top 25 rated on my iPod!). It is rather random. Consisting of a rather breezy arrangement with Utada doing some very strange ad-libbing. She even samples Heart Station in here! But I think what makes me love this interlude so much is how it transitions to Celebrate so smoothly.

“Wait, we’re on the next song already!?” is what I thought when I took a look at my iPod to find that it was already playing Celebrate, instead of Gentle Beat Interlude. The transition is so flawless. But anyway, its Celebrates turn in the spotlight. Celebrate is surprisingly almost dance worthy. Maybe not intense “I’m going to do this for the talent show” dance, but more like “rocking back and forth while on the bus”. Utada’s vocals are very playful here, and the chorus is so damn catchy. At first, I thought the whole “sexy lady” part during the pre-chorus was annoying, but it has really grown on me. I’m also surprised at how slick it sounded, since there are actually some English words in that part that would sound rather weird and broken if you read it yourself.

Prisoner of Love is possibly one of best new songs on the album, and also my personal favorite (it even made it to my Top 25 Most Played!). What makes me love this song EVER SO FREAKIN GOD DAMN MUCH, is how interesting it is. While Utada is more known for slow sad songs, this is actually a fast paced sad song (I can’t even call it a ballad). Its’ arrangement consist of this constant thumping R&B beat, piano, and amazing strings. The lyrics are gorgeous, and I loved Utadas vocals. Why they can be rather strained at times, I enjoyed how she put emotion into the song. My all time favorite part of the song would at the end where she’s adlibbing “stay with me, my baby, say you love me” and during the bridge where all the other instruments other than the strings leave. I guess another reason why I loved this song so much is because it is being used in the drama Last Friends, which by the way, is pretty good, and I’m going to be obsessing about it later. I sometimes even cried during scenes where they played it because of how well it fitted into the scenes. T_T

Filled to the brim with synth, Take 5 was originally meant to be on Utadas previous album, Ultra Blue, which explains why it has such a grand arrangement. Am I the only who actually thinks of constantly changing auroras when they listen to this song? (It’s all that damn amazing synth) Anyway, this song is just breathtaking, and I loved the vocal distortions that gave Utada a ghostly sound to her. But possibly the most interesting thing about this song would be how it ends. This song actually talks about a death, so it decides to end itself like it died. Instead of fading away or having a proper ending, the song just STOPS at 3:43. It kinda scared me at first, and annoyed me too. But when I learned the reason as to why it was like this, I appreciated it more. Just goes to show that Utada really is the weird one in the J-Pop scene.

Thanks to the sudden ending of Take 5, Boku Wa Kuma is able to make a smooth appearance. I still find this song just a kids song really. Nothing too special. I will admit though that it’s freakin adorable.

Niji Iro Basu translates into rainbow colored bus. At first, I thought this was going to another traveling (which was an awesome song with a kickass PV by the way), but I was wrong. Instead, it feels like an improved version of Boku wa kuma. It’s a very playful song with an upbeat piano and very carefree vocals from Utada. Even though it gets really, really, REALLY repetitive since the melody is so simple, I’ll admit that it’s very catchy. I also like how the song “evolves” slowly overtime.

To end the album, The Original Version of Flavor Of Life was added as a bonus track, and I’m glad it was added. As much as I loved the ballad version of Flavor Of Life, there’s a special place in my heart for the upbeat version of it.

I’ll admit, Heart Station was the very first album from Utada that I actually kept up and paid complete attention to. Overall, it’s an amazing album. Even though the music may not be as amazing, jaw dropping, synthed up, or complicated as Ultra Blue, that isn’t a bad thing. Utada has given us a nice, smooth, and a very heartwarming feel good album that is easy to the ears. It’s perfect for virgin ears, since it doesn’t attempt to overwhelm or get to hard on you. It’s like smooth easy ear sex. Perfect for something to pick up and listen to while strolling through the park. The only real problem I had with this album was that there were so few new tracks on the album. But other than that, perfect album. Just listen to it.

(Also, can someone explain to me why I used so many lame sexual jokes here?)

Overall Rating:

5 out of 5

Massive thanks to Shuffle And Repeat for the wonderful scans!