Search - Hikaru Utada :: Deep River

Excellent music

C. Adams | Louisville, KY USA | 07/22/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I've been a huge Utada fan since I first heard her music. This CD has to be her best in my opinion. Especially the song "Final Distance"."

The Best Album in Her Japanese Discography

oricon | & | 07/26/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I will admit that I actually prefer the experimental sounds of Utada's English-language "Exodus" album to her R&B-flavoured Japanese albums that made her famous, but nonetheless, "Deep River" is still a great album, despite her shortcomings lyrically (she was only seventeen when she wrote this, though, so one really can't expect too much!) The tracks I particularly favour are



2. "Travelling" - Up until "Exodus" and with the exception of remixes, Utada did not have a really "danceable" track. "Travelling" remedied that. While not exactly catchy, it is very upbeat, and one does get the feeling she tries to portray in the song - a fast-paced trip.



3. "Shiawase ni Narou" - Literally, "Let's Be Happy", "Shiawase ni Narou" is my personal favourite from this album because of the way it starts out as a piano ballad, but then kicks in with the cool drum beats. Towards the middle, piano and drum are juxtaposed, making for a very interesting and catchy song.



6. "Purei Boru" or "Play Ball" - The R&B influences are strong in this song, and the beat/tempo is what I like best about it. Lyrically, it's a love song masquerading as a song about a baseball game being played on a summer evening.



7. "Tokyo Nights" - It took me a while to warm up to this song. I still don't like the beginning too much, but it gets better. It even has part of a melody from her songs "Hikari"/"Simple and Clean." It starts out slowly, and then speeds up a little.



8. "A.S.A.P." - This song would have been perfect if it weren't for the ending - and the repeated chorus of "A.S.A.P." Otherwise, it's a good song, an unusual mix of dark and mysterious and R&B.



9. "Uso Mitai na I Love You" - Roughly translated, "Like a Lie, I Love You", this song stands out from most of Hikaru's works in that it is a metal-inspired song. It's not that great of a tune, but the hook from her song "Simple and Clean" comes from this song.



12. "Hikari" - Literally "light", this song was the main reason I bought the album. It was one of the catchiest songs I had ever heard, and although its novelty is wearing off now, it is still a great song, music-wise and lyric-wise.



If you're a fan of Utada's Japanese works only, this is definitely the album to get. Otherwise, I would look at "Exodus" first.



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