I somehow stumbled upon this performance by Hikki of the classic 80’s song Take On Me by Norwegian group A-ha on Youtube. She performed this track way back in 2000 and you can see how young she looks. I just love her version of the song. Check it out.
Hikaru Utada – Take On Me (LIVE)
28 08 2009Comments : Leave a Comment »
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Hikki vs BoA – Who Won The Best English Album Battle?
18 03 2009With both singers’ English albums now out I had a chance to listen to them over the past couple of days so which one was better? Hikki or BoA?
First off let’s start with Hikki’s This Is The One which is what I listened to first. The obvious difference from her usual Japanese output was plain to see – she’d gone back to her r’n’b roots that she started her career off. After listening to the album for the first time from start to finish I was of the impression that I really liked it but upon listening to it again I got tired of it fairly quickly. I’ve got to say I’m fairly disappointed now in this album. Many tracks are repetitive in nature. I was frankly surprised at the sexual undertones in a couple of songs, I had to pinch myself at times that it was really Hikki singing those lines although I understand it is very tongue in cheek! This Is The One isn’t all bad though – there are a couple of good songs like Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence – FYI, Apple and Cinnamon, On and On and Dirty Desire. So the final verdict is it could have been better. Was it better than her previous English album Exodus? I don’t think it is.
A couple of days later I listened to BoA’s debut English album and what a difference this one is compared to Hikki’s. It’s just magnificent and way better. I can’t fault any of the songs – it is just solid from the opening track I Did It For Love right through to the final one Hypnotic Dancefloor. It’s full of catchy upbeat tunes. I really really loved it. I’m hoping this does well for BoA because she deserves it for releasing such a brilliant album. Don’t miss out on it!
At the end of the day BoA’s album easily won this battle. I expected better from Hikki but she’ll come back strong with her next Japanese album I’m sure of it.
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Hikaru Utada – Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence – FYI
11 03 2009There’s a couple of songs from Hikki’s new English album This Is The One floating around the internet at the moment and one tune I’m particularly enjoying is Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence – FYI. Come Back To Me was OK in my opinion, not the best song by Hikki but this one is far better. I’m baffled by the Star Trek reference in the song in which she mentions Captain Picard! I’ve yet to hear one of the other songs being previewed which is Dirty Desire but if the 2 songs I’ve listened to so far are an indication of what we can expect from her album then it’s going to be brilliant. I just hope it does well in the US. There was nothing wrong with her previous English album Exodus, in fact I thought it was excellent so we’ll see how this one fares this time round.
I’ve heard rumours that This Is The One will be delayed now until May. Is this true or not as I’ve yet to hear an official announcement. It’s supposed to come out this coming Saturday – March 14th.
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