Heart Station (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Heart Station
Type = Album
Artist = Hikaru Utada


Released = March 19, 2008
Recorded = 2006-2008
Genre = J-Pop, R&B, Dance-pop
Length = 56:54
Label = EMI Music Japan
Producer = Hikaru Utada
Reviews = * "Rolling Stone Japan" Rating|5|5 [http://www.rollingstonejapan.com/cdreview/080410_21.html link]
Last album = "Ultra Blue"
(2006)
This album = "Heart Station"
(2008)

Misc = Singles
Name = Heart Station
Type = studio
single 1 = Boku wa Kuma
single 1 date = November 22, 2006
single 2 = Flavor of Life
single 2 date = February 28, 2007
single 3 = Beautiful World / Kiss & Cry
single 3 date = August 29, 2007
single 4 = Heart Station / Stay Gold
single 4 date = February 20, 2008
single 5 = Prisoner Of Love
single 5 date = May 21, 2008 |

"Heart Station" [ [http://www.oricon.co.jp/music/release/d/752627/1/ HEART STATION/宇多田ヒカル 2008年03月19日発売] ] is the fifth Japanese studio album (seventh overall) by Hikaru Utada, which was released on March 19, 2008.

"Heart Station"'s first week sales was 480,081, collecting the lowest first week sales in Utada's career. However, it was still certified million by the [http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/200805.html RIAJ] for shipment of 1 million copies in Japan, and stayed in the Oricon top 10 for 11 consecutive weeks. It is her most successful studio album in terms of worldwide sales since Deep River, which was released on June 19, 2002

On May 13, 2008, nearly two months after its release, Barks.jp reported that the digital sales of all songs on the album had surpassed 15 million downloads. [http://www.barks.jp/news/?id=1000039775 barks.jp] ]

Information

Before the release of "Heart Station", Utada had stated on her personal blogs that she's currently working on both the previously unnamed "Heart Station" album and her English album simultaneously and has been busy creating demos for new tracks at home on since October 23, 2007. [ [http://www.u3music.com/message/index.php?m=1&d=2007102308412j.xml U3MUSIC October 23, 2007] ]

On January 16, 2008, Utada (on her official blog) confirmed that there are two tracks on the album that will include a strings section, "Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-" and a then-untitled, now revealed to be "Prisoner of Love", that was being mixed. [http://utada-online.net/blog/?p=153#comments U Blog] [ [http://utada-online.net/blog/?p=218 U.Blog » Utada on TOWER Records Mag Cover ] ] [ [http://www.towerrecords.jp/f-papers/tower.html Tower Records Japan : Tower ] ] On February 1, 2008, Utada confirmed that she had begun mastering the album's final track, which would later be finalized to be "Celebrate," made between midnight and the following day when it was due, and is an upbeat track which she quite likes. A physical demo had been burnt for her to complete work on from home, and she mentioned that the album's mastering had begun. The album track "Celebrate" was under the tentative working title of "nihongo|Yakekuso|やけくそ|Desperation" [ [http://211.19.44.167/message/index.php?m=1%26l=%26d=2008020123075j.xml U3 Blog] ] . On February 6, 2008, Utada had finished the mastering stage of the album, which was done by SterlingSound, the people in charge of mastering Utada's albums from her musical career's beginnings. [ [http://www.u3music.com/message/index.php?m=1&d=2008020702264j.xml U3 Blog] ] Her official website has confirmed that 13 (versus the earlier reported 12) tracks will be included on this album (with the 13th being a bonus track, the original "Flavor of Life"), meaning this is Utada's third album in total to feature a bonus track. [ [http://www.emimusic.jp/hikki/news/news_j.php Hikki's Web Site] ] A B2 sized poster will be included for people who pre-order a copy of the album. As of now, the only place known to be selling the B2 Sized Poster is CDJapan. The album has reached as high as #1 on Amazon Japan's Pre-Order List [ [http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/bestsellers/music/ref=pd_dp_ts_m_1 Amazon.co.jp ベストセラー: 音楽の中で最も人気がある商品です。情報は1時間ごとに更新されます。 ] ] , as well as other major online merchandise and music stores such as HMV Japan and CD Japan, among others. On February 15, 2008, two more new track titles were revealed in Japan's MUSICA Magazine's review of the album, which were "Celebrate" and "Niji-Iro Basu" [ [http://utada-online.net/blog/?p=193 U.Blog » MUSICA: 2 Album Track Titles ] ] . On February 19, 2008, the album's track list was revealed via her website in its entirety, the day before the release of her 20th physical Japanese single, "Heart Station / Stay Gold" [ [http://utada-online.net/blog/?p=198 U.Blog » “HEART STATION” Tracklist Revealed ] ] [ [http://www.emimusic.jp/hikki/release/index_j.htm Hikki's WEB SITE ] ] . When titling "Heart Station", Utada continued the tradition of naming the album by tracks on the album. However, "Heart Station" is the first album to be named after a promotional single, rather than recut singles like "First Love", "Distance)", or " Exodus," or non singles, such as "Ultra Blue" or "Deep River".

According to reports by Shop EMI and Capitol Music on March 1, 2008, Utada's latest Japanese release will see a Canadian release on April 8, 2008. Much like the previous Canadian releases of "Ultra Blue" and "Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol.1," "Heart Station" will be reprinted in Canada and be of much lower pricing than the imported Japanese version. [ [http://utada-online.net/blog/?p=208 U.Blog » Canadian Release of “HEART STATION” ] ] [ [http://www.shopemi.com/album_page.asp?section=disco&upc_id=5099921227929&s=artist|11147 ShopEMI.com : Utada Hikaru : "Heart Station" ] ] [ [http://www.capitolmusic.ca/artist_page_disco.asp?section=disco&artist_id=11147 CapitolMusic.ca ] ] The Taiwanese version of the album was confirmed with an official webpage by EMI to have a release date of March 28, 2008 [ [http://www.emimusic.com.tw/pop/utada/ 宇多田、全新原創專輯 HEART STATION ] ] . A Hong Kong release dates was announced for a March 28, 2008 release soon afterwards, with South Korea following on the 29th.

Track listing

tracklist
headline =

all_writing = Hikaru Utada

title1 = Fight the Blues
length1 = 4:10

title2 = Heart Station
length2 = 4:36

title3 = Beautiful World
length3 = 5:17

title4 = Flavor of Life -Ballad Version-
length4 = 5:25

title5 = Stay Gold
length5 = 5:14

title6 = Kiss & Cry
length6 = 5:06

title7 = Gentle Beast Interlude
length7 = 1:13

title8 = Celebrate
length8 = 4:26

title9 = Prisoner of Love
length9 = 4:46

title10 = nihongo|Teiku 5|テイク 5|Take 5
length10 = 3:42

title11 = nihongo|Boku wa Kuma|ぼくはくま|I'm a Bear
length11 = 2:23

title12 = nihongo|Niji-iro Basu|虹色バス|Rainbow-colored Bus
length12 = 5:50

title13 = Flavor of Life [Bonus Track]
length13 = 4:46

ingles

!align="left"|Release!align="left"|Chart!align="left"|Peak Position!align="left"|First Week Sales!align="left"|Sales Total!align="left"|Chart Run
-
align="left"|March 19, 2008
align="left"|Oricon Daily Albums Chart
align="center"|1
align="left"
align="left"
align="left"
-
align="left"|March 19, 2008
align="left"|Oricon Weekly Albums Chart
align="center"|1
align="left"|480,081
align="left"|989,523
align="left"|29 weeks*
-
align="left"|March 19, 2008
align="left"|Oricon Monthly Albums Chart
align="center"|1
align="left"
align="left"
align="left"
-
align="left"|March 19, 2008
align="left"|Oricon Yearly Albums Chart
align="center"|5
align="left"
align="left"
align="left"

For more detailed Oricon Album chart rankings on Heart Station, visit .

All physical sales chart rankings

References