ULTRA BLUE

Apparently this singer is popular with gamers? The discord was freaking out about Kingdom Hearts when I generated it.

Ultra Blue is a Japanese language album by Japanese musician Hikaru Utada (who is also an American born and raised in New York City, interestingly), and despite the disdain that seems to be developing in the comments, I thought it was all right. Obviously I can't dissect the lyrics as I have a rudimentary understanding of Japanese, but musically it's pretty fun dance pop. It's primarily on the artsier side of pop music, but not too much, it's still a very accessible album.

Like with all J-pop, Ultra Blue has those Japanese-isms that you typically get. I can't quite pinpoint what those are, but if you're familiar with the genre you'll know what I mean (the wavey fluctuating singing, and the sort of Japanese traditional folk sound that's influenced Japanese pop music), so it's relatively unique in regards to this generator for that alone. Other than that, it's a pretty fun album, not something I'm super into but I'm glad I listened to it.

Should it be on the main list: I will abstain from this just because I can't speak Japanese, but based on music alone probably not.

Top 3 songs: This is Love, COLORS, Passion

I found this to be very bland. I'll echo others calls to have more non-English-language music on here, but this isn't a great example of it IMO.

I understand that J Pop and K Pop are both hugely popular, but this is way too overproduced for my tastes. I am glad it got featured in the post list though since Robert Dimery decided all we needed to listen to was obscure British garbage.

Favourite songs: Blue, Making Love, Keep Tryin', Sanctuary (Opening)

Least favourite songs: Kairo, Nichiyou No Asa

2/5

The original list is massively lacking in any Japanese albums, Hell, I'm pretty sure the closest we get is Damo Suzuki in Can, and that feels like cheating. In that aspect, it's nice that the user list can rectify that by allowing users to add the stuff that's really lacking. Bands and artists like Fishmans, Boris, Sheena Ringo, Susumu Hirasawa, Tatsuro Yamashita, Masayoshi Takanaka, and so, SO many more! Thankfully, the user list already has it all covered with... BABYMETAL...
Okay, admittedly, they got Nujabes in there, too, so that's a win, at least, but I'l admit I was incredibly anxious seeing this album pop up in pairing with its average rating. Now, I know Hikaru for their work in the Kingdom Hearts games, and those songs are iconic, but a full album felt like it was destined for some sort of repetitive slog, especially at nearly an hour long. Luckily, I'm happy to say it was at least pretty alright throughout. There was a lot of downtime between the great opening run to the good finale, but those songs carried the album enough for me to be happy someone had the balls to add something like this. Did they probably add this because of Kingdom Hearts? Maybe! But I think this album is a neat look into the changes going on for 2000s J-Pop, and certainly carries its weight as more than a random pop album, but from Japan. Now, let's just get some Lamp in here to balance it out, okay?

May your heart be your guiding key 🗝️

Loved pop music of this era, but I also really like music in languages that I don't understand, because I don't get distracted by the words. So this was a win/win. The production is immense as well.

J-pop isn't really my thing but this was pleasant enough to listen to for it. I wouldn't mind if it was on in the background but I don't think I'd ever seek it out.

未来を舞台にした映画のための音楽。ループやサンプルが満載。最高の意味で国際的なアルバム。勉強中に聴くのに最適です。

This isn’t my cup of tea, but I do agree with the sentiment that for all the world music on the list there isn’t enough J-Pop or K-Pop hence agree this is a fair submission.

Apparently she sold a bunch of records.