T3-17 Prisoner of Love/ Niji-iro Basu

I'm listening to the album right now, and I have to say it is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME.

Honestly, averagely, the album tracks are actually slightly better than the single tracks.

That's because she wrote the album tracks after the singles were released, so she didn't pick the best ones and release them as singles.

I remember the first time that I was exposed to Utada Hikaru was way before I became a fan of hers. My dad came home from work one night (we were in Yokohama, Japan), and brought UH3+ home, which contained the making of videos and the music videos for FINAL DISTANCE, traveling, Hikari, SAKURA DROPS, and Deep River. I don't think I was amazed by the songs, but I thought they were nice songs.

Then, in 2006, still before I started loving her songs, ULTRA BLUE came out, and I listened to it. Back then, I didn't think it was awesome, I thought it was above average, but the songs seemed kind of bland to me.

Now, of course, I don't think the same way.

And my feelings for HEART STATION reflect that, I think the album tracks are truly awesome.
But, when I first heard Flavor of Life, I was not impressed. Even though it was a huge hit. Beautiful World/Kiss & Cry were nice, but not super wonderful. Stay Gold was amazing, Heart Station was a bit.

Meanwhile, I will be waiting patiently for the sales numbers to come in on the 19th.