Deep River (album)

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Deep River
Deep River cover
Studio album by Utada Hikaru
Released June 19, 2002
Recorded 2001-2002
Genre J-Pop, Experimental, R&B
Length 54:54
Label EMI Music Japan
Producer Utada Hikaru, Akira Miyake, Teruzane Sking
Utada Hikaru chronology
Distance
(2001)		 Deep River
(2002)		 Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1
(2004)
Singles from Deep River
  1. "Final Distance"
    Released: July 25, 2001
  2. "traveling"
    Released: November 28, 2001
  3. "Hikari"
    Released: March 20, 2002
  4. "Sakura Drops / Letters"
    Released: May 9, 2002

Deep River is the third Japanese studio album (fourth overall) released by Japanese pop superstar Utada Hikaru, released in 2002. It sold just over 2.35 million copies in its first week of release [1] (much like the 2,026,870 units by First Love and 3,002,720 by Distance in their debut sales week), easily debuting at #1 on the weekly, monthly and eventually yearly charts of the Oricon Albums chart. This would be her third time at #1 on the year-end rankings of that particular chart, a record for any Japanese musical act or worldwide. The final track, "Hikari," would be her first single to reach #1 on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart three times, and would be the Japanese version of the theme song for Square Enix's smash hit RPG video game, Kingdom Hearts. The song has an English version, "Simple and Clean," that would accompany promotion of "Kingdom Hearts" in the Western Hemisphere and elsewhere. That song would give Utada's voice and music its first major mark of international recognition. The album was Utada's most acclaimed work to date by fans and critics alike, and earned her the Triple Crown at the 17th Golden Disc Awards [2]. DEEP RIVER is the 8th highest selling album in Japan of all time [3].

Contents

[edit] Track listing

  1. "Sakura Drops" (SAKURAドロップス Sakura Doroppusu?) – 4:58
  2. "Traveling" – 5:14
  3. "Shiawase ni Narō" (幸せになろう? "Let's Be Happy") – 4:46
  4. "Deep River" – 4:37
  5. "Letters" – 4:48
  6. "Play Ball" (プレイ・ボール Purei Bōru?) – 4:14
  7. "Tokyo Nights" (東京NIGHTS?) – 4:43
  8. "A.S.A.P." – 4:56
  9. "Uso Mitai na I Love You" (嘘みたいな I Love You? "A Seemingly False I Love You") – 4:49
  10. "Final Distance" – 5:38
  11. "Bridge (Interlude)" – 1:09
  12. "Hikari" (光? "Light") – 5:02

[edit] Singles

All of the Deep River singles did extremely well, all reaching #1 on the Oricon Singles and making it into the Top 10 of the year-end charts for sales. The only exception was "Final Distance," which peaked at #2 on the Singles chart and #24 on the Year-End for 2001.

Date Title Peak position Weeks Sales
July 25, 2001 "Final Distance" #2 13 582,120
November 28, 2001 "traveling" #1 21 856,140
March 20, 2002 "Hikari" #1 13 598,130
May 9, 2002 "Sakura Drops / Letters" #1 10 686,720

[edit] Charts

Deep River - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release Chart Peak Position Debut Sales Sales Total Chart Run
June 19, 2002 Oricon Daily Albums Chart #1
June 19, 2002 Oricon Weekly Albums Chart #1 (2 weeks) 2,350,170 3,605,000 56
June 19, 2002 Oricon Yearly Albums Chart #1

[edit] Miscellanea

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The cover of the album, as well as all of the photographs in the liner notes, were produced by Daidō Moriyama.
  • The chorus melody of "Uso Mitai na I Love You" was originally intended for use in "Hikari", but the lyrics did not match the melody. The melody was thrown out and a new one was written for "Hikari", and the original melody ended up in "Simple and Clean" as well as "Uso Mitai na I Love You".
  • The song "Deep River" has been Utada Hikaru's first and only song (to date), that has had a promotional video without being a single. This does not count the fluximations done for Exodus.

[edit] References

  1. ^ UKMIX - Forums - View topic - Japanese Charts-The Archives
  2. ^ RIAJ - 17st Japan Gold Disc Award 2003
  3. ^ —ð‘ãƒAƒ‹ƒoƒ€ƒ‰ƒ“ƒLƒ“ƒO
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Hikaru Utada
Japanese studio albums
First Love · Distance · Deep River · Ultra Blue · Heart Station
English studio albums
Compilations
Singles
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