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  •  Lord Snow
      Lord Snow
New Vs. Old
Administrator
Joined: 2004/3/4
A/S/L
Posts: 395
So...this is just something that'd been on my mind lately.

I loved Hikki's stuffs. Back when I first found out about her and who she was, I just couldn't get enough of her. Anything from brief radio clips of her speaking, any new pictures, music videos, TV performance clips, all of it. I loved her to bits. I loved everything about her voice when she sang to the "look" that she was giving off as that sweet japanese talent.

All this changed with her western debut.

Suddenly...in every new picture that I see of her, the first thing and the last thing that I can think is: "she's wearing way too much makeup...what happened to all of that wonderful natural beauty??"

I'm serious...in some of her new pics, it really looks like she just caked it on her face...

And her music...oh lord, don't get me started on her music. I loved her old music. Pretty much any and all of it, I enjoyed listening to. The only songs that I merely didn't mind listening to were a lot of her old Cubic U songs and the single, Colors. I know that a lotta folks from the chan loved that song, but it just wasn't for me.

But the thing is, while I didn't much ENJOY it, I really didn't mind listening to her clear voice raised in song.

Then she released that Exodus album.

The one song that I even remotely enjoyed from it was Kremin Dusk. Two that I didn't QUITE mind was Exodus '04 and Hotel Lobby. The rest of it, I SERIOUSLY could not stand to listen to.

So I started wondering, am I the ONLY one who thinks this? Is there anyone out there who also feels that her old material was a lot better than the new?

That's the question, let's see if anyone has anything to say...
Posted on: 2005/3/8 21:55
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  •  Conan
      Conan
Re: New Vs. Old
Addicted to Hikki
Joined: 2004/5/22
A/S/L 23/M/UK
Posts: 80
I totally agree, with Snow's sentiments in terms of her foray into the American market.

Simple and Clean was Hikari sapped of any emotion and ended up sounding like a dull drone for the chorus compared to the energy of Hikari.

Blow my Whistle was ok, catchy etc. but spoilt by the rap, of course R&B ain't really my bag either.

Cubic U... nuff said.

And I know it's unfair to judge without listening to the whole album, but from what I've heard from Exodus so far I'm just not interested which shows how far my interest has fallen. I remembered listening to Dareka about 5 times in a row before it grew on me because I trusted Hikki, now I can't even be bothered to pick up an album.

The tragic thing is she can sing well in English as shown on her performance of Minnie Ripperton's classic "Loving You" and her performance of U2's "With or Without You" (still not a patch on the original but come on it's U2).

With Hikki I think of awesome ballads (First Love, Final Distance, Deep River, Dareka).
Catchy pop songs (Travelling, Hikari).
Moments of pure brilliance (Sakura Drops, the ENTIRE UH Unplugged performance, the live version of Colors, I wasn't keen on the song but the live version was awesome).
And also a very natural beauty about her.

I am slightly worried that those days have been and gone.
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I was uncool before uncool was cool!
Posted on: 2005/3/10 12:32
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Re: New Vs. Old
Hikki Obsessed
Joined: 2005/3/1
A/S/L 14(16 now)/Male/CA
Posts: 234
i think im going to have to disasgree with both of you. I think Hikki has revolutionized, and her music now represents the way she is now. The old Hikki was young (Hikki is still young) but now, shes got more of a mature sound on some of her songs. Exodus has allot of great songs, they only sounded crappy because, theyre all to "dance-like". She needs to have more serious songs like "Kremlin Dusk", "Animato", "Exodus '04", "Devil Inside", and "You Make Me Want To Be A Man"
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Posted on: 2005/3/11 16:05
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  •  tombraiderjmm
      tombraiderjmm
Re: New Vs. Old
Insane Hikki Fan
Joined: 2004/9/27
A/S/L
Posts: 1623
Yeah I kinda agree. I like her Japanese songs better. I mean I do listen to Exodus, but it's just not the same. But I love her alot. So yeah, I'll keep listening to her music. But Exodus is still a pretty good album, so I'll still be listening to it.
Posted on: 2005/5/5 17:27
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Re: New Vs. Old
Hikki Fanatic
Joined: 2005/6/29
A/S/L 16/M/IN
Posts: 147
U guy's don't understand anything about the cutural barriers Japanese music hasn't gotten over to the US well she is the only one i really know that is trying to break the cultural barriers. she is trying to tell people in the US here if you listen closely to her music you'll listen to some japanese tones. she's trying to tell people what japanese music is like. you are right her western album is much less that her japanese albums. but i think she could of done better it is just that she doesn't want to...
i think japanese music will become popular and it would all be because of the great HIKKI
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Posted on: 2005/6/30 8:07
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  •  tombraiderjmm
      tombraiderjmm
Re: New Vs. Old
Insane Hikki Fan
Joined: 2004/9/27
A/S/L
Posts: 1623
Yeah I agree with you too. And there is alot of people that do like JPop and JRock already. And that's mostly because of games and Anime. But yeah I do agree.
Posted on: 2005/7/1 18:33
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  •  Miiko
      Miiko
Re: New Vs. Old
Addicted to Hikki
Joined: 2005/10/14
A/S/L 15/F/U.S
Posts: 76
I can understand how you miss the older version of Hikkie. But I'm not really sad. I love all of her stuff and love to listen to her new singles each time, realizing how much she has changed and is exploring all these new horizons. Her natural beauty? Well, she is more sponsored by all those companies but don't forget, she has grown older and her face will change. I consider her natural beauty to be in personality and increasingly beautiful ballads and in those screenshots while she's at home or at the studio, working and laughing. ^^ I feel a bit sad when I watch other artists change but for Hikkie, she is unique and so different! That's why I never feel one bit sad.

Yes, "Simple and Clean" sucks up all the emotion from "Hikari". I didn't really like that much as "Hikari". I'm not sure if some American fans where I live can tell the difference that there's a Japanese and English version which makes me wonder if they only like the beats and not the /original/ lyrics.
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Easy Breezy... She's got a new microphone! <[^_^]>
Posted on: 2005/10/14 18:54
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