Deep River (Utada Hikaru album)

Deep River is the third studio album (fourth overall) released by Japanese singer-songwriter Utada Hikaru, released on June 19, 2002. It sold just over 2.35 million copies in its first week of release,[1] charting at number one on the weekly, monthly and yearly Oricon charts. Deep River is ranked as Japan's fifth-highest album in debut sales, and eighth in the all-time album sales in Japan.[2]

Deep River
Studio album by
Utada Hikaru
ReleasedJune 19, 2002
Recorded2001–2002
Genre
Length54:54
LabelToshiba-EMI
Producer
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

The final track, "Hikari", would be her first single to reach number one on the Oricon Weekly Singles chart three times, and the Japanese version of the theme song for Square Enix's RPG video game, Kingdom Hearts. The English version, "Simple and Clean", (released on her "Colors" single), also accompanied promotion of Kingdom Hearts in overseas versions. The album was cited by many fans and critics as Utada's most acclaimed work, as well as achieving the Triple Crown at the 17th Golden Disc Awards in Japan.[3]

According to the IFPI, the album is listed at number 18 on the Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2002.[4]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Utada Hikaru.

No.TitleLength
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, The Dubious I Love You)"4:49
10."Final Distance"5:38
11."Bridge (Interlude)"1:09
12."Hikari (光, Light)"5:02

All songs were arranged by Kei Kawano and Utada Hikaru, except for the following:

  • 1. "Sakura Drops" – arrangement: Utada Hikaru and Kei Kawano (the order of the name was changed)
  • 7. "Tokyo Nights" – with string arrangement: Kei Kawano
  • 8. "A.S.A.P." – arrangement: Yuichiro Honda, additional rhythm track arrangement: Kei Kawano and Utada Hikaru
  • 10. "Final Distance" – with string arrangement: Neko Saito

Singles
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

Charts

Japan (Oricon)

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 2,350,170 3,605,000 56
June 19, 2002 Oricon Yearly Albums Chart 1

References
  1. ORICON STYLE – Weekly album chart： 1st week of July 2002
  2. —ð‘ãƒAƒ‹ƒoƒ€ƒ‰ƒ“ƒLƒ“ƒO
  3. RIAJ – 17th Japan Gold Disc Award 2003
  4. IFPI Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2002 Archived January 17, 2009, at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 2011-04-08
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