Deep River

For me the most beautiful album of Utada, since the cover with nice close-up of Hikaru in chiaroscuro, a perfect synthesis of the songs in the album, fast tracks and joyful (light) and the slower ballads (dark). The songs I like best are SAKURA Drops with a particular hypnotic effect in her voice, the sweet ballad 幸せになろう (Shiawase ni Narou), the wonderful Deep River, the rhythmic Letters, another beautiful ballad Final Distance, the conclusive and bright 光 (Hikari). The booklet contains the lyrics as well as some nice photos of Hikaru always in black and white. Great album from a great singer.

The album has a generally gloomy atmosphere but is very good. Of course, First Love and Distance are better but this one's great too! Utada delivers quality in every album. I would recommend it to Utada fans.

Easily, Deep River is Utada Hikaru\'s strongest effort as a singer-songwriter.
This disk is absolutely fantastic with it\'s wide range of pop-influenced styles. From techno inspired \'travelling\', to Spanish flavoured \'Letters\', the gorgeous \'Sakura Drops\', knock-your-socks-off upbeat hit \'Hikari\' and heart-wrenching \'Final Distance\', this album is alsost perfect, and has something for everyone.