Exodus (Hikaru Utada album)

Exodus
Studio album by Utada
Released	September 8, 2004 (see release history)
Genre	Pop, dance, R&B, ethereal wave, alternative, rock, electronica
Length	54:15, 65:00 (UK Version)
Label	Island Mercury, Universal
Producer	Utada, Timbaland, Danja, Sking U
Utada chronology
Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 1 (2004) Exodus (2004) Ultra Blue (2006)
Alternative cover
UK album cover
Singles from Exodus
"Easy Breezy" Released: August 3, 2004 "Devil Inside" Released: September 14, 2004 "Exodus '04" Released: June 21, 2005
Singles from Exodus (United Kingdom Version)
"You Make Me Want to Be a Man" Released: October 17, 2005

Exodus (エキソドス, Ekisodosu) is the debut English language by Japanese singer-songwriter Utada. The album was released on September 8, 2004 by Island Records in Japan, and worldwide on October 5, 2004. The album was re-released by Mercury Records in the UK over a year later on September 25, 2005. This is Utada's debut studio album (not including Precious).

"Easy Breezy", "Devil Inside" and "Exodus '04" were the three singles released in America, whilst the UK re-release had a single release also; "You Make Me Want to Be a Man". All singles were released in the United States, although "Easy Breezy" didn't manage to chart in the US. "Devil Inside" was considered Utada's best single in the states at that time, as it peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Play, becoming one of Utada's first number one on the charts. "Exodus" had managed to peak at number twenty-four on the Hot Dance Club Play. The fourth single "You Make Me Want to Be a Man", peaked at number two-hundred and twenty-seven on the UK Singles Chart. To date, none of her English singles have peaked on the Oricon Singles Charts.

Exodus received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who felt that her music was very mainstream for the public, although some did feel it was "repetitive"^{[citation needed]}. Exodus was re-released on September 20, 2006 in Japan, under Universal International, parent company of Island Def Jam. This limited reissue retailed at ¥1470. The album sold a total of 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Background and style

The tracks "Opening" and "Crossover Interlude" contain exactly the same lyrics, but are mixed differently. Even though "Opening" has vocals in the song, the lyrics aren't provided in the lyric booklet. The Hong Kong and Taiwan versions of the album contain lyrics for "Opening" in Chinese. Only two Japanese words were used on the whole album: the words "konnichiwa" (こんにちは) and "sayōnara" (さようなら) are found in "Easy Breezy". Additionally, the words "Thank you for praying for my success" (成功祈ってくれてありがとう, Seikou inotte kurete arigatou) are written in the lyric booklet. All of the Japanese translations were done by Hiroko Shintani (新谷洋子, Shintani Hirōko), except for the song "Animato" which was translated by Utada herself. Utada stated that it had a certain feel to it that she wanted to bring across to her Japanese audience.

The album is a straight Mainstream pop music, but incoporates different and various genres, including hip-hop, dance-pop, R&B, electronica, electropop, synthpop, tribal music and J-Pop music.

Release and promotion

Exodus was released in North America nearly a month after it was released in Japan, on October 5, 2004, two months later in Brazil, on November 17, 2004, and the UK version was released about a year after on September 26, 2005. Exodus was re-released on September 20, 2006 in Japan, under Universal International, parent company of Island Def Jam.

On February 23, 2005, Utada did a one-night-only showcase at the Skylight Studios, New York. There she sung a few songs from Exodus.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
MSN Music
Stylus Magazine	(B)
USA Today

Exodus is the largest debut selling foreign language album in Japanese history (debut with 523,761 units). It is the 247th best selling album of all time in Japan.

Elton John stated that:

“

In terms of surprises, there's an interesting girl, Utada, who's a pop star in Japan and who released an album late last year called Exodus [Island]. It's really interesting dance and pop music. She could be the first Japanese recording artist to really make it in the West.

”

However, the album was not that successful in the US, reaching #160 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and has sold in excess of 55,000 units in the territory according to Nielsen Soundscan. It did, however, have more success in Japan. On September 8, 2004, Universal Music Japan shipped 1 million copies of the album, breaking a record that was previously held by Mariah Carey (she had sold 500,000).

In an interviews in the United States whilst promoting This Is the One in 2009, when asked about Exodus, Utada said that Exodus was "a very experimental album. I was like a mad scientist working away in an underground laboratory", going on to say "I had the time of my life but it was a very intense, introverted process". Utada has said in numerous follow-up interviews that Exodus is an introverted album.

Singles

"Easy Breezy" was released as the first single of the album. This is the first single to debut her name "Utada" which she uses for her English releases. The song received generally positive reviews from music critics^{[citation needed]}, however the song did not chart on any singles chart. The song however sold more than 2000 copies in Japan. The second single of the album, "Devil Inside", was released on 14 September, 2004 and received generally mixed reviews from music critics. The song was released physically in the United States. No music video was produced. The song remained Utada's biggest hit in the States, as it peaked at number one on the Hot Dance Club Play.

The third single "Exodus '04" received generally positive reviews from music critics^{[citation needed]}, and was released in 2005, a late release on the album. No music video was produced for the single. The song received little attention yet again, but did peak at number twenty-four on the Hot Dance Club Play. The fourth and last single, "You Make Me Want to Be a Man", was released as the only UK Single. The song received little success as well, but peaked at number 227 on the UK Singles Chart.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Utada, except "Exodus '04" and "Let Me Give You My Love" composed by Utada and Timbaland. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Opening"	1:50
2.	"Devil Inside"	3:58
3.	"Exodus '04"	4:32
4.	"The Workout"	4:01
5.	"Easy Breezy"	4:03
6.	"Tippy Toe"	4:15
7.	"Hotel Lobby"	4:30
8.	"Animato"	4:31
9.	"Crossover Interlude"	1:18
10.	"Kremlin Dusk"	5:14
11.	"You Make Me Want to Be a Man"	4:37
12.	"Wonder 'Bout" (remixed by Timbaland)	3:48
13.	"Let Me Give You My Love"	3:38
14.	"About Me"	4:00

UK Bonus Tracks
No.	Title	Length
15.	"You Make Me Want to Be a Man (Bloodshy & Avant Mix)"	4:03
16.	"You Make Me Want to Be a Man (Junior Jack Mix)"	6:44

Charts

Exodus (Japan) - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

Release	Chart	Peak Position	Debut Sales	Sales Total	Chart Run
September 8, 2004	Oricon Daily Albums Chart	1
September 8, 2004	Oricon Weekly Albums Chart	1	523,761	1,074,393	20
September 8, 2004	Oricon Yearly Albums Chart	6

Exodus (U.S.) - Billboard Sales Chart (U.S.)

Release	Chart	Peak position	Sales Total
October 5, 2004	The Billboard 200	160	55,000
October 5, 2004	Top Heatseekers	5

Exodus singles - Billboard charts

Year	Single	Chart	Peak position
2004	"Devil Inside"	Dance Radio Airplay	1
2004	"Devil Inside"	Hot Singles Sales	57
2004	"Devil Inside"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	30
2005	"Exodus '04"	Hot Dance Music/Club Play	24

Release history

Country	Date	Distributing label
Japan	September 8, 2004	Universal Music Japan
United States	October 5, 2004	Island Records
Luxembourg	October 5, 2004	Universal Music
Germany	October 5, 2004
New Zealand	October 14, 2004
Brazil	November 17, 2004
United Kingdom	September 26, 2005	Mercury Records
Worldwide	October 5, 2004	Universal Music

Personnel

• Hikaru Utada - vocals, writer, producer, programmer, acoustic guitar
• Teruzane Utada/Skingg U - producer, guitar
• T. Moseley / Timbaland - producer, writer, remixer
• Goh Hotoda – recording, mixer
• Mat Snedecor – engineer
• Dan Bucchi – engineer
• Brian Russel – engineer
• Pat Woodward - engineer
• Jason Dale – engineer
• Patrick Magee – engineer
• Pete Davis – programmer
• Steve Sidelnyk – programmer
• Bill Pettaway – production coordinator
• Michael Evans - production coordinator
• Yuko Honda – production coordinator
• Jeff Gulob - guitar
• Jon Theodore - drums
• Bryan G. Russell - saxophone

External links

• Leaving the Girl Behind (Washington Post)