History Music / FirstLove

* Music/FirstLoveMikeLoveAlbum

[[redirect:Music/FirstLoveHikaruUtadaAlbum]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1594_firstlove_xekp.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''"You are always gonna be the one..."'']]

''First Love'' is the debut Japanese studio album by Music/HikaruUtada, released in 1999. It is notable for the being the #1 best-selling album of all time in Japan, with 8 million copies sold in the country and a total of 11 million sold worldwide. Utada wrote and recorded the album when they were only 15 years old, and was 16 when it was released.

Though it is typically regarded as their debut album, this is actually the second album they recorded. The year before, they released the album ''Precious'', recorded when they were 13, under the StageName "Cubic U", with the intention of debuting as a Western artist. This album was entirely in English and was not a commercial success. Following this, their record label asked them to write and record in Japanese for this album, though Utada also incorporates English lyrics into the songs. The album is primarily R&B and pop music, with some dance and funk influences, and is credited for introducing R&B music to a wider audience in Japan.

The album's lead single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_QVB4Qdh6o "Automatic"]] / "Time Will Tell" became an overnight success, selling over 2 million copies and making Hikaru Utada a household name while they were [[ChildPopStar still in high school]]. Follow-up singles [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_8T7lYucQ "Movin' on Without You"]] and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q5-4yMi-xg First Love]]" were also major successes with the former topping the Japanese singles chart. The album itself sold 2.1 million copies in its first week and by the end of the year was the top-selling album of all time in Japan, a record it still holds today.

Not to be confused with the [[FirstLove trope of the same name]], though unsurprisingly, many songs on the album deal with [[SillyLoveSongs love and relationships]], presumably Utada's first.

----
!! Tracklist:

# "Automatic" (5:28)
# "Movin' on without you" (4:38)
# "In My Room" (4:19)
# "[[TitleTrack First Love]]" (4:17)
# "Amai Wana ~ Paint It, Black" (5:02)[[note]]"Sweet Trap ~ Paint It, Black"[[/note]]
# "time will tell" (5:27)
# "Never Let Go" (3:57)
# "B&C" (4:20)
# "Another Chance" (5:22)
# "Interlude" (0:17)
# "Give Me A Reason" (6:27)
# "Automatic -Johnny Vicious Remix-" (Bonus Track) (4:37)

----
!! It's Trope-omatic...

* BreakupSong: "Movin' on without you" is about breaking up with a partner who plays games and doesn't make time for you.
-->''If it's bothersome for you to care about me, let me know right away''[[note]]Kamau no ga mendou nara, hayaku oshiete[[/note]]\\
''Because even I don't have that much time to spare''[[note]]Watashi datte sonna ni hima janaindakara[[/note]]\\
''I'm'' ''[[TitleDrop moving on without you]]''
* EpicRocking: "Give Me A Reason" is 6 and half minutes long.
* FaceOnTheCover: The cover features a [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace perhaps uncomfortably close]] close-up of Utada's face.
* FirstLove: Well, "First Love", and most likely the rest of the songs as well. Interestingly, [[NonAppearingTitle first love is never directly mentioned on the album]], but most of the album's songs ''are'' about love, and given the album's title and their young age when recording it they probably fit this.
* ForeignLanguageTitle: The album title and all the song titles except "Amai Wana". Justified as Utada has stated that (at least early in their career) they would write their songs in English first before translating them to Japanese.
* MelismaticVocals: Utada gets their R&B on noticeably more often than on their later albums. "First Love", "Never Let Go" and "Give Me a Reason" are good examples.
* MinisculeRocking: The aptly titled "Interlude", which at 17 seconds is the shortest song in their discography. Would be upgraded to the full song "Kotoba ni Naranai Kimochi" on their [[{{Music/Distance}} next album]].
* NewJackSwing: Appears most prominently on "Automatic."
* NonAppearingTitle: The words "first love" actually never appear on the album.
* ObsessionSong: The third chorus of "Automatic" has shades of this (Passive type):
-->''It's not that I feel in love just by being close to you''[[note]]Soba ni iru dake de, itoshii nante omowanai[[/note]]\\
''It's just that I need you, it's not because I'm lonely'' [[note]]Tada hitsuyou na dake, samashii kara janai[[/note]]\\
''I just need you''
* OutlawCouple: Subverted on "B&C". The title stands for "Bonnie and Clyde" and they mentions the couple by name in the chorus, but there's no allusions to any criminal activity.
* {{Sampling}}:
** "Give Me a Reason" samples the famous drum break from Music/JamesBrown's "Funky Drummer". Hearing it in a slow ballad is... weird.
** "Never Let Go" interpolates the melody from Music/{{Sting}}'s "Shape of My Heart".
** "Automatic" samples the intro of "Hey Young World" by Music/SlickRick.
* PoirotSpeak: Happens fairly frequently - Utada gets a lot of mileage out of their bilingualism on this album.
** Just about every track has English lyrics in it, and they switches languages mid-sentence frequently. Granted, these lyrics are all [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish completely grammatically correct]] and make perfect sense if you speak both languages, but nonetheless many people saw this as a way of emphasizing Utada's Western upbringing. Examples:
*** "Kimi ni aenai ''my rainy days'' / Koe wo kikeba jidouteki ni ''sun will shine''"[[note]]"My rainy days (are) when I can't see you / When I hear your voice, automatically the sun will shine"[[/note]] from "Automatic".
*** "Dakara ''always with you'' / Yume ni esukeepu ''in my room''"[[note]]"That's why I'm always with you / I escape to my dreams in my room"[[/note]] from "In My Room".
*** "Kono nagai ''runway'' kara aozora e ''take off!''"[[note]]"Take off from this long runway into the blue sky!"[[/note]] from "time will tell".
** They also pronounces loanwords with their English rather than Japanese pronunciation, or mixes the pronunciations together mid-word.
*** For example, in the line "Kimi to paradaisu ni iru mitai"[[note]]"It's like I'm in paradise with you"[[/note]] from "Automatic", the "r" is pronounced as in English but they adds an "u" to the end of the word as in Japanese). "In My Room" does this similarly with "color kontakuto" [[note]]"color(ed) contact(s)" or "karaakontakuto"[[/note]]
* SelfBackingVocalist: Done on all the songs, though unlike their later albums, some songs ("In My Room", "time will tell") also feature (uncredited) male background vocals. Most noticeable on songs like "Automatic", "Movin' on Without You" and "Give Me a Reason".
* ShoutOut:
** To Bonnie and Clyde on "B&C". Utada mentions them by name in the chorus:
---> ''We can go anywhere, we can go anywhere''[[note]]Ikeru dokomade, ikeru dokomade[[/note]]\\
''Always, just like Bonnie and Clyde''[[note]]Zutto Bonnie and Clyde mitai ni[[/note]]
** To Music/TheRollingStones on "Amai Wana ~ Paint it, Black". The title references their song "Paint it Black" and they interpolates the song's famous line "I see a red door and I want to paint it black" in the outro.
* SillyLoveSongs: Most of the songs qualify. "Automatic" is the most upbeat and straightforward example.
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: To be expected, since Utada is fluent in both English and Japanese. This album also features considerably more English lyrics than their later work.
* TextlessAlbumCover: Not even their name, which was a fairly bold choice given this was their debut.
* TitleTrack: "First Love".
* TranslatedCoverVersion: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q7Pt58Mbig dub mix]] of "Time Will Tell" is a partial version of this. Not all of the lyrics are included (dub mixes tend to take out at least some of the lyrics or vocals of the original song), but the ones that are translated into English.
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: "First Love" mentions a kiss having the flavor of cigarettes, which attracted some controversy as Utada was only 15 when they wrote the song, and the legal smoking age in Japan is 20. WordOfGod says that [[MST3KMantra it's just a song]] and people shouldn't take their all their lyrics so literally.
* TruckDriversGearChange: Does this in the last chorus of "First Love", with big, dramatic strings and drums to complete the effect.
* UpdatedRerelease: Received one on the album's 15th anniversary in 2014, with remastered songs, karaoke versions, remixed versions, demo versions, a tour DVD, and a demo for one previously unreleased song titled "Calling You".

''First Love'' is the debut Japanese studio album by Music/HikaruUtada, released in 1999. It is notable for the being the best-selling album of all time in Japan, with 8 million copies sold in the country and a total of 11 million sold worldwide. Utada wrote and recorded the album when they were only 15 years old, and was 16 when it was released.

Though it is typically regarded as their debut album, this is actually the second album they recorded. The year before, they released the album ''Precious'', recorded when she was 13, under the StageName "Cubic U", with the intention of debuting as a Western artist. This album was entirely in English and was not a commercial success. Following this, their record label asked them to write and record in Japanese for this album, though Utada also incorporates English lyrics into the songs. The album is primarily R&B and pop music, with some dance and funk influences, and is credited for introducing R&B music to a wider audience in Japan.

* ForeignLanguageTitle: The album title and all the song titles except "Amai Wana". Justified as Utada has stated that (at least early in their career) she would write her songs in English first before translating them to Japanese.
* MelismaticVocals: Utada gets her R&B on noticeably more often than on her later albums. "First Love", "Never Let Go" and "Give Me a Reason" are good examples.
* MinisculeRocking: The aptly titled "Interlude", which at 17 seconds is the shortest song in her discography. Would be upgraded to the full song "Kotoba ni Naranai Kimochi" on her [[{{Music/Distance}} next album]].

* OutlawCouple: Subverted on "B&C". The title stands for "Bonnie and Clyde" and she mentions the couple by name in the chorus, but there's no allusions to any criminal activity.

** Just about every track has English lyrics in it, and she switches languages mid-sentence frequently. Granted, these lyrics are all [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish completely grammatically correct]] and make perfect sense if you speak both languages, but nonetheless many people saw this as a way of emphasizing Utada's Western upbringing. Examples:

*** For example, in the line "Kimi to paradaisu ni iru mitai"[[note]]"It's like I'm in paradise with you"[[/note]] from "Automatic", the "r" is pronounced as in English but she adds an "u" to the end of the word as in Japanese). "In My Room" does this similarly with "color kontakuto" [[note]]"color(ed) contact(s)" or "karaakontakuto"[[/note]]
* SelfBackingVocalist: Done on all the songs, though unlike her later albums, some songs ("In My Room", "time will tell") also feature (uncredited) male background vocals. Most noticeable on songs like "Automatic", "Movin' on Without You" and "Give Me a Reason".

** To Music/TheRollingStones on "Amai Wana ~ Paint it, Black". The title references their song "Paint it Black" and she interpolates the song's famous line "I see a red door and I want to paint it black" in the outro.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: "First Love" mentions a kiss having the flavor of cigarettes, which attracted some controversy as Utada was only 15 when they wrote the song, and the legal smoking age in Japan is 20. WordOfGod says that [[MST3KMantra it's just a song]] and people shouldn't take their all her lyrics so literally.

''First Love'' is the debut Japanese studio album by Music/UtadaHikaru, released in 1999. It is notable for the being the best-selling album of all time in Japan, with 8 million copies sold in the country and a total of 11 million sold worldwide. Utada wrote and recorded the album when they were only 15 years old, and was 16 when it was released.

The album's lead single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_QVB4Qdh6o "Automatic"]] / "Time Will Tell" became an overnight success, selling over 2 million copies and making Utada Hikaru a household name while they were [[ChildPopStar still in high school]]. Follow-up singles [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_8T7lYucQ "Movin' on Without You"]] and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q5-4yMi-xg First Love]]" were also major successes with the former topping the Japanese singles chart. The album itself sold 2.1 million copies in its first week and by the end of the year was the top-selling album of all time in Japan, a record it still holds today.

''First Love'' is the debut Japanese studio album by Music/UtadaHikaru, released in 1999. It is notable for the being the best-selling album of all time in Japan, with 8 million copies sold in the country and a total of 11 million sold worldwide. Utada wrote and recorded the album when they was only 15 years old, and was 16 when it was released.

Though it is typically regarded as her debut album, this is actually the second album they recorded. The year before, they released the album ''Precious'', recorded when she was 13, under the StageName "Cubic U", with the intention of debuting as a Western artist. This album was entirely in English and was not a commercial success. Following this, their record label asked them to write and record in Japanese for this album, though Utada also incorporates English lyrics into the songs. The album is primarily R&B and pop music, with some dance and funk influences, and is credited for introducing R&B music to a wider audience in Japan.

''First Love'' is the debut Japanese studio album by Music/UtadaHikaru, released in 1999. It is notable for the being the best-selling album of all time in Japan, with 8 million copies sold in the country and a total of 11 million sold worldwide. Utada wrote and recorded the album when she was only 15 years old, and was 16 when it was released.

Though it is typically regarded as her debut album, this is actually the second album she recorded. The year before, she released the album ''Precious'', recorded when she was 13, under the StageName "Cubic U", with the intention of debuting as a Western artist. This album was entirely in English and was not a commercial success. Following this, her record label asked her to write and record in Japanese for this album, though Utada also incorporates English lyrics into the songs. The album is primarily R&B and pop music, with some dance and funk influences, and is credited for introducing R&B music to a wider audience in Japan.

The album's lead single [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_QVB4Qdh6o "Automatic"]] / "Time Will Tell" became an overnight success, selling over 2 million copies and making Utada Hikaru a household name while she was [[ChildPopStar still in high school]]. Follow-up singles [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i_8T7lYucQ "Movin' on Without You"]] and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q5-4yMi-xg First Love]]" were also major successes with the former topping the Japanese singles chart. The album itself sold 2.1 million copies in its first week and by the end of the year was the top-selling album of all time in Japan, a record it still holds today.

* FirstLove: Well, "First Love", and most likely the rest of the songs as well. Interestingly, [[NonAppearingTitle first love is never directly mentioned on the album]], but most of the album's songs ''are'' about love, and given the album's title and her young age when recording it they probably fit this.
* ForeignLanguageTitle: The album title and all the song titles except "Amai Wana". Justified as Utada has stated that (at least early in her career) she would write her songs in English first before translating them to Japanese.

* PoirotSpeak: Happens fairly frequently - Utada gets a lot of mileage out of her bilingualism on this album.

** She also pronounces loanwords with their English rather than Japanese pronunciation, or mixes the pronunciations together mid-word.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: To be expected, since Utada is fluent in both English and Japanese. This album also features considerably more English lyrics than her later work.
* TextlessAlbumCover: Not even her name, which was a fairly bold choice given this was her debut.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: "First Love" mentions a kiss having the flavor of cigarettes, which attracted some controversy as Utada was only 15 when she wrote the song, and the legal smoking age in Japan is 20. WordOfGod says that [[MST3KMantra it's just a song]] and people shouldn't take her all her lyrics so literally.

Not to be confused with the [[FirstLove trope of the same name]], though [[CaptainObvious unsurprisingly]], many songs on the album deal with [[SillyLoveSongs love and relationships]], presumably Utada's first.

* FirstLove: Well, [[CaptainObvious "First Love"]], and most likely the rest of the songs as well. Interestingly, [[NonAppearingTitle first love is never directly mentioned on the album]], but most of the album's songs ''are'' about love, and given the album's title and her young age when recording it they probably fit this.

''First Love'' is the debut Japanese studio album by UtadaHikaru, released in 1999. It is notable for the being the best-selling album of all time in Japan, with 8 million copies sold in the country and a total of 11 million sold worldwide. Utada wrote and recorded the album when she was only 15 years old, and was 16 when it was released.

-->Kamau no ga mendou nara, hayaku oshiete[[note]]If it's bothersome for you to care about me, let me know right away[[/note]]
-->Watashi datte sonna ni hima janaindakara[[note]]Because even I don't have that much time to spare[[/note]]
-->I'm [[TitleDrop moving on without you]]
* EpicRocking: "Give Me A Reason" is 6 and half minutes long. Half of the full-length tracks go over 5 minutes.

* FirstLove: Interestingly, [[NonAppearingTitle first love is never directly mentioned on the album]], but most of the album's songs ''are'' about love, and given the album's title and her young age when recording it they probably fit this.

* MayDecemberRomance:
** Implied and to a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] extent with "B&C", where she tells her love interest to "keep on driving" - in the US and Japan they'd have to be at least 18 to legally drive, while she was 15 when the songs were written.
** Ditto for "First Love" which has the line "Our last kiss had the flavor of cigarettes"[[note]]Saigo no kisu wa tabako no flavor ga shita[[/note]], implying that her love interest was a smoker. Japan's legal smoking age is 20, which would mean at least a 5 year age difference. ([[StatingTheSimpleSolution Or else they just ignored the law]]). At any rate, WordOfGod says that [[MST3KMantra it's just a song and people shouldn't take her lyrics so literally]].
* MelismaticVocals: Utada gets her R&B on noticeably more often than on her later albums. "First Love" and "Never Let Go" are good examples.
* NonAppearingTitle: "First Love" never actually uses the phrase in its lyrics.

-->Tada hitsuyou na dake, samashii kara janai[[note]]It's just that I need you, it's not because I'm lonely[[/note]]
-->I just need you
* OutlawCouple: B&C [[SubvertedTrope subverts this]]. The title stands for "Bonnie and Clyde" and she references the couple in the chorus, but there's no allusions to any criminal activity.

*** "Kimi ni aenai my rainy days / Koe wo kikeba jidouteki ni sun will shine"[[note]]"My rainy days (are) when I can't see you / When I hear your voice, automatically the sun will shine"[[/note]] from "Automatic".
*** "Dakara always with you / Yume ni esukeepu in my room"[[note]]"That's why I'm always with you / I escape to my dreams in my room"[[/note]] from "In My Room".
*** "Kono nagai runway kara aoi sora e take off!"[[note]]"Take off from this long runway into the blue sky!"[[/note]] from "time will tell".
** She also pronounces loanwords with their English rather than Japanese pronunciation, or mixes the pronunciations together ''mid-word''.

* SelfBackingVocalist: Done on all the songs. Often the main vocal part in Japanese is layered on top of her background vocals that are in English (ex. "Automatic", "Movin' on without you")

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: "First Love" mentions a kiss having the flavor of cigarettes, which attracted some controversy as Utada was only 15 when she wrote the song, and the legal smoking age in Japan is 20, though as noted above (see MayDecemberRomance) she didn't necessarily mean it literally.

[[quoteright:220:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hikaru_utada___first_love.png]]
[[caption-width-right:220: ''You are always gonna be the one...'']]

The album's lead single "Automatic / Time Will Tell" became an overnight success, selling over 2 million copies and making Utada Hikaru a household name while she was [[ChildPopStar still in high school]]. Follow-up singles "Movin' on Without You" and "[[TitleTrack First Love]]" were also major successes with the former topping the Japanese singles chart. The album itself sold 2.1 million copies in its first week and by the end of the year was the top-selling album of all time in Japan, a record it still holds today.

*** For example, in the line "Kimi to paradaisu ni iru mitai"[[note]]"It's like I'm in paradise with you"[[/note]] from "Automatic", the "r" is pronounced as in English but she adds an "u" to the end of the word as in Japanese). "In My Room" does this similarly with "color kontakuto" [[note]]"color contact(s)" or "karaakontakuto"[[/note]]

* NonAppearing Title: "First Love" never actually uses the phrase in its lyrics.

* Non-Appearing Title: "First Love" never actually uses the phrase in its lyrics.

** Implied and to a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] extent with "B&C", where she tells her love interest to "keep on driving" - in the US and Japan they'd have to be at least 18 to legally drive, while Utada herself was 15 when the songs were written.
** Ditto for "First Love" which has the line "Our last kiss had the flavor of cigarettes"[[note]]Saigo no kisu wa tabako no flavor ga shita[[/note]], implying that her love interest was a smoker. Japan's legal smoking age is 20, which would mean at least a 5 year age difference. ([[StatingTheSimpleSolution Or else they just ignored the law]]). At any rate, Utada herself has said that [[MST3KMantra it's just a song and people shouldn't take her lyrics so literally]].

* OutlawCouple: B&C [[SubvertedTrope subverts this]]. The title stands for "Bonnie and Clyde" and she references the couple in the chorus,
but there's no allusions to any criminal activity.

* MelismaticVocals: Utada gets her R&B on noticeably more often than on her later albums.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: "First Love" mentions a kiss having the flavor of cigarettes, which attracted some controversy as Utada was only 15 when she wrote the song, though she's stated the line wasn't meant literally.

* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: Unsurprisingly since Utada is Japanese-American and fluent in English and Japanese. This album also features considerably more English lyrics than her later work.

The album's lead single "Automatic / Time Will Tell" became an overnight success, selling over two million copies and making Utada Hikaru a household name while she was [[ChildPopStar still in high school]]. Follow-up singles "Movin' on Without You" and "[[TitleTrack First Love]]" were also major successes with the former topping the Japanese singles chart. The album itself sold 2 million copies in its first week and by the end of the year was the top-selling album of all time in Japan, a record it still holds today.