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is the debut English language album by Japanese singer-songwriter Utada, released on September 8, 2004 by Island Records. After being discovered in North America by Island CEO Lyon Cohen when she contributed to the ''Rush Hour 2'' soundtrack, he was very interested in signing Utada to his record label and she eventually accepted the offer. She traveled to Los Angeles, California to sign the contract and begun recording the studio album straight after her signing. However, during the time frame from 2002 and 2003, Utada was diagnosed with cancer that needed surgery and treatment and married her husband Kazuaki Kiriya, which stopped recording temporarily. Musically, ''Exodus'' incorporates several musical genres including dance music and electronic music. This then utilizes several elements from electropop, avant garde, dreampop, ethereal wave and glitch music. ''Exodus'' is her first studio album to have full-English-language tracks since her album ''Precious'' under the alias ''Cubic U''. Several tracks on the album were written, composed and produced by Utada herself but also received help from American rapper Timbaland, Danja and her father Teruzane Utada. Lyrically, the album deals with several human-related stories from a third-person perspective. Themes incorporated inside the album is love, prostitution, lust, her own mixed heritage and break-ups. Upon its release, ''Exodus'' received mixed reviews from most contemporary music critics. Many critics complimented the composition experimentation and Utada's vocal deliveries on certain tracks. However, critics were divided towards the lyrical content and felt the production and album was only trying to attract a wider audience through the Western market. Commercially, ''Exodus'' was a commercial success in her native Japan, peaking at number one and sold over one million units in the country, making it the highest selling English studio album there. It was certified million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). In North America, ''Exodus'' suffered and only peaked inside the top 200 on the Billboard 200. Four singles were released from the album. The first single "Easy Breezy" failed to gain success in both Eastern and Western territories, but the following single "Devil Inside" peaked at number one on the US Hot Dance Club Songs, making it her highest charting effort regarding any ''Billboard'' chart. The final North American single "Exodus '04" charted moderately in America overall, while the lead UK single "You Make Me Want to Be a Man" failed to achieve higher success in that region as well. To promote the album, Utada had commenced her ''Utada Hikaru In Budokan 2004'' tour. ==Background== Utada, who was under her birth name Hikaru Utada in the Japanese market, was one of the most successful musicians inside of Japan. Utada had released three Japanese-language studio albums; ''First Love'', ''Distance'' and ''Deep River''. All three studio albums achieved massive success inside of Japan, all listed as one of the biggest selling albums in Japan with the debut release being the most successful Japanese album of all time, selling seven million units in Japan and an additional three million worldwide.〔(RIAJ: Turbulent and challenging 10 years of software industry - Rapidly changing recording industry )〕〔(List of million-selling CD albums in Japan )〕 Several singles from each album sold over one million units and tallied up to seven of her singles having sold over one million units, with her debut single "Automatic/Time will tell" selling over two million.〔 In 2001, Utada was approached by American label Island Def Jam to record a track entitled "Blow My Whistle" with American rapper Foxy Brown on the American film ''Rush Hour 2''.〔 The track was written by Utada herself, alongside Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. The song is included on Def Jam's Rush Hour 2 soundtrack, which peaked the 11th spot on both the ''Billboard'' 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and also the 1st on the Top Soundtracks. Although Hikaru usually produces her own songs, ''Blow My Whistle'' was produced by The Neptunes.〔http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266915/soundtrack〕 Then, in 2003, Island CEO Lyor Cohen was interested in signing Utada to his label and she eventually accepted his recommendation and signed her first deal in 2004.〔 Utada had flown to Los Angeles, California to meet Cohen and Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris with her mother Keiko Fuji and father Teruzane Utada to support her there.〔 Her record label Toshiba-EMI had also released her material worldwide like Island, but Cohen commented that Island would support her choices throughout the American audience.〔 According to Steve McClure from ''Billboard'', Utada and her father were originally approached by EMI Music and Virgin Records beforehand and were also interested in signing Utada to their label.〔 A source from the article commented; "People at () were kissing up her dad and promising him that they were definitely going to launch her as an international star."〔 However, he later commented "But with the complete meltdown () Everybody Utada had knew had gone."〔(Billboard Book pg. 14. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Exodus (Hikaru Utada album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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