First Love (album)

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First Love
Studio album by Utada Hikaru
Released	March 10, 1999
Recorded	1998
Genre	J-Pop, R&B
Length	54:17
Label	Toshiba-EMI
Producer(s)	Akira Miyake, Teruzane Sking, Utada Hikaru
Utada Hikaru chronology
Precious (1998)	First Love (1999)	Distance (2001)

First Love is an album by Utada Hikaru, released in 1999 (see 1999 in music). It has sold well over ten million copies to date, and is the best-selling debut in Japanese music history as well as the all-time overall highest-selling album.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Automatic" -Album Edit– 5:28
2. "Movin' on without you" – 4:37
3. "In My Room" – 4:19
4. "First Love" – 4:17
5. "Amai Wana ~Paint It, Black~" (甘いワナ ～Paint It, Black～, Amai Wana ~Peinto Itto, Burakku~^?, lit. "Sweet Trap ~Paint It, Black~") – 5:02
6. "time will tell" – 5:26
7. "Never Let Go" – 3:57
8. "B&C -Album Version–" - 4:20
9. "Another Chance" – 5:21
10. "Interlude" – 0:16
11. "Give Me A Reason" – 6:22
12. "Automatic -Johnny Vicious Remix-" – 4:37

[edit] Singles

• "Automatic / time will tell" (December 9, 1998)
• "Movin' on without you" (February 17, 1999)
• "First Love" (April 28, 1999)

[edit] Charts

First Love - Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)

[edit] Personnel

All Japanese names are in Western order (given name before family name) except for Utada Hikaru's.

• Utada Hikaru (vocals)
• Akira Nishihira (arrangement, keyboards & programming)
• Kei Kawano (arrangement, additional keyboards)
• Shinichiro Murayama (arrangement, keyboards & programming)
• Toshiyuki Mori (arrangement, keyboards & programming)
• Jun Isomura (arrangement)
• Tsuyoshi Kon (guitar)
• Yoshiaki Kusaka (guitar)
• Hironori Akiyama (guitar)
• Yuji Toriyama (guitar)
• Masayoshi Furukawa (guitar)
• Yuichiro Honda (guitar)
• Yuichiro Goto (strings)
• Jullian Hernandez (additional chorus)
• Nobuhiko Nakayama (synthesizer programming)
• Takahiro Iida (synthesizer programming)
• Masayuki Momo (synthesizer programming)
• Taka & Speedy (rhythm arrangement, rhythm programming)
• Akira Miyake (producer)
• Teruzane Sking Utada (producer)
• Hidenobu Okita (director)
• Masaaki Ugajin (all vocals' recording)
• Masaaki Ugajin, Masashi Kudo, Seiji Motoyama, Takehiko Kamata, Bob Allecca, Mike Brown (back track recording)
• Hotoda Goh (mixing)
• Ted Jensen (mastering)

[edit] Miscellanea

• All songs are written by Utada Hikaru except "Amai Wana ~Paint It, Black~" ("Paint It, Black" is written by Mick Jagger & Keith Richards).
• She was only 15 when she recorded the album.
• "Interlude" was made into a song called "Kotoba ni Naranai Kimochi" on her Distance album.
• The line "I see a red door and I want to paint it black" from "Amai Wana ~Paint it Black~" was originally sung by The Rolling Stones.
• The song "Never Let Go" features the same beat used in "Take Him Back" by Monica, and was originally used in Sting's "Shape of My Heart". Hikaru said that Monica so inspired her with her R&B that she decided to use that beat.
• "time will tell" was made into English and released on one of her singles. This version is known as "Time Will Tell - Dub Mix".
• "First Love" was featured in a popular Japanese drama, Majo no Jōken (Forbidden Love).