Exodus (Hikaru Utada album)

       EXODUS  is the debut English language album by Japanese-American singer-songwriter Utada, released in 2004 by Island Records. It was released on September 9, 2004, in Japan, with a special booklet and housed in a cardboard slipcase. 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.

       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.

       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 contains 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.

        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.

        "Devil Inside", "Exodus '04", "You Make Me Want to Be a Man" and "Easy Breezy" debuted on American radio in April 2004, while on Japanese radio in June 2005 and on British radio in May 2006.

       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.

       The album sold a total of 1.5 million copies worldwide.

 

Reception
       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 held by Mariah Carey (she had sold 500,000).