Def Jam to release Utada: The best. Miss Utada = Not happy.

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Alongside Hikaru's awesome Single collection vol. 2, a collection of her 2 Def Jam releases will hit retail on the very same day: Utada: The best. The title is all kinds of misleading and we all know which of the compilations is the one worth bothering with, but whatever.

  1. Come back to me
  2. Easy breezy
  3. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence - FYI
  4. You make me want to be a man
  5. This one (Crying like a child)
  6. Exodus '04
  7. Apple and cinnamon
  8. Automatic (Part II)
  9. Devil inside
  10. Kremlin dusk
  11. Sanctuary (Opening)
  12. Sanctuary (Ending)
  13. Exodus '04 (JJ Flores double J radio mix)
  14. Devil inside (RJD2 remix)
  15. Come back to me (Tony Moran & Warren Rigg radio edit)
  16. Dirty desire (Mike Rizzo radio edit)

Everything about this release seems so half arsed, rush, budget and also pointless. They took the image from her "Exodus '04" single cover, desaturated it and ruined it with nasty font. The lack of care and consideration concerning this release is glaring. So much so that Hikaru took to Twitter to put Def Jam on blast and explain how she is not happy about the release what-so-ever. Rightly so. The compilation sucks. Def Jam could have fit both Exodus and This is the one on one disc! But by releasing it at the same time as her Single collection vol. 2, it's bound to sell moderately well. I won't be buying it. But I'm sure some stans will, just to say they have, and protest that they love a bitch more than everybody else who claim to be fans.

"Simple and clean" not featuring amongst the tracklist is just a damn shame. The one song which got her recognition and notice in the West is not even included - yet somebody claims this shit is the best of Utada!? I'm sat here kissing my teeth at this mess.

I'm sure Def Jam will probably drop Hikaru after this releases. I doubt she'll care. I wonder why they bothered signing her in the first place when they weren't going to make any effort with her. Exodus and This is the one were far from perfect and weren't a patch on her Japanese language albums, but they featured some great songs and potential smash singles.