Released March 28, 2001 Length 64:26 Artist Hikaru Utada Label EASTWORLD | Recorded 1999–2000 Distance
(2001) Deep River
(2002) Release date 28 March 2001 | |
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Producer Utada Hikaru
Darkchild
Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
Akira Miyake
Teruzane Utada Awards Rock & Pop Album of the Year Genres J-pop, Pop music, Rock music, Contemporary R&B Similar Hikaru Utada albums, J-pop albums | ||
Distance utada hikaru
Distance is the second Japanese album (third overall) released by Japanese-American J-pop singer Utada Hikaru, released on March 28, 2001 in direct "competition" with A Best by Ayumi Hamasaki (see 2001 in music).
Contents
Distance is the fourth-best-selling album in Japan of all time with over 4.47 million copies sold, and sold over 3 million copies in its debut week, setting Japan's one-week sales record and the world's highest one week sales in a single territory, Hamasaki's album having the second highest ever, a record held by the two albums until 2015, when Adele's third album 25 sold 3.4 million copies in its first week in the United States. According to Oricon, Distance is the highest selling Japanese album of the decade.
Globally, the album was one of the best-selling of 2001, being listed at #10 on the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's Top 50 Global Best Selling Albums for 2001.
Production
For this album, Utada worked with American producers for a few tracks: Rodney Jerkins, who has worked with the likes of Toni Braxton, produced (and performed rap vocals on) the track "Time Limit", while songwriters Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced both "Wait & See: Risk" and the Up-in-Heaven mix of "Addicted to You".
The melody of "Kotoba ni Naranai Kimochi" was originally introduced in the track "Interlude" found on the First Love album. Due to time constraints, the song couldn't be finished on time for release in full on First Love, and was carried over to this album. The title of the track "Hayatochi-remix" is a portmanteau Utada created of "Hayatochiri", the name of the original song on the "Wait & See: Risk" single, and the word "remix".
The song "Distance" was originally planned to be a single without any alterations, but it was instead released in a rearranged ballad form called "Final Distance" in memory of a fan who died in the June 2001 Osaka school massacre; this new version would appear in her next album, Deep River.
The cover art for the album, as well as the whole album photography, was done by her now-former husband and director Kazuaki Kiriya.
Track listing
All tracks written by Utada Hikaru, except for "Time Limit" and "Drama", composed by Utada Hikaru and Takuro Kubo of Glay.
Singles
The singles released from Distance would become the biggest hits of Utada's career in terms of physical sales. Three of the four singles sold at least a million units, earning a million certification from the RIAJ and making the Top 100 listing of best-selling singles in Japan, while "For You" / "Time Limit" fell just short of that mark, selling just a little over 900K (909,000).
Personnel
Charts
Distance – Oricon Sales Chart (Japan)
Songs
Wait & See ~risk~4:50
Can You Keep a Secret5:10
DISTANCE5:30