01: My Little Lover Boy - This album starts off with the opening track My Little Lover Boy. This song was the first song I’ve ever heard off this album and that was a while ago when I found out that Hikki was Cubic U. Well… on this song, she did an OK job but she seems slightly off-key in some way. The arrangement is synthed up r&b with smooth bass and guitars which played like background noise as the song continued throughout. I used to like this song a while ago but now it’s kind of boring to listen to on a daily bias.
02: Lullaby - Things don’t get any better on the next track Lullaby which was another song I used to like a lot but now it just bores me like no other song. I think the guys from Imajin were in this song and the guy that I really don’t like with the deep straining notes, Hikki did an OK job and nothing more with this song in my opinion. This song is a complete snore-fest and if you want to fall asleep then listen to this song because it just might help you out.
03: How Ya Doin’ - This next track bumps up the tempo of this album to mid-tempo with How Ya Doin’. I really liked this song when I first heard it a while ago but now my love for this song has died down just like the two previous tracks but I still think this song is passable, somewhat enjoyable. The chorus is the highlight and Hikki’s vocals were fine but she seemed a bit strange singing a song like this which is the reason why this song is interesting in my opinion.
04: I Don’t Love You - This album slows it right back down with this next track I Don’t Love You and I’m not feeling this song anymore. Let’s talk about the problems with this song, well… Hikki’s vocals sound immature and she’s trying to sound r&b but it’s not working, the guy from Imajin with the deep voice was annoying the hell out of me when he decided to strain the mess out of his voice at randoms time in this song. The arrangement was really boring and repetitive, I felt like falling asleep on the keyboard, seriously. This is just not a good song.
05: Promise - This next track decides to make this album a bit better and it’s doing the trick for me. Hikki sounds very young in this song and in the way she sings in this song, you can tell. It’s not that it’s a bad thing because she kind of sounds the same as she does today in her more recent songs. The arrangement plays like a lullaby and the r&b/pop going on in there was the perfect touch for this song, I really love this song.
06: Ticket 4 Two - The good mood gets shattered with the next track Ticket 4 Two. I don’t know what I was on when I listening to this song because now I think it’s so boring and it really doesn’t help much considering that I’m bored already at the moment. Hikki’s vocals were all right but she sounds sleepy for some reason and just can’t wait until she’s done singing the song so she can move on to another one, this song is an absolute sleeper.
07: Take a Little While - This album thankfully gets better with the next track Take a Little While. Hikki’s vocals were pretty good in this song, I loved the way she sung this song. The arrangement is pretty simple and bland but it does it’s part, it was all right but nothing spectacular, this song was pretty good though.
08: 100 Reasons Why - I really liked this next track 100 Reasons Why, it’s one of my top favorite songs off this album. I haven’t heard this song in a while and listening to it now I still like it a lot. Hikki’s vocals were pretty strong despite sounding a bit forced in a way, the backing vocals were a pretty nice touch to this song. The arrangement is pretty basic and repetitive but it fits well with the vocals from everyone involved with this song, this was pretty good and probably nothing better than the previous track but I enjoyed it just as much.
09: Work Things Out - This album decides to painfully slow things down with the next track Work Things Out. It’s a shame, I used to like this song also but just like Ticket 4 Two, it’s so bland you would wind up in a short daze. Hikki sounds really disinterested in this song like she doesn’t care about singing the song and she’s just forcing herself to sing the song, this song is just FAIL and I’m almost tempted to spell it out.
10: Close to You - This album is getting boring, really boring… Close to You was an all right song but it like Hikki was kind of missing the mark in her vocals on this one. The guy that keeps on straining his voice from Imajin keeps popping up out of nowhere and he doesn’t help make these songs any better. The arrangement was simple but it was also beautiful in my opinion but this song is a sleeper and it does nothing but bore me to death.
11: Precious Love - The album finally comes to the title track Precious Love. This is a lovely song, it’s kind of boring but Hikki’s vocals were simply lovely on here and much better than Close to You. The arrangement is r&b and that’s a good thing when you’re me but all this album contains was that genre, I’m an huge fan of r&b and 90’s r&b but albums do need their variety to make them a bit more interesting but this song was pretty nice, regardless.
12: How Ya Doin’ (Rap Version) - This next track is a remix of the original version of How Ya Doin’, this version was much better than the original version though. Hikki’s vocals seemed a bit better on this one and not as bland on the original version, there’s also a random chick rap that pops out of nowhere but I enjoyed that part also. The arrangement was much better, it makes the song more lively. This song was good but Precious Love would have been a much better album closer.
1. My Little Lover Boy
2. Lullaby
3. How Ya Doin’
4. I Don’t Love You
5. Promise
6. Ticket 4 Two
7. Take a Little While
8. 100 Reasons Why
9. Work Things Out
10. Close to You
11. Precious Love
12. How Ya Doin’ (Rap Version)
I don’t know what I was thinking when I first listened to Cubic U/Utada Hikaru’s Precious album because I remember listening to it a long time ago and I used to love it to death but now it’s more boring than high school is. Hikki did an decent job but she really did shine on some tracks, mostly the ones that I liked but not all though. This album gets really boring after listening to it for a billion time which is what ruined this album for me because I used to play this non-stop. Hikki has much better albums than this one and I’m so glad that she redeemed herself from this failure of an album with her much better solo debut album First Love.
Oh… the pain. I hate this album so much, its such a bad album, Exodus is so much better and I don’t really like that one either. I use to only like Close To You and My Little Lover Boy. I think my biggest beef with this album is how tragically generic all the songs are, expecially compared to her high quality later albums and tracks, it just blows my mind, but this album is a sleeper. I would review it, but then it’d be like double’s english album all over again…
I’m a huge fan of Hikki, she was the first J-Pop singer that introduced me to J-music with her song ‘Beautiful World’ and then I heard that song off of Inuyasha that BoA did and then I also became a fan of BoA, 3 years ago then after that I started to listen to everyone’s music. As for this album, I used to like all of the songs because it was r&b and I always thought that this was better than Exodus but now after listening to this, I wanna fall asleep so bad.