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''First Love'' is the debut studio album by Japanese recording artist Hikaru Utada, released on 10 March 1999 on Toshiba-EMI. Born and raised in New York City to music-oriented parents, Utada moved to Tokyo to attend Seisen International School and American School in Japan. From there, she begun writing and composing music for her debut effort. Utada, her father Teruzane Utada and producer Akira Miyake produced the album and remain her two main co-producers and composers. An R&B and dance-pop album, ''First Love'' centres on the theme of love and relationships. Songs like "Automatic" and "First Love" are prime examples of these themes. A 2014 re-issue of the album was released simultaneously, featuring a bonus live DVD and the special edition featured two additional discs. Critics' opinions of the album were generally favourable, praising Utada's song writing and vocal delivery. In its first week of release, the album entered the Oricon Albums Chart at number one with over two million units sold. Since its release, ''First Love'' remains the highest selling Japanese and Asian album. It has sold over ten million units worldwide. Utada promoted the album by releasing four singles: "Automatic", "Time Will Tell", "Movin' on Without You" and "First Love", all which were accompanied by a short music video. She performed several tracks from the album on several television appears in 1998 and 1999, and has performed songs on her Utada: In the Flesh 2010 and Wild Life tour. "Automatic", "Time Will Tell" and ''First Love'' are her best-selling singles and album respectively. ==Background== Born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, Utada started singing at a very young age; she was a member of U, a musical act with her mother Keiko Fuji and her father Teruzane. U released their debut album ''Star'' in 1993, with the hope to debut in America; the album only peaked at thirty-three in Japan. Utada's mother was a Japanese enka singer and actress, while her father was a Japanese record producer who had contributed to some of Fuji's work. In 1996, the group was re-branded as Cubic U, an R&B project that focused primarily on Hikaru, resulting in the English language album ''Precious'' in 1998 with record label Toshiba EMI.〔(【引用サイトリンク】) ">url=http://artist.cdjournal.com/d/precious/1198020184 )〕 The album peaked at two on the Oricon Albums Chart and sold over 700,000 units. Utada moved to Tokyo in early-1997 to attend Seisen International School and American School in Japan. During her studies, Utada signed as a solo artist with Toshiba EMI and begun recording her album ''First Love''. Fluent in both English and Japanese languages, the head offices at EMI asked if she could write Japanese songs rather than English lyrics. During the process of the album, Utada desired to become a singer-songwriter and occasionally practised producing and composing her music rather than become a Japanese idol. She refused to allow talent agencies to contact her at the start, which was a very common tradition for Japanese singers in the 1990s, and her father started to manage her work along with producing and composing it; to this day, her father continues to manage and co-produce some of her work. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「First Love (Hikaru Utada album)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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