Also making their comeback today is NCT 127, who returns with Favorite (Vampire). This comeback sees the release of the group’s repackaged version of their third studio length album, which also shares the first name of the title track. It follows the release of Sticker, which I didn’t enjoy and actually have forgotten about since reviewing it back in mid-September. Let’s see how Favorite (Vampire) fairs, Also, on a side note, with the release of the repackaged album, you can expect an album review for both Sticker/Favorite this weekend!

Without a doubt, I would choose Favorite as my preferred track between the two releases from the group this year. Favorite flowed a lot better and felt more cohesive than the earlier track. However, this doesn’t mean I am 100% into the song. I am more so 99% into the track (plot twist much?). The issue lies within the instrumentation, as I don’t really like the wispy synth whistles in the instrumentation. They get better as the song progresses, and they might very well grow on me. But when I hear it for the first time every time I have replayed the song, I find them to be unsettling. Aside from that, I think Favorite was a really great track. It taps into R&B pop and has this smoothness to it, which I enjoyed. I also liked the more profound and normal whistling in the song (even though they did bring a certain level of dullness to the song), along with the trap elements that make up the background for the more rap-centric (rap-spoken) sequences, which added both and edgy vibe and kick to the song. They could have used less of the whistling, but it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. I think the worst thing in the world in the context of Favorite would be the dubstep breakdown. I am glad that didn’t make it into the final cut of the song (it was only in the music video, and I presume in the upcoming performances as well). If it did, it would have been unnecessary and obnoxious to listen to. Moving away from that, I thoroughly enjoyed the vocal works. Again, the smoothness comment can be applied here, and to the melodies which the members bring to life. The harmonies take it to the next level, while the two-syllable delivery they used at the end of the choruses made the song memorable for me. Overall, Favorite is definitely the superior track in comparison to Sticker, and is definitely a strong improvement from the mentioned last release.

The members (or at least some of the members) are vampires in this music video. The idea of it works really well with the music, from how I see it. The R&B pop song was very mature sounding, and I feel that the portrayal of the members as vampires was also quite mature as well. We don’t see any Count Draculas, and we don’t see any stereotypical portrayals of vampires as per folklore or stories depict them to be. I guess this mature vibe comes about because the song is about a relationship that is inevitably going to end, even though their partners are everything to them. While I think the vampire idea is great, I would like to see the concept be a more prominent feature in this music video. Also, I didn’t like the use of CGI in this video. It wasn’t the case across the board, but some parts looked noticeably synthetic. Thankfully, the dance sets balanced it out and made it seem less so.

The performance aspect of this comeback looks quite good. I really liked the two lines of members during the final moments of the chorus, and how they seemingly got into that formation. The dance break was quite dynamic, led by Taeyong, Mark and Jaehyun.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 6/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10