Author: kpopreviewed

Hi, my name is Tony and I am the man behind the site, kpopreviewed. Currently an university student who wants to introduce people to KPOP and if you are already into KPOP, different groups and bands.

Like OOH AHH – TWICE

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A new KPOP girl group is in town. Under JYP Entertainment, this is a 9 nine member girl group that has been promised by the company for 2 years now. Twice is made up of Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Daehyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu. Only one of the members was born in 1995 and the rest of the members were born during November 1996 (my age) or after. Somewhat scary that they are now my age… The girls, with a number of others, featured in the competition survival show, SIXTEEN, where TWICE was formed. And the group itself is already making a name for themselves, with them being nominated already for first place on the charts.

This song is really catchy. It is a fun, bright and vibrant song that has me singing along and dancing in my seat everytime I hear it. It has a really cool pop sound to it, but some additions of a cute yet mature sound. While the title of the song has me kind of doubting the song when it first came out, I am glad I listened to it. I feel in love with it as soon as I heard it and it has been a song that I am constantly searching for on my phone and computer. The vocals are quite strong and their rapping is good. While they don’t stand out in those area (doesn’t really make me go wow), when the song comes together, it all works extremely well. Imagine a chocolate cake. You have the right ingredients, you make a good cake. Same here. Put a great song with a group that is able to carry the same feelings the song has, and it bound to work. Great job, girls.

For the music video, I actually liked it. I love the zombie theme it went for. But to see it being nominated as a scary video has my head shaking. I am just like, how? The zombies don’t eat anyone and they do nothing remotely the same like in the Walking Dead. It seems the girls ain’t afraid of some zombie apocalypse and they seem fine roaming around (and even going for that extra mile of dancing) with them. My favourite part is that “expectation and reality” part of the video where the ballerina is doing all those hard stretches and moves, but the girl in the cheerleader outfit not exactly getting the the “bar”. Please tell me you got that pun. I spent some time thinking of what to write. I love the zombies behind the fence and then they extend their arms sharply in the background at the start. That was pretty cool. The video was fun and enjoyable. Putting the girls into the a great light.

For the dance, I thought it was rather cool. The timing and all that was spot on in this video. Not 100% sure but they all seem to be in sync with each other. It was disappointing for me to hear that were not doing their debut stages live, but they managed to do a good job after their debut stage week.

Great song, video and dance. Remember that chocolate cake? These girls and their company have made a smashing recipe for a successful debut. 9/10

A Million Pieces – Kyuhyun (Super Junior)

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Kyuhyun, the main vocal from Super Junior, has officially returned with his 2nd solo mini album. He made his solo debut last year with At Gwanghwamun (a song which I never got to review and probably wise to keep it that way). This time around, he returned with a genre which he does best, ballad, with A Million Pieces. While Kyuhyun does have a nice voice, for some reason, I tend to avoid his releases. I made myself watch and listen to this song this time around. My thoughts? Well, the song is pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it is the best. I do prefer the song more than his solo debut though. The fluctuations in the way he sings the chorus and the verses is a pretty nice combination. His chorus is somewhat catchy. But that is all I can say. He has a nice voice, but the song does not do justice to it. I don’t find much that appealing to me. It is bland and honestly sounds a little flat. I am 100% sure that there is a song out there that will prefectly present his vocals skills and also show what I am talking about. Sadly this is not it.

Ummm… Stalker alert. In this music video we see Kyuhyun seemingly popping up  coincidently throughout the music video around this girl. The girl is generally confused. It turns out Kyuhyun picked up a map from the girl who dropped it earlier in the video and have been following her around. If I was her, I would have gone to the police station and mentioned a stalker, but for the sake of the video, let’s go on. He likes her (talk about love at first contact) and proceeds to hang out with her, with her approval. They go a mini date. The next day, Kyuhyun waits around the mountains for her (as per her map indicates), but it seems like she totally forgot her plan to the mountains. Well, it turns out she had some terrible migraine the night before and I think that may have prevented her from going to the mountains. Not entirely sure, but it looked like she had a pill in her hands at the end video, but she was crying so much that she couldn’t bring herself to take the pill. I am genuinely confused. Just 1 question: why didn’t she fill up her bottles of medication before she left? Surely she would have done a bit of planning ahead of time? To me the plot seems to be worthy to become the next Korean Drama.

But beside all of that, the video itself was pretty entertaining. Kyuhyun’s face though. So much make-up. I was just like, it is so white and smooth. How??? The scenery was amazing. The video managed to capture beautiful shots of Swenden?? I don’t know my geography, I apologise.

Song was technically a miss for me. Music video was entertaining. 5/10

Way Back Home – BTOB

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BTOB is back with a brand new ballad, just months after their hit It’s Okay was released. I honestly expected that the boys would have returned back to their upbeat more pop like songs this time around, so when I found out it would be a ballad I was disappointed. But I did kind of liked their last ballad and this one was pretty good as well. But once again, the ballad theme, does not really win me over like their past dance songs. This song has that more Autumn feel with it, which reflects the season in which Korea is in right now!!! Solely judged on a ballad, I thought the song was quite soothing and nice to listen to. I am finding that I am listening to this song constantly. I feel like the rap blends really well into the song and the bridge, while it changes the song up a bit, manages to still keep the flow going and allows the song to progress smoothly. Overall it is a good ballad, but once again, not a sound that I associate with the group.

As for the music video, there is an actual plot line in it. It is a rather long video and each member appears in it (just a small fact). Okay, the plot. Ilhoon leaves home for quite some time, leaving his mother to worry for him. During that time, he and Changsub (the duo) steals money and ends getting attacked for the money. They join a gang after meeting an old friend (Hyunsik), but realize soon after that the gang is attacking the people who live in the same area as his mother. So he turns against the gang (and his old friend), in order to protect his mother during the fight. Their old friend finds out after to why they turned against the gang and apologises for what his done and with the help of Changsub, rekindles their friendship.  Essentially the video is about finding the “way back home”, where home refers to the people around you. In this case, Ilhoon’s home was his family and Hyunsik’s home was his friendship with Ilhoon. Such a happy ending for a video that almost made me cry during the middle. Though you might not understand anything, give the video a try. The acting was great and the cinematography was amazing. I personally think the video is giving out a good message.

I don’t think a dance was required for the song. Though it would look weird for them just to stand there, I personally think they should have just foregone the dance and has the live performance of just rapping and singing.

Overall the song was great. but not a BTOB style song for me. I personally recommend the video. Catch the moral of the story hahaha… 7/10

Speed Up – MelodyDay

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MelodyDay is a 4 member girl group who made their debut last year. While their past songs have been mediocre, this song proves that there is something more to them. This is your typical KPOP song and it is something that makes me remember the golden years of KPOP. This song has great vocals, catchy tune, smooth sounds and a great instrumental to it. The song had promised a rock / chic sound and we got just that. The song actually matches up with the title. The speeds in the song does the song wonders. And that is what made the song sound so smoothly. Yes, there was a few stoppages that got to me, but it did not bother me that much. I would have loved a bit more rapping, but each member of this group has really great vocals and I am quite satisfied with what I got. There was one English line that did annoy me: “I’ll be parking in the party”. What does that even mean? While the song had great references to driving and whatnot, that line just annoyed me a little too much. But overall, I think this was a great song and it really caught my attention.

The music video features Junior from GOT7 and I thought while his addition to the music video was okay, it was definitely not needed. Honestly, he looked like he stumbled upon the magazine Playboy. It was just a simple pop culture magazine, there was no need to exaggerate the acting that was required. And the ending. I am just going to conclude that it was too exaggerated for me to watch. As for the girls, there was not much to them in this video. Wait, I meant plot wise. Cause 90% of the video was just them dancing and singing. The other 10% was the start and end of the video featuring Junior. I actually like the sets and the bright lights in this video. It gave off that atmosphere of an upbeat song. I felt like there could have been more to the video. For example, there was a lot of imagery in the lyrics, so why not add some of that imagery to the video? It would added more depth and might have made it a little more interesting.

They are not known for their dancing, let me get that straight. There was nothing for me to go wow about in this dance and that was disappointing. This song has so much potential for a powerful routine. Well, at least they did not forego their vocals. Their vocals during the live performances were pretty strong and solid.

This song put these girls on my list of groups to watch for. Not sure if they would become the next big thing in KPOP yet, but if they do put out more amazing songs like this, that catches my attention, I am willing to give these girls a listening ear. (Their debut song was not that bad, but the music video is something you should check out – it won last year’s Best Music Video at Melon Music Awards). 7/10

Closer – Oh My Girl

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I am completely digging this song. It is unique and sets itself apart from any song that has been released recently. The song was intended to be dream like and when I listen to it, I get just that feeling. And also that feeling like I am floating. The vocals to this song is superb. They give off that really nice floating feeling. The girl who sang at the start was so on point, and I believe she is the same girl that does that high note at the bridge, which gave me goosebumps when I listened to it. “Can you hear my cry” was just done amazingly. Minus the bad English, I actually like this seriousness from these girls. Cupid was just standard for me. If am happy to listen to any songs from Oh My Girl  if the girls continue to release songs like this. The rapping at the end was so subtle and matched really well with the song. Everything made me go wow with this song and I really like it how they left that impression on me.

I honestly like this video. Not to the point where I am obsessing over it, but I find the video goes really well with the song. The storyline has me a little confused. Girl follows Little Red Riding Hood into the forest, which leads her to floating stone pillars? Umm… Okay… Little Red Riding Hood sends her off to the mirror which transport to the exact same place she first saw Little Red Riding Hood, but this time there is an old car there. She approaches the car and sees this girl in there, who looks like Little Red Riding Hood. She touches the girls and gets this flood of memories where she bites an apple and her friends all disappear and I am assuming she is Snow White. Nice fairytale touch to it, but I believe that there is more to the story. The editing just goes back and forth between the choreography and plot, which confuses me and seems a little too fast for me. But nonetheless, the video is quite calming (I think it is the song) and I managed to enjoy what I watched for around 4 minutes.

The dance is beautiful. It fits the song and the lyrics of the song. I have been reading this article about them and the star constellations and how their formations line up to be like the star constellations. That just makes it more meaningful to the song. I love the “closer” parts. While so simple, it is just genius.

Loving this comeback. Form song to video to dance, I am glad these girls are being recognised bit by bit. 9/10

I – Taeyeon (SNSD) ft. Verbal Jint

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This song is jaw dropping amazing. The whole mini album is amazing. I literally have no complaints with this song. Her voice suits this style so much. There are no flaws. From her vocals to her singing style, to the instrumental, to the chorus. Everything went well with each other and flowed amazingly. Her voice just blows you away and it makes you wonder, why on earth did SM not give her any solo work (beside OSTs) that showcase her vocals like this in the past 8 years? I am not a fan of individual members of SNSD, but this just takes her to another level. Verbal Jint’s rap was just the right amount of soul and rnb that was needed for the song and his addition to the song made it have that more soulful and reflective vibe.  I love the guitar sounds and that band contribution from the song. To me, it is a perfect KPOP song. It is unique and has its own colour. I am going to stop here because I feel like I am ruining the song. Just listen to it and her mini album.

The music video is beautiful. The camera angles and cinematography is amazing. The scenery and the outdoor shots were so beautiful. I need to visit New Zealand. Living next door, I should just do it sometime in a few years.  As for her café song, you get a sense that she is singing about letting it all go and enjoying life as you should believe it. Her brother made an appearance, but it seemed to take people by surprised. While I have not said much (and cannot think of anything else to say), I think this video would have to be one of the most beautiful videos ever shot by SM (and that is saying a lot).

There was no dance, so I am going to skip over this part.

Hands down. This has to be one of the most beautifully sounding comebacks of the year. Sometimes I feel like I dislike SNSD, but this is one of the times that I am just speechless with what they have given me. 10/10 (any day!!!)

Ah Choo – Lovelyz

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Lovelyz’s new song is great. While they have gone down that cute route once again, they managed to put in more of a upbeat and fun flavour into their song. While the song does sound a little desperate, as if the people who made the song were running out of ideas, the girls managed to sound cute but yet keep that strong feel that they have going in the song. It is definitely a strong type of song and I did not expect it from a group of girls who is singing about love and sneezing. I completely adore the instrumental. The electronic sounds match really well the girl’s vocals. The song is catchy. My one concern is that the song is kind of typical. Ah Choo brings back those awkward titles of the past and the song just sounds like a KPOP song. Their might be a little Japanese influence in the song, but it sounds predominately KPOP. If they don’t start exploring, I feel like this band could easily be forgotten. For now, they sound great but if they continue repeating themselves and become typical, then there won’t be anything to say about it. But anyway, the song is great and very bright.

The music video is by the same people who have made the infamous Up and Down video for EXID and many Orange Caramel videos. And it is quite cute. This is the first time we have seen Jisoo perform with the girls, making the total number of members 8. And I cannot tell any difference. Hahaha… Was trying to say that in a way that does not pass off as an insult. But honestly, Jisoo fits in quite well throughout the video and their chemistry together is amazing. The hide and seek theme was quite nice as well. I am not liking the dull and pale colours that the video has throughout, but I am digging the sets and their dance set in this video. I also like the close-ups. They don’t focus on the face but instead the different parts of the face. That circle, while I thought it would be annoying in the video gave a lot of perspective. For some odd reason I expected noses in this video, and yet no noses. Not going to act disappointed because that is rather weird.

The dance was mediocre are best. The sneezing was great and they were in sync. But there was nothing that made me go wow about them. It isn’t such a catchy dance in my opinion unlike Candy Jelly Love which I liked the dance for nowadays.

Overall, the song and video were great. Not so much on the dance. 7/10

 

[DOUBLE REVIEW] Rhythm Ta & Airplane – iKON

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iKON has offically made their debut with their “half album”. If you managed to miss out on their pre-release and my review of it, click here!!! Finally getting around to these reviews. Now that I have finished university for the year (yes, it is nearly December), I should have more time for reviews. Exams soon. But it shouldn’t effect the reviews. Hopefully.

Rhythm Ta is like a hip-hop dance infused track that sounds a whole heap catchier than their pre-release. But it faces the same problem as their pre-release. Not a great start to their careers though. While I think it is a good song, it really doesn’t do much as a debut song. It doesn’t represent the guys or show something new. It is something that is quite standard and ordinary. The bridge was a complete mismatch to the rest of the song. I don’t think the vocals in this song matched with the song and Bobby’s rap sounds over the top in terms of power and toughness. B.I suited a lot more in this song than any of the other members. But the chorus is catchy and I digged it more than My Type. As for Airplane,  I think it s a hip-hop infused ballad. It sounds nicer and I much prefer this than My Type. At first I thought it would a song that Winner would release, but there is much more of that hip hop and upbeat feel to it. The vocals here matched the song much more and everything matched itself. Unlike Rhythm Ta, this song is by far a much better song in terms of, well, everything.

The music video for both I don’t much to say. Both seem okay. Both of the videos matched the style and the sounding of the song. Rhythm Ta was a more badass type of video, a lot of focus was on the dance, while Airplane was more a ballad and fitting plot was in it. For Airplane, the dude is clearly in love with the girl, but his friend continues to cock block them and also I don’t think the girl realised his emotions for her. It was an ordinary plot, and their acting is pretty good. Something that got to me was the parts where the members sing in Airplane. It just looks cliche and boring to watch them. Sounds like a particular video from last year. In terms of video, I think Rhythm Ta had a more visually appealing video. The colours were bolder and much more stronger compared too Airplane.

As for the dance, there was really only a dance for Rhythm Ta. And it was pretty good. The live performance for Airplane was boring to watch. But then again, there was not much to it.

Mixed feelings about the whole package. Airplane had a much better song, but Rhythm Ta had a much better video and dance. I feel like the boys still have not brought their A game out yet. I am 100% sure they can take everything they released and make it more amazing.

Rhythm Ta – 7/10

Airplane – 8/10

Mind Your Own Business – Ailee

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The song is pretty good, but it really does not have that Ailee feel to it. Yes, it is powerful. Yes, it has Ailee’s vocals. But it lacks something to take it to the next level. It sounds like a typical song that really does not stand out. All of her previous songs have that unique sound that makes it stand out, but this, it is lacking something. That something, I have no idea. Her vocals are superb as always and she has never failed us there. I enjoy how catchy the song is. That part right after the first part of the chorus has me rocking me head along to the beat. The instrumental was great. Fast paced, catchy and saxophones are always sexy. Hahaha… I still don’t know what is lacking. There is something missing that brings it up to the level of the past Ailee’s hits that we know of. To me, personally, this is her weakest song. It is powerful but compared to the rest of her other songs, it isn’t anywhere near.

The music video has me going wow. First of all, I hate characters who expect everything to be done for them. Ailee, if you want to trash his car, I think it would mean a whole lot more and it would be much more satisfying to trash it yourself. You didn’t have to do all of it, just if I were in your shoes, I would have a hella great time taking a hammer and smashing the windscreen. And you need some tips on hiding. Or maybe driving away, cause after all you are sitting behind a wheel of a car. Another thing, where did this injury come from? Cause damn, everything in this music video has her on two feet. I remember reading somewhere that she injured herself during filming (not sure if it was music video filming or something else). I love the hint of comedy in the video. Ailee kicks to the door to get it open, but then it was a pull type of door not a push type of door. Oh, we all have those days Ailee, don’t you worry. But I thought this was a cool video. It matched the lyrics and the power that the song had.

We don’t see Ailee dance that much in this music video and we don’t see her dance at all during the live performances. Such a pity. While it does look awkward with her sitting on a chair, she manages to bring that style and power that she always manages to bring to the stage. I do enjoy the air punches and all that fighting combat. But the start where the girls are standing in a line and touching the side of the other girls but, with sharp movements. It just doesn’t fit in with the rest of the dance.

Overall, it was a nice comeback. But I still don’t know what they missing thing is. Maybe I am overlooking everything and she has everything in the song. 7/10

 

If You Do – GOT7

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Just after 2 months, GOT7 is showing a brand new side to them. Move along happy, bright and cute concept that they had a few months ago. Here comes the masculine and charismatic concept. Just Right was released in July and the boys have been busy since completing the promotions for that song. They released a brand new Japanese single Laugh Laugh Laugh. Jackson also started MCing for SBS Inkigayo as well. Not really that much going on, come to the think of it.

This has to be their best song by far. I don’t care what I said in the past. Out of their songs that they have released so far, this is the song that will hopefully do wonders for them.  It is a much darker song and has more of an angry feel to it. You can feel the suppressed anger in the song lyrics and the overall tone of their song. I personally love the song so much. I feel like the rappers finally have a song where they do truly shine. While they are not the best rappers in the industry, they do a hell of a good job in this song. I absolutely love the first line of the whole song. Essentially when it is translated into English, the line basically says: “If you do it, it is good. If I do it, it is over”. The word “Over” is in Korean, yet it sounded like “good”. Also the slowing down of the song for the “Everyday, Every night, I feel like a fool, you gotta know” part does wonders to the song. It actually makes this song flow quite well and leads into the chorus quite well. The guitar synths and the drum beats in the instrumental are spot on. Amazing job.

BamBam went bam bam on that car. I tried to resist. Any GOT7 fans out there who despise of that joke, I am sorry. The anger in this video is just through the roof. Jackson with the punching bag, Junior with the ball and the destruction of the paintings, Youngjae with the spray paint, Bam Bam with the nice couch in the middle of some place and the destruction of the car, JB with the violent rampage at night, Yugeom with his angry need for attention for a girl. And there is Mark. Who mysteriously does not rage, but stares into the camera. While his charisma was through the roof, I don’t think he was that angry. But hey, we also need that one person to stay calm in our groups. I think the sets is amazing and that one shot inside the camera, when Bam Bam takes his first hit was pretty good. Bam Bam needs to take that collar thing off and stay away from leopard prints. They don’t really match the song or video. But this video just oozes masculinity regardless of how much you watch it.

The dance is amazing. They are pretty in sync and I am really satisfied with the whole routine. The teaser made it look really exaggerated and dramatic, but the whole music video turned out quite  well. The really like Junior’s ‘Every Day, Every Night” part of the routine, where two members join for each two words was pretty good. Also the jumps at the start of the chorus are pretty nice. And yes, I am just going to leave a gif of Sassy Mark down here.

markgot7

Overall, probably on the best comebacks of the year. Perfect song, video and dance. 10/10

 

If You Were Me – Roh Ji Hoon

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It has been a while but finally we have heard something regarding this solo singer that is under Cube Entertainment. Roh Ji Hoon made his debut at the end of 2012 with Punishment, a dance member. However he has been kept hidden away with only a single album promotion since his debut til now. But now he is back with a brand new song and mini album. This time around, it is another ballad that he is singing, similar to this ballad that he came back last year with.

It is quite an upbeat type of ballad. Well, I think this song is a ballad. It is a pretty nice way to end the summer feels. While it does have that upbeat feel, it also is a great way to introduce the season of Autumn (the season of very sad songs). His husky voice compliments this style really well and this is a pretty nice song. In terms of my expectation, I was hoping for a more popish or dance centered song like his debut and I wanted him to avoid going down the path of his other ballad since that did bore me. This did the job quite well even though it was not what I had expected. The chorus had a nice ring to it and the emotions were carried from the start to the end really well. No dramatic pauses that disrupts the flow of the song (and there for the feelings that the song intends to give us). Great song.

The music video was quite good. I feel like I have watching too many k-dramas and really sad breakup songs, cause I may have been expected someone to leave the other person during the video. But it is a nice video. It matched really well with the happiness of the song. Though the circumstances were a little weird. Hahaha… I know some blind people recognize people by feeling their faces. But that dude was a stranger and he said nothing to her, yet she went in straight away. Hahaha.. But the plot of the music video was nice and I was very satisfied watching the music video. A video I would go back to right away? No. But it popped it in my recommendations from time to time, I would not mind watching it.

Sadly no more wedgies from this male artist. But it was a nice comeback overall. 9/10 

Magic – Super Junior

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If you have not heard, some members of Super Junior will be enlisting into the army later this year. That is quite sad, but the members aren’t ready to say goodbye yet, as they released their repackaged album of Devil at the start of September (one month ago). On the repackaged album is the song Magic, which also serves as their title track. This is the last album before Donghae, Siwon and Eunhyuk enlist into the army. There was also minimal promotions for this album as it only served as “thank you” from the members to the fans (10 years since debut as well. Time flies when you are having fun).

This song was pretty mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but it did not really stand out. It was catchy, but it oh so annoying to listen to. I will explain myself. There really is nothing fancy about this song. Super Junior has put out much better songs in the past and honestly, this song falls into the “typical KPOP song” category. It was nice to listen to, but it just did not have that wow factor or anything interesting, where it makes me want to go back and listen to it some more. When I do listen to it, I find it catchy and I often repeat the lyrics over and over in my head. But the English in this song is so awful. “She so hot, She so fire”? It is 2015, not when KPOP is just reaching foreign shores and Korea did not have that American influence anymore. That one line is probably the catchiest line, but it just annoys me so much. Arghh!!! The vocals and pop instrumental is pretty standard. It’s nice to see Yesung seem to have his voice back in this song, unlike in Devil.

The music video was okay. It seemed a little too generic and while we are probably so happy that SM is venturing outside of a studio for their music video, the production value of this video looked quite minimal. The pop influenced effects with the number coming out of Yesung’s ear and also the movement of the basketball added a nice touch to the video. The music video has that “magic” aspect to it, but rather than being romantic with the magic, the members are using it to their advantage to get the girls attention or for their own pleasure. Well that sounded weird.  The video should have been a little better. There is no hype or excitement that I see from fans. It seems like the video was released and everyone ran to it, but then it disappeared from existence. The dancing was okay. Not amazing and grand but it matches the style of the song.

Overall, it’s their 10 year anniversary. It is also the last album for a while for some members. I feel like they should have gotten something a little better. While it was a bright song and video, not feeling it. 5/10

[DOUBLE REVIEW] It Happens To Be That Way + If I Have To Hate You – Fly To The Sky

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Fly To The Sky is back with a brand new song. They made their long awaited comeback/regrouping last year and this year they are back to make everyone cry over their ballads. They have been doing a lot of solo work in between comebacks. This mini album has not been promoted as much this time around, as I believe they have some sort of concert going on at the moment. And yes, I am churning reviews out very slowly. October is going to be an extra slow month, so don’t expect too much. I should be back into full gear around November. This also is my fourth year!!! Woo!! Thank you so much!!!!

Both songs are amazing. I cannot express that in any other way. I don’t think I have really enjoyed much of Fly To The Sky’s comebacks in the past, but this time around they came back with a song that really shows off their talents. Their vocals and their harmony have been used so well in the song. Both songs just sounded so similar to me. Hahaha… I get confused pretty easily when I listen to the songs. If you like a much slower song that builds up towards the end, then It Happens To Be That Way is the song for you. More of an orchestra sound (in a way) then If I Have To Hate You would be the right song. I also found the latter song to come on stronger and faster compared to the first song. Come to the think of it now, the songs are quite different, but they blend well with each other. Their ad-libs are amazing in both songs are superb. If I were to choose an absolutely favourite, If I Have To Hate You did the job just fine.

The music videos are to be viewed together. It Happens To Be That Way is filmed from the perspective of the boyfriend, while If I Have To Hate You is filmed in the perspective of the “to be bride”. OMG, why did she hold onto that guy for? Scum bag guy ditched you while you were dating when he saw his ex. Shouldn’t that be some sign of lack of loyalty? The music videos are quite confusing and I am currently trying to figure out which video comes first. It seems like If I Have To Hate You should be viewed first, as it shows the “bride to be” falling in love for the boyfriend. And then It Happens To Be That Way shows the boyfriend ditch his fiance for his ex. Another question: the two ended off badly, so who invited the ex to the wedding? I hardly doubt he invited her, so that leads to the bride who used to work alongside her, but it would be rather stupid of her to invite the ex right? The bride was just to desperate to “put a ring on it”. Hahaha..  Amazing, well written videos (minus a few minor details). But the feelings and emotions from the video matched the song quite well. The acting was amazing, though it did look awkward the ex girlfriends part in some scenes.

Overall, amazing songs and videos. What more can you ask for?

It Happens To Be That Way – 9.5/10

If I Have To Hate You – 9.5/10

My Type – iKON

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iKON, by far, is probably the most hyped group to debut in 2015. Fans have been waiting for a very long time for the group to make their debut. They have gone through 2 different survival shows to get to the current lineup. Win was the first show, but Team B (which is iKON now) failed to beat Team A (otherwise known as WINNER). They went to to compete in Mix & Match last year to get to the hype that they have today. The current members are: Bobby, B.I, Jinhwan, Yunhyeong, Donghyuk, Ju-ne and Chanwoo. This is also their pre-release song. They made their official debut just today (1st of October) with a “Debut Half Album” and a “Debut Full Album” in November. Reviews for those songs and videos will be out later in the month (no promises).

This is a pretty ordinary song. There really was nothing that stood out to me, to get me back. I am disappointed since I know this band can put out good songs. It was pretty dull and not that catchy. It does get me swaying a long to the song though everytime I hear it, which is kind of weird. The style of the song seems a little too innocent for the group though. It is nice for them to explore different styles and genres, but the rapping was a little too forceful and powerful in this song. I feel like they can really do powerful song and stronger songs knowing their rapping and vocals. Another thing I want to talk about, why are the rappers the main point of song. Only Bobby and B.I got a good chunk of the song with the chorus and their individual raps. What the song showed me was that the other members can sing, so why are the rappers singing the chorus? Not saying they were awful but they could have been replaced with much smoothier vocals by the other members.

As for the music video, it was pretty dull as well. It looks pretty boring and the filter or whatever they put over the video made it so boring to watching. This song called for colour and everything in this video was anything but colour. It did seem to have scenes of the members down to earth, but it seems a little too over the top in some bits. Actually their acting should use some improvements. As for the quality of the music video… Maybe more of the music video budget was allocated to their debut songs.  I have absolutely nothing more to say beside it was boring.

To save myself from fans, I am going to say this: their debut songs are much better than this song. That hopefully can save my life. Hahaha.. Only joking. Not the best song to start off with, but it is just their pre-release. They have probably so many other songs up their sleeves. 4/10

Cinderella – CN Blue

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CN Blue is back with a brand new album. This year, the members have focused mainly on solo work up until now. They have returned to acting and also launched solo careers in Yonghwa’s case. He made his overdue debut with One Fine Day at the start of the year. The band itself has been busy in Japan, releasing singles after singles that topped charts. They also have had many concerts in the few months in between Yonghwa’s debut and their second album release.

This song is a great song. Their last few songs have been quite mellow and more ballad like. This song picks it up quite well and adds that Summer feel that I don’t see much in CN Blue’s songs. This song is catchy and addictive to listen to. We don’t really see much bands in KPOP, so everytime we get something from CN Blue, I get excited. This song gets me really excited. It kind of reminds me of the tune of their debut songs and the few songs they promoted afterwards. I love the “ooo~”s that we get throughout the song. Jonghyun’s and Yonghwa’s voice compliment each other a lot in this song. In the past, Jonghyun was given a small part of the song, but in this song, he has parts that are spaced out more. Jungshin’s part, which was the “Somebody help me” was great as well. I am disappointed that Minhyuk did not get much of the song beside the drums and the “ooo~” that we aren’t really sure if it is his. They also nailed the English this time around. It was a great song and a nice throw back to the era of CN Blue which I liked.

As for the music video, Minhyuk’s arms. Damn, someone has been to the gym. Hahahaha… It is weird that the girl was there one minute and all of a sudden she disappeared, with a glass slipper to replace her. Like I get it for Minhyuk’s part where he looks away and then when he looks back to see that she is gone, but honestly Yonghwa’s part where she was halfway through shaving his non existing beard and then all of a sudden he leans forward and she is gone. What a teaser. And where on earth is that small laundromat? I have never seen a place look so small. Essentially, two washing machine are found in that small room and it looks so tight that they barely have any room to stand, yet somehow they made some room to sit down on the floor and chill for a while. Jonghyun’s part was also weird. He leans to the girl for the kiss, but she just vanishes and leaves a slipper behind. Jungshin probably got the short end of the stick and the only form of skin-ship with the girl, was a simple bump. But I love how dark the rest of the music video was. Does it match the song? Probably not. But I thought the test looks quite nice and reflected the mysterious nature of the girl that disappears and randomly leaves glass slippers. And how many pairs of those shoes does she have? Like why are there so many glass slippers at her disposal?

Beside that shocking music video review, I thought the music video was enjoyable and the song was incredible. CN Blue never shocks me. 9/10

Wow Wow Wow – Jun Jin (Shinhwa) ft. Eric (Shinhwa)

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Shinhwa has been around for quite some time and so have their members which all have some sort of solo career as well. Shinhwa was particularly busy at the start of the year with a group comeback and I also believe they have had concerts last year and this year as well. But for some odd reason, some of their members are lining up for solo comebacks (back to back). To kick it off, it is Jun Jin, with Wow Wow Wow. He is the dancer, rapper and vocalist of the band, and he manages to pull all of that off in this solo song. Other members that have confirmed comebacks are Kim Dong Wan and another member (but I obviously forgot who).

This song is amazing. I kind of dread writing reviews for Shinhwa for some odd reason. This year, I started to review them with Sniper and I kind of hesitated putting this song the list. But once I fell for the song, I added on there immediately. Yes, I had to listen to this song a few times to actually like it. It didn’t catch my eyes (or ears) the first time around, but after a few listens I thought it was a really powerful and addictive track. It is a powerful techno song that has a lot of modern vibes with it, which is pretty good. Not sure about the “na na na” bit slapped into the middle of the song. It was the only part of the song which got me going “huh?” when started liking the song. His a rapper but he has good vocals to carry himself throughout the song.  The rapping was superb (both Jun Jin’s and Eric’s rap). The “Looking at you” over and over again is so damn catchy and I really dig that. I think this song is really good and nice.

It was a very simple yet very dark music video. I guess the darkness fits really well into the concept and also his image. It did go against me a few times because I thought for a while that some scenes could have used a little bit more lighting.  For some scenes, I could barely see anything. I really liked how low that screen is. It was so low that it was basically touching their heads. I thought the camera work in the video was really good. It gave the sense that low screen was moving away as they danced, but it stayed in place. But hey, it gave off a nice illusion for this song. Same goes for the dance scenes with the hanging fence (I have no idea what they are called). I feel like those scenes with the girls could have been omitted. They really don’t add much to the music video anyway. I would have paid to watch him dance.

As for the dance, I thought it was very powerful and suited the concept quite a bit. I absolutely loved how it built up to the ending and it just smacks you across the face. That moves where they come together from the sides towards the end of the song looks so cool. It fitted the powerful vibe the song had going and I thought the “Wow Wow Wow” thumb movements were pretty cool and looked simple as well. Me trying the thumb movements, not that cool.

Amazing song, amazing music video, amazing dance. What an amazing comeback. 9/10