Category: Reviews

[Review] A Lie – B1A4

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B1A4 made their comeback with their 3rd full album on the 28th of November (2016). The title track for the album is A Lie. This is the group’s first comeback since their Sweet Girl comeback in 2015. The group has focused predominately on solo work in 2016. Sandeul made his solo debut with Stay As You Are. Jinyoung and Baro focused on acting, with Jinyoung also producing on the side. CNU has performed on stage in musicals and Gongchan has filmed variety shows (Wikipedia, 2017).

A Lie is a pretty good song to listen to. It is a unique song and I can’t really describe it in words. Think of a pop song with very strong ballad influence. The song isn’t upbeat or anything, but much slower and melodic. The acoustics in the song is also something that shines very brightly. The vocal work in this song is also amazing. All of the members shone in the song. Even the rapping was made to fit the song quite nicely as well. While the song’s verses were quite slow at the start, each verse ended up having a really great buildup to the chorus. However, the song should have had more of a hook to it, to make it even better. The song was good while it was promoted because the song was there being played. But honestly, the song is not that memorable. I did forget about the song after the promotions ended and haven’t been listening to it lately (A good song is one that makes you go back to it – at least that is what I think). While all the other elements were pretty good, the impact the song made was quite minimal, unfortunately.

The music video was a little on the boring side, but the ending was really good. The video was very fitting for the lyrics of the song. A couple shares happy memories together, but when it comes to arguments, the guys said harsh things to the girl. Which lead to her packing her bags and the guys feeling regret for telling her to leave during those moments. The video depicts just that, however, without the moments where they scream or form that “crack in the relationship”. I personally think it would have been a lot clearer if those moments were shown. Because one moment she is having fun and other moments have her feeling sad and packing her bags. That transition would have made more sense (unless I skimmed the video too quickly and missed those parts). The ending was probably the best when Jinyoung had to come to terms with his partner leaving him. The effects of the paintings disappearing (since she was the one that painted) looked really cool and that one scene added a lot of meaning to the video.

The dance is okay. Not impressive but still very fitting for the slower tempo song. I did like those small sections of build up, particularly CNU’s part in the second verse. Where each group did the same movements at separate times (you probably have to see it to understand what I am getting at). It looked really cool!

Rating – 6.5/10

[Double Review] Remember + Paradise – S.E.S

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S.E.S have finally regrouped after 13 years for their 20th anniversary. They officially made their comeback on the 1st day of 2017, however, had previously performed on a few stages in 2016. For those who don’t know, S.E.S joins the ongoing trend of first generation groups regroup and making comebacks. S.E.S made their debut in 1997 but later disbanded in 2003. The group lineup remains the same as their early stages, which includes Bada, Eugene and Shoo. Their comeback compromises 2 title tracks, Remember and Paradise.

The group returned with two very different songs. Remember is a ballad that will remind you of the good memories. Listening to it brought a smile to my face and I am sure that it will for you as well. The melodies are really brought out nicely by their sweet and spectacular vocals. Like a few other songs I have reviewed so far, the song has a really soft sound to it, but it makes the song even better in this case. Paradise is a more upbeat song that we tend to link to S.E.S. It takes you back to those days with their retro sounds. Their vocals are also quite nice in this song and their rap is pretty good as well. I absolutely fell for this song while listening to it for the first time. I particularly thought the second half of the chorus (떳떳떳떳떳떳떳떳하게). Quite addictive. The one thing I did notice that while the group do make you remember the retro sounds, they do have elements that fit in with the modern sounds of today. And that actually goes with many of the first generation artists who are fitting in perfectly with the new sounds of generations after theirs.

Remember’s music video is a little boring to watch. It mainly consists of closeups of them singing and walking around. There are a few scenes with extras and a little boy. But those scenes carry no significance to the video besides adding another warm feel to it. That being said, that warm feeling compliments the ballad nature and the overall song. Paradise’s video is more up my alley. The ladies, in this video, shows off a more feminine and mature side. The video is made to look artsy with the different filming effects that they used. However, I feel like that took away from that mature feel that I first got. Though I am quite sure it was meant to be artsy in the first place. It is also quite stunning how they look like they haven’t aged at all. Some parts of the Paradise video reminded me of EXO’s Monster’s video, particularly those security cameras. I actually do enjoy the Paradise video quite a bit and have returned to it a number of times already.

I have yet to see a live performance for Paradise yet. Please link if there is one. But from what I could see in the video, I guess age is just a number. Because these ladies are still dancing as if they just debuted.

Remember – 7/10

Paradise – 8/10

 

[Review] I Wish – WJSN (Cosmic Girls)

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Cosmic Girls, otherwise known as WJSN, have made their return to the stage with I Wish. They made their debut in 2016 with MoMoMo. A few months later, the girls made their first comeback with Secret.

I Wish, to me, is a combination of both their debut song and Secret. It had the seriousness of Secret but also the cutesy and brightness of MoMoMo. It is also a perfect song to lead from Secret. Honestly, it is a song, that as you listen, it gets better and better. Let’s look at my criticisms of the song. The sounds in the song aren’t hard. Nothing is overpowering, even the vocal work is performed at a higher pitch than their past songs. But that is a problem. It makes the song forgettable. It just made the song fluffy and too light on the ears. The rapping was okay. It’s just everything was sung at a high pitch and then Exy’s deep rapping voice comes in. Can’t really blame her for that, though. I also watched those line distribution videos for the song and it seems like Yeonjung is more favoured. I like her voice and all, but I feel like she is overshadowing some of the group’s other vocalists (slowly remembering names). I know for a fact, through this song, that the other members have great vocals. Let’s look at the highlights of the song. A moderately catchy chorus, a very upbeat (and interesting) instrumental for this season and nice use of autotune during the chorus.

The music video is a mixture of weird and Secret. My assumption with the video is that it is about dreams or our imagination. Only dreams would appear that wacky. And since the song is called I Wish, it makes senses. Kind of. It would make more sense if it was titled as I Dream. Anyway….. There is one thing I noticed about this video and Secret. It’s just they zoom out a lot during the choreography scenes. There are some closeups, but when I watched this video, it was the only thing I could remember from it. For this video, when they zoomed back in, they went quite close to the girls, which made it feel somewhat uncomfortable. Maybe I am just being a little harsh and naive there. Moving along, I do hope Cosmic Girls continue with these videos. They make you think about what is going on here and I always return to try to figure out what is going on.

The dance is okay. Not that impressive, but matching with the cutesy and bright vibes I mentioned earlier.

Rating – 7/10 (This review was meant to be released a few days back. But it has been so hot where I live, I could not function properly).

 

[Review] Boom Boom – Seventeen

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Seventeen made their comeback at the start of December with their title track Boom Boom and 3rd mini album, Make A Wish. They previously made their comebacks in 2016 with Pretty U and Very Nice, which earned them more fans and allowed the group to become more well known.

The song is pretty good. There are parts of the song which I thought were pretty cool. I love S.Coups’ rap in the song and thought DK’s adlibs at the end were quite cool. The song had that catchy vibe with the continuous “Boom Boom” repetition. It seems like the song was designed for the Hip-Hop Unit. Their vocals fit the song more than anyone else in the song. I just felt the song didn’t string together as well. The slowdowns didn’t match with the rest of the song and Dino’s rock part caught me off guard (that also didn’t match with the slowdown, but fitted with the rest of the song). It was another example of songs where there are a lot jammed into one. Also, the song lacked impact. The song just didn’t live up to the “Boom Boom” title. More “Boom Boom” please! I know the group is big, but something needs to be done about the line distribution. The same members keep on getting overshadowed, which is quite unfortunate. But besides those thoughts, I still enjoyed listening to the song.

The video raised one question for me. But what was in that box that led them to do the expedition? Like anything could have been inside that box. And I don’t know if that mission board (on the wall) could help that much either. Tells them what they will need to expect to get to it. I love it how everything is all thought out and going perfectly, until Mingyu steps on a hidden trap and screws everything up. But then they run from the explosions, with smiles on their faces. It looks like they are having fun, rather than worrying about getting blown to bits. But nonetheless, the video was very cool and fun to watch.

The dance is where I will be praising the guys the most today. The dance is quite awesome and looks cool. I love the final chorus with DK showing a little Michael Jackson influence and everyone else circling him. The start looks like a lot of practice for the level of precision. One person too late could make it look like a failure. S.Coup’s rap part fits perfectly with the song. (That final sentence was meant to be joined with another sentence. I just don’t know how to integrate it in anymore).

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Excuse Me – AOA

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AOA has made their return to the stage with their first album, Angel’s Knock. Their first album includes two title tracks: Bing Bing (released earlier) and Excuse Me (currently being reviewed). This is their first Korean comeback since Good Luck, released back in May last year.  Since then, Youkyung (drummer) left the group and the girls released a Japanese album as well.

While Bing Bing failed to live up to my expectations, Excuse Me does just what Bing Bing did not do. The song itself is amazing, catchy and very addictive to listen to. The chorus was the highlight of the entire song. The song brings you back the days where the disco and retro vibes were the strongest. Mix in a hint of electronic influences to give that retro a more modern, rather than outdated feel and the song really hits a home run. The vocals here, along with the instrumental are blaring perfectly. None of those two let you down when you listen to the song. However, Jimin’s rap sequence did ruin the song for me. For once it wasn’t Jimin’s rapping but rather the unfortunate mash-up attempt of EDM in the song. The producer should have kept with that disco and retro vibe for her rapping. But besides that, the song is amazing and it is a song that makes you wanting more.

The girls go for the detective concept with the Excuse Me music video. All of them share the mission of finding a mysterious guy whose hat is always tipped at an angle. If that doesn’t shout shady to everyone else, I don’t what would. I know you probably think I hate Jimin because I always have something to say about her. But, the way she walks out with the cup of water splashing all over the place gave made me nervous of the cup of water. Hahahaha.. What am I talking about? My other problem with the video is that Seolhyun’s dress doesn’t look like it comes from that era. Rather, it looks too modern. But besides that, the video has a unique concept and it looks quite cool.

While I did like the Bing Bing dance, I am not much of a fan. The small twirling around and prancing-like steps really don’t look mature or sensual. Instead, it looks cutesy and doesn’t go well with the concept. However, it is quite memorable, to be honest.

Rating – 7/10

[Review] Bing Bing – AOA

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AOA has made their return to the stage with their first album, Angel’s Knock. Their first album includes two title tracks: Bing Bing (the one being reviewed) and Excuse Me (will be released later). This is their first Korean comeback since Good Luck, released back in May last year.  Since then, Youkyung (drummer) left the group and the girls released a Japanese album as well.

Bing Bing is like an upgraded version of Like A Cat, released back in 2013. The chorus gave me those feels and sound similar enough to make their previous song pop into my head. There is that sensual feeling to it. Bing Bing is, however, more retro sounding and attempts to appeal to that genre of pop music. But it doesn’t hit the right targets. Instead, I think the has a messy element to it. The first part of Chanmi’s rap was pretty good, then they repeated it. Then they chopped her part up and made it choppy and jagged. Jimin’s vocals throughout were okay. That whininess that I used to complain about is back. I don’t know about her long note in the bridge. A part of me thinks it is interesting, while the other part thinks just doesn’t work at all. It sounds like those long sounding monotone “beeps” you would imitate when you are younger to act as if you are swearing or cursing. There isn’t anything in the song that makes it appealing or makes me want to return to replay the song. The vocals are okay and there isn’t anything else worth talking about.

The video is okay. I like the magical element and how everything seemed to shot on the one or two sets that appeared in the video. Like magic in general, I question the validity of the magic tricks. But then again, thanks to the power of editing and CGI nowadays, we have the Bing Bing music video. The video is quite simple and the girls went for a very sensual but classy look at the same time. Everything looks retro, fitting the song quite nicely. But like the song, it just lacks the appeal and isn’t memorable as you would expect it to be. But if you are a fan of the girls of AOA and their sexier side, do check out both Bing Bing and Excuse Me.

The dance makes sense. “It’s dizzy. Bing Bing. In My Head. Bing Bing“. And then they do motions around the head as if they had a headache or dizzy because of a guy. The dance itself looked quite cool overall. I know it is only the start of the year, but it sets the standard high. The girls themselves looked spectacular performing this song.

Rating – 5.5/10

 

 

[Review] FxxK It – Big Bang

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Big Bang has made their long awaited comeback with their latest album, M.A.D.E. The album consists of all the song released in 2015, such as Loser and Bae Bae (just to name a few), along with 3 new tracks. This is their final release as a 5-member group as T.O.P will be enlisting in the near future. This is the review for just FxxK It. A review for Last Dance was released earlier, which you can access by clicking here.

Compared to Last Dance, I don’t fancy this song as much. However, I still like it. There were a few things that did leave me a little bored with this song. The song fits the party setting quite nicely and has certain parts have a nice kick to it, giving the song a pumping feel. While the rest of the world continues to praise G-Dragon’s rap, I think of the opposite. I don’t have a problem with his rapping. It is just his part feel a little empty. I am a guy who enjoys listening to vocals more than rapping. But we all know how epic GD’s rapping can be (you would have to be in denial if that is the case). So I was a little disappointed. T.O.P’s fitted perfectly with the song.  However, Taeyang’s and Daesung’s part built up quite nicely to the chorus (and in my opinion, did the song a huge favour). The chorus was quite simple but still catchy, like all Big Bang’s choruses. Singing along to it every time it plays. Seungri was left with the bridge and he did an amazing job. My other disappointment with the song (as a whole) felt a little repetitive. It was more prominent here than other songs because I felt it most at my two favourite parts (Daesung and Taeyang’s). But besides all of that it is still a solid party song when you just want to go and have a good time.

Many people are comparing the music video to We Like 2 Party and I do agree with this. Just everything looks more planned out and staged. This music video gives a nice contrast to Last Dance and shows the more typical side to Big Bang that we are used to. Which is the crazy and fun side, like they made a disco into a club within seconds. Just moments before, they were peddling down a market on a 5 seater bike, with a bunch of shop keepers (mainly old folks) standing around awkwardly. Besides that, there really isn’t much to say. I am not disappointed with the video in any way. Everything matched the song and lyrics of the song.

Rating – 7.5/10

[Review] Last Dance – Big Bang

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Big Bang has made their long awaited comeback with their latest album, M.A.D.E. The album consists of all the song released in 2015, such as Loser and Bae Bae (just to name a few), along with 3 new tracks. This is their final release as a 5-member group as T.O.P will be enlisting in the near future. This is the review for just Last Dance. A review for FxxK It will be released very soon.

Despite being released in December, this song leaves a long last impression on you. First time listening to the song, I was blown away. And now it is a song that I am wanting to listen to every time I plug my headphones in. Big Bang has a few excellent ballads up their sleeve, but there is something a little extra with this one that makes it one of their best. I think it might be the circumstance (impending military enlistments) that the band finds themselves in, which gives the song a more emotional and powerful feel. The vocals in this song are superb. Every member takes part in the song vocally, ending with a small yet deep sounding rap sequence by T.O.P. I personally think this would have to be one of their best songs (vocally) ever. The song has a very nice, soft piano instrumental as well. It added to that emotional side that I mentioned earlier and also gave the song a nice swaying effect, which I love. To me, there are no flaws in the song. Nothing is missing, overdone or underwhelming. Everything feels just right with this track.

The music video is visually stunning. Per usual, YG Entertainment did their thing when it comes to music videos. The video fits the song perfectly. You will be surprised how smashing everything and giving the sets a post-apocalyptic feel goes hand in hand with most ballads from a YG point of view (Check out Love Song by Big Bang for reference). I love the cinematography in this video. Everything is shot on an angle and I think it gives a nice effect to the video. G-Dragon’s reunion with his girlfriend for that one last dance at the ending during T.O.P’s rap sequence is quite haunting. But still really something that adds to the video. Someone should just change Taeyang’s hair for crying out loud. I am not a big fan of dreadlocks (refer to any review with someone who has dreadlocks).

Rating – 10/10

[Review] You Bad! Don’t Make Me Cry – Matilda

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for the end of November and December comebacks, they will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

This is going to be my final review of the year! And let’s end off with Matilda’s latest release, You Bad! Don’t Make Me Cry. Matilda is a 4-member girl group consisting of Sanbyeol, Haena, DanA and Semmi. You may recognise Haena as a former member of the now-disbanded rookie group Kiss&Cry. The group is currently under BOXMEDIA.  The group debuted in March with year with Macarena.

Another amazing song. On the outside and initial listens, it sounds quite messy. But the different parts do fall into place after listening to it for a number of times. The song has a feel different genres mashed into the song. It was strung together quite well. There are parts of reggae and EDM in the song. There were also smaller segments which I can’t seem to categorise into a genre. While the slowdown does work with the track, it ruined the intensity that the rest of the track had building up. Maybe if it was shorter or even completely omitted, the track could have gone for one more hit out the park, to make it a smashing song. The song also didn’t give the girls a chance to show off any vocal or rapping talent. The song was quite addictive, but I do imagine the song becoming a little annoying in the future. That’s just another prediction that I won’t know if it will happen or not.

The video was okay. Quite a low-budget and the editing, especially for the final chorus, was quite bad as well. Like when I am driving, I hate it when people put their high beam on during the day. In this video, the high beam was on for some of the parts. Luckily those segments were short. But besides that, everything else was okay. The only thing that should have been included somehow was something striking. It is a song that captures your attention, so something in the video should have been there to capture our attention as well.

Their performance isn’t really that interesting. I’ve only played their performance for the song, to be honest.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] Miro – Romeo

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for end of November and December comebacks will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

Romeo returned this year in June with their 3rd mini album. Both their mini-album and title track were titled as Miro. Romeo is a boy group that has been in the industry for nearly 2 years now. I did review them once before, at the end of the 2015 year, for their Target comeback.

Miro is probably my favourite song from Romeo thus far. It is honestly quite good. When I first listened to the song, I felt like it was very typical. It just didn’t seem to stand out. But I returned to the song a few weeks later and started falling for it. It was really catchy and an addictive track to listen to. The chorus, by far, was the best part of the song. The start of the song sounded weak and wasn’t up to par with the rest of the song. But when the song starts to build up, it was when the catchiness of the song started to kick in. And not once did the song stop to take a breather. It was fast paced and the tempo kept constant, which made the track work pretty well. The instrumental itself packed a punch on its own. My only issue with the track was with the vocals. But rather it wasn’t ‘what’s wrong with the vocals?’ but rather, ‘what’s missing?’. They were okay. It would have been nice to have a member belt out the chorus, particularly the end. It would have pushed the song to another level.

The music video stars Minho from SHINee, which did catch me off guard. Didn’t expect this appearance. But I think it did attract some attention, which is good thinking on the company’s part there. While I did like the choreography parts of the video, the rest seemed a little boring. Like they couldn’t get passed a gate, so they went to look for keys. When the keys were found, the gate opened and they were mysteriously transported to a chess board and Minho picks up the queen. I read somewhere that the video adopted an Alice in Wonderland. Minus the actual sets, I don’t really see an Alice in Wonderland concept. Overall, I guess it was an okay video.

The dance was pretty good. Also read somewhere that they were inspired by Maze Runner. Hmmm.. Alice in Wonderland and Maze Runner. Such an odd combination. Love how fast paced and fitting the dance is for the song. Their moves also look quite cool. They also sound amazing live.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] JJan! Koong! Kwang! – Momoland

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for end of November and December comebacks, they will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

Okay, so I have done a lot of reviews for boy groups lately. So why don’t I do some for girl groups? There are quite a few girl groups that made their debut towards the end of the year, so I have chosen to do Momoland. Momoland is a 7 member girl group who are currently under Duble Sidekick Company. The lineup includes Nancy, Hyebin, Nayoon, Ahin,  Yeonwoo, Jane and JooE.

This is such a cute song. Yeah, I know that this is a song that falls under the cutesy concept. But I tend to watch a lot of cutesy song with a straight face. But this one has me singing along. It is really catchy and addictive. Vocally, they may not be standing out. But I love the way the song was composed or produced. The ‘Jjan’ that starts off each chorus is like a mini explosion that occurs, which gets you into the mood. The rest of the chorus is pretty neat. The saxophone bridge and that chanting segment sounded amazing. Not a major fan of the start. The “Do you like it Momoland?” sounds awkward. The instrumental at the start sounds pretty slow as well, but the song starts to pick up at the chorus, which does save the song, in my opinion.

Unlike the song, the music video isn’t that  cute. The video reminds me of Laboum’s videos in the past. Not that I am saying Momoland copied Laboum. It just felt similar. I also don’t really understand what is happening in the few scenes where they are like sitting amongst trees and sleeping. I don’t have much else to say about the video. It works well with the song, but it doesn’t look cute like how the song sounds.

I am torn about the dance. Some parts looked cute and felt just right for the song. Other parts looked awkward and exaggerated a little too much. I really like the dance at the bridge and the chorus.

Rating – 7/10

[Review] I’m Fine – VICTON

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. For any reviews for end of November and December comebacks, they will be posted next year. This also includes any end of year related posts.]

There are a lot of boy groups debuting this year. VICTON is another group that debuted recently. They marked their first release on the 8th of November with their first mini-album and the title track, I’m Fine. The group is currently under Plan A Entertainment, which also houses APINK. The group contains 7 members and the members are Seungsik, Seungwoo, Chan, Subin, Hanse, Sejun and Byungchan.

The song doesn’t really capture your attention nor does it sound amazing. But I think I can settle by describing the song as good. As I said, it is outstanding or excellence, but it does have its perks. For example, the track is quite funky and catchy. The chorus is addictive. Their vocals during the chorus does irk me a little because it doesn’t match with the instrumental. There just seems to be a little too much going on at the chorus. I think it is the thick vocals combination (person who is singing the chorus + the back-up vocals) that throws me off. Their vocals by themselves during the verses and the ad-libs at the end prove their potential. The rapping is also quite nice to listen to. The verses are a little dry and bland for my taste. The song relies too heavily of the catchiness of the chorus for me. There isn’t much else to make it a track that is mind-blowing or top of the class though.

The music video stars Naeun from APINK. She geniunely looks happy in this video. Her interaction with the group is quite minimal though, which is a little disappointing. As for the group. The video made them too cheesy to watch. Maybe I am just not into the cutesy concept that much. The video was very colourful and vibrant. It just needed something to make it less boring. Maybe a little more interaction between the group and Naeun. Maybe just have one member and Naeun share a moment together, alone, which each other. Maybe that might not work, but hey, it will get some sort of reaction out of me. And something to talk about.

The dance performance was honestly, boring. I wasn’t captivated by their live stages at all. I don’t know, but what I saw in the video looked impressive, but I was let down when seeing the entire performance in whole. I know they were both the exact same thing. My reaction just did not carry over, I guess.

Rating – 6/10

[Review] Rainy Days – Topp Dogg

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

It has been a while since Topp Dogg has returned to the stage. This is also the first time I am reviewing Topp Dogg, as time constraints in the past have prevented me from doing so. So who is Topp Dogg, you may ask? Topp Dogg is currently a 9 member boy group under Hunus Entertainment. The current lineup includes P-Goon, Hojoon, Sangdo, Nakta, Hansol, B-Joo, Zero, A-Tom and Yano. They originally were a 13 member boy group, who debuted under Stardom Entertainment back in 2013.

I have not been a fan of their releases thus far, but I am going to let you know. This song is different. Their past releases have been heavily mixed with hip hop influences. This one is more RnB with a hint of hip hop present.  It almost sounds like something that Block B would release and reminded me of Block B’s Toy (which I totally loved). It definietly reminds me of rain days and it sounds amazing. I think the vocals and rapping are nice. However, I am not into the rapping that repeated what was sung (such as during the chorus). It kind of distracted me from the overall sound of the song and on top of that sounded a little forced. The song also ended adruptly. Not as adruptly as Astro’s latest song as you could tell the song was drawing to a close. The song should have eased off at the end like zoning out on the sound of rain on a Rainy Day.

It only makes senses for the video to be shot on a Rainy Day, which they did here. But beside there isn’t anything else to comment on in the video. There were some close-up shots, but majority were choreography scenes or shots of them singing. Though, the video matches the sound of the song quite nicely.

The dance looked pretty good. It, too, matched the sound of the song quite nicely. Not too intense but not too simple that it looks cheesy. I don’t have much else to say, but it is a performance that I reccomend you watch.

Rating – 8/10

[Review] Think About You – Jun.K (2PM)

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

Jun.K (formerly known as Junsu) is the main vocalist from 2PM, under JYP Entertainment. He previously made his solo debut a few years back. He has actively promoted as a solo artist in Japan when he is not promoting with 2PM. Thinking About U marks his solo return to South Korea, in August of this year.

Thinking About You is a song that has the RnB sound, but is mixed with an EDM instrumental.  It is an odd mix but it works really with each other. Vocally, he sounds outstanding. His singing style doesn’t typically match the genres of music that the instrumental has us expecting. But somehow he makes it work. Those ad-libs at the end really do end the song quite nicely, boasting his talents even further. The lyrics of the song talk about the regrets that the guy has, who previously cheated or left his previous lover behind. Overall, I think it is a really good track. It is interesting that it combines genres that don’t usually go well together and still it manages to work.

The video was extremely boring to watch. There wasn’t much going on in it. Though, for someone who never took his shirt off, he has his fair of shirtlessness in this video. There just wasn’t anything captivating in the video. There were many close up shots in different sets and a few choreography scenes. But nothing that worth talking about.

During the live performances, Jun.K doesn’t participate in the dance (he focuses on the singing only, only dancing during the dance break). The dance is okay. His performance overall is a little boring to watch as well. I would have preferred just him singing into a microphone with this song, though.

Rating – 6.5/10

[Review] Alright – INX

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards) will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

INX is a new band in KPOP, who made their debut at the end of July. They are a 5 member boy group, consisting of Sangho, Junyoung, Bonkuk, Jinam and Win. They are currently under NA Entertainment.

For a debut song, it is pretty good. It does show potential in the band (and that is obviously what the company/group wanted to do). The song does throw you back to the early days, when I started to get into it. This fits in with 2009 and 2010 era perfectly. However, the song is very boring and bland. They used quite an overused sound. They attempted to keep it interesting with that rough sounding “alright, alright, alright” (which is what I find the catchiest in the song), but it does fall short at its intention. The vocal work is pretty good and the rapping is okay. I just don’t have any connection with the song. The odd slow and fast parts, along with the soft and then hard sounding parts don’t really go well each other. It is like “oh let’s take a few genres that other people like, throw them together and hope to kill 1 bird with 4 stones (I do no endorse animal cruelty in any way, it is just a figure of speech)”. I’ll keep them on my radar to see what they can do, but they need something to highlight their talents/skills further.

When I watch the video, I think the song sounds a lot better. Not sure why… I can’t shake it off. When I want to go back and change what I said above (after watching the video), I can’t make any changes because that is what I agreed on (and still do). Does that happen to you? Or am I just being weird?  I can watch the video, but I don’t really like the filter they have on it. It conflicts with the flashing lights in the video and makes it confusing to watch (like my feelings about the song now). Hahahaha… I don’t like that glow they have around themselves when they are blindfolded. That is really odd looking or just bad CG effects. While they do use overused sets, their stage presence in them gives off a new feeling to the sets and I think that really gives fans to chat about. Close up shots of the members and the choreograph scenes aren’t that clear and that’s quite disappointing.

Dance wise, it should be better. They have a song that I am quite sure, meant to give off a mature and strong vibe. It kind feels weak and the complete opposite of the song, sadly. Though their dance at the chorus already fits the beat quite well, I feel like if their moves were a lot sharper and more defined, the dance would look 100 times better. Just putting it out there.

Final Rating – 5/10

 

[Review] Home Run – GOT7

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[This review was written and scheduled a few months back in preparation for my absence in December. The standard posts for the end of the year (comebacks I have missed in November & December, the end of year charts + KPOPreviewed awards will be written and posted after my return. No weekly charts will be uploaded for the last week of November and all of December.]

GOT7 previously made their comeback with Fly, back in March (earlier this year). They returned shortly after to promote Home Run, which was the second title track off their mini album, Flight Log: Departure. Home Run was released later on and there is no music video to accompany it (hence the short review).

Home Run is a solid song. I personally like it. Fly was very heavy in terms of the sound and the song was a lot serious. Home Run has this more cheerful tone and is more casual. From the raps to the vocals in this song, the song managed to give us a chance to listen to each member. The line distribution in the song is much more fair and even across, which is not that common in the industry, as you may think. I would like the raps to be a little better. They aren’t awful or anything, but they could have been enhanced somehow to give it more of a hook or ring. Maybe the song didn’t need to be rap dense (though I know GOT7 wants to focus more on that). What we have already is quite balanced. Just a suggestion floating by. The instrumental kind of mimics the sound of a baseball bat hitting the ball. I find it amazing how lyricists manage to make analogies between the concept of the song and the topic in question (the majority of the time, it is love). Moving back to the instrumental, the instrumental for the song changes up here and there in the song, which works really well. When I say “change up”, it isn’t anything major. The instrumental is consistent and flows nicely. Just there is some slow parts and some faster parts. Overall, I think the song is quite nice and all aspects of the song were great.

There is no music video for Home Run. However, like everyone else is saying, it deserves one.

The dance was pretty cool as well. Toned down and more casual compared to the dance that accompanied Fly. It fits nicely into the baseball concept of the song. The timing with the sounds of the ball hitting in the bats and the dance was quite enjoyable to watch. I did like the “Home Run, Home Run” part after every chorus. Great hook for the song and dance.

Final Rating – 8/10