Tag: Infinite H (Infinite)

Bad – Infinite

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Infinite is back after a year with a brand new comeback and mini album. Bad is their 5th mini album that was released with Back being their last release in July last year. Since Back (hehehe…), Infinite has been very busy with drama filming and promotions. Infinite H made their subunit comeback at the start of the year with Pretty. Sunggyu also made his solo comeback with double title tracks: The Answer and Kontrol. On top of that the boys have been releasing singles in Japan such as Dilemma which I reviewed earlier in the year. So many hyperlinks in the introduction today.

The song is described as a combination of hip hop and EDM elements. And that is something that we got. It honestly feel this is a very powerful song and it matches songs that I and probably many fans associate with Infinite. I also hear hints of classical and rock through the instrumental of the song, which adds to that powerfulness. As for the vocals, they were powerful and very strong, but remained matching to the style of song that the writers were getting at. Often we have a mismatch between vocals and instrumental, but this time around, they blended well with each other. Also, every member seemed to excelled in terms of vocals for this song. Sungyeol and Sungjong got more lines and their voices seem much steadier this time around. The rapping was kept to a minimal in this song, which I don’t fully understand why. I like Infinite’s rap in their song, but funnily not a big fan of their rap/hip hop subunit. Hmmm…

The music video is also quite interesting. The guys are tormented by this girl who they are describing as “bad”, hence the title of the song. The make use of mirrors in this video quite interestingly, being a way for the girl to get to them. I find that is an interesting concept. Hence why we see them sitting around, running away and looking around in fear due to the mirrors. And from the very first time I saw the music video, I knew it was the same guy or girl or group of people who filmed Orange Caramel and EXID music videos (and of course countless other music videos for other artists). I was amazed by the teaser for this comeback though. I believe they are the first KPOP group to actually use the 360 degree video format, which I thought was hella cool. I watched it on my phone and could spin around and looking around in the 360 view. Awesome. Just one complaint however, Dongwoo’s rap segment in the music video does not match up with the song. The lips were way off.

The dance is always awesome for Infinite. They are always in sync with each other. When I thought saw the dance, I was thinking that there was no way they would be in sync since there was a lot going on. But, the group managed to prove themselves to be one of the best dance groups ever.

This was a very powerful comeback with a really powerful song, a cool video and of course, per usual, an amazing choreography. 9/10

Pretty – Infinite H

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Infinite’s most hottest subunit is back. Infinite H, for those who don’t know, consist of Hoya and Dongwoo and releases songs for the hip hop demographic. They debuted with Special Girl back in 2013. Since then, they have been heavily promoted with the rest of Infinite, with singles such as Man In Love, Destiny, Last Romeo and their latest hit Back. But after a 2 year wait, fans can now get a better look at Infinite’s resident rappers.

This song is claimed to have a “soft hip hop beat” to it. I can hear that it is soft. Just I really can’t see (or hear) much of a hip hop influence. Their last song, Special Girl, had a more hip hop vibe compared to this song. That being said, I feel like this is more of a pop song. But that is just what I hear. I like this song. It really is not that bad.  I really don’t know what else to say about the song. The boys can rap? But this song also points out that they can also sing. The song really is not that catchy however and though it does appeal to me, it really does not have me coming back to listen to it again and again. I just feel that it is cause it lacks the hip hop feel according to my ears. But nice song overall.

Music video, even though was meant to be humorous, really did not make it laugh. Actually, it makes me think the boys are quite clumsy. I just like it how they played out various scenarios in which the girl was so beautiful that it got them nervous and caught them out. Beside having just one plot, there are multiple plots in this one video. I like how the background, even though it was fake and seemed fake, really brought out the back ground in the music video. It actually seemed stylish and a really modern idea. Just making hearts while driving, really does not seem that ideal. The girl, to me, is not that great looking. She has a great face and all, but nothing I would go crazy for.

The dance is okay. It was toned down a little from the Infinite dances we know of, mainly because this has a much softer sound for the song. The two seemed to be having fun on stage and enjoys the dance as well.

Overall, nice song. Though, I think it time that Infinite H makes a comeback with another song that actually has a hip hop vibe to it, that all of us are familiar with. 6.8/10

 

Back – Infinite

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Infinite is finally back a brand new song. It seems like just yesterday that they were performing. Oh wait, didn’t they just finish promoting Last Romeo just like early last month? That might explain it. Hahahaha…. The group is back with a repackaged album of Last Romeo, which had been retitled as “Be Back”, which contains all their other songs from the Last Romeo album and also 2 brand new songs, Diamond and Back. The latter is being reviewed today. Probably one of the most violent videos ever. If some of you guys remember, last time they promoted Woohyun was injured. This time around, Hoya is injured. So many injuries. And so little time to review this. Sorry, I was drowning in homework when I started this review. Whoops.

This song is freaking amazing. I have no words to describe. I was speechless, but my jaw did not drop a mile. It is a really nice song that is a wonderful mash-up of different genres, just I don’t think it is that memorable overall. However, the song is quite up there as one of my favourites. As soon as the song starts, we get some kind of ballad of some sort, but little over a minute and the beat drops. Basically the thing that really stands out for me is that Infinite is quite known for their dance songs, with all of that heavy choreography. On top of that, myself and probably the rest of the fans really enjoy their ballads as well, so this song combines both of them. Pretty decent. I liked how the song goes from slow to fast and back to slow, and then back to fast. It sounds really amazing. Another thing to note, is that there are no raps. Members Hoya and Dongwo who are known for rapping all end up singing vocally in this song which goes to tell how strong their voices are. All the other members get decent line distributions here in this song. just I think Sunggyu ends up dominating. I also found the “Back Back Back” part really catchy and the instrumental equally as appealing.

Probably a video done right. It has a 19+ rating, but hey there is none of that sexual nonsense here. Just a very young girl is being kidnapped and a fight ensues between the kidnappers and the band, which turns ugly in just about 1 second after the “Back” and Infinite sign took over the video. Just the one thing that is troubling me is that the girl looks like she is still in elementary school. Probably young enough to be the youngest sister of one of the members, not their lover [CORRECTION: The girl actually is the sister. My bad]. Anyway, the boys go into this abandoned warehouse to save the girl. As soon as they walk in they start fighting. Some are throwing punches, some are doing really weird flying kicks. Just Sungyeol is very angry, and pulling the minions hair and Sungjong, are you holding an umbrella? “Hey you got the guns? No. Well what do you have?” An umbrella. Wow. But hey, don’t look down on him because that umbrella is probably the world’s deadliest. However in the end they get overpowered. However, it seems at the end, they start going back into combat when we all first thought they had lost. Amazing what love can do to you. Beside the violent nature of the video, I thought the video was quite nice to watch. The solo shots look awesome and those scenes where the members, one by one, are sitting behind the fence, in the middle of the fight, looked pretty cool to watch.

The dance is pretty good. I really think the start was probably the best out there. It matched the slow start and then when the song started to get quicker and there was more of an electro sound to it, the dance picked up as well and started to be more fitting for a dance song.

By far, probably one of the best Infinite comebacks. Too bad they are currently overshadowed by big name bands in the industry this time around. Congrats on your win today though. 10/10

Last Romeo – Infinite

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Infinite has recently made their comeback with a new album. After solo promotions and solo activities such as acting, the group has finally hit the stage as romantic men again. However, this is not the first album from the group this year. In March 2014, the group released “The Origin” which is an instrumental album which consisted of all of their hit songs and other popular non-title track songs. The album itself was split into three version, each with their own category. An amazing album, that you all should check out. But this is there first release of the year that contained their voices and it seems they are getting a lot of love with four awards already and we are still counting the endless number of the awards that are yet to come.

I guess this song takes rock and roll, brings down the level of power of the song and mushes it into a love song. Okay, if I put it that way its sound like a horrible type of song doesn’t it? But I think it is a cool Infinite style song. It was quite upbeat, powerful like their past songs. I really liked the drums throughout the whole thing. Though to me, the song was not as memorable as their past songs, but it sounded pretty good. Dongwoo and Hoya sound like they are really good professional rappers and to me, they improved greatly.  I find the vocals of this song pretty good as well. The rock feel of the song makes it a stand out compared to the rest of the songs that have been released recently. The whole song to me seemed to be written around Romeo’s point of view of Romeo and Juliet. Overall a pretty cool song, however it could have been better.

The music video is pretty cool I loved the short intro they had at the start. The music video is back to the dark ages which I really enjoy from the band. The music video tells the story of a couple who seems to be lost in time (I assume that is what the start was) and somehow they conjure themselves up at a library. At the library, Woohyun find clues to find the missing girl. They meet but unable to reach other, so Woohyun goes running after her, to which the girl just walks off, as if she is teasing him. The she disappears and he reaches the middle of the libaray, where he is so angry that he unleashes the 1000 years of fury and blows everything up, to which he is transported back to wherever he first was (or he died). Not sure. The plot seems to fit in partly to the song, but really some things could have been much better. I like their dance scenes, with the fake White House like structure and those pillars. Without the reasoning with the song, I think the music video was much better than expected, but with the song, not so great.

The dance is pretty cool. It is such a pity that Woohyun got injured and now he looks really awkward dancing the whole thing with his hands gripping his belt, but that can’t be helped.  But overall, I liked the dance.

7.5/10. A pretty cool comeback this time around, it just needed that something more to add to it to make it sound and look better.

Destiny – Infinite

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Infinite recently made one of the biggest comebacks of the month since March, with Destiny. Man In Love was released back in March, giving the guys an extra boost in popularity, earning them major awards in their promotion period. One of which was winning a whole week on all 4 music award programs at the time (MBC Show Champion, Mnet MCountDown, KBS Music Bank and SBS Inkigayo). They also won the first award, in 2005, to be presented at MBC Music Core. Very big achievements. Let’s all hope this song will do well as well. Why I am saying that: Brown Eyed Girls, Kim Hyun Joong, Beast, 2NE1, F(x) will all be making (or have made) their respective comebacks in the past week or in the upcoming week.

Destiny is one of the best Infinite songs that I have ever heard of. Though some would agree, this song was much better than Man In Love and is also a return to that Infinite style that we all have been dying to hear from the band. Many say it does not have the Infinite style which we hear of when we hear songs like Paradise, Be Mine, The Chaser etc, however I think it does. Just me? Anyway, this song is really addictive. A song that background instrumental does not get in the way of the vocals in this song. It too has that classical feel that Infinite tend to go for when releasing songs. That little instrumental of the electro vibrating sound is really cool. I find the song has an even spread of the artist. Woohyun and Sunggyu are not dominating the vocals part the song, and it seems like the other members (especially L) has more lines. The song starts upbeat and really high but for the first time (I think) I heard a song slow down at the chorus. You think I would complain, but I really like it in this song. Dongwoo and Hoya’s rap were extra strong from what I hear. The song itself is much more stable than their other songs and am I the only one who is addicted to Woohyun’s “No Way” at the end? Cause damn, that was some good stuff.

The music video (version B) is really confusing. Hence, will I return to reviewing the music video when version A comes out? Maybe, since I gather from Version B music video is that the Infinite boys start having weird super powers or some kind of ability because we don’t see them using them, when they a) step outside or b) when they breathe. It seems like the whole thing is a play off of Hulk, like when they get angry and they go crazy about stuff. The music video that was released definitely is lacking in some parts. I personally cannot make a review with just an empty review of the music video. Also, some of their powers are lame. “I can turn my imaginary twin into dust” and “I can disappear into a pile of dust” is not that impressive. Oh, also, “I can drive” is not really a super power, Dongwoo. If it was, declare me a superhero. The music video is filmed in a proper American studio which lives up to the hype about it, because damn, that is some professional stuff that they are doing.

The dance has “some attitude in it”. Like woah. The dance is not as impressive as I had expected it to be, but that hands to the side and head bobbing dance looks really unfitting for the song. Overall, not great as a dance because there is nothing to comment about. Not great or that bad that would do terribly in the world.

So I guess I have to wait for the next music video. Let’s hope they are not like SMent, who released the music video after the promotions. So far though 7.5/10.

 

Man In Love – Infinite

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Source: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oPqNfgoeQUU/UUqNN-drRPI/AAAAAAAARH8/VJpTwu55oY4/s1600/infinite+man+in+love+mv+screencap+1.JPG

Infinite has finally made their comeback with Man In Love which is a much different approach to their strong, powerful chorography image that they usually have. It has been nearly a year, since their last release of The Chaser and Sunggyu’s solo, 60 Seconds and Infinite H at the start of the year with Special Girl. Woah, that is a lot of songs, from just one band in a one year period. Oh wait, I forgot B.A.P. Sorry *derp face*

The song was not expected at all. I was expecting something along the lines of The Chaser, Paradise or Be Mine. Instead we got some kind of cute aegyo style song from the boys, somewhat similar to their debut song. They brought us back tot he original pop era, like the 2000’s and that is pretty cool, as they always do. It took me a few listens to get used to the song. I don’t like the start that much. If it was a live band, the intro would’ve been amazing. But the intro sounds really modern and computer-like feel to it. The verses were okay, but did not stand out too well. The chorus too seemed that well. The raps are pretty cool, and stands out the most in the song for me. Okay, I will just say this: the song, overall is okay. It is definitely not the best, but okay.

The music video is quite interesting? I don’t know if the right word was used. We see a bunch of guys in love with a girl and want to please or surprise the girl. Let’s go in order, the first guy (sorry, i don’t his name) is madly in love with hat cat, not a girl. Woohyun, is kind of in love with someone (that bear at the end?) and plays the piano horribly (Guess the music industry is not for you, mate). Myungsoo, seems to be madly with the idea of love or his cell phone  In a casual class  all he thinks about is love. Kind of freak hey? That guy who cooks can’t actually cook. Yeah, last time I checked, there are no apples whatsoever in a recipe for fortune cookies. Dongwoo, creates a library out of the hall way, don’t know how that symbolises love, but hey, I just hope no one lives above that library of his. Sunggyu, seems to be the most convincing.  Hoya, on the other is the most awkward one. He goes into a store, embarrasses himself by trying out clothing and ends up buying a necklace, which for some reason does not try on. But beside being comical, I liked this video.

The dance was okay. Nothing major, expect for that part where Hoya and Dongwoo has towards the end. It looked cool. The dance was not overly complicated and shall not be known as a difficult dance, like what the guys have done before.

7/10. Okay, I guess, but could’ve been loads better.

Special Girl – Infinite H

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Source: https://kpopreviewed.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/infiniteh.jpg?w=300

Infinite H has been teasing their fans since the end of 2011, if I am not mistaken, after announcing this subunit. And me being delayed, as I live under a rock, only just relaized who Hoya and Dongwoo were. Let’s just say, I thought Dongwoo was Hoya and Hoya was Dongwoo. Yeah, great.

Special Girl has its roots in hip hop, which these guys specialise in. This is a really good song, which I actually like. It may not be anyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoy this song. It sounds sweet and at the same time sounds quite manly. Also, a full album on hip-hop is quite rare in KPOP, so this is pretty good. To me, the song has a really catchy chorus. It sounds pretty good, and their rapping is also pretty good. However, I am not sure, but listening to the song, I keep on picking up the word “sex”. I understand that “sexy” is in the song, but at the start, during Hoya’s solo, I heard the word “sex”. Does anyone else here it? But beside that, this is a pretty good song.

The music video is pretty good. It was boring, but at other times pretty nice. Hoya is extremely awkward with girls, and a scene where he was meant to film ended up being ruined because of his awkwardness, making the director yell at him. Dongwoo on the other hand, like this girl. Just his problem is, what he does, does not match what others do. You see, he is giving flowers to the girl he likes, but when he turns up, there is a long line of other guys waiting to give flowers AND presents. Dongwoo, realized he has no chance pushes in the line, and end up running away because h was so shy. Pretty good story. Just the music video seems to lack something. I don’t know what, but it is lacking something. Also, is that really Primary? He took off the cardboard box, so is that guy really him?

The performance of this song is pretty good. The dance matches the feel of the song and to speed of the song which is pretty good.

8/10. Really good debut album, which is different from what Infinite usually gives us.