Making his long-awaited return is Junhyung, the resident rapper of HIGHLIGHT. That being said, Junhyung is not only known for this works as part of HIGHLIGHT but also his many chart-topping singles over the year, such as Wonder Ifand Sudden Shower (featuring 10CM). This comeback also features his first solo album which is titled as Goodbye 20s. His last album release was back in 2013 with Flower.
The title track is Go Away and it is unlike any other song that I associate with Junhyung. I tend to think R&B when it comes to Junhyung but Go Away is surprisingly upbeat. While there are upbeat R&B and hip-hop songs, the song was quite groovy and ‘bright’ (if you know what I mean). And this new sound actually works well. I was attracted to the song within the first few seconds. The chorus wasn’t that much different, with the way he sings ‘Go Away‘ being my most favourite part of the song. It literally makes the song so much more memorable in my mind. I thought both his vocals and raps shined strongly throughout the song. Though, the singing had an edge, mainly because I am addicted to the way he sings that ‘Go Away‘ line. Overall, Go Away is one amazing comeback song, especially for someone of Junhyung’s calibre.
A few weeks ago, Junhyung released Sudden Shower (featuring 10CM), which happens to be track 4 on his album. The start of the video was a really smart way of introducing the new track by switching from Track 4 to Track 2 (which is the where the title track sits on the tracklist). My guess is that the same director who shot Lovelyz, EXID (and many others) music videos in the past also shot this video, with the rap sequences being quite noticeable. While it is a style seen quite often nowadays, it is always fresh somehow. I also thought the video played well with the lyrics, which talks about a breakup.
I have yet to hear any news about Junhyung promoting his new album and song on stage yet. However, it was seen in the music video that there was choreography, so it looks promising. It looks good from what I can see. Though I feel like a better judgement can be made once a live performance is revealed so I will return when that occurs.
Song – 9/10 Music Video – 9/10 Performance – 7/10 Overall Rating – 8.6/10
After rebranding into HIGHLIGHT, there were rumours floating about with Junhyung’s impending return as a solo artist. It seems like those rumours were true and hence we are all here today. Junhyung previously made his solo debut with Flower and returned last year with After This Moment (featuring Davii). His comeback is titled as Wonder If and features Heize.
Junhyung delves into the RnB side of the Korean music scene with his latest release. His main duty if HIGHLIGHT is to be the main rapper, however, here he sings the entire song. Something that is a little foreign for the established rapper. That being said, I always find rappers have a unique voice that lets them add a different colour to their group songs. Here, Junhyung shines like never before with his catchy and addictive track. It’s the RnB feel that I enjoy listening to. The chorus was probably the best bit of the entire song. I love the way he delivered his lines as if it was to make it jaggered, yet somehow remaining smooth the entire way. The melodies during the chorus are also amazing. While I did say his voice shines, the track does feel quite neutral as you move towards the end. Heize’s featuring was the much-needed relief and added that needed colour to the song. Her voice also gives the song an extra level of depth, which ends up transforming the song into something even better. Overall, this song is one really amazing and worthwhile collaboration.
The same cannot be said about the music video, unfortunately. While I enjoyed the song, the video feels empty and lacking. There isn’t a whole much going on in the video, besides Junhyung singing in various sets. I am not the type of person who would sit around and watch that. Even Heize’s addition to the video couldn’t save the video for me. The video was dark, which matches Junhyung’s associated sound and style. The video was edited to seem like you were drunk, which did give it an alluring appeal, which only lasted for a while. Besides that, I am not a fan of the video.
Song – 9/10 Music Video – 5/10 Overall Rating – 7.5/10
Beast has returned to the stage. This comeback marks the first time the boys have returned since Hyunseung withdrew from the group back in April this year.
Let’s start off with the pre-release, Butterfly. This ballad song is great. Their vocals are quite nice. Since Hyunseung departed, you can definitely tell that the group needed to step up to fill in the empty spot and this song is an excellent example of that. Even Junhyung, who predominate raps in Beast’s songs, have stepped up and opened the song really well. The rest of the group sings really well, as well. The chorus is quite addictive as well and I find it a great song to sway along to. To me, it sounds like a flawless song and I really do enjoy listening to it.
Ribbon is another great song to add to the list. The song sounds like version 2.0 of 12:30. I can’t say this is a ballad, but I see where everyone is coming from. I really enjoyed the violins in the instrumental. It was well emphasised and it drew my attention right away. It does have a few issues in my book, though. The first would have to be the vocals vs. instrumental balance. I found the instrumental was very overpowering at times and I couldn’t hear the vocal work of the members as well. The “Tie up a ribbon” sounds really awkward and it took me a while to actually understand that is what was being sung. I actually thought they were saying something in South Korean. Those high notes at the end were pretty cool. Overall, both songs are pretty good.
The music video for Butterfly is really beautiful . Though, I do think the addition of the props are a little weird (who really enjoys a couch in the open field?), the overall setting is really nice. The camera captures a really nice shot of both nature and the guys. Though, there really is not much else to talk about the Butterfly video, it fits in well with the sound and the overall expected “gracefulness” when we hear the title of the song. Ribbon is a much darker video. The darker atmosphere matched the sombered feel of the song, but the video does remind me (quite strongly) of 12:30 as well. I don’t know what is going on the video But it seems the guys each had good memories about the surroundings they are in (for example the teddy bear in the locker). However they are bounded to these surroundings (by ribbons) and are reminded constantly by the heartbreak (Kikwang’s expressions when he sees both the teddy bear and the extending hand). They try to break away, some successful and some I guess were not. And once again, those awkward props are placed in the weirdest environments. Who honestly puts a photo booth on a skyscraper’s roof top and helipad?
Glad Butterfly doesn’t have a dance. I think Ribbon’s dance is quite nice. Them hip movements, though. Hahaha… Something needs to be done with their pants though. Way too baggy around the ankles. The dance does remind me a lot of 12:30. I did like 12:30’s dance, so I don’t know if it is a bad or good thing that it reminds me of 12:30.
Just a closing statement – Both were awesome, but I am a little troubled about how simlar Ribbon was with 12:30, espeically now how I have finished writing this review and I have mentioned it so many times.
Welcome back to another monthly rewind. February is officially gone and it went super fast (despite it having an extra day, as this is a leap year). Before we all know it, March is gone and April passed us like the wind. Let’s get started shall we?
Major News
I think there are two major news that we need to cover. One that talks good about one band, and the other isn’t that good. But bad publicity is good publicity right?
GFriend made their comeback at the end of January 2016, but managed to sweep the charts with their newest mini album and title track, Rough. And when I mean “sweep the charts”, the girls stayed at the top of the digital for over hundreds of hours, a proportion of those hundreds of hours were actually perfect all kills (which are apparently extremely hard to get, but the girls did it somehow). This led them to win their first music show trophy since debut and they managed to do pretty well. And when I mean pretty well: Triple Crown on Show Champion, MCountDown and Inkigayo, 4 trophies on Music Bank and 2 on SBS The Show. That is a lot. Their hard work has finally paid off, with the help of their fanclub and fans.
In other news, Beast is in the limelight for the wrong reasons. Hyunseung was caught falling asleep during an interview, which disappointed fans and garnered a lot of criticisms. Falling asleep in an interview seems a little too much my opinion, but it just shows how tired they artists are with multiple schedules in one day, concerts, comebacks, practice, interviews, the lot. Junhyung also saw some criticism when he failed to attend a fanmeet due to sickness, but somehow managed to attend his friend’s (Jung Joon Young) birthday party. While it was cleared up with Junhyung, Cube Entertainment and Jung Joon Young each making a statement saying how he came for only a few moments, just to drop off a present. Honestly, some people need to give these guys a break. Sometimes, you need to take a sickie (or sick day) just to go somewhere or to relax and take it slowly. So why are these people so annoyed with that, when they probably do it too, when everything becomes too overwhelming?
Major Comebacks
Number of groups made their comeback this month. 4Minute, Winner, Mamamoo, B.A.P, Taemin (SHINee), NU’EST, Rainbow (even though some are speculating this will be their final release) and many other smaller, rookie bands.
Major Debuts
Astro is the first group that comes to mind with their debut this month. Actually, it is probably the only group that debuted in February that I have reviewed thus far. Their title track is Hide & Seek.
AOA has been around since 2012, but they recently debuted a brand new subunit called AOA Cream. Odd name for a subunit though. Chanmi, Hyejeong and Yuna make up this group. They made their debut with I’m Jelly Baby.
Polls
I am skipping polls this month as I am a little busy. I will be able to write about one of the polls that I have made in next month’s review.
Just a small note: I have started university again, so the rate at which reviews come out will decrease dramatically. And I have to go in everyday, so it is going to be hard to make some time.
Finally, what I intended the double reviews for. For when artists come out with a pre-release and then their title track. Honestly, I felt like Beast should have reviewed sooner, but it won’t be fair for other bands to wait it out as well. Beats has comeback with their fifth mini album. Gotta Go To Work was their pre-release single, while YeY is their title track for this promotional run. Their album is titled as “Ordinary” but this album and their songs are nothing “ordinary”. Prepare for lame puns.
Knowing me, I liked YeY more than Gotta Go To Work. While their last few pre-releases were more of the ballad type, Gotta Go To Work can be described as a song that we would not have expected from the band. There is a lot of aegyo feelings in this song compared to any other song that they have released. And it is pretty interesting. No, it is not a crap song. It is actually pretty nice to listen to once in a while. And I am glad they did not choose this as their title track, because it would be a song that I would get tired with quite quickly. I think that while it is good to listen to from time to time, consecutively listening to this song on the loop would drain it of all the effects it should have. I love how Junhyung carries the first half of the chorus though. It changes things up a bit. I like their vocals in the song.
YeY is a much better song in my opinion. Mainly because I have replaying the song since it has come out and really enjoy the dance and party theme it was going for. The song starts off slow, and starts to build up to the first chorus. It basically hypes you up until the beat drops when we get to the chorus. Junhyung is singing quite a bit in these songs. Interesting. I really enjoy the chemistry between their voices in this song. Junhyung’s rap at the beginning was pretty bad ass though. There is one complaint I have in terms of the vocals. Kikwang seems to have a pretty deep voice this time around and I am quite sure I have never heard a song with Kikwang singing like in this sing. Not saying it is bad, but I feel like it really did not fit well with the song. The instrumental and chorus is really addictive as well. “Yey Yey Yey!!!”
The music videos are quite nice. Gotta Go To Work has a very colourful and cutesy video. I honestly like where they were going with the video and how the girl does not want Doojoon to go to work, mainly because she would miss him so much. And he would tempt her anyway he can to just go to work. Wait, doesn’t that mean he wants to leave her? OMG…. Hahaha… I know, don’t worry. But damn girl, she is just too clingy. I enjoyed Doojoon’s acting in the video though, Suited the music video very well. Yey also had a great music video. Though, my number one complaint is regarding the stylist who did Junhyung’s and Hyunseung’s hair. Please. NO. I cringed so hard, I felt like I cringed on behalf of Australia when I saw them dread locks. The rest of the music video (sorry have to gloss over this part) went pretty smoothly. Party animals I have to say. I love the warehouse dance set that they had. It looked pretty cool.
There should not have been a dance for Gotta Go To Work. It just looked weird on stage. YeY had a much better dance to it and that I expected from them. Their dancing matches the song quite well for YeY.
Overall, this was probably a solid comeback. Always expected Beast to make a great comeback and they managed to deliver pretty well despite all the competition.
Code: RED FONT – WINNERS BLUE FONT – HONOURABLE MENTION
BEST ROOKIE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
2014, like the past few years, have seen so many new KPOP bands debut. So many new bands, so much that I have a really difficult job to select certain artists and also keep up with the old styles. 2014 saw the big 3 companies debut their own groups, but I have to be honest, the stand outs came mostly from the smaller companies. One group in particular stood out from the rest: Mamamoo. Harmony and totally different style from what we are used to. Honourable mentions go to GOT7.
BEST INSTRUMENTAL
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
The one song that is overlooked by everyone on the album is the instrumental. I freaking love instrumentals, and this year, KPOP decided to tease me with so many new instrumentals. That being said, this year the winner of Best Instrumental is Ain’t Nobody by Ye-Eun (Ha:tFelt). Honourable mentions go to Sugar Free by T-Ara.
BEST VOCALS
WINNER
KPOP = Singing. There for it is only right for this year to have an award for Best Vocals, right? Well, the winner goes to Ha:tfelt – Ye Eun (Wonder Girls). I was so amazed by here singing this year that it blew my mind, particularly her title track Ain’t Nobody. Honourable mentions go to IU (yes, I think most of us agree).
BEST RAPPER
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Many KPOP songs have many rapping parts. At the same time, rappers need some recognition. Though, I feel my choice this year could be a little odd, only one person (in my opinion) did a really amazing job. Junhyung from Beast did a wonderful job in Good Luck, 12:30 and the many songs he featured in. Zico from Block B takes Honourable Mentions.
BEST SUBUNIT
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Since 2013, many subunits have been on trend. Even though subunits have been losing trend, many bands this year debuted their own subunits. However, I think we should move away from the new subunits. Cause this year an old subunit wins. Orange Caramel steals Best Subunit with release of three different songs. Honourable mentions goes to Rainbow Blaxx.
BEST COLLABORATION
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
The new trend for 2014. Collaborations between artists have been on the rise. This year though, if you were a KPOP fan for a while, you would know already who the winner is. Soyu & JungGiGo’s Some steals the show, topping the end of year charts conducted in South Korea and winning Best Song as well on the SBS Music Festival. Well of course they would win, considering that they SLAYED the charts. Honourable Mentions go to Sane and Raina’s collaboration, Midsummer Night’s Sweetness.
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
WINNER
WINNER
This year there has been so many stars that have started to become more popular. The nominees tend to be bands that have debuted in the previous year, and with help of comebacks, started to become well known in the industry. I think for the first time ever, I am going to be honest and put forward two winners to this category. First of all, BTS say a boost in popularity and have become a band that I look forward to listening to. Second of all AOA saw new popularity with release of Miniskirt, Short Air and Like A Cat. Both bands, obviously, rose a lot this year and I found it hard to differentiate them.
BEST JAPANESE SONG
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
If you don’t know (I won’t be surprised) I also review some Japanese song. 2015 will be the year where I start to review more Japanese songs for you all. However, 2014 also had a lot of catchy and cool Japanese songs. The winner for this year is Korean boy band MYNAME’s F.F.Y. Such a catchy song. As for honourable mentions, it goes to AAA’s Showtime.
BEST DANCE
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
KPOP is also known for its dancing. 2014 saw some interesting dances, catchy dances, and some dances that have no words to describe it. And that can be a good thing or a bad thing. This year, T-ara took the position as best dance. It was probably the most addictive dance and it was pretty easy as well. It matched the song and most importantly, I loved it. Honourable mentions to Infinite’s Back.
BEST ALBUM
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
A brand new category for 2014. Every award show or some kind of award giving platform has the “best album” award. And yes, this year, there are so many freaking great albums (like any other year). In my opinion, the best album of the year goes to F(x)’s Red Light. All, if not most, of the songs were amazing to listen to and were so great. Every freaking song was different, and though that maybe risky, F(x) pulled it off as a flowing album. Honourable Mentions goes to AKMU’s Play.
BEST MALE SOLOIST
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Solos don’t tend to be the trend this year. Some bands saw new members branch into a solo career, however it seems like more and more KPOP idols (whether male or female) are branching out to acting or variety shows. However, the winner to this category is a person who started offically his own solo career with a lot of experience in the music industry. Crush is the winner. Damn, this dude’s songs are so good. You should check them out. Honourable mentions: JungGiGo.
BEST FEMALE SOLOIST
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
It seems like more and more females are branching out onto the stage. We saw many KPOP divas making their solo debuts on the stage with new and fresh songs from bands like T-Ara or Secret. We already have divas who have accomplished a start to their solo career and saw comebacks of very big names. This year, one solo stood out and that is Secret’s Song Ji Eun. Releasing her first solo mini album, she did quite well considering the competition she was going through. Honourable Mentions goes to Sunmi.
BEST FEMALE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Sexy concept by girl groups have been on the rise. If you know me well, then you probably already know my pick. However, so many girls groups made their comeback this year. Some picked up a lot of popularity and saw massive wins for the first time. Girl’s Day hitted big with their amazing single Something. They later went on to release Darling and I Miss You. Being one of the biggest girl groups of the year, they were sure to pick some prize up. APINK steals honourable mentions this year with their massive single Mr Chu and their latest hit Luv, which blew up and swept all the December trophies for 2014.
BEST MALE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
There have always been a large influx of boy groups and this year it is no different. I was so impressed I was just going to choose all 10 nominees as winners. However, there can only be one winner (well, technically), so I guess I have to choose one. I am going to put down VIXX. They released Eternity and Error this year and both songs were hits for the band. Not only that, they displayed great dance moves and skills. Beast takes out honourable mentions with Good Luck and 12:30, both being very great songs that also delivered like what VIXX had to show. (Just VIXX nudged a head a little bit).
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
This year, most of my Best Music Video Nominees saw the depressing side of KPOP. 8 music videos had this sad or dark storyline to tell. 2 music videos were made in a soft hearted and were really cheerful. G.o.D’s music video for The Story Of Our Lives, told the amazing bond between family and that the outside will never be able to define the inside. Megan Lee features in the song and both band and soloist did an amazing job singing and pouring out their emotions. By the way, SM made a video outside of the box. F(x)’s Red Light, takes honourable mention.
BEST SONG
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
25 songs were nominated for Best Song for 2014. All were to an excellent standard. There were clear stands out. Something by Girl’s Day, EXID’s Up and Down and Beast’s Good Luck are this year’s honourable mentions. However, which song took Best Song category for 2014? Check the song and music video down below.
Yesterday I reviewed No More, by Beast and now I am reviewing their title track on their new album, Good Luck.Proven to be a hit, the song has earned many awards so far and have many people praising the boys for their talent.
I freaking like this song. Many people are like “meh” but I really like the modern feel of this particular song. Though I do have complaints about the song, I feel was produced to a really high standard. However, the start where Yoseob is singing “Why you leave me alone? I’m still loving you” does not fit the song as well as the rest of the song fits the song. KPOP really needs to move away from the 35964546 song mashup. Some bands make it sound good, while some bands make it sound really awful. This song does not do it as well as I would have liked it. A ballad start and then the rest of the song sounds like a club electro filled song don’t blend well. Minus the little intro, the vocals in the song sound quite good. The rapping was a let down. I just did not feel it from Junhyung this time. His rapping is superb, just the lyrics don’t string together as a proper rap for me. The other members did quite fine throughout the song. The chorus was quite catchy. Overall, a song that sounds pretty cool, minus a few bits.
Boy those teasers were so boring. Though they were used to give an insight into the story, I found the teasers to be a drainer to watch. But anyway, the teasers tell us that the girl is up to something behind each member’s back. Junhyung’s teaser itself has the same story line, but the thing that is different is that is it was done to replicate the “Last Supper”, where the betrayal happened. Here, the girl wants to leave him, so as betrayal, she stabs him. The rest of the video was quite meh, I did not like any of the dance sets. I was also quite paranoid with Dongwoon’s scenes, where he and the girl are making love, but he is the one singing into the camera, and it looks so awkward. Beside that, there is nothing that is worthy to comment on in the video, so yeah. An okay video, I guess.
The dance of this song is said to be one of the hardest dances that the boys have attempted. And according to others, Fiction seemed to be the easiest. Can I say that I still cannot dance to Fiction. Hahahaha… Anyway, this dance was pretty awesome. There is nothing to say about that. The boys are known for their dances, and they delivered with a good dance. I love Junhyung’s part where he was “Like an elevator” and the boys actually went down as if they were on an elevator. Hahaha… I get so fascinated by the smallest things.
8/10. They did quite well this time around. Especially with the competition they now have on their hands. So how did you guys like the comeback? Comment below!
OMG, Beast is back with a new songs. And they are back on “Beastagram” for their new music video. Wow. After nearly a whole year disappearance from Korea as a group, the group has finally returned to the stage to wow everyone with their new songs. Last time I saw the one of the members on stage was JunHyung’s solo Flower. Now they are back with a pre-release song. It is another ballad, which Beast is widely known for and their ballads have also been proven to be quite successful, because with every single album or mini album , the group have one one award for each of their ballads. Such titles include: On Rainy Days, Will You be Alright and now No More. And they have finally made their comeback, with their title track, being reviewed tomorrow.
This song is pretty okay. I am not much of a fan for Beast’s ballads, mainly because I associate the band with dance heavy songs. This to me, was quite boring to listen to. I like my fair share of ballads, just this one has too much rnb and hip hop smashed into it to make it a ballad for me to like. I did like their vocals in the song. It matched the soft instrumental that they had with the song. I am not big on raps in ballads, but JunHyung did really well in this song. It is not your typical rap from Junhyung, as it much softer and sounds a lot similar to whispering. So yeah, overall, it is a good ballad, just it did not do well for me.
The music video of this is pretty cool. “Beastagram” was used in this video to tell a really good story and really suited the feel of the whole video. Actually, the way the video was shot was quite smoothed and fitted the song quite well. We see Junhyung and his former girlfriend. Each member had their own profile, and their own little video clip for the video is transition into the next solo. That is pretty smart. The whole thing was also used by the video, to help the two mains of the video of their memories, and that is too very smart, as all of our memories are now captured digitally. And it is through these shots, we get a glimpse of how things used to be. Then they literally go down “memory” lane by walking down the same path when they were dating, and then they bump into each other. However as they know they can no longer continue, they keep on walking, even though it breaks their heart. It turns out that Junhyung is going to meet another girl, while the girl is busy putting away the things that remind her of him. However at the end, we can see that through “Beastagram” both can still manage to be together. Such a sad music video to watch, but also equally as entertaining and unique.
5/10. Even though I am not much of a fan of the song, I liked the uniqueness of the video, which made the whole thing stand out. That, or I would not have reviewed their pre-release.
Another famous YouTuber has finally made her debut onto the stage. Mega stars such as Ailee, Eric Nam who have received successful love from the people of Korea have all been scouted from YouTube. Now it is Megan Lee’s turn. From singing amazing covers to now, Megan has finally made her official debut onto the stage. Though she was quite nervous on her first stage, she has managed to pull it off successfully. As well, she has feutring in her song and music videos, the rapper of Beast, Yong Junhyung, who recently have been appearing a a lot of other songs. However, enough with the introduction, excited about the review and the song itself.
I have to say, this is an amazing song. There is no doubt in that. From beginning to end, I completely love this song. I have no complaints at all. I have been listening to this song non stop. Megan’s voice in this song sounds really cute and to me, suits this style of song very well. The song itself is extremely catchy and manages to do well. Her singing is superb (check out her English version of the song). The instrumental gives off that amazing fresh summer vibe that this song is trying to get at, making it fun and light hearted. I really love it how the English has been mashed up a lot with the Korean in the song to make it sound something that is quite different. Sometimes, songs do have quite a bit going on, but it really does not make sense. However here, everything is amazing and it all makes sense. Junhyung’s rap in the Korean version also matches the song and does not clash with the overall feel of the song. So in the end, this song is amazing, stunning and really really catchy.
The music video is really nice. As the song has that fresh summer “new start” vibe to it, the music video reflects that. I also really like the transition between various scenes. For example, when she is singing about piano, she comes around and starts playing on a piano (well keyboard to be exact, but hey, still they are quite similar). The bed scene for the introduction was something quite new and different for once. Not entirely sure about the horse heads and stuff, but I guess they add that more fun side to the video and song. I like her solo shots where she is just strumming on her guitar singing. Though here is that complaint I have, I found the blurring along the sides of the video and at different parts kind of distracting as well. But hey, I guess the rest of the video makes it up. Also, Junhyung’s scene introduced the night time, was a little too dark and lighting could have been a little more better there. Also did you see a little featuring of the Fiction dance by Beast!!! It actually fitted into the video and song.
To me, the dance was so so. Not entirely the best dance out of all the dances. It still maintains the fun that is contained in the song, just not entirely sure if she should be swinging her guitar around back and forth to dancing to just singing. Kind of seems like she is rushing from one thing to another, giving it that really off feeling. But still overall, pretty good.
I find this debut amazing. Though there was some let downs, I think Megan Lee still did an amazing job considering she entered the industry with little fan base and had finally got people cheering for her when she performs. 9/10
How on earth did I pick these songs? Today I will be reviewing Beast’s Fiction. This was the title track off their first album and was one of their most successful songs. It was released in 2011, when KPOP was quite smaller, compared to now. It has changed so much that I don’t even know what is going on. It is a review that I have being put off for a very long time. Actually, I think it is a review that I had already written, lost it when my computer had to be wiped clean and reinstalled and all of that occurred early 2012. Yeah, there are a few reviews that I believe are hanging around my computer somewhere or on my external hard drive. Which reminds me, I could not copy and paste CN Blue’s review for I Am A Loner. I remember that one because it was the only one that would not publish. Anyway, on with the review.
Back in 2011, I hated this song. Why? Because it played non stop everywhere. All the sites were raving on about it and I was just like no. Fiction now disappeared from the ranks and I am thankful for that. I have no idea what the hype of this song was for. It was another boring song which I never got into. It was not impressive and I know the boys could have done a whole heap better because of their songs that they released prior to this. The chorus was boring and unappealing and there was not one thing I liked about the song. The vocals were so so and I expected a song much better from that band. Honestly, I have no idea why I am even reviewing this song, because by now, you probably will understand what my score will be at the end.
The music video is not actually that great. It is basically about how a guy is completely heartbroken at how his girlfriend leaves him. Yeah, the music video was played so many times that I got sick of Junhyung’s acting. It was good at first, but it was really boring when you watch it over and over again. It was dark in some places which fit the feel of the song, but then there were parts that were super bright (such as the one where he is at the desert, but it did not look like a proper sun light. Sun light is not white…) and then dark places, such as that scene where they are dancing on the roof. And what is that alien ship structure where the whole scene is orange, looks like they were on Mars. Though I liked the plot of the video, it was played some many time, I grew to dislike it.
The dance is called the “penguin shuffle” dance I believe, and it looks easy to attempt. Yeah, I have to dance the dance. It fits the speed of the song which I great, but really lacked the impact of a good performance. And those leather suits or whatever look kind of weird.
I try to be reasonable and rank it as if I first listened to it and watch the videos. 4/10. Obviously not the best Beast song out there.I will update the playlist tomorrow. Currently watching the Seoul Music Awards. ^^
Junhyung is the next member of Beast to go solo. After a year since Yoseob debuted as a solo singer, Cube Entertainment unleashed their next big surprise. Shadow was pretty cool. But to me, this debut song was not exactly the best song out there. I have to give props to Junhyung for attempting and doing really well for a pretty edgy theme. Anyway, this is not my final review for the year, but sadly is the last major review of the year. Though I know other artists are coming back, I have to have a cut off date for the charts. I will only be doing another 2-3 reviews for more recent songs and on top of that, I will be going back to review songs that I have missed, but really wanted to review. And also past songs from previous years.
Wow, this song is rather interesting. It is rather weak for a solo debut song. There was nothing to grab me in this song, to make me go back to it more and more. At first, I thought this comeback would be that weird, as the rapper (probably who I view as the strongest and manilest member of any band) is doing a song called “Flower”. But, boy was I wrong. It had a similar feeling to Caffeine, which I believe Junhyung wrote for Yoseob. It had that chic but modern feel to it that made the song unique. It also had its RnB sounds in it as well. Maybe when he was writing the song, he did go overboard with the ratio of English lyrics compared to Korean words. But if you read the many English translations, they actually fit into the song. He likens the girl to a flower, and in the lyrics he mention the sweetness of chocolate and a lollipop, saying that the girl is a flower that is equally sweet as the candy. Pretty cool. Though, I like the chorus, I don’t think the high pitch parts in it are suited for him. I guess he maybe pushing himself a little too hard. But overall the song was pretty cool. Not as cool and badass as I expected, but still pretty cool.
As for the music video. I hope that was a fake or dead butterfly. I hope the person who decided to put a scene of it burning was in a sound mind and did not torture the little blue butterfly. Anyway, I thought the music video was pretty cool. Not sure about Junhyung dead in a fridge parts though, but I guess that is what made the whole comeback seem edgy to me. I really want to know how they filmed Junhyung’s head only, but I probably think they just put him in a box and made a hole so he can stick his face out. Not really fond of the whole mirror camera thing. It did give the music video more a heightened scary theme, but really they used it too many times already. At least someone was smart enough to put flowers in this music video, cause the music video would be a pile of dung without the flowers. Overall I was quite happy with the outcome of the music video, just that one dance scene where he has things dangling down his hat. Please, you’re not Australia. Don’t wear that.
The dance is pretty cool. Something I would’ve expected from a Beast member, or their backup dancers. I actually enjoyed the dance. Everytime they hit the chorus, the members became flowers, i think, by standing on their heads and bending into awkward positions. Now, that I made things awkward….
7/10. Not as great as I would have expected. But still works. How did you guys like the debut? Successful or just another one of those comebacks?
KPOPREVIEWED 
