vitaminwaterreviews

[vitaminwaterreviews]

IVE - Ive Switch

Average score of 7.5, fair enough. It started out quite strong, I liked the first couple of tracks a lot. But the sound in general kind of didn’t go anywhere. Ice Queen is probably the biggest deviation, but even that was so electronic and processed and … ugh. I kinda want to revisit Ive Ive, I think I remember enjoying that album more. But Accendio from this album was Quite good, and Heya was fun too. I’ve added them all to my playlist, we’ll see what stays. Not much to say though. Some of it is trendy, some of it is Ive, it’s all good but nothing super special either.

- Heya

I dunno if I like the Song very much, but the color palette is So good

Okay, I buy this. This is like, almost Young Posse, in how it uses the bass

At least in the verses

Okay, yeah, this is IVE

The “dada dadada” is really fun

I don’t know what any of them sound like or look like, but I sure can tell who Yujin is based purely on “stage presence” haha

Mkay, this bridge is a nice break, let’s see where it goes

Damn, I was kinda hoping for a blackpink style breakdown at the end

8/10, I had no expectations, and I actually quite like what I got

Accendio

Beep boop

Almost Love Divey in the vibes

HAHA IT IS OMG

After the “5,6,7,8” I was like “if they did an anti-drop here it would be so Love Divey” and they DID lmao

The post-chorus is nice

Actually I do really like this song, this is good

This song actually Goes places more than Love Dive does

Yeah, the bass in the post chorus is so good

Oh my god this bridge, I literally just got goosebumps

9/10, jesus christ IVE

Blue Heart

This is the Wonyoung song

I don’t think she has any composition credits, but I think the lyrics are all her

(In other words, the one part I literally can’t judge)

Not convinced by the song itself yet

In terms of vibes of the album, this album feels very 4 Walls so far

I think I’m won over. It’s kind of the same as the previous songs in terms of vibes though, and I do expect a bit more from the album. So we’ll go with:

7/10

Ice Queen

Like Elsa?

Oh okay, I hear this chorus

It doesn’t feel … hm. What am I even trying to express here?

I don’t buy the “ice queen” part of it. Like, it feels too electronic to me

Yeah, and the song itself just doesn’t do enough for me

7/10

WOW

And now we’re a bit less edgy and a bit more upbeat

The vocals feel super processed to me, why?

They’re doing the same thing in this chorus, with the Big synth bass

Lol “MBTI got it”, is that what they said?

7/10

Reset

Based on the opening alone, feels kinda like Rose by GOT the Beat

Mkay, more upbeat and less(?) electronic

Or maybe, electronic in a different way

Maybe Better Things is a better comparison? I definitely prefer both Rose and Better Things though

Or maybe Smart?

Yeah idk. I don’t totally vibe with this song, it feels Trendy and Boring. Illit would release this, Newjeans would release this, LSF would release this. (Oh how LSF have fallen)

It does fit with the vibe of the album though, like it Fits

Still, a runtime of 2:41 tells you all you need to know

7/10

#album #kpop #IVE

[vitaminwaterreviews]

AIXP - The Artificial Intelligence Experiment

I think that my comment on the first song really sums up my feelings towards the album as a whole: “Pleasantly surprised.” Often full albums can feel like a bit of a slog, especially if they’re from genres that I’m not a huge fan of. Coup d’Etat for example, which I listened to just yesterday, was more of a slog than this album was, and that album is considered one of the GOAT kpop albums. So the fact that this album was much easier (and more enjoyable) to get through is a big compliment.

The instrumental samples and vocals as a whole felt very processed, I think that’s my biggest criticism. It’s possible that I just have very messy versions of the songs; these have been converted at least once on my end, and who knows how many times on behalf of the person I got them from. But the vocals in the mellow and pretty sections never totally won me over, and the mellow sections in general always felt a Bit too coarse and processed.

I also definitely wanted more melody from the guitars, but again, I’m not familiar with the conventions of the genre so maybe that’s just something that I don’t know.

Now the stuff that I’m impressed by. The mixing was constantly making me turn the music up to the point that it hurt my ears. I dunno if that’s intentional, but for metal music I think that’s definitely a Good thing. The vocals were excellent, even if the growly vocals weren’t conventional death metal vocals, they still fit this particular sound well. I enjoyed the structure of the individual songs a lot - we had a really good mix of upbeat and mellow sections, and right as I was starting to get bored of one, it switched to another. There were only a couple of sections in the entire album that I started to get bored, and it kept my attention really well other than those.

The last two songs are definitely the highlights of the album for me, I think Hourglass is probably my favorite song overall.

I did find it kind of odd how a lot of the songs seemed to end on a slow section, even if they didn’t have one at all during the main part of the song. The transition from Hourglass to Finale was particularly jarring, maybe that could’ve been smoother. Or maybe that’s intentional. So many things that I just don’t know, because I’m not familiar with the genre! Anyway, enough rambling. Average score of 8.0 which feels exactly correct to me. Very good, could use some improvement, but still a solid four out of five stars. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to.

- Alright, I feel the need to add some disclaimers here. I do not usually listen to metal of any sort, and definitely not death metal. I am, however, regularly exposed to death metal, mostly though music leagues that I do with my friends who are more into the subgenre than I am. But since I got early access to this particular album, I figured I’d give it a proper listen and do the proper review and all that. I have no idea how I’ll end up rating any of these songs, or the album as a whole, but here we go.

The Artificial Intelligence Experiment

The layering on the vocals is Really nice

And actually the entire song feels so Thick, in a good way

Love the pause and “thump thump” after “The Artificial Intelligence Experiment”

Oh, I probably can’t just google the lyrics to this now can I, sad

The whole thing feels … epic

I usually associate that kind of guttural growl singing with death metal, we haven’t had much of that yet

Oh and of course as soon as I type that, we get a bit of it lol

I quite like this section around 3:00, I assume this is the outro

I wonder whose vocals these are. Is this THE nLazy singing??

8/10, pleasantly surprised

I Forgot to Take My Meds

Me too tbh

Alright, here’s the melodic part of melodic death metal

Love love love the autotune on this voice in the intro here

“I forgot to take my medicationnnnn” lmao

I heard ‘forgotten pills’! That was a former name of this song

The voice still feels very heavily processed in the slow part ~1:50, kinda wish it was cleaner in the mix to give us more contrast

A bit better around 2:45. Maybe just personal taste then, because the vocal effects definitely fit Conceptually, but I’d prefer them cleaner to make them sound more human

8/10, really enjoyed this one, I think if I was more a fan of metal then it’d be a 9

Lost in the Void

Nice, love me some piano

It does feel slightly out of place though - very clean, kind of echoey, like a random piano from a music chamber was put in the middle of armageddon or something lmao

I keep turning the music up, and then my ears start to hurt, so I have to turn it back down. Maybe that’s an intentional aspect of the genre, or maybe the mixing is a bit off. Let me see if I can figure out what I’m trying to hear more of

Yeah even here. The vocals are as unprocessed as we’ve gotten so far, but they still feel processed! Idk, I’ll stop harping on that now

The “oooooh”s at the end are neat. I’m getting like, horror vibes out of this

7/10

Betrayers Lament

I almost get … prog rock vibes out of this soundscape, whatever instrument doing these harmonies feels like that electronic organ for some reason

Yeah, the growly vocals are definitely not the conventional style that I usually hear in death metal

Not that it’s a bad thing. The section beginning at 1:36 feels Really good in context

This is cool, the section around 3:30 feels really cool

Love how distorted the piano feels

What I want here is a ridiculously technical electric guitar solo at the here, riffing over everything else going on

8/10

Chaos Unleashed

That it, the mixing thing. The vocals are kind of buried in the mix, it’s really hard to make out what they’re saying. BUT, I suspect that’s very intentional, most death metal sounds similar to me

Or maybe I’m just used to listening to pop music where the vocals ARE the mix lol

I haven’t commented much on the particular song yet, but I’m vibing

A comment on the ending: it feels Kind of cheesy. Nowhere else in the song do we get the more mellow vibe of the final “nothing is as it seems”, so it feels like it comes out of nowhere just to force an ending

That said, if the next song begins with a similar vibe, then it might work pretty well as a bridge between the two songs. Let’s see!

7/10

Echoes of Freedom

Nope lol

That said I do quite like the intro here, it’s bouncy and almost dancy

Yeah, this actually feels almost more poppy than the other songs. Can’t totally tell why

Like, if I was gonna release a single off of this album, I think this is the one I’d choose

That said, this is partly because this song is kind of safe. It definitely doesn’t Explore as much as some of the other songs have

8/10

Maze of Life

Lord of the Rings vibes for some reason

I wonder what that instrument is, the one doing the triplets in the intro

Oh wait, this whole song is in 6/8, I didn’t even realize until just now

I like that a lot, it gives a really nice momentum

Feels almost like a march

Haha random choral section at 2:05, this is actually so neat

The thing is, this is the easiest song to listen to, but I don’t know if it’s my favorite. Like, as much as I love 6/8, it does often feel kinda cheesy to me

Or maybe I’m just jaded and cynical

8/10

Revelations

I want more of whatever the highest guitar line is in the first 30 seconds or so

Hoorayyyyyyyyy we’re 8 songs in and finally we get a proper guitar solo!!!

Kinda short though, gimme more gimme more

This was a really good song. I want more of that guitar. Very few comments here though because I did start to zone out - maybe worth noting

8/10

From the Shadows

I can definitely hear the lyrics very easily in the opening lines of the song, first time in the album I can say that for a full verse

Nice, the change between half time to double time around 2:00 felt really good

The instrumental break around 2:20 is good, I like the cute little sixteenth note runs

Structurally, I’d expect this song to be the climax of the album. Lyrically I think that makes sense, I’m not sure I buy it musically

Perhaps Finale is the climax though, seems likely

Again with randomly ending on a mellow section after an entire loud and upbeat song

Maybe that’s a trend in melodic deathcore though

It definitely did something with it though

8/10

Hourglass

Dude this guitar sample is So pretty omg

Yes, love the vocals

This isn’t death metal, this is just Lovely

Love the percussion

Mkay, now it picks up

Maybe this is the climax of the album then, it feels like it so far, that transition was epic

Alright, and now we’re slow again

Oh we’re in 3/4 now, didn’t even notice

I quite quite like this song, probably my favorite on the album so far

3/4 really is such an anthemic time signature, this feels so epic

I’d love to see the lyrics for this particular song. It’s impossible to pick them out during the loud sections

Whatever’s going on with the vocals around 3:20 is genius, love love love how they sound in conjunction with the instrumentals

Lol what is that ending

9/10

Finale

And we go from that soundscape to this soundscape, fair enough ig

We’re in 12 now, I think

Haha wait this is a 7 minute song!! Better be good

That section around 1:37 was good, felt like a nice break

I want it to go somewhere else, 2:20 and so far we’ve been at exactly the same energy the whole way through. This album has enough pretty sections on it that the finale should tie back into

Nice guitar around 2:50, give me more

That’s one thing the album doesn’t do too well is fun guitar solos. Maybe death metal doesn’t do fun guitar solos

3:30-ish sounds Really cool though

Mkay, now we’re soft, about time

This guitar does feel totally out of nowhere, it’s almost … folky

That’s such a metal trope, going from Chill and then immediately having the drums come in and introducing the Metal back in

4:40 is so cool omg

Yeah, this might be my favorite section on the album

The whole instrumental section here is perfect actually. I think vocals would detract from it, good decision

Yep, definitely 12/8

I’m at 6:30 now and I’ll tell you what, this didn’t feel like a 7 minute song at all

Not totally convinced by the ending

9/10

#album #metal #death metal #melodic death metal #AIXP

[vitaminwaterreviews]

G-Dragon - Coup d'Etat

I mean … Good, not great. Curious what the average rating is so let’s see: 7.5. Yeah that feels about right.

I definitely went into this album with expectations. I don’t know much BigBang, but I know enough about their history and G-Dragon’s role in the industry to expect something incredible out of this album. Instead I got … something good. I liked the variety of sounds, but I didn’t necessarily like all of the sounds. I also am not sure if I like his voice very much. I do think that the dubstep and rock elements were used really well, but I kind of expected more interesting lyricism out of him.

Like, if I had to choose between this album and D-Day, I’d choose D-day every time. It’s not totally a fair comparison, but I’d say it’s a reasonable one.

- I’ve actually had this on my list for quite a while now. I’ve finally got a bit of free time, and the motivation to do it, so let’s check it out.

Coup d’Etat

No lyrics for this one because I wanna watch the MV

But maybe I should’ve gone with lyrics instead

I actually don’t know how I feel about this song. It’s super dramatic, very YG in that sense

Very underwhelmed

Honestly maybe this is just the album intro? But it has an MV, so it’s definitely a title track of some sort

I think I’d like it more if it was half as long and pitched as an intro

7/10

Niliria

Lol okay this is not what I expected after the first song

But I’m here for it

That was actually really good?

9/10

R.O.D.

Ride Or Die

Tell you what, I’m not actually sure I like G-Dragon’s voice that much

Lol wait the dubstep bass in the chorus here

Okay well the chorus totally just made me love this

I dunno about the line “me and my girlfriend,” the world “girlfriend” in this context feels super out of touch

Okay, here’s the outro we wanted

I mean it was very enjoyable to listen to, I could see a world where this is my favorite song on the album one day

8/10

Black

With Jennie

Hip hop piano is such a mood

Jennie sounds Very good here

Still feels kinda melodramatic - although I suspect that’ll be a common theme in this album

7/10

Who You?

Well this is poppy as hell

Dudududududududdu lmaooo

Ooohohoohohohhhhh

7/10, certainly surprised by this

Shake the World

Back to dubstep, mkay

What on earth is that Noise?

Also I dunno what genre this is, bc it’s way more trap than dubstep

7/10

MichiGO

Today I’m crazy, GO

So, like, Crazy, by 4minute

Haha what’s with all the dubstep on this album?

Wikipedia somehow neglects to mention any form of EDM when it lists the genres of this album

heundeulGO, like in Catallena?? Lmao

8/10 let’s say, this was fun but still nothing special

Crooked

I’ve definitely heard this intro somewhere, or at least it sounds an awful lot like something

I’m enjoying this one a lot. It feels like, punk rock or something

Like, very early 2000’s

8/10

Niliria (G-Dragon Ver.)

Actually imma skip this, no need to listen to the same song twice

Runaway

Well if the last one was punk rock, then this is … also punk rock

I thought that the lyrics would be more important for this album. I am not sure that’s true

However, it’s good to get some more actual kpop rock music

Not quite an Nmixx moment, but similar feeling

Ah yes, a guitar solo

8/10

I Love It

Lol what is this I wonder

It is Zion.T, so I guess it would be more r&b

I do quite like the bass, but I am not convinced by the sound overall

Actually by virtue of the bass I’m getting more funk than r&b

The piano feels So odd though

7/10

You Do

7/10

#album #kpop #G-Dragon

[vitaminwaterreviews]

3776 - Saijiki

Let me tell you the story of how I came across this album.

When I was a kid, my dad had me go to a writing workshop at the library every week. It was there that I learned how much I enjoyed writing. I wrote all sorts of things: stories, scenes, characters, and poetry. I wrote some of my first haiku at that workshop.

In 2020, the world fell apart for a bit, and my life did too. 

In 2021, I was hospitalized for suicidal ideation. In the psych ward, the patients were each given a paper crane. We were also taught how to make them. So, I learned how to fold paper cranes. In keeping with the theme, I figured I’d write some haiku about the psych ward.

A few months after I got out of the psych ward, I spent some time watching anime with a friend of mine. One of the movies that we watched was called The Garden of Words. The characters in the film read tanka. I had never heard of tanka. So I looked into them, and tanka quickly became my favorite form of poetry. In particular, tanka gave me a newfound appreciation for haiku, which I had lost interest in years before.

Another anime movie that we watched during that time was Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop. This is a movie about haiku. And between these two movies, I suddenly became extremely interested in classical Japanese poetry.

At some point around that time, I became interested in kpop music. This led me to Le Sserafim, which led me to Miyawaki Sakura, which led me to IZ*One, which led me to AKB48.

At some point, Netflix restricted how accounts could be shared. This meant that I could no longer watch Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop.

Last winter, I totalled my car. Because I couldn’t go anywhere to do anything anymore, I began reviewing albums on a tumblr page.

This weekend, I’m cat sitting at my mother’s house. My mother has access to Netflix. So, I opened Netflix to see what I could watch that I didn’t normally have access to. I ended up watching Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop, which I hadn’t seen in years.

The main character, Cherry, mentioned something called a “Saijiki.” So, as someone very interested in classical Japanese poetry, I looked up “Saijiki.” This brought me to the Wikipedia page for Saijiki. At the top of the page, it said “For music album, see Saijiki (3776 album)”. So I hovered over the link to the album, and it mentioned that it was by a Japanese idol unit. As someone now interested in idol culture, I clicked the link. I found out that 3776 was inspired by AKB48. And, since I had a reason to listen to and review albums, I listened to and reviewed the album.

8.7

- January

Kpop has nothing on this

Haha okay, here’s the beat

Sorry I didn’t type at all for like the first third of that, too busy listening

This is So good

Me singing ode to joy along with them

9/10, only because I expect I’ll need to leave room to go higher

February

Woah okay, now we’re all loud and stuff

Actually, for some reason I’m reminded of In Love With A Ghost

I think it’s the synths being used

This album treats vocals like they’re a joke haha

8/10

March

This feels like a continuation of February

I wonder if they blend together like that?

I’m listening to them in a playlist so I can’t tell

I love the guitar in this section. It definitely feels more like spring

Also, birds? I think I hear birds

The guitar scratches sound like birds too

9/10

April

Electric guitar

Sakura sakura

The drums, the synth, mmm

9/10

May

I love the flute oh my god

Lol wtf is this bass doing

Oh hey the flute is back

I think this is a different flute

9/10

June

The guitars and the bass are So nice

The vocals … I think I enjoy less

The whistling is so good though

Haha and here’s the electric guitar

7/10, I’m starting to become disillusioned, give me something Good

July

This does actually feel kind of like July to me

And now we’re all Hype

And here’s the electric guitar, except it’s different again

I do like this one a lot actually

9/10

August

(I’m reading comments on the video instead of typing)

Oh no, I’m starting to get worried by the piano, it’s all gonna get Sad now bc summer is Over

9/10

September

Yep, this sure does feel like september

Actually I’m getting more November out of it almost

I guess the drums aren’t very November

Does this feel like back to school though? I can’t tell

8/10

October

This does not totally feel like October to me

I guess I could see how it is though

8/10

November

Lol wait what is this, dance pop?

I should also mention that the vocals in this remind me so much of that one Vi Hart video with the musical line doodle things, I forget what it’s titled

Yeahhh the bass drum though

9/10, the pew pews are so funny

December

December ain't never this hype, no way

Maybe in Japan December is this hype

Well now she’s singing about christmas and there are also jingle bells so I mean

(This got me dancing)

10/10

#album #jpop #art pop #3776

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Candy Shop - Hashtag#

So I’ve listened to three EP’s today. One was Good, one was Great, and one was Decent. This was the Decent one. I don’t really have any other comments, 6.5.

- Hashtag#

Okay, aggressive

And now we’re cool and synthy

Nice, nice, good stuff

I should mention that I have NO idea what to expect going into this album. I know Rollin’ and that’s literally everything I could tell you

Oh also this is immediately after I listened to Young Posse, it’s a three EP kinda night

(Mostly because I let them all stack up oops)

7/10, do more for me

Good Girl

Visually, they look … interesting. Whoever that is with the pink shirt that has words all over it, I like it

Ahahaa it’s set in a CANDY SHOP that’s so funny of them

The sound is, unsurprisingly I guess, boring

It’s kind of amazing how unpopular Brave Entertainment is. Like, an incredibly successful producer, he clearly knows how to make music, there’s obviously Money behind this MV … so why isn’t this as massive as it could be?

Random modulation?

7/10 tbh

No Fake

Is this the same song? This feels like exactly the same song

OMG I wonder if in 20 years people will listen to all the girl group music from the 2020’s and feel exactly as bored as I did listening to all the r&b slow jams from the 2000’s

6/10

Candy#

UGHHH do I really have to listen to more of this

Okay at least this one is a bit more upbeat

6/10

#album #kpop #Candy Shop

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Young Posse - XXL

I absolutely loved this EP, I don’t even know what else to say. I liked the sound, I was impressed by their vocals, I thought the feature was really good, the title track is obviously awesome. It’s interesting though, because the sound is kind of similar to Illit, but I think Young Posse just did it better somehow. I don’t really know how to explain the difference. Like, when Illit do it, it feels like they’re trying to be cool. When Young Posse do it, it feels like they are cool. Plus the title track gives a lot more legitimacy to the album. I do wish there was a bit more rap on the album, but then again, we got a ton of rap in Macaroni Cheese, so in terms of their discography as a whole (all two EP’s) this is a reasonable shift for an album.

Average score of 8.8, but I liked it a lot, so imma round up to 9.0.

- I’ve already seen XXL and I absolutely loved it. Very excited to hear the rest of the album. This is immediately after I heard Illit, so let’s see how it is.

Scars

Oh hey, all of the songs are over three minutes Except the title lol

Well this isn’t the Young Posse sound we’ve come to know and love

Mildly impressed by the vocals, but also the autotune is everywhere

This does actually sound kinda like the Illit album

They wouldn’t be using This excessive of autotune though

Oh her low register is pretty, alright

Why does this make me feel Sad?

Actually I kinda get Look At Me vibes from this haha

(Also I liked Look At Me before it was cool just to be clear)

DEEP VOICE MOMENT

The synth here is so good oh my god

It makes me feel like I Just, sort of

9/10

XXL

God the MV for this is just so good

See this is what I mean by Fun kpop

Like, kpop that doesn’t take itself too seriously

10/10

DND

And now we’re back to r&b

I dunno why but for some reason this feels more like proper r&b than a lot of the NewJeans style to me

Don’t get me wrong, I love a lot of NewJeans’ music, but it’s impossible not to compare groups to them

Woah, BM fits this so well. I don’t know much Kard, maybe I’ll have to listen to more of him

Their singing is so Good, you never would’ve guessed it by their first album

Mmm and now we’re more upbeat

8/10

ROTY

Is this like, a statement of intent?

Oh wait it’s on their Album cover

I love that so much for them

Why does all this music make me so SAD?

Like for some reason this is crying music to me

(Not that I do much crying but still)

It’s got me dancing around the room, that’s neat

9/10 for the audacity to put it on the album cover

Skyline

I always find it a bit weird when kpop groups reference western artists in their music (Red Velvet)

But actually I think it kinda works for Young Posse, at least for me

I guess at some point I’ll have to figure out what all the Stevie Wonder is for

Hopefully someone writes up a lyrical analysis that I get to read

Ah yes, random piano outro bc why not

8/10

#album #kpop #Young Posse

[vitaminwaterreviews]

ILLIT - Super Real Me

Not bad, I guess? Not great either. Very trendy, I’m sure it’ll be popular and all that. But what originally drew me into kpop is that groups weren’t always trying to be cool. Being weird and cute and exciting and dumb were all totally valid and popular concepts. But now everyone’s trying to be cool and it’s kinda frustrating, because that’s not what I got into kpop for!

I quite liked the sound design of the album, but if it had any more songs on it then I would’ve gotten bored. That’s what happened with the fromis_9 album. But they had the good sense to keep the EP short (nine and a half minutes!) which means that it didn’t overstay its welcome. I’ll add them all to my playlist, but I do not expect all of them to survive on my playlist. Average of 7.5.

- My World

BASS

I don’t know why but I’m getting real 2000’s vibes out of this bass specifically

Like … Scribblenauts maybe??

The melody in the second verse is fun

There’s so much variety in how they’re using the vocals, I like it

I dunno what to rate this

8/10

Magnetic

Woah, dreamy

Not sure if I buy the intro

This mix is Thick though like wow

That was a neat pause, I hope that’s in the song proper

It always annoys me when they lip sync extremely distorted vocals. Like c’mon, why even try to pretend?

It’s fun but it’s SO incredibly NewJeans like wow, this is definitely the most NewJeansified non-NewJeans song I’ve heard

Random punch

Lol okay you’ve got my attention

And it just goes nowhere with it? Really?

I do like the random notification sound

I guess I like it

8/10

Midnight Fiction

Actually, I kinda get fromis_9 vibes from this album for some reason

(The only formis I’ve ever listened to is Unlock My World)

Yeah, whatever you think about the song, the Sound, like the Timbre, is so pleasant to listen to

7/10, do something

Lucky Girl Syndrome

These titles though, they’re not “super real,” they’re dramatic af

Like the guitar

Like the vocals

Curious where it goes

Oh of course it goes here lmao

They had the chance to go rock or funk but ofc they went with the same dreamy sound, big sad

7/10

#album #kpop #Illit

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Wendy - Wish You Hell

Hmmmmm. I don’t really know what to think. The title track did one thing and then the B-sides all did not do that thing. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though. I enjoyed every song, even the slow jam, and actually in hindsight I think it’s wrong to classify it as a slow jam. It was more of … I dunno, a contemporary ballad or something like that? Like … I dunno. But I will say, this album contained things that I did not expect, and I heard things that I haven’t heard before, and that’s always a good thing.

I kinda want to listen to her first mini now to compare. Not tonight, I don’t have the time. But maybe tomorrow I’ll do that. Average score of 7.8, maybe a tad low, but close enough. Good album, definitely recommend.

- Wish You Hell

Oh okay we’re going full artsy here

Mmmmm the colors though in this intro scene

Haha okay, pop rock moment? Nice

Ohhhh no, “I wish you hell / I don’t wish you well” that’s an awful rhyme oml

I like her voice

Maybe that’s not the most controversial opinion lol

Those sure are some glittery trash bags

Thunder?

I’m confused by that scene but okay

Oh my god she spelled out “H E L L” I’m sobbing

I really don’t know what to rate this

8/10 for the MV I guess

His Car Isn’t Yours

What instrument is this?

It feels electric piano but it’s very … plucky

Oh it’s all English

It’s so interesting how hearing English singing totally changes my perception of their voice

This feels so Taylor Swift like wow

Wait I wasn’t listening to the lyrics, let me go find the lyrics

Oh okay, this is actually like, kinda sad, very simple but very pretty

8/10, but a high 8, kinda to balance out the previous one let’s say

Best Ever

Boop boop boop boop

Woah her voice is so high and cute like wtf

Nice, nice, funky

I love this post-chorus

Here’s this song: a great post-chorus, and then a bunch of exposition in between

Kinda like Unnatural and its pre-chorus lol

Mmmmm the bridge tho

Lol this is actually so fucking cute

9/10

Better Judgment

Two wildly different styles of guitar here

The b-sides all feel Newjeans effect but honestly I don’t care bc it’s Wendy and she’s just so good

7/10, good but didn’t do anything really special to me

Queen of the Party

…Everglow - Make Me Feel vibes??

Yeah oh my god I thought it was just the pre-chorus but the chorus too

I like what they’ve set up but I want this song to go somewhere

Like if it just sits here the whole time then idk

This bridge feels lowkey generic

Awwww the last chorus does Not deliver

Wait … I mean maybe a bit, but I want more

7/10

Vermillion

Okay now I’m expecting a ballad, let’s get it

Mkay, this could be ballady

Yep here’s the slow jam drums

This bass is Thicc

I don’t get this

I think I like this?

I like the bridge with that sample

Yeah okay, I buy it

8/10

#album #kpop #Wendy #Red Velvet

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Taeyong - TAP

I’m listening to this immediately after the Twice album, and I’ve gotta say, I massively preferred this. The songs all sounded totally different, Taeyong himself really impressed me with his vocal ability, and the production was top-notch. I called Twice’s music too perfect, and this is a great example of music that isn’t quite too perfect, in a good way. The samples were a bit off, a little bit jarring, and they were that much better and more musical because of it. The title track is probably the weakest song on the album, but I even enjoyed that one. Average score of 8.2, really solid, good stuff from Taeyong.

- Tap

Lol, Taeyong moment

“Sweet and spicy kpop like noodles” lol

Bro he just shouted out Tempo and Hype Girl in one line lmao

I’ll have to check out the lyrics to see whether those are capitalized, I think they were

Also I have no idea what this song is about

7/10, but a high 7. I have no expectations for the next five songs. Impress me.

Moon Tour

Woah okay let’s go

Haha I know I said I had no expectations, but I did not expect an uptempo ballad

The audio sample at the beginning was really neat though

I feel like he just said “you’re my Gaia” which is BIG if true

Actually no I need to see

He totally did omg

9/10 because I did not expect this at all and he totally delivered

Run Away

His choice of samples are always just so good

I dunno about the song though, I’m not sure this one is quite as interesting

Oh and right then the guitar comes in, fine

8/10

APE

Lol what

Okay, he is saying “vaping”, I thought so

“My pony lonely in the parking lot” like bruh

I’m really enjoying this, I know I’m not typing much but it’s because I’m reading the lyrics

And the lyrical content is actually really interesting

8/10

Ups & Downs

And then of course after that, we get chill guitar vibes

His singing voice is so much … calmer than I’d expected

Like he’s a main dancer and a main rapper, and those two things together suggest that he wouldn’t be a particularly adept singer

But clearly he is

Whatever this section is at 2:30, I love the vibes

Like is it a bridge? An outro?

Lol the random violin might be a bit too much for me?

Very melodramatic ending but I buy it

8/10

404 Loading

Yes I do see the runtime thanks

Here we go

This better be some Loud shit

God that guitar sample is just So … something

Lol wait wtf is this soundscape

Well it certainly gets loud

9/10

#album #kpop #Taeyong #NCT #NCT 127

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Twice - With YOU-th

Look, I’m not saying I’m disappointed, because Twice have consistently let me down over their past few comebacks. But I really don’t care for this style of music. It feels … so polished. Like, yes, kpop is inherently polished. But this feels like they’re trying to scrub away all imperfections, to the point that the result feels way too fake.

I’m not really sure how to express what I mean by this though. Like, Twicetagram is fake as fuck, and it’s one of my favorite kpop albums. But also, it’s kind of not fake at all? There’s a level of genuineness behind Twicetagram which makes it feel totally valid to me. And this feels like it’s trying too hard to be cool. I dunno. I’ll always be a fan of Twice, but I’m really not a fan of their musical direction. Average score of 6.8.

- I’ve heard the pre-release a few times, and also I’ve heard that they use Jeongyeon’s voice well in this album. That’s good news if true, because I don’t like how they’ve used her voice in a lot of their recent stuff. And since Jeongyeon’s voice is the sole reason I got into kpop in the first place … well, it would mean a lot to me if they released some music where I like how her voice is used.

I GOT YOU

The ‘oooh’ is super … idk, powerful?

Only I’m not sure it’s powerful to Me

Oh yeah also, obligatory NewJeans

Although I feel like we’ve reached a point in kpop where you don’t even need to mention ‘NewJeans’ when you talk about chill girl group music

Like, this is kind of just the default girl group sound these days

I saw someone the other day call NewJeans’ discography ‘diverse’ and I nearly choked

Although actually, this definitely does NewJeans with a Twice spin on it, I don’t think NewJeans would do this song quite as energetically as Twice

7/10

One Spark

Hi Chaeyoung

Hi Naeyeon

This feels quite a bit like the previous song

Actually, this is gonna sound criminal of me, but it sounds kind of Vcha

Sana is, as always, the most beautiful human ever

I dunno if I buy their choreo tbh

Like, Twice have historically had some really great choreos, but … I dunno about their contemporary choreos

Jeongyeon definitely does this chorus well

Yeah actually, I think calling the previous song NewJeans is maybe a bad comparison

7/10

Rush

Well this is cute

Still cute, the piano in this prechorus here

Now this is NewJeansy

Just looking at the lyrics, this might be the first kpop song I’ve seen which is almost completely English, but has a handful of Korean phrases here and there

Someone once mentioned the JYP autotune, and I think that’s one of my biggest issues with contemporary Twice music

Like, it works if it’s bubblegum, I’m not sure I buy it in this context

7/10

New New

…I’m not sure I like that sound

Aaaand I’m already bored

Like, every song on this album sounds the same to me so far, and that’s boring and I don’t like it

6/10

Bloom

Haha okay then

That’s one way to get my attention

‘How can I breathe now now now’ vibes

Also Blueming vibes

I definitely prefer Unnatural and Blueming to this song though

That said, it definitely caught my attention compared to previous songs

7/10

You Get Me

2:33, oof

Is this a fan song?

I mean it’s either a love song or a fan song, but also those totally overlap

Another song which is mostly English with bits of Korean

7/10

#album #kpop #Twice

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Moon Byul - Starlit of Muse

This was a very enlightening experience. First off, none of it was bad, but none of it was super great either. Every song was a 7 or an 8, which is the sign of a consistently decent album. Ultimately though, I think I learned that I just don’t care much for her solo singing voice? I think she’s an excellent rapper, and in the context of Mamamoo I adore her. But as a soloist, I’m just not sure. Average score of 7.4 which feels about right. I do wish I spoke Korean so I could get the lyrical content, so I imagine I’m missing quite a bit here.

- There’s an insane run that I’m in the middle of: Le Sserafim -> IU -> Moonbyul -> Twice -> Taeyong, all in the space of a bit over a week. That’s kpop though, it never stops. I watched the pre-release from this album, and I’ve only heard it the once.

Intro : WWUD

Lol that bass is squishy

Funky, mmm

Her voice is neat there

A proper hip hop song I guess

8/10

Think About

This is the pre-release

Still got that funk bass going on

I dunno if I buy her voice on the “i”s

Honestly I dunno if I buy her voice in the chorus either

It feels like, a bit too high? Or like it would be better if her voice was higher

Mmm, the ‘high note’ coming out of the bridge is nice

It’s more of a harmony than a high note and I appreciate that

7/10

TOUCHIN&MOVIN’

MV time

Bass

Lol wait what is this 80’s synth moment

She’s having fun

Horns moment

Why did she look like Solar right there

I don’t think I’m convinced by this either

Like, this style of song doesn’t totally fit her voice imo

Obligatory modulation I guess

The instrumentation is top tier though, disco vibes

And then she takes her headphones off, stands up, and … looks?

7/10

Like A Fool

Lofi vibes, this is neat

Kinda wish her voice was distorted more to fit it

I like her voice in this range a lot more

Oh my god the sax moment is exactly it lmao

8/10

Attention Seeker

And now we bring out the guitars

Yeah, I dunno, maybe I just don’t vibe with her singing voice in general?

I did quite enjoy the last song though

The random chip synth in the pop rock song though

It sounds very Radio Disney to me, but her voice just isn’t it imo

7/10

NOLTO

I dunno how I feel about this one. I just listened to the whole thing, I had no comments, but I’m not actually sure how to rate it

7/10

After Sunset

Dramatic

Oh is it a ballad?

I actually like her voice a lot more here

The little harmony moments are super nice

8/10

Timeline

Well this is a super cute vibe, with the guitar and the synth

Subtly latin, alright

Yeah, the empty chorus is really nice actually

Hmmm I dunno about that high note

Such a nice vibe though

8/10

Dark Romance

LAlALAlalalALALLalalaA lmao

Oh hey, a rap song

And yet for some reason her voice feels too soft for this song

Yeahhh and I dunno about the high lines either

This song really reminded me of something but I just couldn’t figure it out

7/10

GOLD

Bass

Lol this album has so much “Bass” on it

I love the “ohhh”s

This kinda reminds me of Feels Like Summer

I don’t know a lot of r&b with this type of vibe but that’s exactly the vibe I’m getting

OHH she’s not saying “ohhh” she’s saying “gold” lmao

8/10

Memories

Anime intro moment

Lmao no wait this is literally anime intro moment

My only knowledge of ONEWE is that they’re also under RBW and they have a brother group called ONEUS, because there’s a pair of brothers split between the two

Are they saying ‘10, 9’?

7/10

Without

Piano, nice and soft

Is it another ballad?

It is

This actually feels kind of IU to me

Oh now it’s kind of slow jammy with that drum kit

I also feel like I’d particularly appreciate these songs better if I knew Korean

Like, no doubt Moonbyul is a very capable lyricist, and I’m definitely missing that

7/10

#album #kpop #Moon Byul #Mamamoo

[vitaminwaterreviews]

IU - The Winning

Wow. Like, just Wow. The song average is 9.2, which is the highest I’ve ever given by a mile. There are of course some stipulations. The music by itself would be closer to a high 8, but the MV’s were so well done that it would feel wrong to not include them in the scores of the songs. Holssi in particular really wowed me when I first saw it, Love WIns All had the nice disability representation – actually wait, isn’t that a theme here?

Yeah let’s think about that. Shopper didn’t have any marginalized representation that I caught on a first listen. Holssi featured all sorts of ethnicities, black adults and a diverse set of children. Love Wins All was about a disabled couple, and the title itself is an obvious (questionably intentional) lgbt reference. It does make me wonder if the intent was for the original title to be a reference lgbt catchphrase, but they included the word “all” in the lyrics just to be safe, in case of backlash. Clever if true.

That’s all super meta though. In terms of the songs themselves, Shh.. was definitely the standout. I like jazz and I also like songs that Go places and Do things, and Shh.. was all of the above. I stan U was a nice surprise, it was good to have a rock song, we don’t see IU doing rock much. Shopper and Holssi had me worried that every song would be NewJeansy, but thankfully IU doesn’t disappoint. And that’s not to say that those songs were bad, either; they were excellent. But a mini of exclusively that vibe gets particularly boring after a bit (see: Easy).

IU is just so good at the kpop thing. The songs are great, the MV’s are great, the promotion was excellent. Featuring a NewJeans in one of the songs was clever, and it’s like the least NewJeansy song on the album which is funny. Watching the interview definitely helped me appreciate the album more, and I hope she does more promotion in the coming weeks. I also hope we get a Shh.. MV but I won’t get my hopes up, 3 MV’s for a mini is already a lot. This is now my highest-rated album in terms of song average, and I think that’s fair enough. It is a mini, which means it does have an advantage, since minis tend to rate higher for me. And in terms of the songs themselves, this is definitely the best album I’ve ever heard. But this is also not my favorite album, and I’m not sure it’s my favorite mini either. It is, however, very good.

- I’ve been waiting for this! I couldn’t do it yesterday, which means I’m a day late, but oh well. I know Love Wins All and Holssi, and I’m blind to the other three.

Shopper

Narration? That’s something

OMG it’s our girl

She looks totally Taylor Swift with the blonde hair

Echoes

Oh okay this is an interesting vibe

‘Palette’

‘Greed is free’

I did watch the interview, so I do kinda know what this is about

Lol a the old man do be shopping

I have NO idea what this MV is about ngl, but I appreciate the vibe

And now we get credits

9/10

No MV’s for the rest of them, partly since I’ve already seen them, partly to focus on the music

Holssi

I’ve been waiting for this one to come on Spotify

I love IU’s voice in this style, like, kind of lazy, almost talk-singing, but with Range

And now we get breathy IU, mmm

The bass here is So strong

Mild rap section

And that little giggle at the end of the verse

Notice the harmonies in the pre-chorus, they’re not Obvious but they’re pretty

The instrumental bridge is So nice

I just love her so much

I think this would be an 8 if it was just the music, but the MV was really cool, so

9/10

Shh..

Curious to see how she manages to cram 3 other artists into one song

Cute electric piano vibes

Oh okay, some guitar here, really nice

Bass

Well then

God the vibes of this song are So good

The chorus actually feels kind of Kiss of Life

Guitar moment

This is super jazz-coded, the way the solo section is structured

Even that piano riff in the background

Haha and now we get the acoustic guitar with the narration in the foreground

And the Ambience

Is there an MV for this? There must be at some point

10/10, there’s just no way that sound could’ve been any better

Love Wins All

The MV for this is really an allegory for how Cube ruins its artists

It is, of course, a ballad

But it’s not a slow jam. Gotta differentiate the two, because I don’t usually like slow jams, but I do usually like ballads

Love, love, love

She’s just such a good singer

Admittedly, I feel like this experience isn’t as Whole without the MV

Same as Holssi

9/10

I stan U

Kinda interesting when artists use fandom terms, so let’s see how this goes

Pop rock feels in the intro here

Yep here we go

Is she saying “stanning” or “stunning”?

I heard “you’re stunning / i’m stunning, just like you”

But then she says “I’m stanning you” hmmm

Yes omg the second verse

This is Such a vibe though

9/10

#album #kpop #IU

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Le Sserafim - Easy

I was tempted to just write “NewJeans” and then make that the review, but I do have more thoughts than just that. I think that in previous Le Sserafim albums, what drew me in was the variety in the songs. Fearless and Antifragile consisted of 10 songs with 10 different genres. And while I didn’t really enjoy some of the songs, the variety meant that I did enjoy others. This album has no variety. Like, absolutely none, except for the intro. This means that if you aren’t in the mood for chill r&b, there’s nothing here for you. So I suspect that this album won’t get a ton of listening out of me, purely because I’m not usually in the mood for chill r&b.

Average rating of 7.4 which is fair enough. I rated the songs based on what I think a more “objective” standpoint is, but frankly I was kind of bored throughout the album. I was mildly disappointed that I bought Unforgiven because of how it was marketed as a studio album, and then it ended up as an EP with extra steps. But I’m actively glad I didn’t buy this album. There’s not much here for me, at least not based on my first impression.

NewJeans.

- I am going into this album with moderately low expectations. I heard the title track last night before falling asleep, but I’m not even sure I remember it. I remember it had a recorder, that was cool.

Good Bones

Rock

Their intros do tend to be the best songs on the album

I’ll have to find a lyric video for this at some point

Honestly, this feels like Burn the Bridge but less

And they totally spoiled the “easy crazy” part in the teasers

This is why I don’t like to watch teasers!!

“When things aren’t easy, I’ll make them easy” girl I wish

8/10 I guess

Easy

Man, remember back when their intros actually made sense leading into the title tracks?

Someone on Reddit made the point that “Easy” should probably be easy listening, and fair enough I guess

The recorder really feels like a post hoc attempt to make the song interesting

Because, sorry, but … this song is not very interesting

I do feel like it’ll be popular though

7/10

Swan Song

Featuring writing credits from three of the members, yeah?

And only 2:37

Why songs so short these days

Oh okay this is nice and pretty

I buy this more than the previous song actually, I dunno why

Whatever that super echoey background instrument is

Another one where I’m curious to see the lyrics

8/10, this was pretty

Smart

Rhythmically I guess this is the latin song of the bunch

Their voices are so processed on this album

Actually, I think I might enjoy listening to this one in some contexts

Y’know what this album is? This is like if they saw people talking about how great Sour Grapes and Impurities are, so they just made that the entire album

7/10

We got so much

Bass

The background vocals are cute

Some guitar? Alright

And then it goes away

Very simple song

7/10

#album #kpop #Le Sserafim

[vitaminwaterreviews]

After School - Virgin

Okay… Wow. Like, wow. I expected … I dunno, kinda shitty synthpop, something along the lines of Twicetagram? But it turns out First Love isn’t the exception to their sound: it’s actually a pretty good representation of what they can do. I really need to see the song average for my own sake, so let’s see:

Average score of 8.1 which is stupidly high compared to what I was expecting. But this album kind of shattered every expectation that I had for it. It was well-written, it was well-arranged, it kept me interested the whole way though. Raina impressed me, Nana and Lizzy did more of the Orange Caramel thing, the trainees blended in just fine. The MV was a bit weird but honestly kind of wholesome in the end.

And ultimately, this album really wanted me to look into more of their discography. Like, I keep coming back to the word “mature.” And when I say that, I don’t mean sexy: I mean mature. And this was just 2011! They existed for several years before and after this, with subunits and japanese releases and all of that. So I guess now I have so much more to look into.

-

Alright, I’ve just done some cursory Googling and already this album seems crazy. It’s got re-recorded versions of various singles, as well as some solo- and unit-songs. So really, less than half of this album is actually new, full-group content. But even more interesting, it features Kyung-Min, a “pre-school girl,” which is kind of a weird way of saying “trainee”. So I looked into it, and it seems like she won some sort of contest to become the newest member of After School, but she never actually debuted with the group! The only references to her are short, like a single sentence, so that’s kinda neat. Anyway, I heard Bang! one time like a year ago and I don’t remember a thing about it except that it was marching band themed.

Let’s Step Up

Steps

Breath?

More steps

Oh okay it’s rhythmic

Lol this is really cool

Okay here’s the synth

Yes I’m ready

“Ah ah hi ah ah ha”

Yeah this is cool, I really like this

9/10, I’m such a sucker for a good intro

Shampoo

I’ll watch the MV for this one, but not the others

Well she certainly is wearing a backpack

Photos

Oh okay we’re synthy now

Butts

Wow look at those waists

Yeah this is more or less what we’d expect

Dude what is this filter though

This song feels super AKB to me for some reason

Actually … maybe that makes sense

Yeah that groove with this instrumentation

The MV is lowkey kinda wholesome tho

Oh no she felllll

Okay wait but

Huh

Yeah that’s … a bit awkward

That said I do appreciate a nice instrumental break in a song

Wait whatttt no way she looks like 12

I know I haven’t talked much about the song but I’m vibing

I’m gonna Wikipedia this before I rate it

Wait there is no Wikipedia article!

Well my guess is that the new girl is E-Young, bc this probably would’ve been her first thing with the group

Alternatively its a pre-school girl

If it is E-Young, then she’s 18 in the video, so fair enough I guess

Okay wait these lyrics are kinda wild

Honestly I might regret this buuuuut

9/10

Virgin

Mkay we’re all buzzy now

It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t actually know Madonna’s Like A Virgin off the top of my head, and maybe that’s an issue here

Pretty straightforward synthpop so far though, kinda want more from it

“Diva diva diva”

Mkay that was a nice bridge, I’ll give it that

Also I really do enjoy the Vibe of this song

8/10

Bang !

Mkay yep we have some horns going on here

I dunno what to think of this tbh, I feel like I really ought to be seeing the MV here

Pretty vocal harmonies

I’m not convinced that this is very similar to the Bang! that I heard a while ago

But also I don’t know a thing about that Bang! so who knows

Okay I just clicked through the original and it’s pretty damn similar so I dunno

7/10

Play Ur Love

Mmmm this is nice

What a coincidence, I also wanna stay with them!

Woah her vocal tone is So neat here

Wait why the random synth?

This is unironically pretty though, like if you didn’t tell me that this was After School then I’d have guessed like, Apink maybe

9/10, I feel like I should stop giving these out so freely but I’m honestly so impressed by this

Dream

Pre-school girl #1

Nice 6/8 groove

This is fun, I dunno if I buy it though

Okay well the bridge kinda just saved this song for me, I was getting bored but that tied it together really nicely

Haha the saxophone

8/10 I guess finneeee

Because of You

Mmm piano

Whispering and vocoded vocals

Oh okay we get a nice hard rap out of nowhere

I totally buy this

I think strong rapping over an otherwise airy song is one of my favorite tropes

Also kind of getting 2NE1 Go Away vibes from the chorus and the vocoding

8/10

Depend on Time

Mkay, groovy

Nice acoustic guitar and kind of a slow jam groove

But it’s not a slow jam it’s more folky

Mmmm okay now that the bass is here, maybe it’s a slow jam

Their vocals! Are impressing me!

Mkay I guess this definitely fills the slow jam role, but it’s not nearly as … obnoxious as some others

Maybe I should revisit some of the old SM albums sometime

WHY ARE THE VOCALS SO PRETTY THOUGH

Ohhhh wait that was just Raina?? That’s actually fucking crazy holy shit

9/10, I just had to re-listen, I am so impressed by her like wow

Nothing to complain of

Piano moment

Honestly I’m amazed by how mature this album is? Like yeah they do their sexy thing and all that, but it’s clearly well-written and arranged and like it’s just well done

Compare to Twicetagram

Okay, this is the slow jam haha

I’m just never going to get over that Raina song though like wow

8/10

Funky Man

Right after I just got done calling them mature lmao

No for real though this is Great so far like wow

Nana, Lizzy, and a pre-schooler

Like, this feels way more Orange Caramel than Depend on Time

Although I think I do prefer Depend on Time more

Still, I appreciate this a lot, and it fits well in terms I album structure

Guitar moment

Yeah, this is nice

8/10

My Bell

I dunno who Jung-A is but apparently this is her solo

Well she certainly has a pretty voice

I would enjoy this song a lot more if IU did it, and I’m not sure if that’s because I prefer IU’s voice, or if it’s because IU’s name carries that much weight in my mind

It’s not a bad song at all, but I don’t really care for her voice in it, and also I don’t really care for the OST-style ballads

6/10

When I Fall

Piano~

Oh okay nice, glad we get a good beat here

And that was a synth hit

Lovely harmonies

Honestly this feels SO f(x) so far

Like if this was just casually the last song on Red Light or whatever then it wouldn’t feel at all out of place

(I love Paper Heart though don’t get me wrong)

I do hope this has like, a Grand Climax or something though

Mkay, it didn’t quite get to where I wanted it to, but still

8/10

#album #kpop #After School

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Wonder Girls - Reboot

So traditionally, I listen to the album, then decide which songs to add to my playlist after I’m done. This time around I figured I’d add songs as I go, so I don’t forget any of them later on. I ended up adding 10 out of 12 to my main playlist. So I did in fact add the remaining two to my playlist just to make sure.

It’s hard not to compare this album to Pink Tape for me, but I don’t actually think it’s all that similar? It did have a Toy moment in Oppa, but I think it stuck to its sound and its genre a lot more than Pink Tape does. It explores a lot within that sound and genre though; I didn’t get bored at all, which is good for a 12 song album. I also didn’t totally understand what to make of a lot of the songs. Like, they were Good, but I feel like I didn’t Get them. I’ll have to go back and relisten to a lot of these before I feel like I can have a solid opinion about them.

A couple of 9’s, several 8’s, but no 10’s. Nothing did that for me; I keep saying that Oppa had a “Toy moment”, which it did, but the positioning in the album and the type of song that it was made it surprisingly predictable. Like, when it happened, I didn’t freak out; I was like “oh yeah, I guess it’s about time for this isn’t it?” Plus the change was like, from one type of hip hop to another type of hip hop, as opposed to whatever Toy does with its rap rock to dubstep. The 9’s were both really good, but again, they didn’t do that for me. Average score of 7.8 which … maybe a bit low? I’d round up to an 8 but it’s close enough that I’ll let the literal average do the talking. I think I will definitely grow to enjoy this album more though; there’s a Lot here to learn to appreciate, and a first listen can only do so much.

- Baby Don’t Play

Welp this sure was intended to be listened to with stereo audio

Yeah this definitely Feels 80’s

Dude the synths in the chorus here

Are they strings? Or just string-inspired?

Haha I’m reminded of Apink’s What A Boy Wants for some reason in this post-chorus

Back to distorted stereo vocals I guess

Yeahh I’m not a fan of that kind of alternating from side to side thing

It feels … kinda tacky to me?

7/10, nice solid start, pretty good

Candle (feat. Paloalto)

Who’s Paloalto I wonder?

Yep, we are still 80’s

Oh is this supposed to be a sexy song?

I don’t think 80’s music will Ever feel sexy to me

Mkay, we’re rapping now

The rapping definitely doesn’t feel 80’s in this context

Yeah I dunno about the rapping yet. It’s fine but I don’t know if I like it

That said I do think I’ll be adding this song to my playlist, it’s very unique

Here he is

(who is he again?)

I don’t think he added too much but it was alright

7/10 but I suspect I may grow to like it more

I Feel You

Jay Whay Pee!

And the Wonder Girls! We’re Back!

Lmao

This isn’t the title track is it?

Oh it is! Why doesn’t it have the most listens then?

I did intend to not watch the MV regardless, on average I think I can analyze songs better when I don’t see the MV

Speaking of analyzing the songs, this song is kinda crazy

Like the synth chime thing with the melody is fun

I think I like this actually?

8/10

Rewind

Okay, this is the one with the most streams on Spotify. Plus the name makes it sound like it should be the title track

This feels suspiciously like a ballad

The ooh’s are cute

Mkay, not a true ballad

I don’t know how I’m supposed to be feeling though

Dude those string hits in the bridge are Kinda annoying imo

Oh wait there’s a rap section?

I really have no idea how to feel about this song

7/10 I guess?

Loved

Kind of a chip bass

Opening with a rap

Mkay and now we’re singing

The background synth here is super nice

The “you know / I know / we know” is really cool

Mmmm yeah, I like this

The bridge is kinda … underwhelming? I think I want more here

Yeah I guess it builds a bit

The vocals in the last chorus are Excellent tho

8/10

John Doe

Sparkles!!

Wowowooowooooowowowommmp

And now we forget about both of those

Oh ok we get the sparkles back

Haha the horn section, that’s nice

Hey wait, who’s their rapper? Like what instrument does she play live?

And likewise, who’s the drummer?

More sparkles!!

So many of these songs feel like, somewhere between a 7 and an 8

8/10

One Black Night

Cute drums

80’s noir or something? This is an interesting sound

The chorus is Soaring though

Mmmm the “you and I” is so good

Yeahhh and then that high synth up there, that’s pretty

Post-chorus rap, let’s go

“Getting dark dirty naughty” oml

Did they just meow??

No lol that’s a synth

This is so funny though

Like I don’t know what to make of this song, but in a good way

9/10 I guess??

Back

Woah, all metallic ig

And now we’re all hip hoppy

And this is like, proper 80’s hip hop

Yes I understand how to spell back thanks

You’re only 24, this late into your career? Jeez

Actually fair enough, I know a couple of them were 14 at debut

Certainly Hyuna was anyway

“I’m not a doll” has to be one of the most cliched cliches in kpop

I’m so curious what the Korean is bc the chorus is So generic

Maybe that’s intentional though?

Bruh the bell out here like

Okay the vocals at the end are really nice, fair play

Oh apparently this is the least listened-to song on the album

7/10, I do not know what to make of this song

OPPA

…huh?

The hits, whatever they are, feel like firecrackers

The english though is So generic omg

This is another song that I just don’t know how to feel about

It’s enjoyable to listen to but like … what??

I heard ‘molla’, that’s like my favorite Korean word or something

Yeah the english is like, almost painful to listen to omg

Oh okay

Nmixx moment

This 100% elevates the song

Wait okay hold on what?

I guess that was supposed to be the Toy moment of this album then?

8/10 ?????

Faded Love

Love this soundscape

Mmmmm and here’s the beat, god man this synth is So good

If you asked me to grade this set of sounds then it would get an A+

Dude the vocals wait what

Da da da da da da… mmmm

I love the strings

Both the violins and the guitar

This bass is having wAY too much fun

Was that a ritardando for a second there?

9/10, this was purely enjoyable to listen to

GONE

It’s kind of amazing that Twice debuted in the same year as this album

Like how Red Velvet are older than 4 Walls, it just feels kind of Wrong for some reason

Oh as far as this song goes, this is Gamer

The synth runs are fun

Pretty vocals

You can tell I’m mentally fried by this point though by how little I’m trying

8/10

Remember

The second least listened-to song on the album

Feels kinda Disney in the intro

Oh no

That “clink”

I’d know that clink anywhere

That’s the slow jam clink

Yep haha, the drum groove, the vocals, the background music

But y’know what? They definitely earned it, both in this album itself and in terms of their career as a whole

I really like the “Baby I’ll always remember your love” lines, those are sweet

Yeah, we did in fact earn this. If the whole album was this then I’d hate it, but in context it actually fits so well

8/10

#album #kpop #Wonder Girls

[vitaminwaterreviews]

(G)I-dle - 2

Alright, let’s start off with the points average which is 7.5. That’s pretty good for any given album. I enjoy how diverse the songs were, a lot of them didn’t feel (G)I-dle at all to me, and I appreciate when groups are willing to experiment like that. There was an aespa song on here, a NewJeans song on here, and of course Wife is that pure distilled Soyoen sound.

The obvious issue, of course, is song length! This is a studio album by the kpop definition, but it’s only 20 minutes long! Like, what?? My main issue with most of these songs is that they’re good, but they don’t develop at all. Like, you can only cram so much into 140 seconds. Longer songs aren’t better by virtue of being longer; they’re better because they allow for more creativity and development of themes. And so when every single song but one is so short, nothing felt developed at all. This is an album of good ideas and decent execution. So many of these songs could’ve pushed 8’s or 9’s if they were just developed better. Really disappointing.

- I know Wife pretty well at this point, I listened to it a couple of times today. I also listened to a bit of Super Lady but it was kinda mid so I turned it off. I’m blind to the rest.

Super Lady

Bass

Yeah, definitely getting second gen vibes from this, that’s what the people on Soju Talk were saying

The chorus though is … alright? But I just want More from it

Like, Nxde has More to the chorus, or at least a proper post-chorus

Oh okay so this is what they meant by a YG outro lol, I stopped listening before this point

This is supposed to be their Nxde moment I think, but I don’t think this song deserves it

7/10

Revenge

Woah, are these strings? Free reeds?

I love this vocalist in this range. I dunno her name, but we get the same thing in Queencard and Nxde

Bruh this would’ve been a way better title track, love the guitar

This is a really nice song but it’s only 2:24. I will definitely be talking about song length at the end

8/10

Doll

A bit of guitar here too, but the pre-chorus is like, string plucks?

Mmm yeah this is a nice post-chorus

I don’t think we’ve had a nice bitchy Soyeon rap moment in any of these songs yet, have we?

7/10 for the length

Vision

Oh this is neat, this is kinda NewJeansy but it’s a nice sound that I haven’t heard (G)I-dle do much

Okay this is a neat rap I guess

Mmmm the whispering

7/10

7Days

Yeahhh this is the sound we like to hear, mmmmm

The days of the week thing is super cliche but oh well, kpop is known for cliche

“Deja vu” sounds like “day”

8/10, this was super pretty, didn’t do anything Truly special though, just really good

Fate

Piano? A bit jazzy? Not quite electro swing

BASS

Wow yeah, I can’t actually tell what type of bass this is

It feels non-synthesized, but it’s definitely … augmented

I’ve been too busy listening to the bass to actually comment on the song and we’re already on the rap verse lol

I dunno how I feel about the melody in the chorus

8/10

Rollie

Wtf is this aespa shit on my good christian (G)I-dle album

Yeah actually, definitely getting aespa vibes from this singing/rapping style

Plus the instrumentation ofc

Yeah, it’s fine i guess, pretty good

7/10

Wife

I have such mixed feelings about this song

It’s like they took all the Soyeon on a regular (G)I-dle album and concentrated it all into this song

8/10

#album #kpop #(G)I-dle

[vitaminwaterreviews]

Seo Taiji and Boys - Seo Taiji and Boys IV

Okay, I really really enjoyed listening to this album. Certainly, not every song was for me, but regardless, it kept me interested the whole way through. The lyrics that I could find were nice, there definitely seemed to be kind of a rebellious/alt rock theme going on which I enjoyed. Musically, though, it was really cool. It jumped around genres in a way that I really enjoy, kind of like Pink Tape does. Seo Taiji has a sound, but he sure didn’t stick to any style. The slow jam was honestly the icing on the cake; usually I don’t like slow jams much, but in context it was perfect.

Average rating of 8.0 which feels correct. Very very good, solid album all the way through. Each individual track was good, they fit together well, it was both cohesive and spicy enough to remain interesting, and that’s all you can really ask for in an album. I just wish I’d had English lyrics for the whole thing!

- The only song that I know from this is Regret of the Times. But in a related interview, an aespa said that everybody knows Come Back Home, so that’s why I picked this particular album.

Yo! Taiji!

I’m not able to find lyrics for this, maybe it has no lyrics?

It seems it probably has no lyrics

This is Groovy though, that guitar

Oh lmao now it’s all disco

7/10, I’m excited

Sad Pain

Lmaooo what an emo name for a song

No lyrics for this one either!

Maybe there are no lyrics

This guitar is So weird

It’s like they’ve cut all of the everything out of it

Wow, what a vibe

Nope! There are lyrics!

Love this actually, what a vibe

9/10, but frankly I’m worried this entire album will break my rating system lmao

Must Triumph

No lyric video, but there is a music video!

Alright, I like the percussions

Oh this is like, Groovy

Yeahhh here we go

It sounds like this song is breaking my headphones

Woah, alright

The MV is just like, shots of snowboarding, and shots of protests, and shots of music, and shots of breaking things

Oh also it seems they’re playing the song in the middle of the protest

7/10, pretty good but honestly? Didn’t do as much for me as I thought it might

Come Back Home

Finally, an English lyric video

He loves sound design that sounds like it’s breaking my headphones

Love this soundscape

8/10, really nice lyrics, but I don’t totally love the song itself

Regret of the Times

This is just … Such a good song

9/10, maybe one day this will hit 10

1996, When They Conquered the World

Woah, what genre is This?

And it’s just changed suddenly

They go very nasal in this album

There’s actually not a lot going on in the verses, a lot of the Stuff in the intro has dropped out

Wait lol the “ahhhh”s were funny there

Honestly this song is so weird

Like a strange combination of Sounds

Kinda reminds me of Step Back, with the “ahhhh”s

8/10

Taiji Boys

Mmmmm

This is so cool, I like this a lot

I do wonder based on the name whether Seo Taiji is singing here, or if it’s just Juno and YG

7/10

Good Bye

Chimes

(Bells)

There are some chimes lol

Woahhh wtf is this, an r&b slow jam?

Lol it is very pretty, I’ll give them that

8/10 for the saxophone

Free Style

Buzzy

And we’re back to rock, alright

Except it’s rap rock bc of course it is

Oh this section is neat

Haha the scratching, lets goooo

8/10

Inabilisnabi

Google Docs doesn’t try to autocorrect that, that’s interesting

BASS

The vocals are actually So cool

9/10, what a way to end the album lmao

#album #kpop #rock #Seo Taiji and Boys