Twice – Signal Review

Twice comeback after not so long ago lol. This was different and interesting but still had the Twice vibe to it.

Intro: This part was a bit odd, seeing that they started with a “rap” rather than singing unlike their usual title tracks. However, it’s not bad. It’s quite a catchy beginning but a bit too repetitive. [Overall: 6.5/10]

1st Verse: The intro rap continued a bit more onto the first verse before the singing, which i found a bit too repetitive. It’s good for an intro to engage the audience but didn’t need to be that repetitive before it even got to the chorus. Overall, the rap was a bit too elongated but it flowed nicely into the verse. [Overall: 7/10]

Hook: I like the interesting plucking sound with this part even though it felt a bit disconnected with the verse. The melody sounded very nice though and the voices suited perfectly. It wasn’t a big build-up but it was good. [Overall: 8.5/10]

Chorus: This part sounds much like a Twice song but less “energetic”, yet still cute. It’s a bit too soothing and disconnected with the verse but it matched the hook well. The instrumental part blended nicely without overpowering the voices. It was a good chorus but not a powerful one that would get much attention. [Overall: 8/10]

2nd Verse: Back to the repetitive part, but shortened this time. I wish they did the same for the first verse and went into the singing part quicker too. It flows much nicer this way. [Overall: 8.5/10]

Bridge: Cute. I like how they repeated the main words from the chorus and they didn’t try to do anything different here that would disconnect the song. Overall, it felt short. A rap part followed by the chorus would make this even better. [Overall: 7.5/10]

Ending: Very quick ending. The chorus should’ve been repeated once more after that rap. Not sure why the intro was so long but the ending was so abrupt and random. Felt like parts were missing in this song and some parts should’ve been shorter. [Overall: 6/10]

Overall, this song wasn’t a huge comeback for Twice but i like how it was slightly different from their previous. I liked how every member got a good amount of lines, and this is probably their most fairest distribution ever but also not their biggest comeback.

Rating of lines: 9/10

Flow of song: 7.5/10

Music Video suitable for song: 8/10

My rating for overall song: 7.5/10

EXO – “Love Me Right” Repackage Album Review

So it’s finally out! I was waiting for the repackage to do a review on the songs, or I would’ve done it earlier. I have to say this was a terrific album, but cannot surpass how great the Growl album was. I already did Love Me Right and Promise so I’m not going to repeat them here but I will include them for “Overall Album” rating.

2. Tender Love: It seems like they’re trying to make a more old style album. In fact, I feel a bit of SHINee style in this song, which isn’t bad, it suits EXO too but the style is new for EXO but noticeable in SHINee. The instruments are really cool, but I wish the chorus was a bit more interesting, adding some lyrics to “tender love”. The hook is very catchy and really got me interested in the chorus, but I wish the chorus wasn’t so repetitive. the instruments however was amazing. Really has the retro feeling to it. SM is usually very talented with their production of the mixes and how everything comes together. Overall well done!

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 9.5/10

My rating for overall song: 8/10

3. Call Me Baby: I would’ve done a more thorough review for this but I didn’t have the time then and it was out before I made this account. Anyways, the beginning was interesting, the little raps and then the back and fourth on the verse were nicely done. The instruments are really neat and cool as well. It also doesn’t overpower the melody of vocals of the song. Not much I can say about this, it sounds like a typical kpop song, so it wasn’t like a “huge” unique comeback song but out of all the tracks, this would probably be the best to promote considering how every had a good amount of lines and it was be a nice song to not only jam to but learning the dance as well. One thing that was kind of weird was the backing track of the words “baby” they kept adding in the bridge during the rap. It certainly made it more unique but I think they overdid one too many “baby”.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8.7/10

Flow of song: 9.5/10

My rating for overall song: 8.5/10

4. Transformer: Literally the beginning of the song sounds like something you’d hear in Transformer. In fact, the whole song could be used in that movie or any action movie because it so powerful. There’s no words to explain how cool this song is. It’s really epic, I love how they incorporated the rap nicely in this song. The second verse was a bit short and was kind of boring. They seemed to focus a lot more on the hook of the song and of course the chorus. Those are the two main parts that really keeps you interested in this song. It would’ve been nice to make the verse catchy as well so it keeps the listener more interested rather than wanting to skip to the interesting parts of the song. For sure, everything about the chorus is the best in this song.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9/10

Flow of song: 8/10

My rating for overall song: 8.3/10

5. What If..: The beginning sounds like the beginning of Mariah Carey’s “Love Story”. It’s not plagiarized but everytime I listen to this, that part reminds me of her song. This is a nice ballad, and you can really hear their emotions singing this too. The vocals and harmony in this song stands out more than the instruments, but there is something about the background that makes you like the song even more. It’s not like the typical ballad you hear, even though the melody makes it sound like it is. This is more of a lullaby or a song i’d listen to before going to sleep than a song regularly, but nothing wrong with that. It shows how well they use their vocals that it’s not too powerful, and more restrain to keep the feeling of this song. I do wish the members had equal lines though, or at least some line.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9.5/10

Flow of song: 9.5/10

My rating for overall song: 8/10

6. My Answer: I Think it’s nice they put two ballads in the same place on the track, but I think it’s better putting them last because most likely for non-ballad listeners, these songs would get skipped or at least this song will since there’s already another ballad before this. Again, I wouldn’t place it in the middle of the album, but it’s still a really beautiful song. It’s really soulful and Baekhyun’s vocals suits this song very well, and it really stands out in this song. This ballad is more typical than “What if..” so there’s not much to criticize for this song.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 9.5/10

My rating for overall song: 7.2/10

7. Exodus: The beginning sounds awesome! I think this would be a great song for promotion as well. I’d love to see how this MV would be if they made it into one. The beginning sounds like something creepy and I can imagine a dark setting for this song. The chorus doesn’t suit that well with the rest of the song because it’s more upbeat rather than dark, but the way they sang it gave it that darker feeling such as the harmony and how soft it was sung. The background piano really makes this song flow really well.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8.5/10

Flow of song: 9/10

My rating for overall song: 7.5/10

8. El Dorado: Probably my favourite song on the album, just because the overall mood of the song really suited the lyrics and what this song is about. You can view this song as how the the lyrics are portrayed or the way it represents EXO, like “Angel” or “History”, it shows the EXO from EXO planet trying to fit into earth. Furthermore, the soft beginning and then the powerful chorus really gives it that passion and emotion. Even though it may only be two or three people signing the power notes, the production was well done to make it sound like a larger crowd. This song would also be great to promote because it suits EXO and it really brings back to their debut kind of style. Maybe it’ll be harder to sing live and dance to, but it’ll still be a big hit if it was promoted:) Not saying the song is unique, but its also not those typical mainstream songs like “Call Me Baby”.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 9.3/10

My rating for overall song: 9.5/10

9. Playboy: Of course this song sounded familiar the minute I listened to it: Jonghyun from SHINee helped compose and write this song! I think it really works for him as a solo song too, too bad it’s not. The style of the song suits Jonghyun more than EXO, but it’s brings a fresh style to EXO. This song is also really enjoyable to listen to and sing to, but I won’t get over that this song is really Jonghyun and not EXO. EXO made it work though with their vocals and the rap. The ending was also pretty cool and funny.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8.5/10

Flow of song: 9.5/10

My rating for overall song: 8/10

10. First Love: What a cute song. Another enjoyable song to listen to even though it’s quite mainstream, I just love hearing their vocals here. I love the way the piano is played, and how soft the other instruments are, not overpowering the vocals and harmony. Not much to criticize for this song. It’s a super cute song, really suits a “love story”, and the title of the song. Even though its probably also meant for fans. I like the distribution of the lines as well, everyone got a fair amount. Not everyone, but the members who don’t get a lot, gets more lines in this song than most of the other tracks on the album. And Kai sang! His line even though he doesn’t bring much emotion into it, suited his voice.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9/10

Flow of song: 10/10

My rating for overall song: 9/10

11. Hurt: The beginning sounds also very haunted, and creepy. I thought based on the title it’d be a slow ballad or something, but it’s great Lay made it his own style. Yes, Lay composed this song, very proud of him. It really shows his colour and what he can do. Which is an amazing job on piano and production of the song in general. The “You hurt me” part isn’t what I’d choose because it makes it a bit awkward, but overall this song is amazing. The bridge/instrument break was well done and was appropriate for the bridge. Not sure what to criticize for this except that props to Lay for composing this song. It certainly brings a different colour and style to EXO.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8.5/10

Flow of song: 9/10

My rating for overall song: 8.5/10

12. Lady Luck: The beginning of this song though, what was I hearing? Very sexy song, and totally different than what the lyrics say. The beginning was very similar to how “Transformer” was presented. The hook and the chorus is way more dominant than the chorus. However, the second verse really got me with the moans. I knew this song had that sexy kind of feeling but I didn’t know they’d bring that in. Then the bridge was even more surprising to hear. It suits the mood of the song, especially how it’s sung but I thought it would’ve been a more singing bridge. I think after the singing  in the bridge, it could be done without the instrumental but it works fine with it too. Not need to explain further about this song because clearly it shows a mature side of EXO. Nevertheless, the overall song was nicely and the vocals in the chorus was amazing.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8.3/10

Flow of song: 8/10

My rating for overall song: 8.6/10

13. Beautiful: Now this song’s mood is also very similar to “Lady Luck”, but more romantic I’d say. The instruments really give it that romantic feeling too, and the soft singing really makes it suitable for all of them to sing. All their vocals blended in with the style of the song well too and no one stood out. If I didn’t know EXO I wouldn’t be able to tell anyone’s voices apart because they blended it in so well with the song. Not much to say about the song, it’s just really lovely to listen to, and something you’d want your boyfriend to sing you lol. This song is beautiful!

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9.7/10

Flow of song: 10/10

My rating for overall song: 9/10

I highly recommend people to listen to this album. It may not be their best, but it’s still amazing overall. Of course, if you like a more pop music than hip-hop. But I bet someone will like at least one of the songs.

Overall Album [includes songs,instrument,voices]: 9.2

SHINee – “Odd” Album Review

Because SHINee used to be my favourite group and still one of my top 5, I decided to listen to the album as a whole and see how they compare to “View” and also review each parts. Because this is a full album, I won’t get into much details about each song. So I’ll just comment about the overall song.

1. Odd Eye: This was so weird and unique, it was ODD! The chorus surprised me so much. From the beginning, I thought it would just be an intro song, but it lasted longer than that. It’ll be a great intro song though, but it’s a nice song to start out the song. Unlike most of their albums, they didn’t start their songs with their title track this time. But it’s nice that everyone has to listen to the other songs to get to the title track rather than beginning with it and have it on replay before getting to the other songs. Because i know for me, i repeat title tracks the most. Or the other songs just don’t seem that interesting after I hear the title track. All their voices sounded amazing in this. They all harmonized amazingly like always and blended so well together. Good introduction to the album, but now a song I’d keep on repeat

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9/10

Flow of song: 7/10

My rating for overall song: 6/10

2. Love Sick: Wow, what a powerful and unique start. No wonder this album is called “odd”. So far these beats and melodies are so different than typical kpop songs. They put a twist to pop music in this song so it’s not so generic. I do prefer if the instruments in this song weren’t as heavy throughout though, just in the beginning because it was different to hear the different parts to the song. The melody sounds great though and their voices of course. They all blend in so well together that no voice “stood” out more than it should be. It sounds loud enough that it’ll sound awesome at a concert or a street festival, but probably kill my ears if I hear this with earphones.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9.5/10

Flow of song: 8.5/10

My rating for overall song: 6.5/10

3. View: Already made a full review on this song, please check out the rest of the blog to see it.

4. Romance: The beginning is very cool, reminded me of old-style pop but with a twist, like Michael Jackson influence or something (that was the first that came to mind when i heard it). So far, the album songs flow well because they are similar in ways and different in some ways. The instrument is quite powerful here too as it leads to the chorus but not all the way through which is nicer. The instrument flow is nice, but the melody was a bit “odd” lol. This song would definitely take some time to get used to for me. I like how there was a rap in the song though, because they excluded it in previous songs. And the ending was surprising because you think it’ll end but doesn’t, which is very unique. Then they end with a massive harmony that descends.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9/10

Flow of song: 9/10

My rating for overall song: 5.5/10

5. Trigger: The beginning of the song was cool, really suits the title of “trigger”. Like a song you’d hear in an action movie or something which I think is what they were aiming for. This is a nice slow jam, and the hook is very memorizing! The chorus is a bit hard on the ears but it’s unique and surprising too and doesn’t seem like something the hook would lead into. Although the chorus should be more memorable, it wasn’t here. And the extended chorus part was an interesting addition to the song. I think I wouldn’t keep listening if it wasn’t for that awesome hook part! The chorus has great harmony but it was just too much, a lot of screaming. So far, there’s a lot of screams and loud vocals in their chorus and songs besides “view” and “odd eye”.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 7/10

My rating for overall song: 6/10

6. Farewell My Love: Yes, a ballad! An interesting start to a ballad but this album has been odd from the start so it’s nice to continue it. I think I like the instruments in these songs more than the melody itself. Same with this song, the instruments were just so cool with this song. They really modernized typical ballads but still kept that flow of regular ballads. I’d like to hear them sing this live though because the vocals in the audio sound impressive. This song didn’t touch me in any way listening to it like I thought it would based on the title. The Farewell seems more like “I will be strong without you” rather than “don’t want you to leave”.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 9/10

My rating for overall song: 6.5/10

7. An Ode To You: Finally, a normal beginning for a ballad. Not used to the transition but it’s nice they transitioned from a heavier ballad to a softer one which made the flow for the album very nice. There’s not much going on in the background except the piano. And not much harmony either but I always love hearing their individual voices! I can feel more emotion in this song. Also happy that Minho got more lines than usual for ballads now too and his voice definitely improved here. Key’s voice also improved!

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8.5/10

Flow of song: 9.5/10

My rating for overall song: 7/10

8. Alive: This song definitely caught my attention. The beat is so cool and the vocals too. I don’t what to say, this song is just awesome throughout. Though the verse is quite long before they got to the chorus and it’s hard to tell which is the chorus. I like how nothing is generic with this album, but nothing that stands out to me in a way that makes me want to always repeat a song like they did with their previous albums. With SHINee, I always seem to have to repeat the songs more than once to like them more. I guess I’m so used to the generic songs lol. Although I think after listening to the other tracks, this song has become nicer to listen to despite it’s similarities with the previous tracks on how heavy they make the choruses. Also I realize barely any English was used:D and no repeated chorus like most SM songs [ahem, “down down down down view”].

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9/10

Flow of song: 7.5/10

My rating for overall song: 7/10

9. Woof Woof: What an interesting song. What I like about it is how much I can imagine the setting for this song. It’s like those songs you see in talent shows or a musical. I wish SHINee would make an MV for this song like that too. I don’t know why the title is called “Woof” until I realize how they added it into the chorus. I think this might be the most unique song I actually enjoy and would enjoy a lot more if I see them perform this on stage or watching a very entertaining MV of them performing this.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 8.5/10

My rating for overall song: 7/10

10. Black Hole: This song is very unique like the rest. But I feel like a lot of the songs have similarities that I won’t be able to know which song is which if someone were to test me. But I think I’d know this one because they actually say the words “Black Hole” in English, for non-Korean speakers like me to distinguish this song from the others. This song was enjoyable, I think it would be the only song I’d repeat more than the others because the chorus is very catchy to catch your attention. Also, repeating it a million times, it’s hard not to get addicted to it. The ending was very abrupt though. I wish they would’ve added more instruments or ended with a solo line.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 9/10

Flow of song: 9/10

My rating for overall song: 7.5/10

11. An Encore: Very beautiful, I love the instruments. It reminds me of an OST song though but those are the songs I’m used to so this is probably one of my favourite instrument wise. Chorus, not as addicting to me that would make me remember how the song goes though unless I listened to it more. Not a song I’d remember after I finish listening to the album but definitely a song I’d repeat just because the instruments are just so pretty and of course the vocals too. This song is the SHINee I enjoy since I became a fan because of “Stand By Me” so this really remind me of those days when they sang the OST.

Rating of lines [if lines suited their voices]: 8/10

Flow of song: 10/10

My rating for overall song: 8/10

Overall, I think “An Encore” was my most favourite song and most impressive vocally even though all the songs were impressive. After listening to the album once, the songs I definitely remember is “Black Hole” and “View”, everything else I just remember a really heavy and loud chorus and one slow ballad and one unique one but they didn’t get my attention like most ballads do. I would give this album another listen and maybe change my opinion and ratings for overall song but i think the first listen is more important because I wouldn’t be forcing myself to listen more just to like the song. Sometimes my ratings may even be lower after listening to it more. Nevertheless, this album really flowed as a whole and all the vocals were nicely done; all the members seem to have improved especially Key and Minho so it was nice to hear them sing more than rap in the album but it’s nice that they didn’t forget that they were rappers too and incorporated some rap lines in a few songs and although it may not have suited that well in a couple song, it was nice to hear. But overall, it was an okay album, not their best but certainly most unique kpop album.

Overall Album [includes songs,instrument,voices]: 7.5