[Bonus] Best Of 2012 (#4-#1)

4. Juniel - Bad Man

Juniel’s Korean debut with “Illa Illa” immediately gave her a unique position amongst solo debuts. I thought of her like a pleasant combination of Younha and IU, two who also happen to be standout vocalists. However, “Bad Man” is more along the lines of ranking Juniel along with the prestigious high note ballad masters, like Joo, Minkyung, and Jessica. While Juniel has such a pretty voice, I think she’ll probably be limited to this type of music, since I don’t see her being able to hold her own in anything requiring more power. Regardless, she’s flawless and the adlibs are delicious. The ending is a perfect “picture” of the song, with innocent Juniel’s extremely pretty voice singing “You are such a mean person, you are such a bad person”, it’s almost eerie.

3. Big Bang - Blue

This song is amazing because Big Bang doesn’t typically release this style of music. What is even more amazing is the perfect execution by all the members. Yes, even T.O.P pulls his own impressive weight in this soft medium tempo ballad. Everyone’s notes are mellow, the tune is relaxing and soft, and the rap singing isn’t out of place, a culmination of something we don’t expect to see coming out of this loud and electric group. The most interesting part of the song is the chorus, since at first listen Seungri and G-Dragon seemed to merge. I think since “Blue” was released first, I had increased my expectations for the other two title tracks which (for the most part) did not fail to disappoint.

2. Younha - Would We Have Changed (feat. John Park)

You saw glimpses of my praise for this song in “Best Of Younha”, so you already know what I’ll be saying. The harmonization work between Younha and John Park is practically unrivaled. While 2012 did bring out some other really strong harmony showings (Kyuhyun and Tiffany in “Rise And Shine”), this song sets a standard far above what many singers can reach. The emotion and synchronization is flawless, making “Would We Have Changed” easily the best song of Younha’s 4th album and propelled “Supersonic” to one of my favourite overall albums.

1. Ailee - Heaven

Since the days of her Youtube channel, Ailee has shown off beautiful talent which has not lingered through her path to stardom. With the debut of “Heaven”, the incredible performances on Y’s Sketchbook and Immortal Song 2, to the comeback with “I Will Show You”, Ailee proved she isn’t merely a Korean American soloist but carries much stronger potential than most people thought. While her covers of “Halo” and later, “Girl On Fire” have showcased her power, “Heaven” brought out and perfected the “power ballad” genre, mixing explosive high / power notes with soothing verses and bridging crescendos. Ailee even utilized her husky voice at the end, truly standout work.
~
So there you have it, my list of the top 12 songs in this bright and explosive year. Essentially, to me ballads are too strong for the singers with incredible voices for the dance pop genre to put up a serious fight. For 2013, I will be changing up the schedule a little, mainly releasing the weekly review on Sundays, optionally followed by either bonus writings or a retro review on Wednesdays and Fridays. Stay tuned and happy New Years