[Review] Super Junior-M - Break Down

Vocals: 6 / 10

There is just so much wrong in this song. Between the random breaks, bizarre melodies, and incredibly apparent amount of autotune, it’s not very easy to listen to. The chorus is bouncy and not in the good way. It’s not all bad though, Ryeowook and Kyuhyun are relatively strong, and some of Zhou Mi’s lines are also really nice. The enunciation of Chinese has also taken a step forward since the days of “Perfection”, but is still lacking when compared to psuedo counterpart EXO-M.

Appearance: 6 / 10

Remember last week when I said Siwon should not have long hair? Yeah, it’s not a good look. Continuing the trend, Donghae and Zhou Mi’s hairstyles that counter their usual handsome looks. Henry is, well, still unchanged since “Maxstep” and prior, looking as youthful as ever. Sungmin is probably the first and only guy that looks good with the blue / purple tint. Ryeowook and Kyuhyun look the usual. The outfits are also fairly reminiscent of those in “Perfection”, and that is not a good thing.

Dance: 6 / 10

The last time a Super Junior M choreography was impressive, catchy, and appealing was “Super Girl”. As for this, I spent 50% of the time writhing, 10% of the time nodding in approval at the nice moves at the dance bridge, and a final 40% of the time laughing because they looked absolutely stupid doing their dance. The only time the dance was worth paying attention to was during the break, where some integrated footwork looked good amongst the dancers. Also of note, the “move one by one in a straight line” seems to be a new favourite.

Rap: 4 / 10

Eunhyuk raps twice in different length segments and both of them are at best random interjections between the singing. The raps themselves are only mediocre, so I’m not impressed. The song had some serious dubstep sound so I understand the urge to insert rap, but Eunhyuk can hardly rap in Korean, let alone in Chinese. Next time, save it for something that could actually benefit from decent rap, a la “Superman”.

Music Video: 4 / 10

Eventually, I’ll just use a carbon copy of a music video description for every SM review and just change a couple words. That way it’ll be exactly like the differences in music videos! I could even use colours or something! Well, there’s certainly no plot, and the rooms are bright, fancy, whatever. Also, Siwon doesn’t appear in the choreography because he’s supposedly hella busy acting, etc. But seriously, his solo shots are literally the same stance / look except for one at the near end of the video. I don’t want to think it since Siwon’s awesome but he’s on track to becoming the next Kibum of the group.

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Overall: 52 / 100

I think this is the lowest score I’ve given any song so far? And as a statement to how S.M. has been doing in terms of music, it’s certainly not a good set of marks. Across the roster, I’ve continued to not be impressed with releases over the last year or so. With word that the SME machine plans to continue its march strongly into 2013, I think they need to step up their game and change a few gears.