[Review] CNBLUE - Between Us (Blitz)

Welp I've already failed the whole "write one Blitz per week" strategy but that doesn't mean I'm giving up. Anyway here's CNBLUE's newest release "Between Us." Right away I'm loving the song thanks to the combination of powerful instruments and Yonghwa's voice. This energy and intensity continues throughout the whole song with little to no stopping which is great. I'm always a fan of songs that can maintain tempo from start to finish - having too many jump cuts creates a disjointed sound (and we all know how I feel about those). Yonghwa probably isn't underrated but I think he deserves far more credit than what he usually gets, especially with bands not being common. The final stretch of "Between Us" is all sorts of wonderful. Unfortunately I'm predicting the word count for this piece to be less than the Twice one because there isn't too many interesting things going on in the MV. The whole thing is paired with a lot of black / dark backgrounds which doesn't allow for too much excitement. Other than various shots of the band rocking out and members on flip phones (LOL) there really is nothing going on. I almost didn't recognize Jonghyun, but I'm going to attribute that more to not seeing these guys in a long time than a drastic makeover or style change. "Between Us" makes me realize how much I've missed CNBLUE, and how much hope I have for other bands to keep going strong.

Word Count: 246

[Bonus] Best Of Individual Moments

You ever have those moments when you're watching or listening to something and the only reaction you have is "Wow." This post will mention a few of those moments I've experienced in Kpop. Think of this as a sort of highlight reel for individual members and awesome moments. Whether it's an amazing dance solo, or doing great in variety, there's plenty of opportunities for these types of things - maybe this will turn into a series? The list is randomized, and I selected an example from each gender for each, with links where appropriate.

Visual: Chanmi - Miniskirt
Before Hyejeong, Choa, and Seolhyun dominated with their visuals, there was Chanmi. "Miniskirt" was the first AOA song I discovered (bless) and Chanmi was beyond gorgeous in this MV. Her eyes are sparkling (even though I couldn't find a good still of her from the MV on Google) and although she may have changed her hair color soon after for "Short Hair" she still stuns in black. Glad she stuck with that over the years. Chanmi remains underrated for her looks due to the tough competition with other members.

Dance: Eunhyuk - Bonamana
I've never been a dancer, so it's fairly easy to impress me. However, back in the day this was even more true. The choreography to "Bonamana" was really the first song that made me want to learn it. More specifically, that dance break was nice and Eunhyuk was the center of attention for it. While that's to be expected given his position in Super Junior, the Kpop newbie in me simply saw a sick dance and he was in the middle. Despite lacking in comparison to recent dances, it still stands out even when I look back at it.

[Bonus] Best Of BTS

Unlike Twice, I have no qualms writing about BTS as the premier boy group in Kpop. They have the resume, roster, talent, and work ethic to back all of it up. Time for a Best Of, then! As it turns out I've only written one other Best Of for a group (9MUSES) since the 7th season - let's try and get more of these on a somewhat consistent basis. For BTS, I'm only going to consider their vast number of title tracks. While this will leave out heavy contenders like "Whalien 52" and "Born Singer," it'll even the playing field because I haven't dived into many of their B-sides.

7. We Are Bulletproof Pt.2

Bear with me on this one. Many people laughed at or dismissed BTS' debut material but there's a few reasons this track stands out. First, as always, the choreography is sweet and this was really the first song to emphasize the whole guns and shooting business. Second, it acts as a reminder to the image that BTS had back in their early days. Finally, Rap Monster's verse is disgustingly good (and was accompanied by the usual crowd). It is quite confusing how this was called part two though when part one didn't exist.

6. War Of Hormone

Despite the cringey title and cringier lyrics, the song itself is quite good and quite addicting. The instrumental is infectious and in hindsight a deviation from the trend of future BTS songs. "War Of Hormone" is highlighted by the casual yet entertaining choreography (and maybe even the style of the music video) along with V's growl during the chorus. The bridge is lackluster and the high note by Jungkook isn't as pretty as it could be, but in the grand scheme of things this is a solid piece.

[Review] TWICE - Knock Knock (Blitz)

I'm finally on break, though that shouldn't be an excuse (indeed isn't) for not having any new content lately. Don't trip, there is review stuff coming. ...hopefully. In the meantime I'm going to introduce this new subset of reviews called "Blitz(es)." Blitzes are essentially mini-reviews. Here are some guidelines I've made for myself regarding these reviews. First, they have to be started and completed in the same day. This prevents any procrastinating from lazy ol' me. Second, blitzes must alternate between boy and girl groups (or soloists) in order to further my desire to balance artist coverage on my blog. Third, they can only have a certain number of words - the whole point is for these to be bite-sized-ish. I haven't decided on the limit yet but we'll use the first few to test what I find comfortable or acceptable. These "restrictions" should allow me to write at least one Blitz a week, which means I'm at minimum going to write 3-4 pieces a month. Anyway here we go.