[Review] Wheesung - Night & Day

Wheesung is back! You’ll notice I didn’t say “RealSlow is back!” because that name is too obnoxious. After military service, it seems he hasn’t missed a day with “The Best Man” EP. But let’s talk about the title track!

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Vocals: 25 / 25

If Wheesung had room for improvement, that’d be quite the sight. Wheesung is a clear master of the R&B / soul ballad, and his emotions and power are clearly felt from his voice.

Wheesung’s English pronunciations are pretty flawless, especially the crisp “knight” at the very end. Non-English speakers tend to leave off syllables at the end of words, but Wheesung does a fantastic job.

Dance: ?

So I could talk about the choreography. I could talk about how Wheesung’s formula of having alternating dances between female and male backup dancers has been since in videos prior to his military service. But there’s a problem. Wheesung doesn’t really actually do any of the dance. He’s pretty much sitting in the center of the choreography, making some efforts to stand up and or make dramatic movements, but…I don’t think it’s very viable to even rate this, so I won’t.

Music Video: 23 / 25

When I discussed Huh Gak’s “It Hurts” in [Spotlight], I noted how ballads have a platform to work off for their videos. Wheesung grabbed some promising idols in Yura and CAP and both acted quite admirably. Although I think CAP isn’t very capable of controlling or adding facial expressions, Yura is pretty smooth. The whole MV is filmed very well, although the slow motion reverse shenanigans may have been a bit drawn out. The ambiguous ending was…interesting. On one hand, it lets the viewer decide what truly happened or will happen. On the other, I enjoy videos who have straightforward and understandable plot.

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Overall: 96 / 100

Wheesung is back in force, with explosive and emotional vocals that haven’t been rusted by time in military service. He’s acked up by choreography he never actually dances, and the support acting from Yura and CAP who create an appealing music video. “The Best Man” EP is full of goodies, and “Night And Day” is just the start.

[Review] EXO - Overdose

So I checked the world of Korean entertainment today to see that Han Geng is filing a lawsuit against Super Junior. Wait a minute this isn’t 2009! Kris, however, doesn’t seem to care and if sources are correct, has already sued S.M. to terminate his contract. Now that we have that news out of the way, let’s go ahead and review “Overdose”, the long awaited comeback for all of EXO’s creepy fangirls.

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Vocals: 7 / 10

There’s a really evident problem with consistency in this song. The entire song is heavy on the instrumental and electronic sound, which isn’t even that good to begin with. The song has a tendency to jump from smooth to ragged, and not in a good way. The English is good where it needs to be: during the prechorus, and awful pretty much everywhere else. Speaking of the prechorus, that was one the best parts of the song. A rare moment where the lyrics, notes, and instrumental come together nicely, but then dives into the chorus which is very lackluster and has some odd arrangements. The bridge, too, is nicely done. Not quite the level of clarity that the bridge in “Wolf” had, but still worth applause. Line distribution is decent, and the Chinese version is inferior, but not by much.

Appearance: 8 / 10

EXO is looking like EXO, but their outfits (not the suits) are looking like f(x) and or SHINee. It’s actually obnoxious, given how “serious” the song sounds and the outfits we have seen in the past from. Even the clothing from “What Is Love” would’ve been more appropriate, Also, Tao can’t wear his hair down, ha.

Dance: 5 / 10

This dance was…all over the place. That head bobbing is so ridiculous and other various movements like the swinging and zombie claws (wolves?) in the chorus and throughout just seem so random. I have a hard time following the dance, which is troublesome for a group with so many members and such potential as seen in “Growl” and “History”. I think that if they had stuck to original choreography like shown in “History” or even “MAMA”, this would’ve been so much better.

Rap: 7 / 10

Chanyeol? Excellent. Kris? Good. Everyone else? Bad. And so an average score is given. Xiumin tries his best for the Chinese lyrics, but I’m still confused why he isn’t a vocalist. The only rappers in EXO-M are Kris and Tao. If you’re going to make another rapper for the Chinese lyrics just have Chanyeol do it. I’m honestly not seeing Sehun’s potential, and he’s fast becoming the “Dasom” of the group, and with a deteriorating choreography, he has less chance to shine. Then again Kai usually has the spotlight there.

Music Video: 5 / 10

Specific box sets with fluid / various “interactive” camerawork and additional flashy special effects. This is most certainly a S.M. music video. Why does everyone seem so angry in this MV? Aside from Kris and D.O who always look angry haha.

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Overall: 64 / 100

Well, I thought S.M. was turning stuff around with Soshi and Super Junior M’s work, but was only a curveball since this lead song from EXO is pretty mediocre. There are high highs in the bridge and the lead rappers, but low lows in the choreography and below average instrumental. With this and Kris’ incoming lawsuit, it’s going to be really hard for EXO to rebound.

[Review] HIGH4 & IU - Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms

Ballad and IU sounds like a sweet deal to me, and with rookie group HIGH4 making their debut, supposedly with a few members knowing IU, sounds like a good recipe for a tasty ballad.

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Vocals: 9 / 10

Gotta hand it to HIGH4 and their management. If you’re gonna debut with a ballad, enlisting the help of IU is pretty genius. IU is one of the premier ballad masters with her sweet voice, and is perfect for the song and lyrics. On the flipside, the male voices from Myunghan and Sunggu provide rich lower ranges that provide a simply delightful combination with IU’s airy high notes. I have no other words. Absolutely. Delightful. The lone mark off is due to a lack of anything that stands out and says “Wow” which might be expected towards the end. Still, the phrase “Not spring, love, or cherry blossoms” has never sounded sweeter.

Appearance: 7 / 10

IU looks sweet, adorable, pretty, etc. As always. She is simply immune to aging, an ability others in the industry also share. I have no problems with the looks of HIGH4, and in fact I could instantly discern which members were the rappers through looks alone, but what’s up with the highlights / coloured hair? Just seems they chose random colours and the whole process is questionable. Since their debut song of choice was a ballad, having bright colourful hair seems out of place and they look very goofy.

Dance: ? / 10

Um. I guess there was something of a dance at the end. I’m not weighing this at all, of course, as there was as little choreography as there was actual dancing shown in the MV.

Rap: 4 / 10

Meh. I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse, but the main problem with the rapping is that it’s just out of place in this ballad. Not necessarily saying that raps have no place in ballads, because that’s not true. There are a handful of ballads with excellent execution of rapping (LeeSSang’s “Tears” and EXO’s “Baby Don’t Cry” are just 2 examples), but this falls rather flat. The voices of both Yongjun and Alex aren’t exactly the type of voice for rapping, and they remind me of BTOB’s “Ilhoon” at best, with slight nasal tones. Despite the already swayed opinions, I think the rapping pair could do better with a different type of song.

Music Video: 6 / 10

Okay, so I admit the set was cute, and allowed for some fun “interactions”, if you will. The rapping members in the car, heh. Other than that though, there’s not much going for this video. For a song about couples and “love, spring, and cherry blossoms”, I only saw the cherry blossoms (which, might I add looked like snow at some points). There were no other couples to be looked at or sought after, and I never thought that the set could be considered in springtime. Alright, I guess.

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Overall: 66 / 100

That rap, man. Absolutely murdered this score. Ignoring that, this ballad is very sweet. The mesh of voices between IU and HIGH4 is quite divine, and since the song is a ballad, everything is even better / more amplified. Just goes to show how much weight one category will pull, and more importantly how execution of rapping can be so crucial.

[Review] Block B - Jackpot

Vocals: 7 / 10

If there was ever a song without Taeil as the main leading vocal, I’d be surprised to see (or hear) it. Taeil’s vocal prowess is present in the chorus, which I believe is the highlight of the song, with the high energy, general sassy and fun vibe. I do think it’s a shame, however, that U-Kown, B-Bomb, and especially Jaehyo are overshadowed in a group with Zico, Kyung, and P.O as rappers and Taeil as the lead vocals, since they could certainly hold their own as far as vocals are concerned. Jaehyo’s meager bridge portion could have been really good if extended. Such a shame he was limited to mere seconds.

Appearance: 8 / 10

It’s a carnival theme, so even if the group wasn’t Block B, it’d have been a requirement to look at silly and goofy as possible. Coming off the heels of “Very Good” though, seems a little recycled with the masks and colourful suits but nothing worth complaining about. P.O doesn’t cut it this time around though. Didn’t like how the hair swirled around his forehead.

Dance: 7 / 10

I would not go so far as to say Block B is coining their own style of dance (AKA silly choreography), but it’s certainly their style that everyone is just jumping around, having a good time, while still (somewhat) looking like a choreographed dance. The 2nd chorus in particular was funny with the 3 members in the back just doing their own thing. Certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

Rap: 10 / 10

Zico and Kyung are in the top tier of rappers, so anything considered “average” would be distasteful for these two. Regardless, Zico’s signature yelling and Kyung’s signature “Aight~” aren’t missing, and their lines are fun, quirky, and just sound good. I actually think that this time around with “Jackpot”, the rapping was put in the secondary to the more fun vocals. Still, solid work out of Zico and Kyung, to be expected.

Music Video: 9 / 10

Carnival theme? Check. Creepy clown masks? Check. Silly costumes and shenanigans? Check. Actress that plays her part? Check. This is a damn good music video to accompany the fun and delightful song. I usually try to keep descriptions light, but this MV stood out to me with the analogies and homages. Whereas “Very Good” almost certainly was following Big Bang’s tracks, “Jackpot” has elements off previous Block B videos. There were references from “Very Good”: the colourful suits, the clown masks, Taeil’s glasses and hair, as well as “Nillili Mambo”: Jaehyo with a woman, gambling and getting punched out. After departing from their previous label, Block B have really started to come around. I also thought the actress (who is 16, mind you) played her part very well, although one could say it’s not hard to act creeped out by a bunch of “strange oppas”.

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Overall: 82 / 100

“Jackpot” might not have necessarily hit the “jackpot”, and it might not be the best Block B release, but it’s definitely up there among the rest of them. The fun and quirky song is supported by the excellent rapping that Block B is known for, along with quality vocals led by Taeil. It’s a shame that Block B has decided to forgo promotions for this song, as the live stages would’ve been entertaining to watch.

[Review] JJCC - At First

JJCC? Double JC? Double J Double C? Whatever the case, this is a group developed by Jackie Chan. That’s pretty crazy, but how does this group with such infamous support compare to the industry?

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Vocals: 7 / 10

Eddy has a really smooth voice, and that is brought out in this song, especially during the bridge, but is more than enough to make the chorus thoroughly enjoyable. The scattered English is pretty okay, and nothing cringe-worthy, which should be the case from idols managed by Jackie Chan. But, line distribution anyone? Eddy is the only person with lines, and even if the other 3 rappers couldn’t carry a tune, that’s not going to help this score anyway. Because of the imabalance, the rapping will probably fare better, albeit slightly.

Appearance: 8 / 10

I’m not sure about managing my own group, but if I had an injured member, I wouldn’t be the first to suggest filming or debuting without him. Anyways, you have 4 well dressed men dancing and siinging in boxes. What else is there to say?

Rap: 8 / 10

Like mentioned earlier, I’m going to mark the rapping better than the vocals since more people took part, and this is a group with just 5 members. San Cheong is the better voice of the 3 in my opinion, but has a slight monotone air to his voice. Thankfully, the vocals from Eddy balance out some of the blander moments in the rap. While JJCC doesn’t have any “Yongguk” or “Zico” moments for their debut, they show that they definitely have capable rappers in their ranks.

Music Video: 5 / 10

If you wanted something to compliment the nature of this song, I doubt this would be the video you were looking for. It’s got scenic boxes, fancy graphics, and doesn’t even include one of the members, who was apparently injured. And is it just me or perhaps the specific camera angles, or does Simba make the other members look like midgets. The effects aren’t laughable but they sure don’t drop jaws or anything. But hey, just like everything else, this MV is about the standard.

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Overall: 70 / 100

This song is quite a pleasant song, and is a nice surprise coming out of Jackie Chan. However, it blends in, and I’m not entirely sure if that’s what you want from a group with the influence of an international star. Nonetheless, if Jackie wanted his group to fit the mold, he did it almost perfectly.