Big Bang - "Alive" Album Review

After a year of scandals, lawsuits, and solo works Big Bang is finally back as a group with a brand new start and EP. "Alive" has a variety of styles that all come together and describe the styles of Big Bang. Most of the songs are upbeat with R&B, hip hop, and slight rock influences. The majority of the album lyrics were co-composed by Big Bang's leader G-Dragon and rapper T.O.P. The lyrics of the songs are mostly about the commonly used theme, love. However, the beats and melodies of the songs make them refreshing and gives off the unique style of Big Bang.

Songs:

Alive - This short intro to the extended play was co-written by G-Dragon, T.O.P., and Teddy Park. The lyrics to this intro is both uplifting and meaningful. Even though it's barely a minute long, it contains more meaning and captures me more than the other songs in this EP. The execution was nice and simple with a steady beat in the background and nice harmonies.

Blue - Blue is Big Bang's title track for this comeback and it's a mid-tempo pop track. Blue is about a past love that was lost and carries a nostalgic feel. The melody is smooth and gentle making it relaxing and easy to listen to. Coupled with catchy lyrics and strong vocals it's one of the best songs in this EP and my personal favorite. The MV consist mostly of headshots of the members, but also included a vague storyline. The members are seen roaming the city in the shadow of this girl. Each member seemed to have a different connection with her. Sparking the idea that she is an image from their past, either their lover or common image of something they had loved. I appreciated the simplicity of the MV, it captured the mood of the song very well.



Fantastic Baby - This song is a fun and upbeat song with a strong club vibe. The lyrics are full of self confidence, empowerment, as well as letting go and having fun. Fantastic Baby successfully shows off Big Bang's confidence and unique style. The MV is fun, quirky and I personally like the different characterization of each of the members.



Bad Boy - Bad Boy has a hip hop/ RnB style to it. This song brings me back to Big Bang's debut days with the grungy street look and simpleness of the song. The lyrics are simply about a guy (or Big Bang) apologizing to a girl for treating her badly. The MV shows the guys walking down the streets of New York courting girls, only to be rejected. I thought that this MV didn't quite fit with the song. Though it gave the song a light and fun feel, the lyrics and scenes in the MV really don't match. The scenes where the members casually try to pick up the girls were, to me, a bit awkward, especially doing so after their dance sequence. However, I really liked the free flow dance routine.



Ain't No Fun - This is another fun club song in the Alive EP. It has a lighter beat than Fantastic Baby, but is still upbeat. The members of Big Bang (especially Taeyang) showed off their wonderful charisma in the live performance.



Love Dust - Love Dust is a light pop track. It has a bit too much autotune for my comfort, but the song is sweet.




Wings (Daesung's Solo) - In this solo song Daesung gets to show off his powerful vocals. At first I expected this song to be a ballad, but it turned out to be a pretty fast paced song. I love how the song switches sounds throughout the song, keeping it refreshing. It first starts out with a soft orchestra coupled with a pop beat, then switches into rock n roll guitar solo.  The arrangements for this song was perhaps the best and most refreshing in the EP.



Conclusion 

Big Bang's new "Alive" is a recommendable EP. It packs the style of all members into each song, making everyone of them unique. After knowing Big Bang for a couple of years, my liking for them had gradually lessened. It seemed that these past year or so Big Bang had turned into another overly hyped boy band in the Hallyu Wave. However, after listening to this EP, my interest in them has been renewed. What's more is knowing that G-Dragon and T.O.P. were involved in "Alive" made me develop a new found respect for the both of them. Overall, "Alive" is a great new beginning for Big Bang with new styles mixed in with their old charms.

Miss A - "A Class" Album Review

Simplicity is bliss, and less is more. Those are two quotes I've always agreed with. For Miss A's first full length album "A Class", the group goes for a clean cut pop sound mixed with influences of R&B.

The album is first introduced with "One to Ten", which opens with a pretty piano melody. The piano keeps its presence throughout the entire song by blending with synth beats and the girl's sweet and strong vocals. The result is a soothing and lovely song that's neither too fast or too slow, but instead maintains a pace and melody of its own. One of my personal favorites.

The album then moves onto "Goodbye Baby", the lead single. Of course, it's very catchy. Besides that though, the song is also sleek and well done. The girls have a wonderful harmony. It's message is simple (saying goodbye to a bad lover), but done in a stylish and hip fashion.

"Help Me" is an extra special treat. It is a R&B influenced song, and Miss A pulls it off fantastically. It possesses a great beat and soulful vocals. In this case, their experimentation was a success.

"Break It" is the first rough spot "A Class" hits. The intro makes for a good thing to get pumped up to. The part where they yell "Break it!" is what kills the song for me, as it sounds childish and cheesy. Some of the vocals are auto tuned too, creating a bad effect. It has it's good parts, but "Break It" overall is a weak song and the closest to being a filler.

"Mr. Johnny" carries a simple yet great hook. The techno influence makes it fun and upbeat yet edgy. They sound mature yet fierce. Jia's English rap is wicked! I especially love the first line of the rap "I'm a fool for your love but want nothing to do with your company".

Another rough spot is hit with"Play the Music DJ". It isn't actually a weak song, just not nearly as good the rest of the album. The intro sounds a bit immature, which is not fitting of Miss A's image. Fei does get to show off her vocals with the lines "Hey DJ", which is great, but it gets repetitive.

"Step Up" is similar to "Breathe" in terms of carrying the same exotic feel, but "Breathe" is much more memorable. A decent song, but not one I listen to often.

"Breathe" is a new type of upbeat. I love Miss A's mature and edgy image, but the cute and more girly image is a nice change for this particular song. The sound is refreshing and exotic. It is unique and whole lot of fun. The "Uh oh" really knows how to get stuck in your head.

For anyone who ever doubted Miss A's solid vocal abilities, the ballad "Blankly" will blow you away. The song is beautiful and stunning. All four girls put so much emotion and power into the song. They each get a chance to showcase their vocals, particularly Fei and Suzy.

Next up is "Love Again", which was Miss A's unofficial debut song before Min joined. It is an outstanding track because while it's fun and upbeat, it brings something fresh and doesn't feel like your typical K-Pop dance song. The girl's vocals are sweet and unlike most of their songs where Jia has one solo rap, her rapping is finely intertwined in between the verses here.

"Love Alone" is one of my personal favorites from Miss A as it is a simple yet solid song. The song sounds sleek yet clean cut. It has a great beat and the girls get to show their strong vocals here with individual solos. The theme is empowering and meaningful as it deals with unrequited love and not wanting to "love alone". Also, "Love Alone" is sung completely in English, and it's refreshing.

For once, an English K-Pop song actually sounds like it could pose as an American or European song instead of a bad attempt at singing English! (I actually think this song is reminiscent of Europop.). Perhaps this is just because the song was originally composed in English instead of being translated from Korean, but it flows very well and smoothly.

Their debut track "Bad Girl Good Girl" is also included on their first full length album, which remains one of their best songs ever. The repeated "You don't know me"s and "So shut up boy"s is unique, effortlessly catchy and in your face. The harmony and solos of each girl is solid. The composition of the whole song is empowering and seems to give off girl power. Hearing this song always makes me want to get up and move.

"A Class" closes with the Silver remix of "Goodbye Baby". It is a decent remix, but like movies where the original is always better than the sequel, the original is always better than the remix.

Highlights: "One to Ten", "Goodbye Baby", "Help Me", "Mr. Johnny", "Breathe", "Blankly", "Love Alone" (Not including "Bad Girl Good Girl" and "Love Again", which were previously released.

Weak Links: "Break It, Play the Music DJ", and "Step Up".

Overall
"A Class" is a strong debut and strong album in general. It does have its weak links, but strays away from having actual filler and consists of several highlights. The album does a fantastic job of showcasing what Miss A's musical style and what they have to offer. It shows their great promise and potential. If they continue their efforts, no doubt that in the future, Miss A will emerge as one of the top groups as well as one that is well respected and praised.


Rating: 4.25 Stars

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Author's Note: First an artist critique, then a review of their recent EP, and now a review of their debut album!  Am I showing bias yet?  :P  I genuinely love Miss A though and it didn't take long for them to become my favorite girl group, even though I've been giving other groups a try too.  Something about them is so different and much more my taste.  I enjoyed writing this in depth album review and hope it wasn't too long or boring.  This concludes my series of Miss A posts for now, but I will definitely be writing more about them.

Featured artists in my upcoming K-Pop related posts will be my other two favorites, Younha and ALi.  I will be doing some posts on more mainstream K-Pop as well.

Song Review: Big Bang's "Fantastic Baby"

Big Bang makes a comeback with their new 5th mini album "Alive." In this album there are a total of 7 songs. The 7 songs are Alive as the intro, Blue, Bad Boy, Love dust, It Ain't Fun, Wings a solo sung by Daesung, and my favorite Fantastic Baby. ^^

The song:

This song is very catchy and upbeat. This song makes me want to get up let go and start dancing which is the main point of this energetic song. The first time when I heard this song I thought it was a bit "out there" for me. Then later I realized it was one of those songs that are annoying at first but as you listen to it more you start to fall in love with it. Now I absolutely adore this song and can't stop listening to it.

The MV:

The music video for Fantastic Baby is very ummm... interesting I guess. Don't get me wrong I extremely love the video and I also love the story behind it. It starts with an owl the you see G-dragon sitting on this stone throne. The main feature that stood out at me was his long and orange hair. What did they do to his hair? I am not shocked about it. I know this is G-dragon's usual "fantastic" self and he is known for his sense of fashion but this one stood out to me, I still think he is adorable. Another thing that stood out at me was the wardrobe and of course their shirtless bodies. ^^ Being a girl how can I not notice this. Anyways back to the MV I love the concept to this MV and all the scenes. I really think it fits the song well, also gives it life, and all of the five guys rock in this song.

This MV is "Wow, Fantastic baby!"

Niki: This MV is indeed very special. The style of it is different from the usual k-pop MV, some of the scenes are a bit surprising and definitely raises ones eyebrows. Nonetheless it's one of the most well done K-pop MV. It has a simple enough story outline; breaking free of restrictions and following your heart (or in this case following the music). The different characterization given to each member truly describes their personality. G-Dragon with his ever confident expression and rebellious nature, T.O.P. with his classy and calm, yet powerful look, Taeyang with his raw and rough hip hop style, etc. 

As Pinki said the most surprising thing is G-Dragon's new look. To me there was a hint of Tim Burton's style in there. From his long side bangs and his throne to his makeup and wardrobe, everything had a dark and gothic style, but it still gave off a whimsical and playful feeling. The masked army also stood out to me, it was as if the mask was a symbol of their restrictions. The masks stripped them of their individuality and  limited what they could say (ergo the exaggerated mouth piece). Then at the end when they finally broke free and was rocking out with Big Bang *fan girl moment here*, they start to take their masks off and let them selves free.  

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Commenter's Note (Niki): Please excuse my rambling on and on about the mv. I just had a lot to say and I still have a lot to say about it. I'll talk more about it in my upcoming album review of "Alive" and shut up here so I don't flood Pinki's post. BTW congratulations on your first music review ^^

Miss A: "Touch" EP/Album Review

In Miss A's newest extended play "Touch", the rising girl group further proves their talent and finds a balance between being mainstream yet maintaining their own unique style.  From their beginning, they've possessed an air of simplicity, femininity, and maturity that set them apart from other girl groups.  For "Touch", they kick things up a notch by building on the image that they've created and millions have fallen for.

Perhaps it is because of the shorter length of extended plays (EP's), but "Touch" manages to be a very consistent and solid album.  Each track is distinctive. There are no fillers here.

The album starts with the title track "Touch", which was met with mixed reception. I admit, I wasn't crazy about it at first.  However, it didn't take long for it to grow on me.  "Touch" offers something very different from usual mainstream K-Pop.  It's not groundbreaking, but slightly unconventional and a break from the typical upbeat songs K-Pop is known for.  Becoming an instant success, it proved you don't have to be a fast dance song to be catchy and a hit.  "Touch" is mysterious, slightly haunting, and different. I was surprised Jia's rapping was featured here, but liked it and it still fit the song. The choreography for the single is also something I haven't seen before.

Next on the album is "Lips", which is hands down my favorite track on the EP. It is ridiculous how catchy this song is. The verses are edgy and the chorus is incredibly infectious. It just makes you want to get up, move, and sing along. Despite the amazing musical production of the song, it never overshadows or drowns out the girl's vocals, which remain the anchor and what makes the chorus so stunning. Whenever I listen to the song, I always end up with it stuck in my head. It is extremely addictive.

After "Lips" comes "Rock N Rule", which is a club friendly track that takes a much more lighter approach than "Lips". The girl's vocals are sweeter and show some high notes. The chorus is just upbeat and fun, as is the dance breakdown portion.

"No Mercy" is probably the most distinctive song on the album with the unique beats and slight edginess. Somehow, it has this vintage feel and feels like a throwback to older music, yet still feels very fresh.

"Over U", which has already become popular from live performances, brings a twist to the song about getting over someone. The concept has been done to death, yet they make it their own. The verses tell of the pain they've experienced from getting hurt, then flows into a catchy chorus with a great hook that simply says "I'm so over you". Jia is a crazy good rapper, which isn't as prominently shown on this album. However, her rapping skills get to shine here. From the verse, to the chorus, to Jia's rap, the whole song says "in your face"! This is such a fun song to see Miss A perform live!

The album closes with the Newport remix of "Touch", which offers a R&B alternative to the single. I love both versions, but can see why some would like this remix better.

Although still relatively new to the music scene, Miss A proves they're not amateurs and have what it takes to be a huge success. They're feminine, sexy, and edgy, which is showcased here more than anything they've released yet. They know what they're doing and have their own style, which is fresh yet mature. "Touch" is an album that shows off all their strengths by themselves and as a group, as well as a preview of what's to come of Miss A's sure to be hot future. The vocals, beats, and musical production on this EP are just superb. Everything ties together well. Highly recommended, I don't know how many times I've listened to this album!

Rating: 4.25 stars