Cho Shin Sung - 그리운 날에

So before I get to my actual review, there's something I wanna (kinda) announce. Pop Reviews Now is on this month's issue of Meg, a major teen fashion magazine in the Philippines. If you'd like to see a photo of the feature, it's here. Considering that I used to want to work for that magazine, it's a rather big thing. But anyway, on to business. ;D

Supernova debuted in Korea, along with a few other bands that have pretty much fizzled away. If you look at their Korean discography, you would've thought they did too (fizzle away, I mean), but the reason for their non-existence in Korea was because they were in Japan, signed to MCA Universal (Japan), trying to make it big there. A few members were involved in that TTL (Time To Love) project with girl group T-Ara, but that's basically all they did in Korea for a good 2 years. As far as I remember, they got to either a #3 or #2 position on the Oricon Charts, the Billboard of Japan, and that's a pretty big thing, considering it ranks the biggest singles of the second biggest industry in the world, and it took DBSK a good 3 albums before they hit number one.


Well they're back in Korea now, and to be honest with you, even if I thought it was stupid to try and make it in Japan without making it in Korea, I'm thankful they did the very thing I thought was stupid.

I decided that instead of writing my review the minute I hear the song, I'd let it sit a while. So I was listening to this new Supernova/Cho Shin Sung single all day in school, and I'm actually rather impressed.

그리운 날에 is a Brave Brothers creation, and to a certain extent it really sounds like one. On the surface it mirrors a U-Kiss song, or even something the duo produce for themselves, but underneath the stereotypical verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle8-chorus structure with some rapping thrown in just because they can is a song with that much more class and sophistication than your run-of-the-mill Korean "R&B" number.

The hook sticks, but it's not the annoying kind that can get very unpleasant after a few listens and a week's worth of promotions - it's an actual melody with actual notes involved, people like you and me can actually hum along to it, but we also remember it.

Another thing I really like about this song is the percussion part. The structure is half-ordinary, half-not so ordinary, but the type of percussion - the sharp but full sound, similar to a snare drum with a lower pitch, if I'm correct, gives the song a sense of swing - it's got groove. It's not this robotic, obviously-computerized mess of a piece - this is what I mean when I say the percussion part of a song is one of the most important parts of a song, if not the most. It's also got a sense of dynamics because of it - there's a build-up, a break down, and the different instruments tone down and build up at certain points. There are so many things you can do with a percussion part, and yet it is the foundation of your song - what you do do to it will ultimately steer the entire song in either a good or bad direction.

I kinda attribute this creativity and little hint of sophistication to the fact that they were active in the Japanese industry for 2 years or so - they were exposed to musicians, and ultimately creativity. They also got a heck of a lot better live vocals, I saw a cut from one of their tour dates, and the guy who sings the most really sounds phenomenal, with respect to the recording. Japan gave them an edge, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had even just a little influence in deciding which song to promote, or even actually producing this.

4.7/5

4 comments:

  1. I can't believe I will fall for this song ever since I hit that PLAY button. LOL. To be honest, I didn't EXPECT to like the song judging by their prev material. OMG. I think it's Karma. kkk //beE

    ReplyDelete
  2. I appreciate this post.:) Well, I am a fan of Supernova/Choshinsung..
    Will you make a post regarding each member's vocals?:)
    I have a very high impression on one of the members voice--Sungmo, his voice got me into becoming a fan of the group, so I hope you'll make a post regarding their vocals..^^

    ReplyDelete
  3. hate to rain on your parade, but it most definitely doesn't 'swing'. i'm in the most advanced jazz group at my school (and listen to asian pop music? huh...) and i can tell you for a fact that it's for sure not swinging. but groovy, yes it is ^^
    it certainly does have sophistication over a lot of the crappy bubblegum pop from other groups nowadays! and the hook certain can kinda get a little annoying - it sorta grates along. but i can see these guys becoming like ss501 in a few years

    ReplyDelete
  4. well even though I don't get there sentiments but I'll try to love them. . .and find a way to listen to there songs lol I hope they will maintain there brightness;0

    ReplyDelete

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