HoMin - Why? (Keep Your Head Down)

Before we get to the review, I would like to apologize to my Twitter followers for spamming your timeline with profanities and "WHAT IS LIFE?" tweets - that's what happens when you mix part of my favorite band with a world-domination song I waited yearS for. Yes, part and yes, years. Had it been all five of them I don't know what I would've done.

However even with all my spazzing, crying and whatnot, would you believe me if I said I'm writing this with absolutely no idea what to write? Usually when I write a review I have a general idea of what I want to say, and everything just pours out - I'm not too sure if that's happening right now.

From a fangirl's perspective, from someone who has waited too damn long to hear something from 2/5 of her favorite boyband, this song is more than welcome. It has all the fanservivce possible, and talent/delivery-wise Yunho and Changmin have really stepped up more than I expected them to. The song screams "ADORE ME", and there are an infinite ways for fangirls all over the world to show their adoration for the song.

This is the world domination song of the year, in simple terms.

After all the initial spazzing, crying, dying and tweeting, I listened to this a few hours ago and although the song clearly has it's epic parts, I feel that all the freaking out I did this morning was due to the hype - I mean if you waited three years for new material from your favorite band in and industry that demands 1 release a year at least, wouldn't you be rolling around with joy?

I'd love to say that everything starts out all nice and quiet then the song builds up to an epic end, but I'm afraid I'd be lying if I said that. THE SONG STARTS OUT EPIC AND ENDS EPIC. The guitar line catches your attention and earned an eyebrow raise from me when I first heard it, then the talking leads to an epic intro, which in turn leads into autotuned Yunho singing a gorgeous melody and Changmin just tearing.it.apart. The hook is world-domination material from the very beginning, and the chorus is a feast to the ears - no explosions, just consistent epic-ness, it just doesn't want to stop.

Yunho's first rap part is bearable, then Changmin's parts are getting more and more scream-y, in preparation for later. The chorus killed me for the gazillionth time, and Changmin rapping was a rather.. welcome change. But then OH MY GOD THE DANCE BREAK, THE MARCHING BAND, EVERYTHING IS JUST EPIC. Epic just got epic. The song resolves itself astonishingly, in my opinion, and I LOVE how it ends - like they just turn their backs like nothing out of the ordinary happened when your jaw is actually on the floor already. Cocky, much? VERY.

The thing is, HoMin know how to perform. They know how to look good on stage and they do everything in their power to look cool, what separates them from lesser bands is that they have the talent to go with the looking cool and all, and they know when to perform their heads off and when to look good, if they're not doing it at the same time and succeeding.

The song as a whole is a lot to digest, and if you're neither a fan or a critic, it may come off as a little too odd. It has the maturity of Mirotic with the interesting-ness of Rising Sun. Without the fangirling, the structure of the song kind of overwhelmed me, to the point where I had to literally write down the parts to be able to properly talk about them. I don't write things down, I just don't! Don't believe me? Proof:

OK so anyway. What I'm trying to say is that this song is literally like Yoo Young Jin looking at the past, and moving forward with that went right. He put in enough of everything that has made DBSK singles epic in their own ways, and he found a way to make everything work together, all while moving the duo into a new era musically.

As much as I think JYJ are talented, and as much as they are capable songwriters, they simply cannot compete with Yoo Young Jin because when YYJ wants to do something damn good, he will. Of course there are times that he does something damn good because he's being paid a lot, but you get my point right? The man is an institution in himself for heaven's sake - when he does wrong he makes up for it with a right. More like a home run.

My point is, DBSK's brilliance has been equally divided, in my opinion - JYJ got majority of the talent and HoMin got majority of the outstanding material. Of course when you put those two together you get THE MEANING OF LIFE, but like I said on my Athena review, my worries for HoMin have all disappeared.

Infinite who? Secret who? MBLAQ who? GD&TOP who? I'm sorry but you don't compete with Gods, you just don't. Whether it be 1, 2, 3 or 5 - you don't. Got that?

5/5 - were you expecting any less?

13 comments:

  1. I was clapping when I saw that Homin's single was already released this morning and it has been on repeat since then XD However, as I played it over and over again, Yunho's voice started to get irritating. The best parts were the chorus and the dance break (I can't imagine how epic the choreo would be given that Rino did it). But I hated the rap DX

    Btw, I agree with your last paragraph.

    ReplyDelete
  2. OH NO YOU DIDN'T !! lol my inner VIP can't handle your last paragraph ! XD
    But before jumping on you, I put my headphones to listen to HoMin's song.

    Yeah you're right the production is perfect, there is a lot of "depth" and it is a song made to dominate the world. I admit it, this song is truly impressive!!

    BUT ! Yunho's rap won't make it for me ... (not-so-lame excuse)

    PS: my inner VIP-Cassiopeia can't handle all these comebacks Dx

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've been waiting for Homin comeback so much but this song isn't getting into my head. I love their Athena OST but this song isn't my cup of tea.
    It is different from their old songs. But the Mv is so irresistably hot.

    ReplyDelete
  4. THE MUSIC VIDEO'S OUT. OMG the song just goes on in an epic way like "Rising Sun" and SHINee's "Lucifer" because of the video.

    When they did the whole JYJ and HoMin split, I wasn't really that worried about HoMin. Yes, JYJ got majority of the talent. No one will contest to how amazing Junsu and Jaejoong are at singing. While JYJ are the singers, HoMin really did get the best producers SME can offer. I've always thought that HoMin always rocked the SMP-style songs the most out of all the DBSK boys. I love how they want back to Yoo Young Jin's SMP-style of song for their comeback. It's the perfect way for them to come back after two long years.

    THE GODS ARE BACK! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. THIS is how you start 2011. They are going to win the awards and I am glad. A lot of people were worried that it wouldn't be as good as people thought it would be. Some thought it would be a ballad. I don't know why but I was thought it was going to be ok. And they proved people wrong.

    I wrote my own post if you want to say. Pretty much agree with you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good start for 2011, I am also hoping they win.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sorry, I just can't call Yunho's talking "rap"

    ReplyDelete
  8. I feel bad for DBSK/TVXQ FANS "KEEPING THEIR FAITH". I think this fandom is gonna be torn apart very soon. I had a feeling this division will happen the moment HoMin makes a music comeback.

    I wanted to wish both JYJ and HoMin the best of luck since they have decided to part ways. They are both talented but maybe cannot work together anymore under SM. The music industry is large enough for both of them.

    When JYJ started their activities, I had the utmost respect for HoMin because they did not just anything, kept quiet and stayed outside the limelight. I thought that was classy.

    Now HoMin is making a comeback and the reaction from some fans (E.g. endorsed boycott from some fancafes) and tweets from Junsu and Jaejong is not very classy at all. Did JYJ really expect to be mentioned in HoMin's "thank you's" or that they won't send a "thank you" to SM? What's with the vague but inflammatory tweets? They are practically egging the fans on.

    It makes me sad for this fandom and HoMin. Why can't we all get along and simply wish each other success? I was not gonna buy the latest TVXQ album. But I think I will put in my order now just to show my support to HoMin. Poor guys - they will probably be the ones to suffer the most from all this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. From your last comment, I'm really surprised, because I thought GTOP's album was far better (and so did a lot of other people).

    Personally I thought Homin's album, while not bad, was not great either. There was too much rap - talking, most of their songs were very 'strong' not in a good sense, but it felt like they were screaming in your ears, and the ballads / softer songs were just weak. Maybe I'm too used to DBSK having great ballads, but none of Homin's were any good compared to the old ones.

    And just a quick note, I hope you don't take this offensive. But I hope you become better at looking at music from a subjective point of view rather than an increasing biased one. I understand we all have our opinions, but after following your blog for like a year it's REALLY easy to see the bias seeping through a lot of your reviews these days. (on the artists you don't like, you tend to only focus on the negatives, while the artists you do like - only get showered with high praises and an occasional flaw about them which honestly wasn't even a flaw)

    Terribly sorry for the long rant, but as a long time reader I just couldn't be disappointed by how predictable some reviews have became

    ReplyDelete
  10. I agree with the above. Your reviews are getting really predictable nowadays. But it is your opinion, so I won't say much. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hey! I was reading your blog for the past 4 hours and I got to say I enjoy how you write... ^^ I agree that seeing Yunho and Changmin perform again on Korean TV was what ANY pearl red-blooded cassies worldwide have been waiting for~ and it was a comeback that can BLOW anyone's mind (fan or not) away..

    but I gotta say I was tad bit dissapointed with WHY (KYHD) single... I don't know why, but~ their rapping part was a bit... (T_T)and I guess its the reason I can't fall in love with it..

    I enjoyed their single MAXIMUM much more.. :) have you listened to it? I hope you review it I would like to hear what's your opinion of it ^^

    OH! by the way.. its really heartwarming to know someone who appreciate dbsk/tohoshinki/tvxq.... it reminds me AKTF... I hope you still do :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I don't like this song. I am sorry but I really don't like it. I expected something more epic from dbsk since they are THE DBSK. btw, their live performance on inkigayo didn't impress me either. idk if its because the video is low quality or anything. But to me, this song is just an overrated song.

    ReplyDelete
  13. i chanced upon your blog and i must say i love your reviews. they have depth, not just some random rambling.

    DBSK is my ultimate kpop bias n yes, noone in the industry today can beat them. my favourite part of this review is when you said "when you put two of them together, you get the meaning of life." i LOLed at that but totally understand ;)

    ReplyDelete

Want to share any of your thoughts on the above post? Drop a comment here! I read all comments and reply occasionally, especially if you have specific questions for me. :D

Note that comments are moderated. Spam, self-advertising (K-Pop-related and otherwise) and overly vulgar submissions will NOT be accepted. If you want me to promote/endorse/follow/link to your site, please e-mail me at popreviewsnow@gmail.com instead.

 

Recent Tweets

Like Pop Reviews Now on Facebook!

Statistics (Since May 2009)

Music - Top Blogs Philippines Follow on Bloglovin

Blog Archive

You're reading an award-winning blog

The K-Pop Writers' Workshop


A workshop for writers of critical pieces on Korean entertainment -- formal reviews, expository essays/Op-eds, and personal essays/Creative Non-Fiction.
Learn from the best in K-Ent writing