Released: September 2011, South Korea
Rating: 4.00
Screw all the other drama theme songs that came out this year, "You Are So Beautiful" is ballad master class with the god of ballads, and you really can't do better than that.
It has a quaint melody, with some quirk around the edges, and it's not all tear-jerking melodrama. It's also not too big on the high notes, but not completely lacking in them either. Reminds me a lot of slightly creamier fro-yo, a bit creamy, but still tart.
Junsu's vocals are the highlight and focus of the song, and everything is stunningly perfect -- from the technique, to the belting, to every single little detail of his vocals. Not too much screaming, but not too much airiness either. It's just the right mix of dynamics to leave you stunned at the end of it all.
That, laced with a straightforward, what you hear is what you get, instrumental that goes straight to the point, makes Junsu's voice stand out even more. The instrumental is still gorgeous though, with a touch of electric guitar behind the gorgeous strings and the crisp piano line.
Throw all of those together, and you have one of the most stunning ballads of the year.
After Jaejoong and Junsu, I fully expect to see Yoochun's 너를 위한 빈자리 (The Empty Space for You) on this list very soon...........
ReplyDeleteOk I was half kidding, and half serious. But is this your way of "making up" for the lack of truly great JYJ material this year? I don't know what to make of it, two JYJ solo OSTs in the top 15, none of these guys are as great by themselves as when they're together. I personally would give full team efforts a little more priority than solos/sub-groups/side-projects, and there are plenty of groups out there that may deserve a little more recognition than placing these OSTs in such high ranks.
And I'm half agree and half disagree with RageX's opinion. Haha. First, put aside group priority nanana, I seriously think that JYJ's TBL much better than these two ballads... and there are TONS (well, not that much actually haha) of amazing ballads from K-drama OST (Baek Jiyoung, anyone?) this year that it'd be extremely hard to imagine if those ballads crumbling up in top ten given the amazing tracks from idols as well. But again, we can have our own opinion so in the end, I have no objection. In fact, as a JYJ fan, I'm more than thankful seeing my boys granted with these positions. Haha. ^^
ReplyDelete-noi