Released: October 2011, South Korea
Rating: 2.78
Yes, yes, I know. As an album, "The Boys" was an epic failure, but that doesn't stop SM from sneaking in a decent, but still out of place, song or two. And that song was "Sunflower". Taking off from After School's "Play Ur Love", it's another one of those gentle-sounding songs.
The difference is that although I don't like the vocals on this, I like the instrumental a lot better, because it's a lot more raw. What with the real drums, and the guitar lines, laced with the barely-there harmonies throughout. And really, the singing during the verses was pretty spot-on, it's just that the chorus is really anticlimactic.
Basically, "Sunflower" sounds like an SNSD-fied rock ballad, ala "It's Only My World" and the likes. What makes it SNSD-fied are the really bland, and ever so slightly cutesy vocals. Of course I would've personally liked it if the song had a lot more punch, but that's just not SNSD. Actually, looking at it objectively, it's actually a good thing that they did the appropriate adjustments to suit the SNSD album track sound more.
That and as a whole, the song actually sounds really gentle, even with these somewhat "hardcore" elements. Pretty good. And something I'd listen to in the morning when my ears can't take too much noise.
I actually 'The Boys' was a stronger album than 'Oh!' and have played it in its entirety a few times. Ok, it's not a particularly cohesive album and more like a collection of songs, but many K-Pop albums are like that. The songs themselves were pretty enjoyable, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWhich did you particularly dislike, if I may ask?
Wow, I never really noticed this song as I kind of skipped over the whole "The Boys" album. I really loved "Trick" though. This song feels more like an SNSD-classic song. It does not sound as childish as anything from the 1st album, but more in the stlye of the ballads in their Japanese album. I'm starting to like it.
ReplyDeleteWhich did you think was better made, the Japanese album or this one?
Would not really call the single a failure, just that some parts sounded off, like the chorus and that Jessica part.
ReplyDeleteThe album though was really below average though, trying to be all things to all people, yet coming across really jumbled and generic.
Must admit "Sunflower" is one of the "better" songs, together with the faster ones. Still, as an album it had nothing on Wonder World.
@anon 2 Japan was better. Surpassed my expectations, and then some. I liked "Trick" too.
I am a SONE and I have to say I am quite disappointed in the effort SM Entertainment put into this album. It's like after all the success they've had with TVXQ's comeback, f(x)'s rise, SNSD in Japan, and Super Junior going out with a blast, they seem to have become creatively exhausted and just "mentally checked out" when they lazily threw this SNSD Korean album together.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrible business decision considering SNSD is their most profitable group at the moment. The album lacked punch and no song (not even Oscar) had enough oomph to keep up with the title track. What's most disappointing is the reversal of style back to cutesy bubblegum that SNSD has been doing since their debut, demonstrating little growth in musicality. I know there is a huge contingent of fans that love that style, but personally I kept looking for the more mature and powerful sounds of the Japan album and found none.
There's a few decent songs on this album, and The Boys is one of the best singles SNSD has ever done in my opinion, but as an album it was a failure. I say this out of affection for SNSD, but the music fan inside me was grossly unsatisfied.