OK so ANYWAY, I saw their teaser yesterday and I was really, really looking forward to something brilliantly mind-blowingly awesome. No seriously, those 30 or so seconds were put together insanely well and the video really made me want to freak out over them. See what I mean? From the teaser it sounds pretty good - like something I'd enjoy.
But that's the extent of the song's brilliance - you hear that you've practically heard the entire thing. The full song + the music video was released earlier today while I was (dying) in school and when I got home they were both waiting for me there - the first thing I did was load the video and then get a hold of the MP3. I listened over to both and really, this is one of the biggest let-downs on the year musically.
When I first heard of MBLAQ I was afraid they'd get a bunch of reject songs from Rain's last Korean album Rainism but my fears were consoled when the teaser came out - as I said I thought the teaser was brilliant. So I put all my bets into MBLAQ being the next big thing in K-pop. Once I finally heard the song in full though I was disappointed like hell.
I understand that Rain is NOT SM (DBSK, SHINee, f(x), Super Junior, SNSD) where rap is reserved for a relatively smaller part of the song but he's not YG (2NE1, Big Bang) either - he's Rain. He sings while he dances and he doesn't have the best voice in the world but he tries really hard and pulls big ballads off - he's a performer. You have to watch the guy live to fall in love with him because that's what he does best. I just hope MBLAQ is like that at the very least.
My first problem is the rapping. Rapping may be something you have to do in Korea if you're an idol group but this is too much - it's taken over all the vocal parts. My next problem has something to do with the rapping - the lack of an over-all melody. In a debut single you're supposed to show every single thing the band can do in a BALANCED way, the rap, singing and dancing all equally shown. There are only two solid melodic parts and they're what I assume to be bridges - two lines before the chorus. Then one line during the chorus but it's not the actual hook.
Speaking of hooks, let me talk about the them for a while. Hooks are something you expect people to remember for long periods of time like say the entire promotional period of the song and it's made to make you remember the title of the song - Super Junior's Sorry Sorry, SNSD's Gee, The Wonder Girls' Nobody (as much as I despise it) and a ton of other songs all have hooks that'll refuse to leave your head which made them such gigantic hits. These hooks all have power, they all make a statement, the bands have guts when they sing it and above all they're a lot more creative and original than the rest of the song. Whether it be monotonous or not, the hooks are delivered with guts and conviction.
Going back to the requirements of a good debut single, it has to show everything and I mean EVERYTHING a band can do at the given time so people know if they're good or bad and choose to keep following them or entirely give up - a good hook is vital in the success of a new band. Oh Yeah has a hook ,"Oh Yeah" repeated over and over, but it sounds cheap, uncreative and just plain boring.
However, I do think the melodic parts are very good and very well-executed - these guys can sing. Haven't heard the rest of their debut release but I do hope it has some good songs with actual melodies. As performers I can't judge yet - I listened to the song without watching the video and it really makes a difference when you actually see these guys. Will have to wait for a well-shot live performance to be able to judge.
Although these guys must be very good performers and by the little melodic parts we get seem like very, very good singers, everything about this song is unoriginal and boring. Oh Yeah sounds like DBSK rapping with an SS501 loop for an instrumental and an overused Big Bang melody - that pretty much sums up to a Rainism reject.
3/5. At least they tried.
I understand that Rain is NOT SM (DBSK, SHINee, f(x), Super Junior, SNSD) where rap is reserved for a relatively smaller part of the song but he's not YG (2NE1, Big Bang) either - he's Rain. He sings while he dances and he doesn't have the best voice in the world but he tries really hard and pulls big ballads off - he's a performer. You have to watch the guy live to fall in love with him because that's what he does best. I just hope MBLAQ is like that at the very least.
My first problem is the rapping. Rapping may be something you have to do in Korea if you're an idol group but this is too much - it's taken over all the vocal parts. My next problem has something to do with the rapping - the lack of an over-all melody. In a debut single you're supposed to show every single thing the band can do in a BALANCED way, the rap, singing and dancing all equally shown. There are only two solid melodic parts and they're what I assume to be bridges - two lines before the chorus. Then one line during the chorus but it's not the actual hook.
Speaking of hooks, let me talk about the them for a while. Hooks are something you expect people to remember for long periods of time like say the entire promotional period of the song and it's made to make you remember the title of the song - Super Junior's Sorry Sorry, SNSD's Gee, The Wonder Girls' Nobody (as much as I despise it) and a ton of other songs all have hooks that'll refuse to leave your head which made them such gigantic hits. These hooks all have power, they all make a statement, the bands have guts when they sing it and above all they're a lot more creative and original than the rest of the song. Whether it be monotonous or not, the hooks are delivered with guts and conviction.
Going back to the requirements of a good debut single, it has to show everything and I mean EVERYTHING a band can do at the given time so people know if they're good or bad and choose to keep following them or entirely give up - a good hook is vital in the success of a new band. Oh Yeah has a hook ,"Oh Yeah" repeated over and over, but it sounds cheap, uncreative and just plain boring.
However, I do think the melodic parts are very good and very well-executed - these guys can sing. Haven't heard the rest of their debut release but I do hope it has some good songs with actual melodies. As performers I can't judge yet - I listened to the song without watching the video and it really makes a difference when you actually see these guys. Will have to wait for a well-shot live performance to be able to judge.
Although these guys must be very good performers and by the little melodic parts we get seem like very, very good singers, everything about this song is unoriginal and boring. Oh Yeah sounds like DBSK rapping with an SS501 loop for an instrumental and an overused Big Bang melody - that pretty much sums up to a Rainism reject.
NOT impressive at all if its just the song but I gotta admit I enjoy their dance moves. Have you check out TaeYang new song "Where U At?" I'm so disappointed with it. =/
ReplyDeleteAgreed! The guys are really more of performers than a band with damn good songs. Hahah.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's not bad but it's a bit generic. The set looks a lot like the one they used for the Japanese version of 'My Heaven'!
What the hell are you talking about? I mean, I'm not trying to be rude. But the way you state your opinion is rude as hell!! You simply bash a debut single! It's like judging cook's first dish! You think you're better than them? Let's see you do the same then
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