#10: Dae Guk Nam Ah/The Boss - 비틀비틀

Apparently, they've never been D-NA to start with, so I'm calling them The Boss from now on.

So The Boss haven't exactly swept music show wins this year, nor have they really sold a lot both in Korea and Japan (do they even have a single out there?), but I like these guys. And for more than the fact that they remind me of my beloved DBSK.

I re-iterate what I said earlier this year (like in a lot of what I've been writing lately) - 비틀비틀 is generic, cheesy at certain points, and you know not a lot of money was invested in to this, but it's like that to show how much more talent The Boss have compared to your run-of-the-mill boyband from a small agency no one's heard of.

I'd say they're tied with BEAST - BEAST have the backing of a semi-major agency, but lack in terms of talent when compared to The Boss. Put these two groups together and you have just a little less than what DBSK had when they were just starting out.

Let us now take the time to worship Mika and Karam's vocals. I have an unpublished, unfinished, draft of a vocal commentary for The Boss (that I wrote last summer), and I call Mika the Junsu of The Boss, and Karam and Jaejoong. Their vocals are drop-dead gorgeous, and I think being in one of the many generations of Xing helped. The other three are strong too, but Karam and Mika carry the band vocally, and for a band as new as them to be as good as they are is a hard feat to even try reaching.

비틀비틀 is catchy verging on cheap sometimes, but the way all five of them carry it both live, with their stage presence, and recorded with the epic, amazing vocals give it another dimension. To be honest with you, if k-pop gave me the same songs it did this year, only with people who could actually sing them, I wouldn't be complaining.

5 comments:

  1. Yay, BOSS love! But don't you like Hyunmin? He's the one that stands out the most to me, that low husky voice of his.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm afraid I was more struck by a concept I hate and the awful hair styles in the one performance I watched of the Boss.As you mentioned in one of your posts, clothing, etc. do matter. I hated almost all of DBSK's early years too, as well as SuJu. The cutesy songs, just, yuck, clothing, etc. But now I'm a great fan of DBSK, Super Junior.

    I also admit I will like a group or person for their dance abilities alone, and the dance for Stumble, Stumble was pretty lame.

    I think the Boss has a ways to go to be really comparable to DBSK in another area. And here, Beast has an edge. Yong Junhyung has helped as a songwriter, (mostly for the raps I think) for almost all their songs, and the rest of the members have recently helped in writing and composing songs for their soon to be released duet songs.

    A key point to BBSK was that the members wrote and composed their own songs. I really don't know about the Boss, but from what I've seen, Beast probably had a bigger input in their music from the very start then most rookie groups could claim to. I think they'll continue to have more and more input in their music.

    I'll be looking forward to seeing the Boss again, provided they come improved in some way, be it styling, concept, song, and/or dance.

    I think one reason Beast has dominated as a rookie group is that they've released 4 mini-albums, singles, etc. They've had many more chances then most rookie groups to polish their skills and gain new fans. I wish other groups would emulate them in that area.

    I'll also be looking forward to more posts by you, as I've just started reading your reviews and enjoyed them, especially your show recaps.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well i agree with everything, but, i follow "the boss", and all that they release, and Karam´s vocal are so damn gorgeous, but, hyunmin´s incomparable.

    i love Park Hyoshin, and when I heard Hyunmin first time, i think "Oh God, new park hyoshin!" - your husky voice and potencial!

    All boys are strong, but i see karam like "Changmin" in "The boss", that have a "bass" base ( Hyunmin, Injoon and Jay are bass - Mika 2º tenor and Karam 2º too)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have an unpublished, unfinished, draft of a vocal commentary for The Boss (that I wrote last summer) - will be waiting for this to come out. thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You included them as one of best performances for 2010. Looking back after a year, you are right. Because the dgna boys won best performance at the hong kong asian pop music festival in march 2011.
    When you asked could they be the new dbsk, I could not see that before though I know they have great vocals. But after the release of their ballad song “Lady”, I truly believe you are right again.

    ReplyDelete

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