Monday, August 1, 2011

Album Review: 2NE1 2nd Mini-Album




2NE1 has just released their 2nd Mini-Album and for 5/6 of the songs on the album they  have completed a perfect "all-kill" on the  Korean charts! 2NE1's album even reached #1 on YesAsia's Korean Album Bestsellers Chart! 2NE1 has been away from the industry for nearly 9 months so their return has been higly anticipated. As anyone who reads my blog or subscribes to my Youtube knows I am a huge fan of 2NE1 but when I listen to music, I refrain from being bias in any way. I simply do that because I honestly can't stand the bias behavior of Kpop Fans so I like to be unbias when I listen to music and really appreciate what I'm listening to (I do have my moments too though I'm human lol). I bought this album off of YesAsia so I will discuss the quality!
1. I Am The Best

I Am the Best has a really strong beat and it is so amazing it just makes you want to get up and dance all around the room (I know I did). On the other hand, the song itself is very lacking and the singing doesn't match with this song. The beat would better fit a rapper but since 2NE1 had it they tryed to make it work. They did a good job with what they had but it was slightly dissapointing. Bom's voice does not fit this song and Dara singing sounds very overly pronounced and it just sounds odd. Minzy's parts are probably the higlight of the song because her vocals can really challenge the song. CL's rapping was good too but It was for sure not one of her best. The breakdown part of the song was weird too and the song was dissapointing and it only got a 3/5 because of the awesome beat. The MV was awesome and the Live performances were ok. I'm not going to say the performances were good simply because CL was yelling the whole time and she was quite over enthusiastic and although the dance was cool but Bom made the dance look kind of awkward (AHHH that was hard to say about my bias).

Song: 3/5
MV: 4/5
Live: 3/5


2. UGLY

 I didn't like this song at first but it only took one extra listen to fall in love with. This song is perfect because it offers everything you want from an artist career in one song but at the same time it may seem  overwhelming at first. In this song you hear the best versions of all 4 members vocals. That's still not the best part though the best part is the emotinal meaning of the song. It explains the desire to fit societies views on beauty and overall apearance. This song is extremely relatable to so many people including myself. The song starts off very beautiful with it's acoustic melody and goes into a wild expression of frustration and all in amazingly pronounced English just to note! The breakdown in this song is so pretty and really brings out the best in Dara's  'fresh' vocals which are often talked negatively about (even by myself at times). The music video is ok but after watching 2NE1 S3 EP4 I came to appreciate the video (you should check it out they worked so hard)! The song and 2NE1 are gorgeous despite the songs sad meaning! Their first live performance was all well put together which is why I was suprised that their comeback stage from the outfits to the makeup to the dance to backtrack was designed by them! Go 2NE1! You really are the best!

Song: 4/5
MV:3/5
Live: 5/5

3. Lonely

Lonely is to me one of the 2 best tracks on the album. This song is slow and emotional but it still makes you want to sit in your chair and tap your feet. This track is a R&B and Acoustic mixture to me and it  does have slight similarities to Big Bang's Love Song as far as the appeal and way they approached it. At the end of the day though I believe that this track is better than that one. This song is so smooth and suprisingly it partners perfectly with CL's sharp vocals. Dara's vocals aren't a perfect fit for this song but Minzy's and Bom's make up for that. Dara still did a good job though. The beautiful chorus partners perfectly with the calm verses and bitttersweet climax and ending. It was like I never wanted the song to end...Anway the MV was beautiful and it was to me a prettier version of UGLY's MV.  The one live they did for this song was very good and their vocals were good even though Bom's were a teeny bit dissapointing that one day.

Song: 5/5
MV 5/5
Live: 4/5



4. Hate You
Hate You is the song that has a catchy and repetitive chorus but it's still not irritating (ex. I Am The Best). The mellow beat is perfect for the amazing verses which definetley outshine the chorus. Bom and Minzy own this song and they were for me very on point as far as their vocals in this track.  The Music Video was really cool and it was really popular on Youtube internationally and gained many new 2NE1 fans and haters. The first live was short but good although it was a little boring, their goodbye stage was rocking.

Song: 4/5
M/V: 4/5
Live: 4/5


5.Don't  Cry

Don't Cry has a really powerful beat but Bom's amazing vocals were really able to put up a good fight and they won for sure! The songs starts off making you think it's going to be just another sad ballad and then the beat gets stonger but it still doesn't really wow you. Then the beat drops and from the time you hear her sing "It's Okay Baby Please Don't Cry" your hooked. The verses are light and emotional but the chorus is so powerful it makes up for the kinda slow start. Her ad-libs in this song are good too and she had perfect English pronunciation to me. The MV was really pretty and I loved her outfit in the sad wonderland/ other world place lol. Her live was perfect too I'm just not a fan of the acoustic version, it was a little dry and dissapointing after the amazing original but Bom's vocals did make the acoustic version pretty catchy haha.

Song: 5/5
Live: 4/5
MV: 4/5

6. Don't Stop The Music

This track is for sure the worst on the album but is a good single and it was perfect for it's original purpose, to be feautured in a CF, considering it's very attention catching. When I first heard this song, I though It was really stupid but after a couple listens I was hooked. Now though I don't listen to it much due to the fact that it gives me a massive headache. The beat is two hectic and the verses are dissapointing although the chorus is pretty cool!

Song: 2/5
MV: 4/5
Live:3/5

Overall Scores-

"I Am The Best" 10/15
"Ugly" 12/15
"Lonely" 14/15
"Hate You" 10/15
Don't Cry 13/15
"Don't Stop The Music" 9/15

Album Overall:
4/5
Quality/Packaging: 3.8/5 I was honeslty dissapinted, the packaging was creative but it wasn't really nice to me especially after ordering "To Anyone" which was so sturdy and really nice. This album was nice too but I think their first full length album had better quality.
Photobook: 3.9/5 None of the pictures are actually of 2NE1 their all just drawings their ok though and it's not even a book it's just a bunch of cards.
Reccomend: Yes if you want good music No if your more concened about image.

Good Job 2NE1 you've come along way...

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