So what’s a better way to spend the Thursday night of an extensively busy week? Listening to Big Bang’s first new Korean mini-album in two years! And criticizing the hell out of it of course.  However, at Seoulbeats, we criticize because we love. I mean, it’s not like YG’s paying us to do this.

So, using the height of Google Chat (and email) technology, us writers got together, gave the six songs a listen, and indulged in some American Idol roleplaying.  So without further dudes, the Seoulbeats Official Big Bang Review Roundtable!

 

Johnelle:  Okay how should we do this ladies? Song by song and overall? Ashe what did you envision?

Annie:  Go over each song? Give a rating each and add up the score? And of course commentaries.

Johnelle:  What kind of rating scale 5 stars?

Annie:  1 star each- 1=like. 0.5= ok, 0=no likey!

Johnelle:  Sounds good to you guys?

Patricia:  Sounds excellent.

Annie:  Lol less math.

Nadiyah:  Yep.

Johnelle:  No probs lets just start  first song then? The intro.

 

Of course everyone could not participate in our lovely discourse – that’s what email is for! Additional writer commentary is in italics.

Our Dear Nia: So here’s my two cents on the mini-poop-album-thing. I’ve been clubbing in Europe since January so my opinions are skewed slightly haha.

 

Intro  Thank You and You

Ashley:  Intro

Nadiyah: You’re welcome??

Nia: I liked it. Intros are always good, but I’m realizing this is because you don’t have to sustain creativity and spontaneity for more than a minute or so. Which isn’t terribly difficult for a music producer. It’s a good European club song.

 

Ashley: I give one star

Nadiyah:  Random Q- what is GD spelling in the beginning? This will determine my score

Johnelle:  I dig the beat and music for Thank You and You, the lyrics are a little repetitive being only what, a minute and half?

Nadiyah:  Natch

Ashley:  It’s been 2 years i was looking for something more…explosive

Nadiyah:  Ya it’s pretty chill for an intro

Annie:  I give a 1 also. I dig it

Nadiyah: I give it a 1 because I have NO IDEA what GD is spelling in the beginning

Johnelle:  Yeah, Big Bang and the best? lol

Patricia:  Wait are we rating these from a 1-5 scale or a 0-1 scale?

Johnelle:  I liked it probably second best of the whole album 1 star

Annie:  0-1

Tthen we’ll add up our scores for the readers

Patricia:  0.50 for me

Johnelle:  Lol had to listen to it like 3 times to get Big Bang

Nadiyah:  A little mystery goes a long way with me– 1 pt. SAME!! Dae sounds excellent in it btw.

Johnelle:  Duh, doesn’t he ALWAYS

Thank You and You rating:  Annie- 1; Ashley- 1, 0.50 ; Johnelle- 1; Nadiyah- 1, 0.75; Patricia- 0.50  Total: 3.75

Hands Up

Kimberly:  First listen.somehow contains traces of “Can’t Nobody”, complimentary to 2NE1’s offering at first listen.

Nia: Sucks. So boring, old-school techno and no one’s vocals have improved.

Dora: I have to say, I didn’t like it on my first listen. But after a couple more times on the bus home, it grew on me. Sometimes we have to give a song another listen to realize its awesomeness.

Nadiyah:  Ok just to start- everrrbody say HEEEEEY HOOOOOOOO jk

Patricia:  ha

Ashley:  It’s catchy but it’s – ordinary

Patricia:  It gets another 0.50 from me; at this rate I get the feeling I’ll be rating everything a 0.50. I generally like bouncy dance/club tracks, But dance/club songs are oftentimes forgettable.

Nadiyah:  This song is weaksauce EXCEPT for TOP at approx 1:50 to 2:05

Johnelle:  I wonder if they’re patterning it to Japan/rest of Asia’s tastes

Ashley:  TOP gets a 1 for EVERYTHING

Nadiyah:  I like that he is playing with his voice damnnn i want to give TOP a 1, but everyone else is sooooo weak and/or whiny-sounding

Annie:  .25

Johnelle:  Yeah I like that part too, TOP- mmmm

Annie: TOP saved that part lol

Ashley:  But the song – .50

Johnelle:  Do you think our US tastes are just different than what is hot in Korea/Asia?

Nadiyah:  OMO

Nadiyah:  Ashe did you give a NEGATIVE? ouch

Ashley:  Oops it was just a dash wasn’t thinking lol

Nadiyah: Well what has the response in the ROK been?

Ashley: I kind of want to be the Simon Cowell of the group though

Johnelle:  Oh, oh I’m probably Paula then

Nadiyah:  RANDY in the HOUSE

Annie:  Steven! lol

Ashley:  It doesn’t matter though cause the songs will all reach number one

Nadiyah:  YO yo yo

Johnelle:  I think a good performance could sway me though…

Patricia:  Same I’m waiting for the music videos

Nadiyah:  I don’t think it’s them producing more for Korean/Japanese audiences…Gara Gara Go was the SHIZNIT. Hands UP is just shiz…it sounds like something 2NE1 could have rocked, but there’s none of that BB ferocity, save for TOP, here

Hands Up rating:  Annie- 0.25; Ashley- 1, 0.50; Johnelle- 0.50; Nadiyah- 0.50; Patricia- 0.50  Total: 2.25

Ashley: ( Simon): Next

Ashley:  Tonight

Tonight

Kimberly: Gets right into the clubby, dancey part of the album. YG seems to be churning out a lot of these lately (2NE1, Se7en…). Honestly, not really my cup of tea.

Nia: Not too bad, such a European dance song. It’s typical but I could see people enjoying this in a club.

Dora: Ever since the first teaser was unveiled, I knew Tonight was going to find a permanent spot on my iPod. It might not be their best title track ever, nor is it as explosive as Lies or Haru Haru, but Tonight sure is catchy enough a song for me.

Patricia:  It sounds just like Seungri’s ‘What can I do’

Johnelle:  Out of all these electronica/dance tracks I did probably like Tonight best

Patricia: Aand i liked that, so by default…

Nadiyah: Lyrically it’s fun too “We’re like a drained cola that’s lost its fizz” HAHA

Nadiyah: Seungri high voice= not cute

Johnelle:  Yeah extra .025 for that one line 0.75!

Ashley:  I think my problem is that all the dance/electronica is sounding the same

Patricia:  But i mean doesn’t that apply to almost all dance music? The big mistake here is putting 6 dance tracks on one album

Johnelle:  yeah I wish they mixed up the genres a bit more

Nadiyah:  Tae+Dae harmony FTW tho

Johnelle:  Again Nadiyah, duh

Nadiyah:  haha

Ashley:  TOP’s voice at the end

Nadiyah:  I wish G-Dragon had saved “Baby Goodnight” for Big Bang rather than GDTOP

Ashley:  DEAD

Annie:  I just like that section they use for the teasers

Johnelle:  I wish the baseline was stronger and the whole vibe not so high pitched

Nadiyah: SAME

Johnelle:  Loved Baby Goodnight

Nadiyah:  I actually really appreciate the dance track

Annie:  0.75

Nadiyah:  It complements the actual singing 1 pt eg. “To- NI-IIII-IGHT” haha

Patricia:  0.75

Ashley:  sigh… (.50)

Nadiyah:  I feel like on Hands Up the track worked against the song somewhat or competed with it; anyway Tonight gets 1 pt from me next track?

Johnelle:  yup

Tonight rating:  Annie- 0.75; Ashley- 0.50; Johnelle- 0.75; Nadiyah- 1; Patricia- 0.75  Total: 3.75


Somebody to Love

Patricia:  What is with this title dudes

Ashley:  Not the awesome Queen song

Nadiyah:  Ya for real. Or Usher or the Biebs.

Kimberly: A minute into track three and I’m hoping this won’t be the last time I’m listening to the mini. I find myself reconciling this with the album’s stated genre or R&B/Dance Pop. This response reminds me of my initial reaction to “To Anyone”. Fortunately, 2NE1’s album didn’t turn out tooooo bad…

Nia: Sucks also. Uninteresting and basic.

Dora: Nothing bad, but nothing exceptionally interesting either, I’m sorry to say.

Ashley:  Too much AUTOTUNE

Annie:  I like how TOP sounds kinda drunk

Nadiyah:  Yo YGE this song title is WHACK dude (that was my Randy voice btw)

Johnelle:  I wish the music was different, I think it could’ve been a better song with a different beat

Nadiyah:  AHH MEE TOO!!

Johnelle:  Maybe it’ll get an awesome remix

Patricia:  That’s what i was thinking, johnelle

Nadiyah:  Dae sounds like he’s mixing in a little of his trot voice

Johnelle:  Ah, great minds think alike

Nadiyah:  I can appreciate that

Annie:  .25 from me because i get irritated when one word/phrase is repeated a hundred times in a song

Johnelle:  It could’ve done with a little less “Somebody to Loves”

Nadiyah:  Yep this is a “Seungri” song

Johnelle:  .50

Nadiyah:  Should have gone on his solo

Patricia:  0.50 – TOP saves it from 0.25-dom

Nadiyah:  GD is pretty much useless on this track

Johnelle:  I know I don’t love most of it , but I don’t hate it either

Nadiyah:  0.50

Ashley:  You know, I might go into this later but i found GD useless on most the album (Simon) .25

Nadiyah:  HAHA

Annie:  Yes Ashe! Especially on Cafe

Nadiyah:  SUCH a Simon

Johnelle:  Bwahhahahah cmon Ashe he wrote all the lyrics and collaborated on all the music

Nadiyah:  BUT He wrote it guyzzzzz

Johnelle:  Booooooo

Ashley:  Yeah alll that repetition

Johnelle:  Uh, his pen slipped, yeah that’s it

Patricia:  He can write all the music he wants but if he wants to be credited as a boyband member, he’d better be singing some, dammit

Nadiyah:  G-Dragon- has the musical genius, but not the musical voice

Johnelle:  He’s definitely a better rapper

Nadiyah:  However, to play devil’s advocate

Johnelle:  Ruh roh

Nadiyah:  It seems that when GD is strong on a track the track is stronger? Just me dawgs?

Johnelle:  Not gonna lie pretty much loved all of Heartbreaker

Nadiyah:  (Ok I need to watch American Idol more for Randy-isms. Sorry!!) ME TOO and he and TOP were pretty rockin’ not gonna lie

Ashley:  I think when he gets really into a song, you can tell

Ashley:  I don’t know if he’s just being lazy on the group stuff or what

Somebody to Love rating:  Annie- 0.25; Ashley- 0.25; Johnelle- 0.50; Nadiyah- 0.50; Patricia- 0.50  Total: 2.00


 

What is Right

Nadiyah:  On What is Right “what is right”

Johnelle:  Or what is wrong?

Nadiyah:  “What is MEH” haha

Ashley:  This is where it FINALLY started to pick up until the damn chorus

Kimberly: Now something more poppish… still not strong, gripping material. Could do with a few more listens.

Nia: Okay. Forgettable like this rest of this mini album, incidentally.

Dora: I was surprised because the song doesn’t sound much like Big Bang’s usual style, but it brings a lighter and more upbeat sound to the entire album.

Johnelle:  You know I hate guys singing falsetto, but other than the beginning I liked the song

Nadiyah:  They should have gotten rid of all of the guitar and gone a more acoustic route; I think it would have taken an emo feel instead or rather, MORE of an emo feel

Ashley:  I’m just glad I’m not envisioning strobe lights with this

Johnelle:  Opera claps

Nadiyah:  OMG

Annie:  I’m a sucker for this kind of beat though

Nadiyah:  I didn’t hear those until now

Johnelle:  .50

Nadiyah:  UNNECESSARY

Ashley:  .75

Patricia:  0.50 – I liked it enough but it just sounds so 90s….my heart cant handle the cheese factor

Ashley:  Look man, the cheese factor is why I’m on this site ok

Nadiyah:  For stages, if they rock it, 0.75

Nadiyah:  But they better bring their SEXY

What Is Right rating:  Annie- 1, 0.75; Ashley- 1, 0.75; Johnelle- 0.50; Nadiyah- 0.75, 1; Patricia- 0.50  Total: 3.50

Ashley:  Well speaking of… ahem

Cafe

Nadiyah:  Smexxxxy Cafe LOL

Ashley:  (Barry White voice) Let’s get this started

Johnelle:  Oh yeahhhhh

Kimberly: Groovy, now this is something I like… opening with TOP, don’t think anything could go wrong with that. Reminds me of some of their earlier compositions, from way back. My choice track of the album! But I have a feeling this song will be buried by livelier renditions of their dance poop, oops, pop tunes..

Nia: LOL at “Good times and shit” and TOP’s Candy Man voice followed by JYP status falsetto. Thanks Big Bang for that experience. Of course, since I love acoustic, instrumental focused pop/funk/r and b, I liked this beat the best. (By the way, Candy Man the horror film, not that Kpop song).

Dora: I’ve heard tons of positive comments about this song, so I was afraid of getting disappointed at first. But thank God, I LOVED the smooth vocals and rapping (ah…TOP, you make me swoon). This is probably my favourite in the album; can we have more of such??!

Annie:  This song makes me want to get an ice cream cone so 1 from me

Nadiyah:  1 GD’s falsetto is pure WIN

Ashley:  “Cafe” first place I’m going in South Korea

Nadiyah:  “Espresso double shot” has never sounded hotter

Ashley:  Roping up TOP first

Annie:  GD’s falsetto almost ruined it for me

Nadiyah:  Dae is getting groooovy y’all holler

Johnelle:  Yeah falsettos, but he did alright 1

Patricia: I don’t know, I though it was good, but only comparatively speaking

Nadiyah:  It balanced out TOP’s Barry White

Johnelle:  I think this is Dae-dae’s type of music.  It is neo-soulish

Ashley:  This is what I would have liked to have heard more of

Patricia:  Daesung made this for me; otherwise I wasn’t impressed

Patricia:  …even though I typically dig this kind of music, which is weird

Nadiyah: I hope Dae’s solo is ALL neo-seoul then

Nadiyah:  It was probably the falsetto LOL

Annie:  GD singing in a GD album is acceptable but when he’s got 4 other guys who could do better, he needs to step back

Ashley:  Everyone can’t do falsetto GD

Patricia:  GD/Seungri/Tae’s voices are high enough as is; falsetto usage = unnecessary and ineffective

Ashley:  Especially when you’re a guy past the age of 10

Nadiyah:  C’mon he barely looks a day over 12

Annie:  .75 for cafe because GD was that bad

Nadiyah:  Harsh dude Steven, you’re all about falsettos man

Annie:  Cuz I’m Steven Tyler

Johnelle:  C’mon Steven it was sexy though!

Ashley:  TOP saved it for me 1

Ashley:  I predict he will win this competition

Nadiyah:  TOP+Dae+Tae

Nadiyah:  For the 0.75

Cafe rating:  Annie- 1, 0.75; Ashley- 1; Johnelle- 1; Nadiyah- 1, 0.75, 1; Patricia- 1  Total: 4.75

Overall

Johnelle:  Okay so on a scale of 1-5 stars what would each of you give the album as a whole and

what are your overall thoughts?

Nadiyah:  Did you see my macro? High expectations Asian father is DISAPPOINT y’all

Nadiyah:  Again, disappointed but not totally displeased after looking over all of my Big Bang discography

Nadiyah:  I realized I’ve never loved all tracks on a single album of theirs

Annie:  Overall I’ll probably forget the whole album by next week

Nadiyah:  I give this album a 3

Ashley:  I’m a pretty recent kpop fan but from what I understand their early stuff was more…rhythmic

Nadiyah:  Album #1 was my fave probably because Big Bang just arrived on the kpop scene (or universe HAR HAR) so they sounded new and fresh

Johnelle:  Yeah album #1 is my fave too.

Nadiyah:  Dawgs I don’t think it’s a departure I think they just haven’t had the time to produce a quality album that features them all to the best of their abilities and also challenges them.

Annie: Steven gives it a 2

Patricia: 1.5. Half stars are allowed, right? If not, you can round it up to a 2

Johnelle:  It’s only when I get to geometry that the math goes downhill.. I too was a little disappointed, but I didn’t hate it.  I wonder sometimes if we expect too much.  It’s not easy to write a song

ashley:  Well they’ve been acting like they’ve been in the studio forever

Johnelle:  I mean are we expecting them to change the face of Kpop with something so new and groundbreaking?

Ashley:  Hey they said it….

Patricia:  It’s just the paradox between the ridiculous amounts of hype and the quality of the actual product but then again YG is like, the king of hype so it’s expected

Kimberly: One live perf could make a difference to my criticisms though. We’ll see!

Nia: Def not good enough after such a long absence. I know Big Bang isn’t focusing on their music as a group much but could YG have had a producer on this?  Anyway, Big Bang should focus on Europe, I know the Spanish would be all over this shit in las discotecas haha.

Dora: Overall, I thought the album was actually just listenable, but Tonight and Café pretty much saved it. These two songs are probably the main reasons why I’m actually going to fork out money to buy the album when its released over here.  I may have expected a little more from Big Bang after two years of waiting, but considering that it’s only a mini-album and we haven’t seen their comeback stages yet, I guess Big Bang still hasn’t lost their touch!

Johnelle:  I know a lot of us said we wanted the old Big Bang back, but they can’t be stuck in the past either

Nadiyah:  I don’t think when I said I wanted “old Big Bang” that I wanted the same sounds I think I just wanted that raw energy where they were trying new things and putting random songs and sounds on the albums and tracks

Johnelle: I think I just wanted a more hip hop vibe, stronger bass lines

Nadiyah:  I want clever lyrics HERRO GD

Johnelle:  Some dance is ok, but Big bang is hip hop

Ashley:  It feels almost like they went more in Seungri’s direction

Nadiyah:  So. Good. EXACTLY

Ashley:  and put all the cool songs on the GDTOP album

Nadiyah:  Seungri has always been the weakest link to me– he just seems so cookie-cutter. Give him something to dance or sing and he will do it. Put him on a variety show and he will imitate his hyungs’ voices and share secrets. But he has no individual personality or style. Hence, a cookie cut from the dough of KPOP.

Johnelle:  Ah, but Strong Baby was a killer

Nadiyah: A total JT knock off and I LURVED it and still play it regularly(it’s the clap track, i swear)

Ashley:  Also I’m just gonna say it guys……. 2ne1 beat them

Johnelle:  *GASP*

Ashley:  Beat them in the mini-album game

Nadiyah:  OH NOES DAWG you WENT there

Ashley:  I mean neither were GREAT but..

Nadiyah:  “here go hell come”

Johnelle:  The TOP lover went there

Nadiyah:  (do any of you watch “the fashion show”?!!)

Ashley:  Hey i speak the TRUTH – Nadiyah no but that made me laugh

Johnelle:  Not that I don’t love 2NE1, but they beat their hoobaes? Strike that sunbaes?

Ashley:  Just in…album production… having a cohesive album…that i like more than one song on

Johnelle:  I was thinking, you know how they changed the album from a full to a mini with another coming out later, do you think maybe they were testing the waters?

Ashley:  Well I say they need to get back on the boat

Nadiyah:  GD has stretched himself too thin he needs to take a breather from KPOP from JPOP

Ashley:  What about Teddy?

Johnelle:  Was he on this album a lot?

Nadiyah:  I don’t know haha

Ashley:  First mistake

Johnelle:  But hasn’t everyone been saying that Teddy has been there too much and his beats were getting to be all the same?

Nadiyah:  I’m listening to “She Can’t Get Enough”and HOT DAYUM they need to get back their swagger

Ashley:  So any last thoughts?

Nadiyah:  I don’t think my poor VIP heart can take any more haterade ahem criticism haha even from myself! I think that’s the thing with me and Big Bang music

Johnelle:  I’m a little disappointed, but I know some of the songs can grow on me especially with a good performance

Nadiyah:  I’ll find parts of songs I love and  it makes the song for me and I think that it all lies in the fact that they can be so, so good

Ashley:  I think its also cause a lot of people really like the guys themselves and their style

Nadiyah:  And we get a glimpse of their (GD’s?!) genius in bits and pieces

Ashley:  So we’re rootin’ for them

Johnelle:  Yeah, I even have a new respect for Seungri

Nadiyah: But I kind of like that they aren’t slick and perfect like, for example, DBSK (when they were 5 may they RIP)

Ashley:  Or….2pm?

Nadiyah:  Nooo

Overall rating:  Annie- 2; Ashley- 2.5 ; Johnelle- 3.75; Nadiyah- 3.00; Patricia- 1.5

Finally, (yes, it’s almost over) a few words from our lovely matriarch, Amy, who had insightful opinions as well (Amy, I mean the word matriarch in a good way…)

I’ll get a lot of flack for this but i think the only only true soloist is G-Dragon. I LOVE Taeyang, but he lacks charisma for me so I like him more when I’m listening to his studio stuff than when I’m watching him live. Seungri has gotten really horrible with his ego and it’s just really distracting. Top, I’ve actually seen perform solo so few times that I can’t gauge, but I feel like he NEEDS G-Dragon next to him to lead in a rap/performance. I liked “Turn it up” but being good in a music video doesn’t equal super stage presence. (he did “Rise and Fall” with Hyunjoong (ss501) eons ago and it was really not good because I felt he wasn’t commanding enough). As for Daesung, i dunno. i love his voice, his dancing, and his persona, but I’m just not very interested in him as a soloist.

So, that’s a long rant, but I do think all this concentrated effort in bringing out G-Dragon (and Taeyang and Top) for the past 1-2 years has swayed the group away from a certain 5-membered magic. It’s like Justin Timberlake going back to ‘N Sync and the five reuniting as a group. There are such distinct entities within the group, and some members who have so much “more” than the other members that it’s weird and awkward for me to watch as a casual fan, as someone who doesn’t love them unconditionally.

 

There it is – those are our thoughts, but I’m sure YG isn’t too concerned because the mini-album is selling bukoos, so congratulations to them. To be honest, we’re all waiting for that comeback performance!