My favourite girl group (and pretty much the group that got me hooked on k-pop) are back with a new single and a new look!
The new concept image goes for a very retro spy-inspired vibe
Written by Yoo Young-jin, the man behind “Genie (Tell Me Your Wish)” and (still) my favourite song of 2010 – “Lucifer,” the new single “Hoot” sounds a lot more grown up compared to their earlier releases. It’s still fun! Take a listen:
EDIT (28/10/2010): Embedding the recently released music video…
On first listen I went: “Hmmm, different.” Then I played it again. And then again. And again.
This went on for nearly 2 hours straight in office, I’m not kidding. It didn’t really take me long before I realized I really like this song!
The girls sound great and my only grudge against the track is the constant laughter of the girls that appears after the choruses. Quite annoying — and distracting. Maybe it has a part in the video but I do feel it couldn’t have been done away with in the audio release.
The music video is out on October 27th and I will update the post with my opinion on the same then! EDIT (28/10/2010): After watching the video (which guest stars Choi Siwon of Super Junior as a Bond-like agent), I don’t feel any indifferent about “Hoot”. The music video compliments the song very well. Particularly liked the idea of 3 rooms with 3 girls in different colour palettes. Dance choreography is okay, the “shooting arrow” move is very well done but I did notice that Jessica got more screen time in the front. I love her and all but I hardly saw Yuri & Hyoyeon get some good screen presence. I also feel the bits of the video where all 9 girls dance in black looked futuristic, which made for a disconnect with the rest of the video’ s retro vibe.
EDIT (27/10/2010): Just finished listening to the whole album.
I know it’s just a mini-album, so I’m not going to write in great detail to critique it! Here’s my track-by-track review:
01. “Hoot” – It took me a few listens, but I really like this track. I honestly didn’t want another “Gee”. They’ve grown past that. This really is a different sound from them so I had high expectations that the whole album would be, well, “different” – 4 out of 5.
02. “내 잘못이죠 (Mistake)” – Supposedly written by Yuri, it’s a good R&B ballad. Not great, but good – 3 out of 5.
03. “단짝 (My Best Friend)” – Sounds like a mish-mash of 3-4 k-pop songs – 2.5 out of 5.
04. “Wake Up” – Essentially “Run Devil Run” 2.5. Heard it once, don’t think I’ll be clicking on it again – 1 out of 5.
05. “첫눈에…(Snowy Wish)” – Early X’mas track, catchy & sweet. Probably my second favourite after “Hoot” – 3.5 out 5.
Though I was expecting a “different” sound throughout, the new mini-album from SNSD is not that good in my opinion. With the whole retro-vibe concept, I was expecting more funky sounds.
I had it on pre-order on yesasia.com but having listened to it in full, I think I’m going to cancel it and wait for a full album release or an album re-package in a few months time.
I’ve written about Korean girl group Rainbow before. After their disappointing debut single — “Gossip Girl,” they came back strong and won many fans (including myself) with “A” (I still feel the lifting-the-shirt dance is lame).
Now they are back with a new single called “Mach”:
Why the song is named after a measure of speed I’ll never know (until I learn Korean). But who cares. It’s a great follow-up release and I’m now really starting to pay attention to Rainbow. I still don’t know their names and could care less for their sexed-up image.
As long as they come out with good singles like this, I’ll be eagerly awaiting Rainbow’s next release.
I just hope they hire better choreographers from now on.
When I wrote my take on the first single off ‘A Thousand Suns’ — “The Catalyst,” some of the comments I got disagreed with my opinion, while some… well, just ranted without even making sense of what I wrote. What I did write was that I liked “The Catalyst,” and though it was very different from anything they had done before, I was still willing to listen to the whole album before I judge the direction Linkin Park was heading.
'A Thousand Suns' album cover
Since “The Catalyst” debuted, the comments online have been 50:50. 50% saying they hate the new sound and praying Linkin Park wouldn’t go all electronic. The other 50% saying they welcome the new sound and will always support Linkin Park because they feel it makes them “a real fan”.
Well guess what. The first 50% are going to be disappointed with ‘A Thousand Suns‘.
The sound is nothing like you have heard from Linkin Park before. If you are expecting anything close to a formulaic LP song structure from the Hybrid Theory-era, forget it. You won’t find it here.
Yes, it’s heavy on the electronic drum pad sounds and there isn’t a whole lot of ‘guitar’ on A Thousand Suns. But does that mean this album sucks and it’s end of Linkin Park as we know it? No.
Track by track review (ratings on a scale of 5):
1. The Requiem (2:01) – The album opener with lines from “The Catalyst” sung in a female voice
2. The Radiance (0:57) – interlude with a speech soundbite
3. Burning the Skies (4:13) – The first full-fledged track. A rather somber mid-tempo track with vocals sung by Chester Bennington and U2-esque guitars kicking halfway through. (3/5)
4. Empty Spaces (0:18) – another interlude
5. When They Come For Me (4:55) – Probably the only song from A Thousand Suns I can see drummer Rob Bourdon getting to really play his drums. This track belongs to Mike Shinoda on the vocals and features a heavy eastern-sound. (3.5/5)
6. Robot Boy (4:28) – I don’t really expect to hear the band perform this song a whole lot, not in its entirety anyway. It maybe over 4 minutes long but sounds like an extended interlude. (2.5/5)
7. Jonarda Del Muerto (1:34) – interlude (yeah, there’s a lot of that in this album)… but this time in Japanese — despite the title being Spanish. Go figure.
8. Waiting For The End (3:51) – When Chester sings the first line, it sounds like sounds the same as Elbow’s “On a Day Like This“. Still, after hearing this I feel like Chester’s getting bored of screaming the shit out of his throat and sometimes just wants to sing. Confirmed by the band to be the second single. (3.5/5)
9. Blackout (4:39) – At first I was like 🙂 … then I started nodding my head… and then I was like :D… and then it stayed like that until 2:12! My favourite song on the album! Oh, and about Chester getting “bored of screaming,” I take it back. (4.5/5)
10. Wretches and Kings (4:15) – The second track released online. I didn’t like it when I first heard it last week, I don’t like even now. It’s not a great song but it is the closest to a Mike Shinoda-rapping verses, Chester-singing chorus combination you’ll get on A Thousand Suns. (2/5)
11. Wisdom, Justice, and Love (1:38) – another interlude with a speech soundbite
12. Iridescent (4:56) – A Chester Bennington ballad that will sound better live. (3.5/5)
13. Fallout (1:23) – the last interlude of the album
14. The Catalyst (5:39) – The first single off A Thousand Suns and one of the best tracks on the album. Once you hear the entire album, the placing of “The Catalyst” in the track list makes a lot more sense. I’m SO going to sing-along to this live. (4/5)
15. The Messenger (3:01) – An acoustic song on a Linkin Park studio album. Yup. (3/5)
Conclusion:
I’ll reiterate, A Thousand Suns is going to be a huge disappointment for some “hardcore” LP fans, and to other “real fans,” they’ll appreciate the effort even if they don’t like it — if only to show their support. Which camp do I belong to?
Neither.
I love Linkin Park. In 2000, ever since I heard “One Step Closer,” they were my favourite nu-metal band — the genre label slapped on to bands like LP and the genre kick-starters Limp Bizkit. I owned the latter’s Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water (loved both) but I still felt Hybrid Theory was a better example of a fusion between rap and rock . (That and the fact Fred Durst sounds like a wuss compared Mike Shinoda’s rapping)
To me though, Meteora (2003) remains my favourite Linkin Park album. It was a good showcase of all Linkin Park could do at the time — be it the (still)awesome “Faint,” great rock ballads or even songs like “Breaking the Habit“. But then they decided to hire legendary producer Rick Rubin and sought a more organic sound for their third studio album. Fine, I’m all for experimentation if the outcome is still good music, but outside of favourites “Bleed It Out,” “Hands Held High” and “No More Sorrow,” Minutes to Midnight was a disappointment for me.
Like many, I too was hoping for a return to ‘form’ (more Meteora than Hybrid Theory) but I guess we’ll have to wait a bit longer for that.
A Thousand Suns is yet another attempt by Linkin Park to try something different. Some will call this a step in the wrong direction but I’m going to commend LP for it. Thought the track list numbers 15, only 9 are proper songs — and I still prefer A Thousand Suns to Minutes to Midnight. And yes, like my previous post, some commenters will call me “crazy” — but it’s okay. This is the internet, people can call me whatever their immature mindsets churn out.
I’m someone who listens to a wide variety of music. From classic rock to pop, from trance to easy-listening, from 90s hip-hop to even korean pop — my ears are all open to good music. I’m sure the members of Linkin Park are like that too. Some metal fans just can’t seem to comprehend their favourite musicians actually appreciating genres outside of the ones that made them famous — but like it or not, it’s nothing new. Real musicians (and music lovers) don’t restrict themselves to just one single genre.
Everybody has the right to listen to whatever pleases them. I’m also not the kind of person who goes around calling Justin Bieber “gay” just because I don’t like his music (btw, I don’t like his music). And just like I never lost any love for Keane (one of my favourite bands) because they too broke away from their “signature sound” on their third album, I’m not going to lose hope on Linkin Park either. I’m still going to buy this album. If not for how much I liked it, at least so they continue to make music — and more importantly, one day tour India.
Linkin Park will eventually get back to a sound that made them world famous. They all do. It’s just that, after 50 million in album sales, a loyal fanbase on every continent, 2 Grammy awards, Linkin Park are in a position to do what they like. While they may lose some fans with A Thousand Suns, Linkin Park will always have an army of supporters large enough to keep them rocking.
Disclaimer: I reviewed this album based on an illegal download. I’m still going to buy the album when it’s officially out in India and if you want to better the chances of seeing your favourite band tour your country, I’d suggest you do the same. Album sales are figures used to draw an artist to a particular country.
EDIT: I finally got my copy of ‘A Thousand Suns,’ the CD + DVD edition.
The DVD features a 30-minute behind-the-scenes ‘making of’ documentary. It was okay.
