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| 2NE1 is back, yay! |
Now amidst this whole Sone vs Blackjack war going on, you'd think I wouldn't do a fair review for 2NE1's album right? Dead wrong.
The thing is music is music regardless of who it comes from, SNSD have released shitty songs before (I Got A Boy) and I've called them out on it before. Conversely 2NE1 have released very nice songs (Do You Love Me, Missing You and Clap Your Hands) that I have enjoyed and praised before.
So with that in mind, this review is completely fair and unbiased and I hope you'll keep that in mind.
Crush
This song is so dope because of one reason only... It makes Bom sound decent! (Joking)
I'm gonna be honest with you, the production value of YG groups have always been top quality so I expected this to have some brilliant instrumentation, what I didn't expect was it to have the signature 2NE1 style and yet have a drum beat that stands firm in the mix as well as have more of a trap influence as well.
The beautiful thing about all of this is that it shows that 2NE1 has evolved as artists and have finally changed up their personal style to improve the actual musical and compositional aspect of their pieces. This is the first title track (other than the ballad-esque tracks, Do You Love Me, Falling In Love and Missing You) that doesn't feel like it's just random noise with blaring synths taking over the whole thing.
The arrangement shows quite a bit of diversity throughout as well, but 2NE1 has always been like that so I guess it's to be expected... But this time it doesn't feel jilted or too sudden.
Overall this is a solid title track and it honestly is a stronger song than "Mr. Mr."
Score: 4/5
Come Back Home
I might just end up being as much of a Blackjack as I am a Sone if this Album keeps on being good like this.
First things first, my eternal weakness is a Music Box and a good Reggae-inspired track, this song has both so what do you think is gonna happen?
The subtle beginning at the start and the whole slightly trance-esque mix with Reggae-inspired instrumentation made me fall in love and made me start to think, "Wow, is 2NE1 finally gonna do a more calm title track without it being full on ballad?".
Then the drop came.
...
ASJKLFRHFAKDLSJDFHLAKSBFSKAJFBNKLASUH!!!
I'm sorry, this is beautifully done. It's almost on Diplo level of awesome, the 808 and the trap synths just made me fall in love with this song and it currently on repeat as I'm writing this... Christ this song is amazing!
Remember "Burn" from Sunmi's album? This is what it should've been.
Honestly I would say more, but then I'll just be fanboying at this point.
Score: 5/5
Gotta Be You
Signature YG deep voice for the intro and then instead of keeping me in suspense, they just go straight trap with this song.
The beat is so dope, the hi-hat trill is so nicely done and I love how the 808 is prominent but it doesn't intrude on the mix and you can hear the vocals and the the other synths perfectly fine.
CL's rapping is really nice here too and the vocals are just processed perfectly here, this song is just so awesome.
What I also love about this is that the arrangement is the reverse of "Come Back Home" where Come Back Home had a Reggae/Dance verse set up into a Trap Chorus, this song has a Trap Verse set up into a really nice Dance style chorus and I just love how the musicality in this album (and in K-Pop for 2014) has stepped up in skill and execution.
This album has been consistently awesome thus far and honestly I think (based on what I've heard so far) it's worth the two year wait and all that YG media play.
Score: 5/5
If I Were You
I have tears in my eyes, this song is beautiful. What is it with songs that start with "I" and end with "You" being absolute masterpieces.
This song takes a more ballad like route, but it has a shuffle drum pattern to make things interesting and such a blues-like instrumentation.
The vocals here are very nice and I can tell that Bom has been working her ass off to improve and there is some improvements there, or perhaps there is some improvement in the vocal direction, who knows?
All of the members have quite equal distribution of lines and make the most out of what they've got and really throw it out there on this track... I really enjoyed it.
My main issue is that the way the vocals were arranged in the mix was very sloppy in comparison to all of the other songs so far, and that marks it down for me because this is a ballad and you cannot fuck up the vocals on a ballad in any instance or circumstance, that's a production sin.
Score: 4/5
Good To You
Ballad number two, not that I'm complaining! ^_^
This one takes the route of a more standard ballad, but it injects some of that post-Hip Hop/ modern RnB vibe into the instrumentation commonly found in Drake's music.
I don't really have much to say because the song is just really simple and safe in comparison to everything else on the album, but it's a nice bit of filler and if you're a fan of ballads you might enjoy this one.
Score: 4/5
Mental Breakdown
CL's solo, and this is where we go ratchet with this one.
First things first, DAT 808! Goddamn, the bass recognition in my ears went up by eight levels thanks to this song.
The instrumentation is very standard for a Trap Song, it has some hi-hat trills in the mix and has the same synth on loop throughout, which is fine and dandy, it's the mantra for most of the genre and the focus is on her rapping anyway.
Speaking of which... Her flow is actually quite decent here and her delivery is as stellar as always, I'm not gonna focus on her vocal tone too much because it's consistent throughout her works anyway.
Her rapping has finally improved and I'm glad for it, because now she can go back to competing with the other top two female rappers in K-Pop, Yubin and Miryo.
However I can't mark this too highly, because the song was just too underwhelming and simple in comparison to everything else. Especially for what it was.
Score: 3/5
Happy
Seriously put this song next to "One Little Slip" by Barenaked Ladies or "I'm No Superman" by Lazlo Bane, the similarities in chord progression are quite similar.
It sounds like those two songs mixed with the beat from a Modern Country song, but of course that isn't a bad thing either.
This song is quite nice and uplifting, but it just feels album filler in comparison to everything else I've heard. Really dull after a while and it doesn't progress well.
But the song itself isn't that bad so I won't mark it down too much.
Score: 3/5
Scream
This sounds like a modern Britney Spears song, not even gonna lie.
I really like it though, it's so in-your-face and perky. The EDM element is quite prominent throughout and the house beat underneath really YG-esque synth arrangement gives this song quite a nice "get your hands up" feel.
This would've been a nice title track especially when it is just perfect for every member's voice, especially Bom's she sounds amazing here.
Not much to say here either, it's a very nice track to dance too and will get mad hype in a club! ^_^
Score: 4/5
Baby I Miss You
First things first... Dat Bass.
Seriously it's soothing my soul, this is a very smooth track with a very nice old school RnB feel. I could honestly see Omarion singing over this (I've made a lot of references this review, huh...).
The keys perfectly balance out the sharpness of the snares and the claps and there is a really nice dynamic of frequencies throughout in the mix, and I like the way the layering sort of flows from each layer into its neighbour.
Very nice track!
Score: 4/5
Come Back Home (Unplugged)
Because of the nature of the original, I found this interesting and decided to review this as well, I don't usually do this though...
Well the first thing I noticed is that they left out the drop, not sure whether or not that was a good decision because it is a highlight point of the song but at the same time it is hard to replicate with violins, acoustic guitars and an acoustic bass.
The inclusion of the rap was very nice though, I appreciated that very much and it gave a much needed character to the song that was missing without the drops.
The entire re-arrangement was very nice and gave the song a much more emotional feeling than it already had, and for that I've gotta give the song the rating it deserves.
Score: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
This album is a masterpiece and I wish that both Sones and Blackjacks could appreciate the work of both artists and stop fighting... Both albums are very nice in their own ways.
Stay tuned for whatever I review or talk about next... And remember--
"It's good to be dense, but bad to be stupid..."
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