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A Critical Look into NCT 127's Music
A Critical Look into NCT 127's Music
By H.D
Hello, this article is to open up a discussion about NCT 127’s music and to provide a new perspective that isn’t all praise and no criticism.
The points in this article will be my first impression of the music, what differentiated their music from boy groups at the time and current opinions of their music. Keep in mind the first half of the article is my analysis of their discography before the 2 baddies album was released. The second half will be addressing the issues that were discussed earlier and whether these issues apply to the 2 Baddies album release.
The Beginning
To keep this short I discovered NCT 127’s music by chance on YouTube. I watched their Cherry Bomb music video one day in 2018 and I loved it. If I could go back and experience watching it again I would. I was impressed and surprised at how experimental the song was. It had a good balance of vocals and rap that I appreciated. When I got to their songs that weren’t title tracks, I was amazed at the variety they possessed in their discography as there were songs that could satisfy someone like myself who was picky with the music I listened to. There were no skips in their earlier albums.
Forging their own path
What made NCT 127’s music unique when I was listening to their songs in 2018-2019 was the producing, arrangement and vocal/rap were pushing the boundaries of what was acceptable in Kpop. They were a trendsetting group that had authenticity and individuality. I read that many fans, critics, and casual listeners thought differently and thought it was a bunch of noise and hard to listen to. However, it was a good decision by their company to take this route. At the time I was comparing their music to other boy groups to find similarities or differences and I realised that nobody else was doing the experimental fusion of genres coupled with interesting choreography.
Add in their stellar live performances and I had a deep appreciation for the group’s persistence to not to be pressured by the industry to follow the trends. Instead they choose to forge their own path, one that many boy groups have adopted for themselves. The NCT 127 sound back then had the longevity, replayability, creativity and cohesiveness that I loved.
Opinions on the music before the release of 2 baddies
I’m going to talk about my current opinions about their music in 2022. The amount of songs they have that I don’t like or have been skipped regularly is growing and that’s a problem. The track listing for their albums Neozone and Sticker is awful. It starts off well with a nice flow between the first few songs. Then the middle and ending sections of the albums are messy leaving me unsatisfied and bored.
Let me give an example:
On the Sticker album the final three songs road trip, dreamer and promise you are not placed where they should be as they drag the album quality down. Those songs are weak and they are placed there to fill up the album run time. Another example is on the Neozone repackage the songs non stop, make your day and the prelude. Out of the three songs I only remember and listen to nonstop. It’s disappointing that the other two songs are forgettable and serve as filler songs. The point of a repackage is to make sure the new songs are memorable but it wasn’t the case here and it's a shame.
It may seem that I hate their music but I do not. I think their albums in 2020-2021 are packed with filler songs that don’t need to be there. Filler songs in my opinion disrupt the flow of the album and make it difficult for me to get through a comfortable listening. The filler songs make the album quality go down which in turn make cohesiveness unattainable.
To conclude, while I still enjoy their music, it’s longer giving the greatness it used to have. They need to work on removing filler songs, making sure the tracklist is arranged carefully so the listeners can enjoy an album that’s not a chore to get through. If they can do that, the replayability and longevity of their music will return.
2 Baddies - The Turning Point
With the release of the 2 baddies album in 2022 and the upcoming repackage Ay-Yo let's take a look to see if my opinions about their music have changed.
The issues that I had were:
They need to work on removing filler songs in their albums
Arranging the tracklist so the listeners can enjoy an album that’s not a chore to get through. If they can do that, the replayability and longevity of their music will return.
Analysis of the main single and album as a whole
2 Baddies
A few adjectives are needed to describe this song. A lackluster, boring, bland trainwreck. 2 baddies being a title track was the wrong decision. I tried to see if there were any parts in the song that I liked and there weren’t any. The raps were underwhelming and the lyrics/instrumental seemed like an afterthought. This song shows a regression in their sound as the “catchy chants”, repetitive chorus and no satisfying conclusion make it hard to listen to. The final chorus relies on the na na na’s to make it fun which it isn’t.
Album B Sides
This album is saved by its b sides. Songs like faster, tasty, time lapse, gold dust, 1, 2, 7 (Time Stops) etc is what makes the album memorable. This album is really great. There’s no filler songs and the tracklist is arranged with care this time. The replayability of the songs is back as I went back to listen to this album many times. I can’t comment right now on the longevity of the album as a lot of time hasn’t passed for me to make a sound judgement on that aspect.
To conclude, the issues didn’t apply to the 2 baddies album which is great. I believe that they have fixed this with the 2 baddies album. However, songs like 2 Baddies show a regression in their sound and relying on worked previously isn’t going to cut it in my opinion. Hopefully, the Ay-Yo Repackage album will be just as awesome as Favourite.
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Album Review Ballistik Boyz Last Dance NI Bye Bye
youtube
Tracklist
ラストダンスに BYE BYE (LAST DANCE NI BYE BYE)
Milk&Coffee
WAVIN’
Last Dance ni Bye Bye (Instrumental)
Milk&Coffee (Instrumental)
WAVIN’(Instrumental)
Last Dance ni Bye Bye
The strength of this song lies in its melancholic passionate delivery in its vocal/rap. When you listen to the song without looking at the lyrics it seems like the usual mid tempo love song right? However, the lyrics are sincere which gives the song a rare vulnerability. Furthermore, I feel like a lot of thought was put into assigning each member in Ballistik Boyz the part that fit them the most and that’s what made the song even better. Rating 10/10
MV Review
I like the music video because of three things:
The black & white shots give it a classic vibe
The dance scenes are enjoyable to watch as it's filmed well and shows their dance skills as the choreography is difficult and requires a lot of technique.
The styling is cohesive and fits the melancholy mood of the song.
Milk&Coffee
Milk and Coffee is outstanding. When I first listened to it, I was shocked as I wasn't expecting this type of song from the group. It’s so beautiful and touching listening to their passionate vocals on this song. I remember coming across a lyric video on the YouTube channel and as I read the lyrics whilst listening, I was impressed at how well they conveyed the lyrics through the vocals. The lyrics “I love you so bad even if it's last night” sounds so good and is one of my favourite parts in the song. Rating 10/10
Wavin’
Wavin’ is the carefree summer song of the EP but it's much slower which I like a lot. This song transported me back to the memories of my childhood when I would go out for picnics with my family. We would come home happy and chat about what we had done that day. It was nice to remember that memory though listening to Wavin’. It’s a nice song to end the EP. Rating 10/10
Conclusion
To conclude, this EP was amazing and worth listening to as it shows a different side to Ballistik Boyz. When I listened to this as a new fan last year, I realized that Ballistik Boyz are versatile in their discography which I appreciate. I hope they can continue to make awesome music that I can enjoy in the future. The reason why I didn’t mention the instrumentals as I had given my analysis on the songs but I listen to the instrumentals and sing along. My rating for the album is 10/10.
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Album Review Round and Round The Rampage
youtube
Hello everyone I haven’t written in a while as I was on a break but I wanted to post a mini album review to give y’all something to read. This is an album review but I won’t be talking about every single song but I will have my criticisms, favourite songs and a rating at the end.
Criticisms
1) Whoever decided to release most of the songs needs to be fired. The main reason I listen to albums is to listen to the new songs and it adds a layer of mystery to it and it makes me more excited to listen to it. Another reason why I listen to albums is to distinguish between songs I like or dislike. However since most of the songs were released it took away from any initial excitement I had when I listened to it the first time. I’m not saying pre - releases are bad but here it was overdone.
2) The second criticism I have is why are the new songs so underwhelming? The songs aren’t bad at all, they're just forgettable. This is disappointing because their previous album had songs that packed a punch and had a certain liveliness to it.
These new songs are not memorable or interesting. I did like two of the new songs which were roll up and love will find a way, however most of them are not worth listening to and it's a shame because I was looking forward to listening to the new songs.
Favourite songs
My favourite songs were Roll Up, Love Will Find A Way, The Power, Round Up ft Miyavi, Tsunage Kizuna and Slam That Down.
Conclusion/Rating of the album
This album is rated 5/10. Round and Round is an average album with no excitement in it. It had no memorable new songs. I did enjoy No Gravity more than the previous main single off their previous album. This is disappointing as I expected a stronger body of work. Their previous 2022 album is the better album. By no means is this album bad, it's just underwhelming and did not live up to my expectations.
I personally wouldn’t listen to this album daily. I'd rather listen to their other albums as those are worth the listen. This album feels like a bunch of pre-release songs were put on the album plus the new songs tacked on to fill up the run time of the album. Hopefully they’ll put out a stronger well thought out album with awesome, attention grabbing songs next time.
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