Song Review:: RIIZE: RIIZING: Epilogue- Combo

-

  • Release date: 2024 September 03
  • Album tracklist: Combo, Boom Boom Bass, Siren, Impossible, 9 Days, Honestly, One Kiss, Talk Saxy, Love 119

  • Album runtime: 27 minutes

 Ah, RIIZE. The first group to debut after I started listening to K-Pop I was aware of, who immediately caught my attention because Get a Guitar is an amazing song. And now the one catching my attention again because taking an entire year to release an album? That's a sales pitch, and I am so intrigued. Also, look at the runtime for both this and the entire album. Almost half an hour. That's a proper length. 

As expected of them, Combo features a guitar front and center in the instrumentals. I appreciate this about RIIZE. Ooh, I recently learned some fascinating S. Korean music history regarding rock and the 1970s which explains why the guitar isn't a standard instrument for pop, but also why it's starting to be. This is why I get into things! Because history is so cool! And RIIZE might be helping to change the musical landscape! And we get to witness it! That's a lot of exclamation marks to say that my love for the guitar is not disappointed by RIIZE, nor are the other pieces of it a disappointment for me. There's a very wistful energy to it that shifts into a rocking pulse through the chorus. It also feels very Western, which makes perfect sense when we take a look at the credits, and probably helps contribute to the guitar usage. 

I have no idea why the line "I'm such a loser, she such a weirdo" is so familiar to me. The same notes have got to be somewhere in another song I love. Unfortunately, it's also super catchy. I'm going to be humming this at the most inopportune moments. Hopefully, I don't actually sing it. I'm both surprised and impressed that a group barely a year after debut has such a nice, powerful growl to their voice? I am incredibly impressed by them. If they can manage this now, as long as they're using good technique and since this is SM, I have no reason not to believe they aren't, that tone is only going to get stronger as they mature in age and experience. I cannot wait to watch them grow. This is what they're showing off a year after debut? Color me impressed.

Tone of the song is completely different, but the vibes of the group remind me of TWS. I think one of my favorite genres of music videos for these groups is "hanging out and getting along, being friends." They also tap into my love of the "found family" trope in fiction. I recognize that there is a lot of acting involved, especially with the newer groups. They don't all get along all the time, and even I've heard of what's going on with n.SSign's Eddie. But at the same time, I hope that the majority of them can find a way to become friends. But I like this genre because I get to pretend they all get along. It's also a soft genre, and I like those. The music is not a soft genre, but the video is. I wish SM had given them a proper music video, one that actually matched the song, but I will take what we can get. But SM needs to do better in the future.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Song Review:: FIFTY FIFTY: LOVE TUNE- SOS

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 20 Album tracklist: Push Your Love,  Starry Night , Starry Night - [ENG version],  SOS , SOS - [ENG version], Gravity Album runtime: 18 minutes And here the group has re-debuted. Theseus's ship has sailed once more. The company had better know that there are going to be eyes on them and this group. I, personally, don't want to witness another B.A.P situation, so hopefully that's not what's going on. It almost sounds like there's a plucked cello in the instrumentals. It's very subtle, very soft, but I don't know if it's a plucked bass guitar or a cello. I'm going to go with a bass guitar because the likelihood of that actually being a cello is probably low. It's the most intriguing part of the instrumentals, as the rest of it feels a little standard. Not that I don't like it. This doesn't need to be a cinematic soundtrack with twenty different tracks layered together, because that's not what kind of song
Read more

Song Review:: NCT Wish: Steady- Dunk Shot {Pre-Release}

-
Image
Release date: 2024 September 24 Album tracklist:  Steady ,  3 Minutes ,  Dunk Shot , On & On, Supercute, Skate, Hands Up - Korean Version Album runtime: 21 minutes I'm not generally a huge fan of the NCT subunits. I like Dream and WayV the best, but even then, they're not groups I would stress out to pre-order tickets for. It's the perceived shouting thing. So I have to admit, I haven't paid much attention to this one other than the general pride I feel when a younger sibling group to one I do like debuts. Not that this is a debut, but I think it'll be my first listen to one of their songs. This reminds me of a hip hop version of High School Musical , which makes me laugh a little bit. But there's also an industrial grind to the bass accompanying the electric guitar and the synth. Ah, that's kind of funny to picture. Industrial High School Musical . Troy Bolton and the Wildcats shooting a music video in a construction zone. The beat isn't particularl
Read more

September 2024 Wrap Up: We'll Meet Again, Don't Know Where, Don't Know When

-
Image
 The official start of this little music review blog! I'm proud of it. And, again, thank you for everyone who has read even a single post so far, even if you aren't reading this one. I am simply happy and grateful and will endeavor to continue this honesty with love and recognition of the hard work of the artists. And for the one person who seems to be reading every single one, thank you and I love you. You make my morning every day. September of 2024 saw a couple of debuts, a re-debut, and some comebacks I was very much looking forward to, as well as some I would have been looking forward to had I been listening to the group/artist already. The ones I personally was emotionally invested are as follows: Vahn (NINE.i): They were the first group I saw in person, and the reason I watched Boy's Planet, after the fact of course because I didn't get into K-Pop until after ZB1 had already debuted. I love their voices, and I have yet to run into a song I didn't like by them
Read more

Song Review:: Jennie (BLACKPINK): Mantra

-
Image
Release date: 2024 October 10 Album tracklist:  Mantra Album runtime: 2 minutes  So that's both Lisa and Jennie who have released singles this month within two weeks of each other. Pretty cool. And apparently Ros é also got herself an OST, so that's also pretty cool  But this is barely a song in length. It's just over two minutes.  This is a classic BLACKPINK sound. I'm not super familiar with BLACKPINK, though I do have songs that I recognize as BLACKPINK songs if I hear them that I like. But that was my first thought while listening to this song. The trumpet is an interesting instrument that I'm hearing, being a pretty uncommon addition to the the instrumentals of most K-Pop songs. I think I may also hear the wooden blocks, or a cowbell. I know those two instruments are very much not the same thing, but without having them isolated, I can't quite tell. Either way, what we have is another interesting sound to the mix. Jennie, like her groupmate Lisa, went with
Read more

Song Review:: Baekhyun (EXO): Hello, World- Pineapple Slice

-
Image
Release date: 2024 September 06 Album tracklist: Good Morning, Pineapple Slice , Rendez-Vous, Cold Heart, Woo, Truth Be Told Album runtime: 19 minutes I'm deeply impressed with the fact that Baekhyun is on his fourth mini album as a soloist despite having been part of an active group for the past twelve years. 2012 was such a good year for the K-Pop debut crop. There were a lot that beat the seven year curse and are still together, or recently got back together, and with EXO getting ready to fully reunite post-military enlistments within the next year, I imagine that will be a time of celebration for the fans. In the meantime, we have solo careers and partial group releases. The runtime on this album is a little worrisome. I don't know what it is about the musical trend right now that sees so many songs, especially title tracks, with the 70s vibe, but my love for Scooby-Doo requires me to love the groovy sound. This one is kind of a grungy 70s with more synth that requires head
Read more

Song Review:: Oh My Girl: Dreamy Resonance- Classified

-
Image
Release date: 2024 August 26 Album tracklist: Classified , Start Up, La La La La, Sway (YOU and I), Love Me Like You Do, Heavenly Album runtime: 20 minutes Oh, look! It's the girl group that has a member who was in the Kdrama that started me on this path. Even if their voices are usually too high pitched for me to really enjoy, I'm still fond of them. And oh, my gosh. I love this song. The back instrumentals sound so much like a JRPG I instantly fell in love. What could have been vacuous and fluffy instead is orchestral and magnificent. This would not have been out of place in a Final Fantasy. Which I'm so here for. Starting with the piano and then layering in strings and a ticking clock? Fantastic. I like stringed instruments. I really  like stringed instruments. This is another song that I'd love to just have the soundtrack to, and I'd definitely add it to one of my instrumental playlists. Just beautiful. Another thing that I'm a huge fan of is going up and do
Read more

Song Review:: Changsub (BTOB): Lee Changsub Pre-Release 1991- vain hope

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 02 Album tracklist: vain hope , NEW WAVE, Golden Hour, Stay, #RUN Album runtime: 17 minutes I have been waiting for this album since April, but unfortunately, Changsub has been dealing with throat issues. So no album release for him then. And then no news about it, until, SURPRISE ALBUM DROP! Exactly as I'd expect from a member of BTOB.  Normally, this would be when I start talking about the instrumentals, but Changsub's voice is so comforting that it would be a disservice. I am trying to separate the fact that I'm relying on it for the emotional support and what it would normally make me feel, I promise. But the first time I heard it was the fan cam he posted when he performed it at the mall before I needed my emotional support group, and I loved it then and thought it was melancholic and comforting, much as I still do now. Actually, the melody reminds me of a musical. I fully could imagine this being performed on stage as the "sad song&
Read more

Song Review:: Peniel: story of my L:ove- Daydream

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 29 Album tracklist: Daydream (Feat. JUNNY), Stuck On You Album runtime: 5 minutes Am I a little peeved that we got three days' notice of this thing's existence before it was released? Yes. Is that just what BTOB does these days apparently? Also, yes. It's fine. It's all fine. It's not going to affect my anticipated enjoyment of it. Also, I'm side-eyeing that runtime. That cover art is flipping adorable. Anyway. Continue. There's a really cute part of the instrumentals during the chorus. On the words "find me in a daydream", instead of maintaining the rhythm that the guitar has been plinking out, it follows the rhythm of the words. I think it happens a little earlier in the chorus as well, during the "rhyming" section (it sounds like it's a six line chorus, so lines 3 and 6, even though the lines don't rhyme in the traditional sense with the words but they do with rhythm and syllables). I love the pre
Read more

Song Review:: Day6: Band Aid- Melt Down

-
Image
  Release date: 2024 September 02 Album tracklist: Monster, Melt Down , She Smiled, Shxtty Game, Help Me Rock&Roll, Counter, I'm Fine, Still There Album runtime: 25 minutes I love proper bands. There's something so satisfying about them, which I'm almost positive stems from my mother's influence with the 80's hairbands, and as I'm getting to know the Korean bands, I'm liking them just as well. Also, look at that glorious  runtime. That's a proper album.  My favorite thing about Melt Down  is the fact that it sounds like either an anime opening song or the theme song for a sitcom from the 90s. Every time I listen to it, I can't help but think of Full House . That's the vibe. I don't think the song of this song is my favorite from the album, but I still very much enjoy it. The vocals and everything are great. Actually, I just love most of the album. I think there's only one song I wouldn't be happy to just leave on repeat, but they
Read more