Greatest Hits:: VIXX LR (VIXX): Beautiful Liar

 Coming to you straight from The Form (located over on the left if you're looking to submit something yourself, or you can follow that link), this one has actually been sitting in The Form for a minute because I got a few of them that were all similarly vibed, and while I'm into the vibes, I want as much diversity as I can possibly get. But now that we've shifted away from the 2012 boy groups, as much as I love them, I'm happy to go back to their sound, even though I don't know this specific song. But I also got some really good notes from the submitter to include, and those notes are also the reason why I picked this one to do now over some of the others that have been suggested (although do note that if you do submit something over on The Form, the extra comments are unnecessary, just something that is helpful for me if it's not a song/group that I'm super familiar with). 

VIXX LR is a subunit of VIXX for Leo and Ravi (and submitter, I want you to know that I remembered their names. I couldn't identify them if they stood in front of me, but I remembered their names without fully being told). They debuted in 2015, a scant three years after the group's debut, and fun fact: this song got a win on The Show! The entire album was written, composed, or both by either Leo or Ravi, or both. Rhymer also had a hand in this, the title track, which is also really cool. I'm excited for this, and not just because it's almost a four-minute song. Ooh, I might be able to recognize those two from VIXX after this. Nice.

And I decided when I did Taeyon's that this information down below would be for the soloist information, or in this case the subunit.

• Group: VIXX
• Debut Date: 2015 August 17
• Company: Jellyfish Entertainment
• Status: Disbanded
• Album: Beautiful Liar
• Song: Beautiful Liar
• Release Date: 2015 August 17

This is a gorgeous song. Wow. I mean, first of all, they sound incredible together. Leo has an incredibly clean timbre, and coupled with the smoothness of Ravi's rapping, it meshes so well. When they're properly harmonizing with each other? Be still my soul. I wish there was more of it, but I'll take what we get anyway. Fully deserving of that win. Actually, I'd even argue that it should have gotten at least two more, but the one it got was the bare minimum. 

But that play between the two contrasting voices is echoed in the music video. It's funny because normally when you get the light and dark, the dark one is the doppleganger, or the reversed mirror, or the whatever, meant to symbolize the hidden depths of the individual, and instead, we have the main character in black representing something hidden or oppressed, and the doppleganger in white, which clearly is meant to expose what the darker one is trying to hide. 

Leo's hair even supports this idea, considering it takes up half his face. This is not a criticism; it's an amused observation because it was a popular style back then. I'm not even sure if he ever even changes his outfit, but it also seems entirely based on the premise of "conceal don't feel" and that is where Leo's character hangs out thematically. As long as he doesn't let her know how much he's hurting, it's fine, right?

Wrong, says Ravi's character, the honest one of the pair. Ravi exists to shed light on Leo's emotions, as raw and unpolished as they may be. Ravi's character also shows up immediately after Leo says he's hiding under a mask for the woman, almost like he's triggered to come out with the presence of a lie of omission. I had to look up the lyrics because my Korean is not yet on the level of understanding song lyrics completely yet. It's another one of those cases where if the English translation is half as beautiful as the original Korean, it's so well-written. I applaud you, Ravi. Well done.

I also digress. Ravi's design here is amazing. Raw, a little bit feral, and marked up by the truth. He isn't fully in white, but he's still such a contrast to Leo's simple black that if I were to do a proper analysis paper on this music video, there would be an entire section on how the truth is complicated and messy, while the lie is simple. The fact that he's rapping for it actually is more effective than had he been singing; it feels more grounded that way. 

Okay, first stage I'm sharing comes to you from M Countdown. Judging by the date, it looks like this may have been one of the last stages for this song on a music show, but again, I ask the question: How did this not get more wins? 

Now, granted, I am aware that I harp on and on about vibrato, but there was one spot where Leo's vibrato slammed out of whatever subtlety he has it on for the majority of the song. Shivers down my spine, y'all. He also apparently comes from the Jonghyun school of high notes with the way he bears down on them. It's actually pretty impressive. 

Ravi prowls on stage. I didn't notice it so much with the full group song I did, possibly because I hadn't fully figured out which one was which, but that is some panther grace right there. I'm a little stunned by him, in fact. The contrast between his movement and Leo's stillness is really satisfying, and I think I'll be able to pick him out specifically now.

And as a side note, that very last bit of the choreography, Leo laying his arm on Ravi's shoulder and playing the invisible piano? 

Wow.

And because I'm not beholden to sharing these in any particular order, three years later (I assume as part of their second mini album), they performed it on Simply K-Pop. Their hair colors are kind of flipped for this one, which amuses me, and they don't have the back-up dancers this time around, so it's just two men on a stage, singing their hearts out. It creates a much more intimate 

There were also a couple of moments where I looked at Leo and went "Wow, he's pretty." Like, the thumbnail for this one does not do the man justice. 

There's an ease to this performance that is likely here due to the amount of time since the song was originally released as well as the fact that at this point, the pair of them have been performing together for six years. I'd expect for there to be comfort on stage, and they deliver exactly that.

Those mics sound like they might be live. And Leo just keeps being the thumbnail. That's not a problem as far as I'm concerned. Oh, this one is from Show! Music Core. 

When Ravi makes eye contact with the camera? Dude needs to stop. 

And the styling this time around? It makes the pair of them looks incredibly tall. 

Also, shout-out to the EXO-Ls in the comments. Warms my heart to see fans of other groups there supporting others. And to the person in the comment section of this video, yes. They got a win. I don't know how Girls' Generation did or even what they were promoting at this time, but Leo and Ravi got a win with this one. Not on this particular music show, but they did get what you were hoping for.

I'm going to finish off this Greatest Hits post with the live band version of this song, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Let me know wherever you found this what you thought of the song and which stage was your favorite! Even if it wasn't one I shared.

If there's a song you'd like me to cover next, do let me know somehow. Suggestions are always welcome.