Greatest Hits:: F.T. ISLAND: Wind

 Am I slightly delaying doing the reviews for today? Yes. But you know what else? I'm genuinely looking forward to doing this one. They were technically one of the first groups I listened to (their song, Hello Hello is the sixteenth song added to my workout playlist out of one hundred eighteen and most of the first twenty are NU'EST and BTOB), and I didn't even realize they were actually a band for months. I just really like that song. So, why am I doing this? Because some lovely, lovely soul left this for me in The Form, which means it needs some celebration due to it. First band to go into this list that I've done as well, so that's fun and exciting.

Wind is the title track of their tenth anniversary album, which is a special album and could be considered their seventh Korean album. It was written and composed by Lee Honggi, and composed by Illusion, otherwise known as Ki Hyun Il, or Ray if we're talking about his C-Clown days. Lee Honggi is the lead singer of the band, also played Piggy in Korean Odyssey, which is the secondary reason why I am sitting here and you're reading these words (the OST Let Me Out by NU'EST W was my favorite song from the drama). Again, something I didn't realize for a while. Illusion AKA Kim Hyun Il AKA Ray from C-Clown has a further fascinating connection to another 2012 group. He's got songwriting credits for a number of FTISLAND songs, an EXID song, and quite a few BTOB songs, including some recent releases of Ilhoon's, like moonwalk and The Adam. That does imply friendliness with FTISLAND and BTOB, who is a fellow 2012 debut with C-Clown. This is why I like this section of these. I don't know if anyone else cares about this, but I like being able to dig into songs and find connections with other artists.

• Group: FTISLAND
• Debut Date: 2007 June 7
• Company: FNC Entertainment
• Status: Active
• Album: OVER 10 YEARS
• Song: Wind
• Release Date: 2017 June 7

Okay, whoever you are who submitted this one to me, I love you. You gave me a ballad. 

We get a hint of strings at the very beginning, which obviously I love almost more than life, but the lone piano quietly and softly accompanying the lyrics spends so much time by itself, that the first couple of times I listened to this, I almost tricked myself into thinking that I'd imagined it. The gorgeous swells of orchestral rock elevate the song majestically to the point that you'd be forgiven for thinking that this was actually from a musical or an opera. The way the song builds, layer by layer, to achieve this and letting the listener ride that wave before we suddenly go back to a piano and a violin that, by themselves, would make for a gorgeous song. Equal parts plaintive and sweet. 

Lee Honggi also has the kind of voice that I, in general, would nearly swoon over. Do you hear that vibrato? How could I not? But when coupled with the absolutely heart-wrenching lyrics, the result is both plea and promise, a plea to return and a promise to find the lost one. He's got masterful control over emoting while singing, and he's probably one of the best vocalists in the industry. It's really quite impressive and I can't wait to find live performances of this. 

Although the music video is no slouch. It's gorgeous, and all of those sad emotion words I've been using to describe the song so far are fully applicable. But the most visually stunning part of the entire thing is easily the part where the two guitarists stand back to back and just go for it. It's also so incredibly forlorn with an incredible play between warm and cool colors.

The styling. The atmosphere. Lee Honggi is singing with all his heart and several others. Fifteen divorces. I cannot, I repeat cannot, emphasize too strongly about how amazing his voice is. Eat that mic, my dude. The fact that this song didn't get a win? Completely criminal. Hold up. What was this up against? Highlight, Seventeen, NCT 127, and a triple crown MAMAMOO. The week this performance was from, that was Cherry Bomb by NCT 127. Okay. Look. I get it. But that simultaneously doesn't change the fact that the song is completely phenomenal. 

The way he's positioned with the piano behind him? Every time we get a camera shot of him singing (at least up until he stands up), the piano is there, which is a fitting pairing considering how often it's just the piano behind his voice. 

Okay, so week of release, happy anniversary and all that. Still MCountdown, the winner that week was Calling You by Highlight, which I haven't heard yet. One thing about this performance that I really like it how slightly, dissheveled, I suppose, everyone looks. The unbuttoned sleeves. The untucked sleeves. It lends to this desperate air, where they're so in their emotions that they can't even muster the energy to look put together. The falling feathers complete that.

And as I stated earlier, I love the strings involved in this song. They've actually got a miniature orchestra with them for this performance, and that's amazing, combined with the twenty simultaneous divorces of emotions. This one is raw desperation with a heavy realism because that miniature orchestra anchors the song in a way I wasn't expecting.

And over here on Inkigayo, TWICE and G-Dragon were the competition. Again, I get it, but at the same time, it's still a crime. This performance though... It's a simple one. Powerful, but simple, and something about it brought tears to my eyes for the first time since I've been working on this. Amazing. Simply amazing. That look of pure desperation at the end? The amount of competence and control from the instrumentalists? 

The last one apparently opened up the waterworks. But as special as it is to have the audience singing the song at them, seeing the guitarists singing the song along with the crowd gave me some chills. This is the latest one I'm going to give you, and it's from 2024 in Japan.

But I'm just so impressed, especially with how much the bandmates are clearly enjoying this song. That makes me want to enjoy it on principle. Not that I don't already because it's a gorgeous song. 

And in case anyone was thinking, "Wow, you know what? This song would be an amazing acoustic song," As the last of the performances, I'm pleased to offer you Lee Honggi's acoustic version from 2021. It's stripped down to bare emotions, and he went a little softer with it, as he should. But this is just one of those songs that needs to be known 

Thank you, whoever gave this to me on The Form. I love this gift and I hope this was satisfactory.

If you too would like me to cover a song, please drop a comment somewhere for me, or submit it via The Form. You're amazing! The song is amazing! I hope you have a playlist to add it to!