Greatest Hits:: BerryGood: Angel

 This was actually supposed to be the song after After School, but I didn't write it down in my notes. And then when I checked my notes and double checked numbers (because for timing's sake, the last three must be the last three), I was missing one. So you get this one now, instead of when it was supposed to be, but that's fine because it works here as well. We're still on theme for May, and I think y'all will enjoy this one if you haven't heard it before.

Funny story about this group, every time I see their name, my brain starts playing "Very Good" by Block B. It's probably a problem, but it's a me problem and I hope it's not a you problem now as well. They debuted in 2014 as a five member group, but by the time they disbanded, there were only two of the original members in the six-member group. Fun fact, they released multiple crowdfunded mini albums, including this one, and the lineup for this album was Taeha, Seoyul, Daye, Sehyung, and Gowoon.

Angel is the title track for their first mini album, Very Berry, released in 2016, after a trio of singles. Our lyricist appears to be Jeong Seongyoon (U;Nee, Cleo, Elly), and our lyricists and composers are TheGrand and Joo Taeyeong (Fin.K.L, Click-B, U;Nee, LABOUM). 

• Group: BerryGood
• Debut Date: 2014 May 21
• Company: Asia Bridge Entertainment
• Status: Disbanded (2021 May 12)
• Album: Very Berry
• Song: Angel
• Release Date: 2016 April 20

So, I hadn't actually heard this one before this. I picked this because when I was looking for songs for the theme, it came up regularly in several of the sources I looked at, and since I haven't covered the group yet, I decided to trust the public opinion. Public opinion which is correct but also complete garbage because (spoilers) what do you mean that the music video only has 500 thousand views? Man.

Luckily, it does in fact match.

But when I tell you that I was nervous about it, I was nervous. 

I needn't have been because that violin is swoonworthy. Not that the violin has anything to do with May's theme specifically, though in this case it does. But, as we know, if a song has a violin, I am instantly slamming that big red acceptance button and bouncing as I wait for the chair to turn around. It definitely ties into my love of orchestral movie soundtracks (we can blame Howard Shore specifically, among others, for that) because there's a wonderful sense of the grandiose in nearly every song that has a violin in it. Angel is no different in that regard.

The way that the strings and the piano kind of circle around each other the entire song, trading off on which instrument gets the relevant piece of the vocal melody is masterfully done, and that makes it all the more impressive considering how little experience the songwriters had for this song. That's not even bringing into the topic how the drums and the bass guitar get folded into the entire experience. Because that's what this song is; it's an experience. A cinematic experience wrapped in lemon chiffon and threaded with chocolate ganache. And yes, I know that ganache is technically more often used as a topping, but this is my metaphor and I can do with it as I like. 

And the vocals! I swear I'm not about to describe it like this because of the title of the song, but there's something very gospel about this song, something that is especially noticeable in places the chorus, but especially there at the end post-bridge. The ad-libs in that last chorus, whoa, mama. To quote Johnny Bravo. This group has vocals on par with MAMAMOO, and that is not something I say lightly. 

I cannot wait to see if this has a radio recording. I might cry.

And then there's the bridge. There's a reason why this is the most watched part of the music video without competition. Again, I'm not trying to be on the nose about it, but that bridge is heavenly. It starts at 2:37 and is easily identifiable by the very obvious dig into the soil with claws to brace itself that the song does. It is Bahamut's Overdrive from Final Fantasy X: big, explosive, utterly devastating. The vocal runs into those high notes? The full group harmony? The vibrato that sends my soul? Golden. Criminally underrated. How in the name of all that is good and just in this world does this song not have more views?

I am pouting that I will never get to hear this live. Draped dramatically across the arm of the couch like I'm the teenage heroine of a Disney princess movie. Why don't survival shows do this as a vocal challenge? (I know what the answer is: for the same reason that BTOB and MAMAMOO songs don't get the survival show cover treatment very often.)

And you know the most insane part of all of this? This was a crowdfund. Do you know how close the world could have come to not having this at all?

Moment of silence, everyone.

I had a little bit of a debate about which performance to do first. Normally, as you know, I do Music Bank or MCountdown first because they reliably have the member attached to the lyrics. 

So, naturally, I decided not to do a music show performance at all because I wanted to start with the excellence that is a properly live performance undistracted from the choreography, other than what the members adorably do here.

There are probably three of them that look like their throats aren't in great condition considering three of them turn to cough during this. One of them is Gowoon. And yet. When we hit the end of the bridge, she's rolling back in her chair and leaning away from the mic as far as she can, even going so far as to tip her head up so her voice isn't going directly into the mic, but she's still clearer than other artists singing right into the mic. 

I'm in awe of how powerful her voice is. That's a big voice right there, possibly one of the biggest in the industry. 

But that's not even the biggest point, because all of the members are doing that run together. Remember how I said that parts of the song sound very gospel? This is one of those parts. 

And normally, I'd be cooing over the members doing the choreography (Sehyung at :25, Daye at :43 (adorably, even though there's a mic in front of her, she still holds her hand to her mouth like she's holding a hand mic), Seoyeol at 1:13), but I can't even bring myself to care because of the vocals on these women. 

First of all, I love how they're proving my point about supported vocals and choreography very clearly with this Show Champion performance. The members struggle a little bit with the lower notes and containment, especially because they have to be a little bit breathy, but once they hit choruses and get to really open up and vocally punch, the problems at the softer dynamic levels basically vanish. 

But you know what? You don't remember that once the bridge hits and it's once again the most viewed part of the video. 

The choreography is generally delicate enough without being cutesy to let them focus on the vocals and to match the feel of the song, which I appreciate. 

And I also have to say that there are points where the fanchant is incredibly loud. And the cheering through the end of the bridge and the final chorus is exactly what it should be. 

Hey, so remember how I commented about obvious poor throat condition during the radio recording because multiple members coughed? The beginning of this shows that Gowoon especially was struggling by this point, though she's hardly the only one, but part of that could have been emotions as well (this was their last live performance for Angel on Music Bank and on one of the Music Bank episodes they performed on, they were first to perform, which isn't the place you want to be in, but the bright part of this is that they were barely two years, so being first like this is disheartening, but unfortunately not unexpected). 

I've heard several idols, who are known for singing live and adamant about doing so, talk about how hard on their voices it is to do the promotion cycle, and if they didn't have the resources to protect their throats and voices like they needed to, even if this was a week after promotions started, they could have been struggling. I think at 2:07 I see some evidence of neck tension in Gowoon, but I had to slow it down to half speed and not make it bouncy. Watching at half speed, it's not a particularly synchronized performance, but that just makes it charming.

Oh, and also, I really like their outfits. I'm a big fan of plaid in general, but this particular pattern reminds me of a picnic, and I like how they've got the wedge heel sneakers with the knee high socks. It's a comfy look, soft, friendly. The suspenders underneath the shirts sells the entire thing. 

I'm sure it shocks you to know that I actually really like the concept of music festivals and multi-artist concerts. Wait, this may actually shock you because I don't think I've ever extolled the wonder that is The Crossover on here yet. 

They're amazing. Even if it's not a great showing of any of the separate parts, just the fact that you don't have to choose and get to witness the good parts of Thing A make up for the bad parts of Thing B and vice versa is so satisfying. This is why my favorite live-action Scooby-Doo movie is Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, because I get to have all the monsters in one movie instead of having to watch their individual episodes. It's also why I will forever tell people that they need to watch The New Scooby-Doo Movies from 1972, because that's literally all those are: crossovers with famous actors/comedians. And also Batman and Robin. And the Adams Family. I promise I'm not actually eighty years old. As a child, I just really liked to watch things my adult relatives also liked to watch, and I have an aunt who loves all things Halloween, including Scooby-Doo. 

There. Now you know.

The Dream Concert series is basically one of K-Pop's biggest crossover events. Every year, it's a new Avengers or Justice League movie, and the fact that BerryGood got to perform this in 2016 with the likes of Taemin, EXO, MAMAMOO, NCT, CLC, BTOB, Seventeen, Red Velvet, and I.O.I among a lot of others? It's very impressive and what an experience for them. Especially with the cheers as the audience realized what song this was. I don't know how this didn't go more viral. I really don't understand it. It's baffling.

Five hundred thousand.

Anyway.

The outfits are flowy and elegant and sophisticated. The screens and the lighting behind them gives them a bit of an odd green outline, but it's fine. It gives them a bit of a dryad vibe. 

The woman at 2:42 with the binoculars is my favorite, as is the man behind her who leans over to whisper to whoever he's with right after the high note at the end of the bridge. 

I'm not overly fond of some of the camera angles we're getting from behind, because we see a bit too much of their safety shorts, and I recognize there were some limitations to where the cameras could be, but some of the times that they cut to behind them, I paused and squinted suspiciously at the screen. Now, that being said, I do really appreciate the cut at 1:42, because normally we don't get to see those four members' faces at that part when the camera is in front, and considering there are audience members who can see that particular angle, I like that. So, it's a mixed bag for me in terms of the camerawork. 

I'd guess that this is at least partially live, because while we don't have the same struggles at the beginning with the lower, breathier verses (which could be accounted for a break right before this concert since it was several weeks later), Gowoon messes with her in-ear at 2:49 in a way that I don't often see from the artists when they're not singing live. And it's not so much an in-ear as it is an earbud, and I don't think any of the members have proper in-ears. If the fact that the company had to crowdfund the album wasn't a good enough indication that they had no money, this solidified it. 

This song is such a good concert opener or encore song. Because you can either hype the crowd up vocally with gorgeous outfits, or you can have them in the merch and not having to worry about the choreography, which would fix some of the potential difficulties with the verses. The crowd here at least appreciates it, based on the screams upon the realization and the cheers at the end. 

And it's a good thing those are hand mics, because they'd be in trouble if those were headsets. Multiple members sing when it's not their part. :27, 1:26, 1:58, and that's just what got shown on the camera. 

And the finger heart at 2:34 is adorable. 

This video is a fanmade compilation of literally just the bridge and that last chorus, focusing on the high notes. And that's about right. So even though I haven't shared a lot of the stages, this is unequivocally the best part of the song. So just enjoy this!

There is also a spot with MR removed. Hopefully you know as well as I do that how the MR is removed can dictate a lot of how the song changes in sound, and so as much as I'd like to say that this is the only evidence we need for the vocals, I can't actually say that because it wouldn't actually be true. Now, that being said, it does give us a possibility for what those vocals are like on their own, and if they're even seventy percent authentic, yowza. Plus, this person did a count of the high notes, and it's an impressive number in a small part of the song. 

Please ignore the man that is immediately following them in that compilation. We don't want that energy in this particular space.

Hopefully that spits you out where I want you to go, but if it doesn't, then you want 10:44. 

This vocal teacher briefly comments on the shape of the vowel Gowoon is singing with, but he's also pleased by what he's hearing at the end of the bridge.

I'm also going to share this fellow who reacted to the music video. His reaction came up while I was searching for performances, and I decided to watch on a whim. And I wasn't actually going to share it with you because I was starting in on the next section, but I decided I needed to. Whoever this man is, he says he's never heard BerryGood before. And truth or not, whatever, but he melts as soon they start singing. His eyes soften, his shoulders relax, his mouth opens, his head tips to the side. He literally melts. 

That's the kind of appreciation I'm looking for with this song because it deserves more than five hundred thousand views on its music video. 

And he has the reaction I want for the end of the bridge and the last chorus: "Shut up! That was everything!" And then he went back and rewound it to watch the end of the bridge again. "This is iconic." Yes. Sir, you are correct. He is wrong about one thing, and that's the fact that the other four members are part of the vocal run leading up to Gowoon's high note, but I thought the same thing too. It's fine.

That's all I want to see. I may be late to this wagon train, but I am fully on it now. 

Dance practice time! And I have to commend Taeha's ability to keep her skirt down. I don't know if it's because of how I was trained to move because of tennis, but if I wear skirts that short, they are coming up, so she has all the respect from me for doing this choreography in a denim mini skirt jumper without flashing anyone. Mad respect.

Finally, I get to talk about some of the stuff that I've been wanting to talk about. First of all, the fluttering after Taeha's post-chorus? I love it. It's adorable and I love it. 

Fluttering is actually a really good way to describe a lot of the choreography. It's very thematically "winged", which fits the title of the song. They've also got a lot of cute little butt wiggles that look really good in their skirts (see most of the above performances) because the skirts are flouncy, as demonstrated here by Seoyul. 

I also really like that they have a run movement on the word "run". It's just satisfying. 

And yes, the way they cascade as each member has her spot in that run up to Gowoon's high note is just also deeply satisfying. You get the visual movement combined with the auditory movement and it's an attack on the senses in the best way, especially since it's hidden up until that burst. And the way that Taeha and Gowoon kind of swap lines, and you get stillness from them as they sing is also deeply satisfying.

I'm not a dancer, but I don't think that this choreography is particularly difficult. I could be wrong and I'm fully willing to be wrong about this. However, the way I'm looking at it, the choreography supports the song in a way that anything more strenuous or aggressive or technically difficult would have negatively affected the gentle loveliness of the song. As big as this song goes, it never stops having a core of gentleness to it, but the power and the difficulty lies in the vocals, which the members handle with aplomb. 

Thanks for coming on this journey with me, everyone! It was exciting to get to know this song, and then equally exciting to completely fall head over heels with it. I think I'm going to go finish learning the lyrics so I can add it to my roadtrip playlist and then just sing. A lot of it will have to be in my falsetto, but I wasn't trained as a first soprano for five years for nothing. 

I also hope you're enjoying the month theme so far. Any ideas about what all of these songs have in common? I feel like I've made it pretty obvious by this point, but we've still got three more songs. And the last song on the list was the first one I chose when I decided to do this theme because that was the first thing I learned about the song, even before I'd heard it. If you've got any other suggestions for me to do, feel free to drop a comment or fill out The Form! I like being able to craft months around suggestions. It gives me a mental challenge. Thanks for reading! I'll see you next time!

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