Donghae and Eunhyuk The Beat Goes On Album Review

This album starts with the song it's named for "The Beat Goes On" and there are quite a few beats going on in this song. This is like something that SM would have released last year or the year before or maybe even a reject f(x) song. This song is all over the place and sometimes Frankenstein songs can be fun but this song isn't so much fun as it is just generally confusing. There are some good moments, but collectively, it's just a hot mess.

But, then, glory hallelujah we get to "Growing Pains" which I am obsessed with. This is a beautiful song and I'm going to listen to this and just pretend that first song never happened.  I love the guitar and the piano and the transition from the simpler versus to the large sound of the chorus. I also really liked Eunhyuk's rap. Yes to everything here.



First "Shirt" and now "Sweater and Jeans" Donghae and Eunhyuk keep the easy sound that was started in "Growing Pains" but bring it down another notch. This song has an easy groove to it and it focuses more on the singing voices of the duo. There is not a rap in sight and I think the song is better for it. We get to enjoy them singing and to whoever says that Eunhyuk can't sing can go jump in a lake. I have always enjoyed his singing voice and that does not change here.

"Breaking Up" is one of those confusing songs about sad things but at the same time makes you want to get up and dance. Are we happy to be single now? The beginning of this song starts with a sting section which transitions into a groovy dance track. All the songs thus far (except for number one, but we're pretending like that didn't happen) have had that groovy dance song feel and thus far, I am really enjoying this album.

If "The Beat Goes On" was a hot mess in a bad way, "Lights, Camera, Action" is a hot mess in a good way. This is a synth on synth dance track with a mindless chorus of "Let me see ya hands up" and "lights, camera, action". It's quite a change from everything else that we have been given so far, but it doesn't feel like a jarring change.

I've changed my mind, "Can You Feel It" is far more mindless than "Lights, Camera, Action" and I kind of love it. It also brings back the slight Frankensteining of a "normal" sounding chorus but then the versus are filled with space age beeps and synths. I really like this song and I going to be singing "choki choki choki wa" for the rest of the evening. I can definitely feel it.

The last song "Mother" puts the breaks on hard and slows us down with a lovely song written by Donghae thanking his mother for being a mother. It's a hard job, but someone's got to do it and when she gets old, he will take up her role and take care of her as she took care of him. I keep saying "him" but's it not a solo just as a clarifyer.

So, despite the weirdness of the first song, this is a pretty good album. It has everything that you would expect from Donghae and Eunhyuk: hip hop, dance, ballad, R&B and a lot of fun. The songs mesh with each other well and they make you want to comeback and listen again. I hope that with this album we can see more of them in Korea since most of their promotions have been in Japan. Give me more!

~ Alora