I have been taking a mental health break and even though Super Junior's song and album have been out for a week now, I don't even care, I'm going to write about it because it was awesome! On to the post!
It's Super Junior's 10th anniversary (almost)! I have only been around for the last four years of it but it has been a really good four years for me. I had to do a lot of catching up and there was a lot of history to learn, but it was totally worth it. I am a little jealous of those E.L.F.s who have been around since 2005 because they really got to see SuJu grow as a group while my time has been like a lightning round.
Just to walk down memory lane for a moment, I remember when I watched "Mr.Simple" for the first time and I learned all the members names and faces and was so proud of myself and then realized that the full group wasn't actually in that video nor did they look like that in their previous videos. That was a stressful time. Now I am at the point where I can pick them out by their voices. Success!
MV Review
Since there are two MVs at this point I am going to start with the first release. I really liked that video and the way that it was set up. There is a girl, or a devil, who is messing with the boys but they don't see her devil tail until they are all pulling guns on each other. Like, dang, there were a lot of guns in this video. In their video "Spy" there were guns all over the place too, but those were more fun props where this video there was an actual threat that someone's brains were going to end up all over all wall.
I was also pleased all throughout the video at the wardrobe choices. No one looked weird and everyone's clothes meshed well with the scenes and emotions that they were trying to portray.
Then this happened:
Yesung just got back from the military, he should be welcomed back with smiles and sparkles and with that solo album that he has hinted at, not horrendous hats.
Now onto music video number two!
This video wasn't anything super special, it was just a dance video but who doesn't love a good dance video? You get to better appreciate the dance and get more time to stare at your favorite member which is always enjoyable.
One of my favorite things about this video was Kyuhyun. He was in it to win it and there was some serious eye contact happening
I also really enjoyed that hat exchange that happened in the middle. This is a proper hat. It is a good accent color and it isn't as big as Heechul's head unlike Yesung's hat which looks like those giant hats that you would buy at a theme park.
The last thing that I want to mention is that while I was watching the video, I noticed that I was seeing a lot of Heechul, Ryeowook, and Kangin who tend to be farther in the back and to the sides during dances and when I realized why I wept silent tears for our missing members. Shindong and Sungmin were some of the main dancers and their spots had to be filled by other people. Le sigh.
I enjoyed sing Heechul and Ryeowook more because Heechul is my favorite and Ryeowook has got hidden moves, but during Kangin's solo parts I couldn't help but notice that he was a little awkward; like he was doing too many things at once and his brain couldn't quite handle all the stimulation. Is this just me being super nit picky?
Album Review
As per usual, Super Junior puts out another wonderful album. The album starts with the title track Devil which is a super fun dance track with a killer chorus. Sometimes in songs the chorus will kill it for me because it isn't hyped enough or it will be completely different from the rest of the song but neither of those things happened here and this song has been on loop for me for the past week. I am also in love with the bridge. Heechul is my favorite member and I also like bridges that have that group/chant vibe. A+ album start!
Simply Beautiful slows it down a bit for a mid-tempo R&B sound that SuJu is so good at. The chorus of this also gets me with the harmonized dissonance of "simply, simply, baby, simply, you're simply beautiful". This song is about the vocals and all the things that they can do and it reminds me how much I have missed Yesung! This song is right up his alley and I am so glad that he is finally back!
From dance to R&B to soft rock, Stars Appear... is the next song on the album and really allows the boys vocal skills to shine. It makes me think of "Growing Pains" from D&E which is totally cool because that song is awesome. Yesung also gets to do a little ad libbing here which I know I have already mentioned but I have really missed it and it is important!
After the slower previous songs, as soon as Good Love started so did spontaneous dancing. This song has a groovy R&B sound that you can't help but move along to. The steady beat and vocals carry this song along taking the listeners "higher and higher" and that is okay with me.
A song that is sung by Super Junior K.R.Y needs to be the most beautiful that has ever graced my ears and We Can definitely meets that criteria. This song gives me the goose bumps and makes me feel all the feels with the meaning of song and the emotion behind it. The lyrics talk about all the time that SuJu has spent together and the hopes that they have for the future. I'm not crying! You're crying!
Our next subunit is Super Junior D&E Don't Wake Me Up which was written by Donghae and his team. This song is a great mid-tempo rock song which seems to be a genre that D&E do really well togther. These two might be my favorite SuJu sub unit with Donghae's vocals and Eunhyuk's raps melting so well together. These two are friends and you can hear and see how well they work together.
I know that I said that D&E are my favorite sub unit, but Super Junior T has one of my favorite songs with is "Rokkugo" if you haven't seen that piece of magic please take a moment to do so. I'll wait. It would make me so happy if Super Junior T would promote more, but alas, it will probably never happen. Love At First Sight is a bouncy song that has a little bit of retro feeling that adds to the infectiousness of it.
Forever With You is the last sub unit song and I cannot begin to tell you how happy I am that Super Junior M was included in this album because that means that Zhou Mi and Henry are on a Super Junior album. They are of course here as M, but they are here non the less. Forever With You is an upbeat disco inspired song because there aren't enough genres happening on this album yet. I'm not complaining though, bring it on!
And the bands back together! Rock n' Shine is such a fun song with its bluesy rocker vibe and it is one of the best songs (if not maybe the best) on this album that is already full of great tracks. This song makes me want to go and "rock the world with the power". I don't know what that power is but it could probably be anything that you want it to be. Rock the world!
Alright is a song that makes me wish that I understood Korean. One of the verses of the song is one giant play on words of all the members' names and I absolutely love that. Shindong and Sungmin were even included which may have brought a tiny tear to my eye. The song was also written by Donghae so this song is super special and I think that it is a good way to end this album.
Overall, this album was all over the place genre wise but it was wonderful non the less and was a love letter to all the fans for all the time spent together. I will also be clinging to this album for the next possibly three years since I have heard some rumors that the rest of the group is going to be leaving in the coming weeks and months. I'm not ready to such a hiatus! Don't leave me!
It's been a good ten years Super Junior and if I can please make a request, please live your lives a la Shinwha and never break up. You can do your own things all you want, but please never stop making music as a group!
~ Alora
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