Review - 'XOXO'
I HEART KPOP REVIEW SHOP [CLOSED / REVAMPING]
ALBUM TITLE: XOXO (Kiss & Hug)
MUSICIAN: EXO
GENRE: KPOP
REVIEW:
Okay, I have no idea how to do this review, becuase there's a Korean and Mandarin version of the album. I think if I didn't remember wrongly Kiss album is Korean and Hug is Mandarin. Am I right? :3 But, I love both versions and I seriously just play Baby, Don't Cry on repeat everyday and I still love it as much as I did when I first heard it. I have probably listened to it for like a thousand times since for the past two weeks non-stop it's seriously just playing on my phone, my music player everyday whether I'm there listening or not and I'm like singing it everywhere. Okay, nevermind let me talk about it below. Yeah, so anyways, I will be lumping everything together.
1. Wolf
My review of the song, is in here :) Click on the link to read it.
2. Baby, Don't Cry
Okay, I have no idea how to express how much I love this song. Let me fangirl for a moment please.
OMG THE INSTRUMENTAL IS JUST SO NICE CAN I JUST SAY HOW TOUCHING BAEKHYUN'S VOICE WAS OMG AND D.O.'S VOICE MELTED MY HEART OMG MY BIASES D.O. YOUR SOUL-FILLED VOICE (as dinobunny puts it) REALLY CAPTURED MY HEART. AND SUHO'S LINES GAHHHH I CAN'T TAKE IT OTL GAHHH I CAN'T EVEN KEEP A PROPER EXO BIAS LIST ANYWAYS I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH. AND PLUS WHEN I SEARCHED FOR THE LIVE VERSION OMG THAT MADE IT SO MUCH MORE ATTRACTIVE AND I'M CONVINCED IT'S NOT AUTOTUNE OMG THIS BUNCH OF TALENTED KIDS. AND PLUS THE ONE THEY PERFORMED DURING THEIR LIVE SHOWCASE OMG BAEKHYUN WAS SO Y AND LUHAN OMG HE LOOKED REALLY GENUINE SINGING IT OMG IM FALLING MORE AND MORE IN LOVE WITH HIM I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE. WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME!!!
Okays, sorry for my fangirling *COUGHS* Yeah, but anyways, there's a major paradox in the song. The chorus says 'Baby Don't Cry', but I cried listening to the song 'cos it was so nice. I'm serious, you can ask Dsinger_1998 about this I was literally crying eating my KFC and listening to the song.
That aside, the Chinese version was equally nice. I do have an issue with their pronounciation though, but on the account of Luhan's looks I will let it pass. No I'm just kidding, I will talk about this. Yes, I already know what you're thinking, like 'They're not native speakers of Mandarin so being able to even sing the song so well is already an accomplishment so all other criticism is not legit.' Okay, yeah, I do get your point, but well, that doesn't change the fact that they need to work on their Chinese. I won't criticise them like I really hate them — in fact I love them to bits — and I do give those Korean members like my Chen-Chen credit for picking up Mandarin, but really, they need to work on their pronunciation. This applies to all their Chinese songs.
And also, is it just me, or do the lyrics not make sense? I didn't look up for the meaning of the Korean version, since the Mandarin one was rather weird (yes I do take Chinese as a subject and I got an A for it so I do believe my interpretation is accurate) and I didn't want to ruin my impression of the Korean version. Yeah, so quoting a line from the chorus, "?????????????,????????" Direct translation would be "You'll never change into bubbles/foam, don't you know?" Uhm... yeah I know that I'm not a bubble for sure. Okay, yeah, I know, there's a deep symbolism in this, that the girl (I suppose so) that they're singing about will always be there in their hearts and never disappear or become insignificant. Okay, yeah, I do get that, but I still think it's weird.
3. Black Pearl
The chorus of the song gave me the feeling like it was an anime theme song. No kidding. You agree with me right? No? Ah nevermind. But other than that, their voices were like <3 words can't describe what I feel about the song.
4. Don't Go (????)
The intro of the song gave off the feeling that it was like a drama OST. Or is it just me?
The rest of the song, especially the chorus was just pure awesomeness overload. I totally fell in love with their voices all over again.
5. Let Out The Beast
Well yeah, when I saw the title I was kind of expecting another song like Wolf, and it really was. I personally am not a fan of these type of more, how should I put it, 'heavy' songs. In fact, ballads are my type and to be honest, this was my least favourite song in the album.
6. 3.6.5
I have no idea why, but this song sounded like What Is Love when I heard the intro. And the rest of the song was like overly cutesy. Like it really didn't suit EXO's image of the cute flower boy, but oh well I liked the tune. Woah-oh-oh-oh, 3 6 5!
7. Heart Attack
The moment I saw the title I immediately thought of Demi Levato's Heart Attack. Yeah and I didn't even really like that song by her. I was hoping that EXO would present a much better song than that and they really did.
I really loved the feel of the song. Like there's this mysterious feel to the song that I really really loved.
8. Peter Pan (???)
The moment I saw the title, I thought "EXO Generation moment!" Why? SNSD has a song called Tinkerbell, and EXO's song is Peterpan! Get it? Okay fine I'm lame.
I just loved this song! And in the Korean version, there's a part at around 1:56 till the chorus, go listen to that! That's like seriously my favourite part! D.O.'s voice is like heaven <3 and the harmonisation is just awesome! Even for those who hate ballads, I swear anyone will fall in love with this part. And this is definitely my second most favourite song in the album. Whoops sorry first place has to go to Baby Don't Cry!
9. Baby (???)
The intro gave me the scenery of a few pixies flying and playing around a big oak tree. Okay, maybe that was just me. But I loved the chorus of the song so much! It was so nice! I keep on humming the tune. Although it was a bit cheesy at the '???? baby baby baby' part (because it was a bit similar to Justin Bieber's overly cheesy song Baby), but it was a nice song overall.
10. My Lady
This song is simply, amazing. I really love the jazzy, swing-shuffle feel to it. And in the teasers previously, Kai's dance was so smooth. I personally don't really like jazzy songs, but this changed my impression of such songs and in fact the more I listen to this song the more I get hooked onto it.
11. Wolf (????) (EXO-M Ver.)
My opinion of this song, is very subjective. I have to say, even though both versions were good, I personally preferred the Chinese version to the Korean version. Maybe that's because I understand what they were singing/rapping, but well yeah that's my honest opinion.
Overall, to sum it up, this album is definitely worth every single cent. The songs in it are just so hooking and so far, personally, I haven't gotten sick of any of the songs. I can just play it on repeat mode all day until I get my SHINee 'Boys Meet U' album.
RATING: ♥♥♥♥♥
REVIEWER: inSHININGspirit
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