Personal Rating: 4,5/5

Warning: first time reviewing and it's more of a display of opinions. Feel free to add your own arguments in the comment box! :)

01 Intro: I personally like to listen to the intro when I start listening to a new album. It usually puts me in the mood to listen to the rest of the songs. But this one... alright, Junhyung is a great composer and musician in general. The Intro was made as a general message for their fan club and a personal warning "Some people like me, some people hate me, but it's just music.". I'm not professional when it comes to music, but this piece just didn't give me the right feelings. Maybe it was the awkward English, Junhyung shouldn't have used because he's such a great rapper in Korean or maybe it's the bouncy rhythm that makes my stomach nervous. I don't know. The Intro was a totally turn off for me unfortunately.

 

02 Shadow: Nice track and awesome MV. The dark visuals that came along for this track made everything even more appealing to the eye and ears. Sincerely, it made me forget the song on repeat. Going back to the song, I totally love the new way of arranging vocals:

(click on the pic to enlarge)

The song is catchy and the lyrics are easily to be remembered. The dance is absolutely stunning, despite the bunch of fans that complained about it. I really, really loved the way they used back dancers for almost each member, only Yoseob and Doojoon dancing together during the chorus. And if we're still talking about the dance, I must say that Hyunseung's part (right after Junhyung's fist rap) creeps me out. Even so, he displays powerful dance moves and perfect coordination hands-legs.

Going back to the song itself, I love the idea of echo: "You were ma, ma, ma sunlight.", "Because I'm shadow shadow shadow". It made it even more beautiful while empathizing with the sorrowful feeling Junhyung probably wanted to place in the song.

Another thing I absolutely loved about this song: the fact that Junhyung actually gets to start a song. His rap part is longer this time and it concentrates on his ability. Absolutely stunning if we are to listen to Hyunseung's voice right afterwards!

 

03 How to Love: I love this song. I really do. It's generally speaking about love and it makes you think: is love really that complicated? Shouldn't we just... I don't know, love? Why are me digging holes for each other when we should just allow the natural feeling attach to our hearts? So yeah, bonus points to Junhyung for making me think about the very essence of human love.

Overall, the track is nice, the beat is catchy and so are the lyrics. Dongwoon brings incredible husky vocals, while Junhyung tells the story on rap rhythms. What's incredible is that Yoseob takes on rap for the bridge as well. I never expected him to rap like that. Of course, it can't match Junhyung's, but still, for the lead vocal, he's fast pace is impressive.

You can't really hear Hyunseung that much in this song, I think only twice in the whole song. And the more I listen to this song, the more I feel that Junhyung and the rest of the team wanted to give the song to Dongwoon since he really improved in matter of vocals.

 

04 Be Alright: This one reminds me of 'The Day You Rest' from their 2012 album. 'Midnight'. But it's just the beginning that does do, so I won't deduct any points for the matter. Again, love the fact that Junhyung starts the song, joined by Hyunseung (thing that happens after all his parts actually). And it's not that I'm biased, but the fact that he gets more than two parts in the whole song proves that he is indeed the composer behind this album. And it also helps showing different colours of his voice, 'cause at the beginning it brings back the reggae feeling.

Another thing that impressed me in this song was the fact that we get to hear Doojoon's rap, thing we haven't for some time now. I kind of forgot he's originally a rapper and not vocalist. And I think it's good he proved he didn't forget that rapping is also a part of him.

 

05 I'm Sorry: Throwback Thursday for me. One - the title took me back in 2010, where on their 'Light Go On Again (EP)' we find the same song title and two - brings back the 'When I Miss You' feeling from 2012 (the first part where the acoustic guitar can be clearly heard). I definitely love the finger snapping in the beginning and the jerky way of singing that we can hear through the song. Dongwoon makes and impressive comeback with trained vocals that give just the right feelings to the song.

Junhyung's half bored, half sad part makes it real, while Hyunseung powerful vocals backed by Yoseob's makes the song not that easy to forget once you give a listen to it.

As for the lyrics, I think they speak clearer for me than 'Shadow' or 'Be Alright'. The message is simple and it has a nice flow as well.

 

06 Will You Be Alright?: From my point of view, this one deserved all the winning even without the promoting. It's not only the nice, ballad feeling it gives, or Doojoon's super improved vocals, or the semi-duet between the lead vocalist and the maknae. It's not even Junhyung's rap or Hyunseung's ability to hit high notes. It's the simplicity of the track itself. The way the man in the story delivers some other kind of feeling than cockiness or sadness, the way he's genuinely concerned about the other half of the couple not being alright by itself. He's trying to look for a way of making her stay: "Stay with me, baby, stay with me". It makes you want to sing along with them while holding your eyes closed and imagining the story they're singing. The Korean is quite simple, words we all heard in dramas, so even those who don't want to search for the translation can understand at least half of the song.

And surprise surprise, Junhyung English sounds less awkward here. Good job!

 

07 You're Bad: Another track that takes us back to 'Midnight' with its colourful rhythm and playful combination of guitar and electronic sounds. Once again, Yoseob proves his singer ability to hit high notes as he takes over the chorus. The funky song goes somehow against the longing feeling of the actual lyrics that talk about a guy suffering after a break up ( *cough* is Junhyung talking about Hara?! *cough*), so for the non-Korean speakers, it might be mistaken with a summery track. That's a minus from my side.

And although Gikwang displays some more of his vocal ability and we can clearly hear Junhyung sing at the end, under a layer of computerized sounds, this track just isn't my cup of tea.

 

08 Encore: Electric boogie! This song definitely bears Junhyung's mark, just like 'Freeze' did. I sincerely don't understand why this song is so underrated when it's fantastic! It's club-ish that makes you want dance along with it no matter where you are (I almost crashed in a pole while I was biking because of it LOL). I love how you can clearly hear each member at a time, especially Junhyung, Yoseob and Hyunseung. Another note for this song which made me think it's Junhyung's 'baby' it's the mention of his motto, the one he bears in form of a tattoo as well 'C.A.R.P.E. DIEM, seize the day because there is no tomorrow/ C.A.R.P.E. DIEM, because there's no such thing as next time or later."

It's definitely a fresh track made for the summer and the B2uties. Or is it a certain B2uty? Anyway, I wish they'd take this to sing live since it's fun and lively and it certainly shows they're still young, despite them singing about broken promises, break ups and shadows. It would make a good ENCORE song as a promise for a nest live stage "You wanna say encore core core/ One more time, say one more time."

 

Bonus Track -  I Am a Man: Ok, this isn't a bonus of the album, but since it's fresh and a gift from Junhyung & Doojoon, I thought I should review this as well. I like it. The duo definitely stands out of the other sub-units that continue to appear. Firstly, leader Doojoon displays his impressive vocals while backed up by Junhyung's fierce rap. Second, Doojoon shows his piano skills once again, while Junhyung shows he's the monster composer he was revealed to be along the years. The story of the song: manly man lets og of the girl that goes out with another man. Simple. Impressive if we are to think of all the love songs in k-pop, where the guy is crying bitter tears after a break up.

I absolutely love the reference to 'Shadow' in the following: "Erase, erase, I'll forget, I'll erase you along with the burning smoke".

But what impressed me more about this track (no, it really took me by total surprise at the beginning), it's Junhyung's message for the B2uties at the end of the song. It makes the song personal. And another thing, I really appreciate that despite the hard work they both out in the song, they released it as a free track. Way to go, guys!

 

Personal rank of the tracks:

1 - How to Love

2 - Encore

3 - Shadow

4 - Will You Be Alright?

5 - I'm Sorry

7 - Be Alright

8 - You're Bad

The reason behind the review? It's actually simple: I think this is the best album Beast released so far. And it's a shame that they won only twice with 'Shadow' and three times with 'Will You Be Alright?' because this albums is really, really great. It shows just how much the boys grew up musically speaking and how mature Junhyung has become as a composer. So, even if I might have said certain things not so nice things, this is like a tribute to their hard work^^' Lame, huh? TT.TT

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Kat's note: whoah, this was long O.o Ahem, first time reviewing, so I don't know how good I was. Hope no one was offended though^^' Also, please vote below if you're/or not interested in me reviewing something else: