Both SNSD and CNBlue have released their albums and videos. I guess I should do a quick review. Before that though, I must say, neither album was what I expected.

I’ll do SNSD first.

The minute I heard “Mr. Mr.”, I loved it and started dancing! It’s classy, slightly y, full of pop, and dance-worthy! So because of that, I was super surprised to see and hear so many people saying that they were disappointed and underwhelmed by the song. Don’t get me wrong, “IGAB” is my all-time favorite Kpop song of forever, but “Mr. Mr.” is a great song for this stage in their career. The days of “Gee” and “Oh!” are gone. I think from here on out, their Korean music will reflect a more mature feeling of womanhood. I like it. Plus, I remember everyone saying the same thing about “IGAB”, calling it the worse song and video ever, and then a month later, people couldn’t get enough.

The next four songs of the album are just ok to me. “Goodbye” is like updated 70s music. I always feel like SM puts an older sounding song on every one of their artist’s albums. It had a nice sound to it. “Europa” and “Wait a Minute” just straight reminded me of raw Kpop. It’s hard to explain. Like, they’re songs the girls could’ve done back during their “Kissing You” era. In my opinion anyway. “Back Hug” sounded like 90s Mandy Moore. It was cute, but didn’t leave a big impression on me. Slower songs don’t really do much for me. It’s rare that they do. But they sang it super cute!

“Soul”. I love it! Mainly because I love the Chinese version. But lo and behold, I love the Korean version too!

Overall, favorites and stand outs for me are “Mr. Mr.” and “Soul”.

I’ve watched the video for “Mr. Mr.” a gazillion times. Again, a ton of people have complained about it and continue to say they were disappointed, etc. But honestly, I saw nothing wrong with the video. The only thing I would’ve liked to see more was the dancing. Those scenes were the highlight of the video, especially the dance break, but that’s what happens when you go away from simple videos and start doing storyline videos. If you’re doing a storyline, the video will focus more on the storyline rather than the dance. If you don’t have a storyline, all you see is close-ups and dancing, but lately, people have been criticizing SM for not being creative enough to do storylines. Sorry, guys, you can’t get everything. It’s one or the other.

From what I perceived, it’s like the girls are very attractive Frankensteins. They’ve lured a guy into their hospital, inserted new blood and a new heart, and now he’s a man. Maybe a perfect one. I even saw a theory that the video is blurry because that is what the guy as a patient is seeing. Either way, SNSD worked hard, and I think they did a great job. People also keep saying that their comeback is ruined, but although the wait was ridiculous and unbearable, they put in the work, they came back beautifully, and I think we fans should just enjoy it and be along for the ride.

On the other hand, CNBlue. Can I still be a Boice if I say this?

Other than “Diamond Girl” and “Cold Love”, all of the other songs on their new album alienated me, including “Can’t Stop”. The sound of the album is just very different than what I expected. I think I liked “Diamond Girl” so much because it was really the only upbeat, rhythmic song on there and the incorporation of the jazz was great. “Cold Love” would’ve been wasted on me if it wasn’t for Yonghwa’s vocals. His vocals on that song are no joke, and when I saw the lyrics I was like “Woah”.

But the rest of the album is like rock ballad or something, which isn’t my favorite. As much as I love Jonghyun, his songs are never my favorite. They’re too slow and ballad-y, which again, isn’t my taste. I think the album is reflective of CNBlue’s growth as musicians, and I think it’s more Korean influenced than Western like a couple of songs have been in the past. Even though it’s not my favorite album of theirs, I can tell the guys put in a ton of work for this mini album, and I’m proud that they are growing and starting to take more charge in creating their own music.  

As for the “Can’t Stop” video, I liked it. They mixed it up throwing the piano in there. The guys looked great, and the storyline was really cute. Is it weird that I wanted there to be a different male lead other than Yonghwa though? Minhyuk or Jungshin? I know he’s the leader, but the pairing felt off. He was in a dress shirt and slacks looking shy in the beginning while she’s in a tank top and denim shorts frolicking around her apartment. She was gorgeous but other than the cute, random gestures, I had a hard time believing they were actually dating. But maybe I’m just reading into things. Overall though, although I still need to get used to the song, I liked the video a lot.  

I feel SNSD and CNBlue went back to the true sound of Kpop with both of their albums. They just sound so different, less western influence and more of their own, especially CNBlue. I’m surprised at both albums, or maybe it’s because “Pink Tape” was the best Kpop album ever and no project will ever sound as perfect.

Now, I must wait for f(x)’s comeback.