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Review: Jaejoong - Breaking Dawn (Prod. Hyde)
Two JYJ reviews in a day? Awesome.
I am so behind on J-Pop reviews, I need to review so many of them, so I thought I would start with Jaejoong. Jaejoong is a former member of TVXQ, my favorite K-Pop group ever, and he is no slouch for his rock solo material. 'Breaking Dawn' is the opening for the new anime Noblesse, and is produced by Hyde, and boy does this sound like a match made in heaven.
I am surprised about one thing, YouTube comments seem to be giving critical and objective thoughts on this track. Notably, they criticize the verses and praise the chorus. To be honest, I found its first few seconds to aimless to enjoy, but then the pre-chorus hit, and the track went on full-build mode. Jaejoong is a legendary vocalist, and he eats the pre-chorus like a midday snack. The chugging instrument in this section is one of the best parts of this track.
Breaking Dawn goes full-on rock for the chorus. Jaejoong screams a bit through rock, though it felt a bit too short, I would extend the chorus. The next verse continues the build established in the pre-chorus. This is interrupted by a TRAX-like segment in the middle of the verse before the pre-chorus. It felt unnecessary, but I'll take it.
The next segment keeps the harder style from the middle of the track, before going to the melodic pre-chorus. I think the track is a bit confused about whether it wants to go hard or melodic. For the finale, the pre-chorus and chorus are repeated on top of each other, finally bringing together the two styles of the track. I would extend this by thirty seconds or so.
While its confusion between the hard and melodic rock sides do dent the track, this is more than just competent, it is a solid anime OST from one of the best vocalists in East-Asian music.
Jaejoong is a great artist, but some of his works were not my cup of tea. Especially as the 2010s go forward. The CrownVirus joke was the end I guess. Well, congrats to him anyway!
ReplyDeleteTrue, the joke was definitely in poor taste, but I am surprised how unaffected his career was by it. I am not sure if you follow J-Pop charts, but he is still thriving there and in international polls. His career is still going strong, and he has had a prolific year. I still wish he had not made that April's Fool joke.
DeleteAbsolutely I know of the fact that people forgot about it. I was just saying that maybe some Cassies would be offended. But nevertheless, his album is still selling well. That is all that matters!
DeleteYa, I know that he lost many Cassies over that, and deservedly too. Still, I think someone with his talent and story deserves a comeback.
Delete108 this is bad news, a tie in the Critics' Circle is happening for Best New Artist, Electronic Record, and Best MV!
ReplyDeleteUpdate it is now SOTY and Electronic Record. A vote fixed the other ties.
DeleteYikes, an SOTY tie can prove confusing, hope you can find another vote.
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