October Mini Song Reviews Pt. 2 (Kingdom, CNBlue, NCT 127)
October was a busy month for me, and I did not get to review as many tracks as I wanted. Thus, this is a lucky month for the mini song reviews. Due to the Gayo Music Festival, I found several indie titles, while I also have several major releases left to review. Thus, I had to split the roundup into two.
Kingdom - Black Crown
After two somewhat middling singles, Black Crown is where Kingdom finally managed to marry song to concept. I already talked about the concept behind Kingdom here, but to be short, the MV manages to show the slow degradation of Ivan IV mentally once in power. The lyrics also manage to be vague, unique, and on the concept.
The production is immaculate, strongly nailing the concept. Unfortunately, the melody is a little lacking, perfectly in the chorus. The members' vocal performance is strong at the very least.
Rating: 8.25/10
CNBLUE - Love Cut
CNBLUE now have returned after enlistment, largely sticking to their base concept. The appeal of CNBLUE was always that they were largely idols who just happened to play their instruments. Love Cut plays into this strength, with a simple yet generic hook.
Sure, it is not exactly original, but it promises to get stuck in your head, and that is good enough for me.
Rating 8.5/10
NCT 127 - Favorite (Vampire)
In an ideal world, Sticker would have been scrapped or severely updated, Love On The Floor would be released earlier, and made the album's initial title track, and Favorite would stay the repackage. At the very least, Favorite heads a strong, if inconsistent, album. Favorite's verses would have been invigorating in 2016, but NCT did the style so good since debut, that they honestly sound like a better version of a trend.
However, that chorus is stunning. Kenzie's production skills are totally on display, with the excellent whistle sample, thriving along with the anthemic melody. It is a moment not to miss. It all leads to a strong climax.
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