Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts

Sunday, 27 January 2013

[REVIEW] Girls' Generation 4th Album - I Got A Boy

Happy 2013 SONEs!
I believe everyone started their new year with the release of Girls' Generation's 4th Album - I Got A Boy and also the music video of "I Got A Boy" itself.

This time around, they switched styles to hip-hop and many have wondered if they could pull it off. Guess what, they nailed it!

This new image of theirs did not only prove that they are brave to make a change, but also good enough to actually succeed. Girls' Generation have matured in many aspects and they have brought us a whole new sense of music.

I got my albums a little late since there was a delay in shipment, hence the late review.
But no worries! Here I am now, about to review the album with the group cover.

This is how it looks like:

Group cover.
 Without the acrylic casing.
The CD at the back.
 The case, box and the photobook.
 A peep of the photobook.

The packaging is simple, honestly.

The downside to this is when you take the box out, then you try to slide it in again, the edge of the acrylic case might scrape the sides of the box.
Because it's made up of paper-like material, the color will be scraped off. Some tighter cases might scrape off more.
Otherwise, it is all good.
Even the size makes us feel good when we hold it.

I have to say though, there is really nothing too complicated about the packaging except that this time, they have 10 kinds of covers.

And now, we will look at the songs in this album.

This album has only 3 ballads but it's enough. More and we will all melt, maybe, as if we haven't melted enough.
I think all of the songs are really good, and it's a whole new feeling to what we know about Girls' Generation.
Of course, their skills are always present.

I Got A Boy- "Eh?", that's my first listen. My brain couldn't understand the song until I knew what it meant. Then I find it really good and addicting, the rap, chorus, everything.  There is a peak to every part of the song and this is a very different song from what our girls have tried before. It's hard to register at first but it sticks after listening to it many times.

Dancing Queen- Remake of Duffy's "Mercy". Back to 2008, the Gee era. I would like to think that this song is dedicated to Hyoyeon. It has a different feeling to the original "Mercy".

Baby Maybe- This is a very sweet song. Written by our very own Yuri, Sooyoung and Seohyun. Easy to sing along to (Put your hands up if you feel like this!). One part though, is very very very finger-curling- Sooyoung's "my boo, na ye jagiya *Jagiya~*. I can't help but smile and go "awwww" everytime that comes on.

Talk To Me- Basically this is the Korean version of "Boomerang" from Girls&Peace album. No more "boom boom loving you" but "let's talk talk about, talk talk about it boy". Let's talk to them, SONEs.

Promise- First ballad of the album. It feels like it's about how they probably feel when they get off the stage. When they feel tired, when they think about normal lives, and maybe, when they think about SONEs and loved ones during times of weariness. Their voices are emotional and the vocals are really good. Breaks my heart every time I listen to this song.

Express 999- An upbeat song. Falling in love and being curious about someone is like getting onto an express, said our girls. The verse and chorus sounds slightly different from other similar songs as the music is somewhat different, but they actually glue! The bridge part with Taeyeon's vocals is always something nice to listen to.

Lost In Love- Second ballad of the album and it is by Taeyeon and Tiffany. About hanging on to love even if it hurts. Their voices are really good and the lower voices during the verses are great. The chorus is projected quite powerfully as the song progresses and the ending is undeniably fantastic. Their vocals just melt into each other perfectly.

Look At Me- The rap is cool. Very cool. An upbeat and fast song. Even the chorus is too fast for me to catch up. But hey, "You look at me, I look at you", at least I got that. I really hope to hear this song live one day.

XYZ- Written by Yuri and Seohyun. It's a song about ending a relationship, saying that XYZ is the end of ABC. And still, they are strong enough to move on and take on reality. The beat is nice to follow to. I really like the way they sang in this song although there is nothing much complex.

Romantic St.- This song is full of love. It gives me a feeling as though the girl in this love story is a shy girl trying to confess through this song. The light-beat music makes it all the more sweeter. Imagine a girl trying to hold pinkies with the boy he likes on a dimly lighted street. Yes, keep that picture in your mind.

Well, that is probably less than half of what I can explain about how I feel about the songs in this albums.
We have waited long enough for this album and they have delivered an awesome and fresh one to us.
Many new sounds, voices and positive changes are obvious in this album.
Personally, I think it is a breakthrough and new standards have been set.

That's all I have for you today!
I hope you SONEs have enjoyed my review so far.
Let's continue supporting them by listening to their music!
Thank you and signing off.
Happy 2013!

Friday, 7 December 2012

[REVIEW] Girls' Generation II - Girls & Peace

Hello SONEs!
It is time for another review again.

As we all know, Girls' Generation has just released a new Japanese full-length album, "Girls' Generation II - Girls & Peace" recently, and as stated by Sooyoung, this album aims to spread peace everywhere they go since they travel throughout the world very often.

The one I got was the Deluxe First Press Edition version A. 
It comes with the album (CD+DVD), Posters, and a diary with a set of stickers included in it.

So, without any delay, let's have a look at the packaging of our musical peace!
I have to say, when I opened my parcel and took out the album, the first thing that came to my mind was "Wow, it's big!", of course it is not bad thing.

Comparison of size with the regular edition.

The whole thing is a big box, about as thick as a complete dictionary.
You're looking at the casing.
 This is the box on the inside.
 When you get to open it...

This is the album and below it is the lyrics booklet.
 The inside.
These are the individual posters.
The posters are the girls in their stewardess uniforms.
I believe all of you have seen the HQ images around.

You get 9 of them.
Slightly larger than A3 size.

This is the diary. It is almost as big as the box and half the thickness of the box.
It is supposed to be pinker.
  The inside of the diary and the set of stickers.

The diary is like a memo book where you can write notes and insert pictures into the side of the notes.
 Set of Girls' Generation Airlines stickers.

That is it for the contents.

Now on to the album!
Personally, I think this album is really good and it probably overtook their first Japanese album.
The album has only 2 ballads, while the tunes of the remaining songs are quite energetic or techno-ish, but I guess that is how peace is spread, through positive energy!

Let's see what we have:

FLOWER POWER- The title is in all caps according to the album. This song is about fruitless love (Adabana, people?) and the pretense of humans in finding love (to me). This is probably the most techno-ed song I find in the album. The cut-throat "I'm not gonna" left a strong impression on me!

Animal- This song has good beats. Energetic. Easy to sing-along with the "I-I-I-I'm an animal". Sense the wildness in their voices.

I'm a diamond- This is my favorite song from the album. The rap is just outstanding. The intro, somehow, reminded me of some Chinese war song, but everything is good on this end. I really love their lower voices when they sing the verses of this song. A song with a slight tinge of arrogance. Good arrogance.

Reflection- The song that Taeyeon recommended herself. No doubt it is a good recommendation. It has a strong melody to it. Powerful and upbeat. I really like the tune. Their falsettos are good, too.

Stay Girls- "Be ladies but we stay girls", the line we all got hooked on in this song. Something just warms my heart when I listen to this.

T.O.P- I see this one as an announcement to the world. The melody even has this victory trumpet playing in the back. Obviously the girls are gonna dominate and nobody can take them down.

Boomerang- Is it weird to say that this song reminds me of Chocolate Love and Beyonce? Chocolate Love is because of the heavy electrical music at the beginning and the way they deliver their first verse. Beyonce came from the chorus with the mixtures of voices and falsettos. A nice song to move and sing along to.

Oh!- Japanese remake from the Korean "Oh!". Old days, new memories.

ALL MY LOVE IS FOR YOU- Another song with an all-caps title. The first ballad in the album. Good vocals good falsettos, as you can guess by now I really love falsettos. Nearing the end of the song is the best part to listen to.

PAPARAZZI- And another all-caps title. People went all crazy when the teaser came out, more when the full music video was released. Many catchy parts and easy to follow, especially the "Ooh-la-la-la" and "boom boom boom" parts, and the English words in the song, too.

Girls&Peace- A cheerful song with a positive vibe to it. It feels like this song can bring people together and we can always follow their lead!

Not Alone- The second ballad that closes the album. Quite the light melody at the back. As usual, their voices always standout in ballads with all the emotions. The chorus sounds very layered to me. Taeyeon's vocals at the end paired up with the supporting vocals gives me goosebumps. A great way to wrap up.

Those are my own opinion on the songs and I hope I managed to tell I wanted to express about them. The album is great, and will not get boring even after many replays.
Obviously it didn't for me.

Sorry for the long post and the bad lighting for the pictures,
I hope you guys enjoyed my review and enjoy "Girls' Generation II - Girls & Peace" !
Thank you and signing off.

Thursday, 18 October 2012

SNSD Thursday Fashion Review by @AngieATFblog: Sooyoung for 1st Look

Who: SNSD Sooyoung
What:Biker Sweat Dress
Which Brand: J-Lite X 1st Look
What: Biker Sweat shirts
Which Brand: J-Lite X 1st Look
What: "Harp seal white" Tshirt Biker training pants
Which Brand: J-Lite X 1st Look
What: Biker sweat JK and Biker patched legging
Which Brand: J-Lite X 1st Look
What: Polar Bear dark grey tshirt, Biker sweat skirt
Which Brand: J-Lite X 1st Look

Thursday, 27 September 2012

[REVIEW] Girls' Generation Complete Video Collection and Oh! Japanese single

Hello again to all SONEs!
It's time for another review again.
Well instead of reviewing, I'd rather call this an "opinion voice-out".

I just got both my parcels today and I can't wait to share it with all of you!
First of all, I never expected the parcel for the Complete Video Collection to be this big.

Please ignore the background heh.

Well actually there's just a lot of papers inside for protection.
When I took it out, it looks like this:


Mine is the DVD Limited Edition, but I assume the Blu-Ray is similar to the DVD one.
I have no idea about the Regular Edition one.

I thought it was going to be in a square metal box, smaller in size, even.
The diameter of the box is around 30cm, more or less.
I actually went through a hard time trying to open it!
*To people who bought this, please keep it in a dry place because according to what I've seen(and heard), these metal boxes will rust if careless.*

There are DVD,  a ballpoint pen with a projector, an earphone jack, a set of playing cards, and 10 postcards inside the packaging.
Those who pre-ordered the First Press Edition will get a poster.
The poster is like an enlarged version of the cover image. *I am unable to snap a picture of the poster because it rolls up when I spread it out.*

The earphone jack is really cute. It says "GG Cinemas BEVERAGE" and "GG Cinemas POPCORN" on them.
Sorry about my hand though, just wanna get a good shot of the letters!


As for the projector pen, I got Jessica's image.
Honestly, I would bring this with me into the forest, it calms to see (one of) their faces!

Picture took in the dark. The projection has colors!

The playing cards are really just poker cards, except that they have better packaging, and better faces hah!

GG Playing Cards.
 Lucky number 7,6,9,3,5,4,8,2 and 10.
 Our precious jokers.

Lastly, the postcards are more like a collection of art cards.

They are beautifully drawn and I find the one drawn for Paparazzi is exceptionally realistic!
Pretty colourful I would say, but personally I would prefer postcard with their real faces (Yes?No? SONEs? I always have something to complain about haha!)

On to the next part, which is the Oh! Japanese Single that I also got today.
I got the Limited Edition one for myself.
Nothing too complicated about this but there isn't a poster for the single though.

Oh my, how much our girls have grown since the Korean Oh! era from 2 years ago.
Now they portrait college girls already.

Cheerleader Soshi as the cover.
 The inside.
 The CD and DVD.

Well, the DVD only contains the Music Video for"All My Love Is For You".
Somehow I believe all of us wanted "Oh!" Music Video to be added as well, it is the Oh! Japanese Single after all.
As for the CD,  both "Oh!" and "All My Love Is For You" are included.

Personally, I really like the idea that they sang "Oppareul Saranghae"  in the Japanese Oh!.
Similar but new at the same time.
And 

There's one thing I don't understand though,
Why did they put "ALL MY LOVE IS FOR YOU" in caps?


Well that is all for now.
I hope all of you have enjoyed reading this post!
Till we meet again next time,
Then perhaps I will take you guys down the memory lane!

Saturday, 15 September 2012

[REVIEW] In A Twinkle Photobook by TheStephi.com

Hello to all SONEs and Fanytastics out there!
As we all know, the promotions for Girls' Generation-TaeTiSeo is already over for some time,
TheStephi.com released a photobook including pictures from the "Twinkle" album promotion period and also pictures from some other external events within or around that time; of course, featuring our eye-smile queen, Tiffany.

When this book is bought during the pre-order period, the photobook does not only come with a DVD, but also with gifts like photocards, picture cards, earphone winder and post-it notes. A pair of socks will be given extra to foreign customers, as well.

This photobook is relatively smaller (Size B5,100pages) than their normal photobooks.
Personally I think it is more like a sub-photobook.

Size comparison.
This is how it looks like.
 The one at the top is the earphone winder, Tiffany holding a trophy. Bottom are the extra gifts.
 Socks with Tiffany character doing the "Twinkle" pose.
(I wouldn't have the heart to wear it though. Who would?)

The pictures in this photobook consist of those from Twinkle performances at various music programs, SMTown World Tour, the Fame musical, J.estina events and some other undisclosed and derpy pictures.
Many pictures showing her famous eye-smiles are also included. 

The images are 90% sharp compared to their major photobooks though.
It is like giving a different texture and feeling to it.
Probably because of the type of paper they decided to use for this one. The paper is a little rough to the touch, unlike those shiny and smooth papers.
Nevertheless, the images are printed are still beautiful.


All in all, the pictures are really good as usual.
I would give it a 100points (although I hope for more derpy pictures like every other SONEs out there)!
I look forward to future products of TheStephi.com and other fansites as well.

Thank you for reading and enjoy your day!