Lightsaber – EXO

Lightsaber is a collaboration with  between EXO and Star Wars. And for those who don’t know, a new Star Wars film will be released soon. I personally am not a fan of the franchise, so I don’t really feel interested. At first when I saw this information, I shoved Lightsaber to the side and forgot about it. BUT after listening to it once, I am now replaying this song constantly. The line distribution in this song does trouble me to an extent. I understand the point of a main vocalist and lead and just a normal vocalist, but honestly, after 3 members leaving, I am sure those who remain who usually have the odd line can be bumped up with a little more. Mainly talking about Xiumin in this song. Poor fellow has a great voice and we can never hear it. But honestly, beside that, I think this is an amazing song. The vocals are on point and I enjoyed the fluctuating speeds in the song. Some parts are fast, others are slow. The biggest highlight in this song would have to be: Chanyeol’s rap. It is extremely husky and forcibly masculine. I got into the song through his rap and it is one of the most perfect rap sequences I have heard so far this year (hmmm…). I enjoyed the dubstep drops and the chorus is quite simple, but at the same time giving that electronic feel to the song that the Star Wars obviously has.

As for the music video, I was intrigued when I first saw that the some of the members (mainly Kai, Sehun and Baekhyun) actually featured in it. I was expecting like scenes from the movie, but instead we got a brand new music video. The video has this mysterious feel to it. We just see the said members be Jedi and get into battle. That air of mysteriousness adds a nice touch to the video. I would have liked a little more, but I think what we have so far is really well done and amazing. The dark lighting and camera-work gives that extra edginess to the video.

Overall, great song and music video. It sucks that it is only a collaboration and we’re not going to see much more of the single anymore. 9/10

Overdose – EXO K

EXO is back with a return to their Chinese and Korean subunits. A note to fans that this review is not as great as their other ones. In fact, I am going to state it here. I don’t like it all. And while they have been promoting this sing, it seems that the members have been plagued by such bad news of a member filing for termination of his contract. Basically if you are an EXO fan and you have not heard about this, you have been basically living under a rock. I just have one thing to say about the whole issue. Everyone from day 1 turned their backs on each other. No need for an explanation. Well, that is how the media portrays everyone as. But anyhow, good luck to EXO for now and the future.

This song is not a great song. Let me get that off my chest. I don’t hate it as much as their other songs, I just find it lacking a lot, compared to Growl, their song from last year. It just did not have that feel. It was not catchy for me. It was actually pretty boring. The song itself felt way too foreign and awkward for me to listen to. The claps or clicks were okay and the English lines was okay. But like “Someone call the doctor” was really cheesy. Not only that but lines that were way too cliche were used in this song. The vocals were not strong and were overshadowed by the electro instrumental. The drums beats were pretty good but failed to wrap the song up. The bridge felt too out of placed. It got high and then slowed down. The rapping though was pretty good. The raspy and deep voice fitted the song. But overall, the song was not my suiting.

The music video was pretty bad. Guess they decide to use the box sets with EXO now that they are successful. Disappointed. Usually I won’t have a complaint, but it was so god damn distracting for me. The lighting was awkward and really did not show the members that well. Though I did like the set where the 11 or 12 guys danced in. My major complaint would have to be the fashion on the band. Like, clothes from the 90’s is not in trend at the moment (and I don’t think they ever will be). Why are their clothing on stage so much better than in the music video beats me, but the clothing was just so painful to look at. One last thing, and I think majority of people agree with me here, but: please get rid of the bucket hats. You do humanity a great favour by destroying the existence of those hats. Not only were they distracting, but awful, once again, to look at.

The dance was really something to look at. It gave that loud wow found factor with the hexagon shape the members formed with their body. It looks awesome and really cool. The addictive, “knocking on the cheek” dance move is pretty catchy. Those two are basically the two moves I remember the most from the dance. I don’t think EXO has ever left me unimpressed by their dance.

Overall, if you could not tell from the review, I liked the dance much more than the song or music video. It was such a pity, because I was looking at what they could do after such a great song. Expected so much so it can be like this. 2/10.

Growl – EXO

Source: http://www.officiallykmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/EXO-Growl.png

EXO recently made their comeback with their followup album with Growl. Rejoining with all 12 members, EXO is continuing their massive takeover of the charts with this very song. Released on the 5th of August, the band has been been topping charts with their latest song. The group has wowed fans with their new song and style of their music video taken in one shot. Yeah, sorry about the lame introduction. Growl is included in the repackaged album of their first album including their last promotional song, Wolf.

This song is much better than Wolf. So much better that I actually liked it. I disliked Wolf and Mama, but this song is quite different altogether. I like the hip hop feel of the song which is completely different to other songs. I also do like the instrumental. It seems poppy and really like how it is upbeat at some parts and then slow at others. The chorus is pretty catchy especially the “Na eureureong eureureong eureureong dae” part which is really catchy. I feel sorry for my friends, because I kept on singing that part the whole day. The transitions to the rap at the end of the song was not as great. And that extra slow part which sounds like a pop ballad at the end sounds pretty awkward which goes to show that this song has a few genres mashed into one. The song’s ending with the two thumps (also through the song) was pretty cool as well. I find this song 1000000 times better than Wolf and it seems like the band made the right song choice.

The music video is really creative. It is taken with what we can assume is with a camera of one shot. Who was extremely impressed with this video because of that? Unlike some videos lately such as f(x)’s Rum Pum Pum Pum, this video was well invested. They did seem have a smaller budget with the clothing. Yeah, I saw that they did not change much from the outfit which they wore in Wolf’s drama version. Also the lighting in this video contributed to the feel of the video. Yes, the non “flashing lights switch dance by Baekhyun” flashing lights. Pretty weird they missed out on that while editing the video and finding the perfect shot. The music video looked pretty good this time around but SM needs to do this for all of their artists. But such a creative video which we cannot see for any other band in the company.

As for the dance, it too incorporated that circle shape to the choreography and the camera work as well for some of the live stages. I particularly find this dance much more appealing than Wolf. The live is pretty good. However am I the only one really unimpressed with the hat trick in both the video and the stage performances? It was pretty lame compared to the rest of the video. The dance was pretty cool and then there was the “amazing” hat trick by the members.

8/10. Impressed by this song. That is my point of view. But was yours? Did you like Wolf or Growl more? Comment below!!!!

Wolf – EXO

Source: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tXkYa3lPIoA/UadDVbApaiI/AAAAAAAAM-Y/G6uXWfrRj0o/s640/exo.jpg

EXO has finally made their long awaited comeback. Seriously guys? Despite EXO not coming back for a whole year, why are you guys so needy for a comeback and saying that “It has been so long”. I have never seen a more feistier fanclub ever before. It is like if we put Super Junior, 2PM, Beast and Big Bang’s fans in one room. Likewise, SNSD, Wonder Girl’s, 2NE1, 4Minute fans in the room. Okay, I should shut up before some exotics get to me. EXO made a very confident comeback which is quite likely to put their name out in the field, but not really enough to be as successful as their other label mates. What I see is from the perspective of fans. What this review is, is something totally different.

This, by far, is the worst song out there at this very moment. Yes, it had an addictive beat but the song was just a mis-mash of different genres placed together. I was looking forward to this song, however first time listening to it, I was WTF? Second time, WTF? Third time, WTF? Fourth time, WTF? The lyrics are not appealing. The song overall was a tragic mess. I avoided reviewing MAMA for a reason, and actually I regret not reviewing that song now. However, due to the amount of publicity this group has been getting, I guess I had to put the review up. I am quite disappointed. I expected better. I guess SM is doing the same stunts now, like what they have been doing with SHINee and F(x). Horrible management. The only part I like was that part, however, which was the relief bit for you guys, was that part after Kyungsoo (I think that his name is), where the three guys start rapping. That was cool.

The music video was quite horrible as well. Another tragic mess. Another dark video, one that was quite confusing. The set was not as spectacular as I had expected. It did not feature anything that was “great”, and again SM is not putting enough money into the production of these music videos, just a box set and odd lighting. The dance was okay as well. Not great. I thought they were making the crocodile snapping heads during the dance and at the same time I thought, “Wasn’t this song about wolves, not crocodiles?” That was pose must’ve been hard to do, but seriously, it looked random and out of the place during the whole performance. The ending was great, but the start did not appeal to me at all. So overall, crappy music video and a somewhat okay dance.

4/10. At least they scored higher than T-Ara’s Sexy Love? Comforting? No? Also, this is my view on the song, and I actually have friends that agree to how boring and useless this comeback is. So there are people in the world that also share views that are opposite of “Dreamy Kai Oppa” or “EXO is the BEST BAND EVER” or “EXO beats the rest”!

What is Love? – EXO K / EXO M

Song

These boys can sing. They have great vocal skill and sound very good. The Korean version is kind of bland & boring. The Chinese Version flows only a bit. The guitar in this song is really boring. Okay, I’ll admit. Not a fan of this song. Not a fan of both versions. Let’s hope their debut song is much better than this song. Their voices really don’t match this kind of genre which I am confused about as well. Yes, they can sing but I really think this song is not a good song to listen to.

Music Video

Oh Boy. This music video has no plot. No plot at all. Instead it is a music video with all their teasers rammed into one with a few extra scenes we have not seen. Boring. I was more intrigued with the instrumental that was going in their teasers not what was actually was going on in them.

Anyway, there is one thing I can agree in this boring music video. Really great visuals. (No Homo). They are all good looking. (No Homo).

Anything Else?

I am not writing much about this song. (I might need to write an essay for their official debut song). Just who thought of the idea of a prologue single? Seriously, this song puts me off EXO. They have a lot to do in their debut then.

And The Rating?

A poor song but great vocals. SM Ent once again fails to impress me. First Mr. Simple, A-Cha, The Boys now this. 4.5/10. Sorry guys.

Have Fun Watching. Troy 😀

Chinese Version

Korean Version