A-STYLE | MEDIA MATTERS
  • News & Updates
  • Current Projects
    • Past Projects
    • Behind the Scenes >
      • About
      • FAQ
  • For Patrons!
  • Editorials
  • Reviews
    • My Grading Scale
    • Top Lists
  • Fan-Works

Beast - Hard to Love, How to Love (Music Review)

7/24/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Notes: This release was a cool genre expansion for them, but I thought it felt a bit unbalanced to me, JunHyung had a LOT of lines, not that I really have problem with it. I would love to hear Hyunseung rap though, like really rap, and Yoseob too possibly with bouncing call & response lines to help them keep rhythm with JunHyung like YooChun & JaeJoong had in Been so Long...

Top Track: Intro & Encore

Top Track Notes: I like it best when it's hard to choose. I picked two this time because Intro's only a minute and a half so I'm calling it a partial song. The next on my list is easily How to Love and then I'm Sorry. Over all, a great release.

Final Score: 8.5/10

Promotional Track:

Shadow is a solid track. There's an impressive use of harmony, elegant counterpoint. The melody sits high in the listener's awareness but the fill supports it well and the gritty beat keeps everything grounded. Rhythmically it slides along with a sort of smoothe regularity that's broken up by decorations that compound and lead the song to develop well. It's fluid and incredibly catchy, as expected from these fabulous guys. Haunting and beautiful and yet still it's still just a fun track to have playing at a party.

I give it an 8/10: Fabulous!

Other tracks:

Intro has a sweet multi-dimensional beat. It's beautifully spatialized and the chant-vocals contrast nicely with the rap. The rhythms develop energetically, and the dedication is just lovely. Bad ass Gregorian monks meet SPN & Buffy at Boys in the Hood. I feel like a cherished little princess and a kick ass evil sorceress / demon slayer at the same time.
How to Love is soft and sweet. I like the pseudo raps Yoseob and DooJoon had with JunHyung double-tracked for support and actually I just love the double-tracked-other-voices in general. Sometimes it's support (as in the raps) and others it's for harmonic interest and it really works well. The oohs in the bridge slows it all down without putting the breaks on the melody. It all just flows together in a smoothe & polished track.
Be Alright starts off very refreshingly. It then slides right into the synth-heavy R&B Beast does oh so well. Again, the double-tracking and the harmonic decorations are layered in fantastically. It makes the singer-transitions seamless. Lyrically this one doesn't evolve as well as the others, but it's catchy as hell and you can sing along by the second chorus.
I'm Sorry was not my favorite as a single. I think mainly it just wasn't what I was expecting. I took a while to warm up to Beautiful Night when that came out of the blue too, and that's one of my favorite songs from last year. This one has already started to grow on me. It feels very summertime chill, late night poolside in a fancy resort with a broken heart and a sweet cabana boy willing to open up some liquid courage, after hours and free of charge (I'm aware that it has next to nothing to do with the lyrics, but I'm a writer and that is the fic I would put to this). Track wise it's not exceptional, but it is constructed well and it has significant harmonic interest, & like all Beast songs worth talking about (which is quite frankly almost all of them), it has a great sense of space and energy.
Will You Be Alright  kept up the cabana boy idea in my head. Maybe I just really need a vacation, preferably with Beast on a beach in the middle of nowhere, but that's really what is sounds like to me. A little country-western twang was thrown in under the main melody too, some of the guitar decorations are very country. The track isn't incredible, but it's nice relaxing music that is melodically interesting enough to really listen to. I would not be surprised to hear it in a drama OST.
You're Bad initially reminded me of an acoustic-rock Fiction, but that only lasted a few seconds. The stretch in the chorus contracts nicely into the second verse and the rap bounces in with cool flair and out with the same smoothe swag. The bridge feels like it slows down, using the same trick from How to Love but the drums here bring up the energy before it settles.
Encore wraps it all up with spark and sass. It's great fun and energetic, the high synths bounce through it and the mid-line vocals just float. The lower lines fill it out and mesh harmonically with the high trills and the bass is just fabulous. The one thing is . . . someone should have told them that Encore is a French word and instead of pronouncing it 'An-core' it's 'On-core'. Usually the Engrish doesn't bother me, but this one kinda does for some reason. *shrugs*

I give them a 9/10: Blissful!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    If you have Questions about my Terminology, Bias Bands, or any other FAQ click HERE.

    Categories

    All
    100%
    1 The K (Loen Ent)
    2ne1
    2pm
    4 Minute
    9muses
    A6P
    AA (Double A)
    Academic
    A Ent Korea
    After School
    Ailee
    A-Jax
    Alice Nine
    AlphaBAT
    Amber
    Amie Kaufman
    AMUSE Inc
    Ann Pachett
    AoA (Ace Of Angels)
    AOMG
    Apink
    Art History
    * Artist Review *
    A-Sketch Ent
    Attack
    Audience: Adult
    Audience: New Adult
    Audience: Young Adult
    Audience: Young Reader
    B1a4
    B2m Ent
    Bangtan Boys
    B.A.P
    Bastarz
    Beast
    Believe Records
    Ben
    Benedict Carey
    Bestie
    B.I.G
    Big Bang
    Big Hit Ent
    Bigstar
    Block B
    BoA
    * Book Review *
    Boyfriend
    Boys Republic
    Brandnewmusic Korea
    Bravesound
    Brown Eyed Girls
    BTL (Beyond The Limit)
    Bugs! Korea
    Bumkey
    C2k Ent
    Can Ent
    C Clown
    C-Clown
    Chrome Ent
    CJ E&M
    CJes
    C-Jes Ent
    Cl
    CLC
    Collabodadi
    Core Contents Media
    *Cover Review*
    Crayon Pop
    CT Ent
    Cube Ent
    Cultural Studies
    Danal Ent
    Debut
    Diaura
    Disney+
    Donghae
    DS Ent
    Dsp Ent
    Dynamic Duo
    Equal Rep: LGBTQ+
    Equal Rep: Varied Gender Presentations
    ESNa
    Eunhyuk
    EXID
    Exo
    F.cuz
    Fiestar
    Fluxus Music
    Flying Dog Ent
    Fnc Ent
    Ft Island
    F(x)
    GaIn
    Galaxy Inc
    G Dragon
    G-Dragon
    General
    Genre: Action
    Genre: Comedy
    Genre: Cultural Studies
    Genre: Dark Fantasy
    Genre: Dystopia
    Genre: Epic Fantasy
    Genre: Fantasy
    Genre: Historical Fiction
    Genre: Literary Fiction
    Genre: Mythology
    Genre: Physics
    Genre: Plain Fiction
    Genre: Realistic Fiction
    Genre: Revisionary History
    Genre: Romance
    Genre: Science
    Genre: SciFi
    Genre: Space Opera
    Genre: Speculative Fiction
    GH Entertainment
    Giriboy
    Girls Day
    Girls Generation (SNSD)
    G.NA
    Gng Productions
    * Graphic Novel / Manga Review *
    Grisha Verse
    H2 Ent
    Happy Tribe Ent
    Henry
    Heo Youngsaeng
    High4
    History
    Hotshot
    House & Home Goods
    Imagine Dragons
    Infinite
    Information
    Instant Records
    Iu
    James Kakalios
    Jang HyunSeung
    Jay Park
    Jellyfish Ent
    Jennifer Armentrout
    Jimin N J.Don
    JinYoung Park (JYP)
    JMS Ent
    Js Ent
    JTM Ent
    J Tune Camp
    Jun HyoSung
    Jyj
    Jyp Ent
    Kahi
    Kang Seungyoon
    Kara
    Key East Ent
    Kim Hyungjun
    Kim Hyunjoong
    Kim Jaejoong
    KO Sound
    Kota
    KT Music
    K.Will
    Lc9
    Led Apple
    Lee Junghyun
    Leigh Bardugo
    Lim Kim
    Lindsey Stirling
    Lion Mascot (สิงโต นำโชค)
    Lunafly
    Madtown
    Mamamoo
    Marie Lu
    Marie Rutkoski
    Mblaq
    Meagan Spooner
    M.I.B
    Minah
    Miss A
    MMO Ent
    Mnet
    Monsta X
    Moonshine
    * Movie / Drama / TV Show Review *
    M.Pire
    Mr. Mr.
    Music K Ent
    * Music Review *
    My First Story
    Myname
    Mystic89 Music
    Nano
    Naomi Novik
    N.A.P Ent
    Neal Stephenson
    Nega Network
    N.Flying
    Nh Media
    Nine Muses
    Non Fiction
    Non-Fiction
    N-Sonic
    NS Yoon G
    NS Yoon-G
    NU'EST
    Odd Eye
    Oh Yeri
    Okdal
    One OK Rock
    Park BoRam
    Pentatonix
    Personal
    Phantom
    Pledis Ent
    Pocket Girls
    Pony Canyon Ent
    Prepix
    * Product Review *
    Psc Ent
    Queen B'z
    Rainbow
    Red Velvet
    Rex. D
    Rise Records
    Romeo
    ~Rookie Debut~
    Sabaa Tahir
    San-E
    Sarah J Maas
    Sean Carroll
    Secret
    Seo InGuk
    Series: Keeper Of The Lost Cities
    Series: Science Comics
    Seungri
    Seven Seasons Ent
    Seventeen
    Shannon Messenger
    Shinee
    SidusHQ
    Simtong Ent
    Sistar
    Skarf
    Sleeping With Sirens
    Sm Ent
    Sony Music & Ent
    Soulights
    Speed
    Spica
    S-Plus Ent
    Ss501
    Stardom Ent
    Star Empire Ent
    Starkim Ent
    Starship Ent
    Star Wars
    Stellar
    Sugarbowl
    SuJu D&E
    Sunmi
    Sunny Hill
    Super Junior
    Swings
    Taeyang
    Tahiti
    T-ARA
    Tasty
    The Ark
    *Theater & Stage Drama Review*
    The Benjamin Ent
    The British Royal Family
    The VIBE Ent
    Timothy Zahn
    Tiny G
    Tnc Ent
    Togeworl
    Top Class Ent
    Top Media
    Topp Dogg
    Toxic
    Ts Ent
    Tvn
    Tvxq
    U-Kiss
    Ulala Session
    UNIQ
    Universal Music
    Universal Studios
    UP10TION
    Urban Zakapa
    Various Artists
    Vibe: Aeronauts & Punk Diaspora
    * Video Review *
    Vixx
    WA Ent
    Warner Ent
    Wonder Boyz
    Wonder Girls
    Woolim Ent
    Xiah / Junsu
    Xiran Jay Zhao
    Year End Review
    Yedang Ent
    Yg Ent
    Ymc Ent
    YNB Ent.
    YNM Company
    Yuehua Ent
    ZE:A[제국의아이들]
    Z.Hera
    Zico

    Email Me!

    Archives

    November 2024
    May 2024
    December 2022
    November 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    May 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013

    My Tumblr

    RSS Feed

    The name, layout, opinions, analysis, and original media displayed on the Music Matters® website belongs to A-style® and are the intellectual property of Alexandra Swords. 2013©
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.