SHINee – Everybody

November 14, 2013 at 3:09 PM | Posted in SHINee | 1 Comment

MINI-ALBUM REVIEW
SHINee – Everybody

1. Everybody
2. Sangsabyeong (Symptoms)
3. Bit Sok New York (Queen Of New York)
4. 1 Bunman (One Minute Back)
5. Destination
6. Tadajwo (Close The Door)
7. Colorful

♦ ♦ ♦

Everybody is the fifth Korean mini-album by South Korean boy group SHINee. The mini-album was released on October 14, 2013.

SHINee has always been known to me as a group that can come up with some really kickass songs, and with every release they take that to the next level. Everybody can easily be their most aggressive and robotic songs to date, heavy on the synths, beats and dubstep breaks. I don’t think I ever heard them perform another song like this one, it’s very well produced albeit a little too perfect when it comes to the artificial elements. Nonetheless, I’m very much impressed with this effort!

Sangsabyeong (Symptoms) is an interesting track, since it combines both the energetic dubstep quality of Everybody with a smooth and laid back R&B song. At first I thought the entire song was gonna follow the pattern of that last genre since Jonghyun opens the song to a soft fingersnap beat. But then the chorus comes around and it becomes pretty clear that if there is something called a ‘dubstep ballad’, this is it. The guys deliver quite an emotional performance here, so it’s a memorable track overall.

Interesting to hear Minho open a song for a change. Bit Sok New York (Queen Of New York) finally let go of that dominant dubstep genre that was present in the previous two songs. Some nods to it are still there, but this song is more on the electropop side. The chorus is very catchy, a bit oldschool with a modern touch to it. It’s not the most special song I ever heard but it’s appealing.

1 Bunman (One Minute Back) incorporates more R&B/hiphop elements into the dancepop arrangement. It also has a more mysterious sound than the other songs on the album. Both Minho and Key deliver very slick rap performances in this track while Jonghyun obviously takes on the belting and Onew sounds most solid of all. One of the most infectuous songs on the album because of the nice chorus.

FINALLY. Destination has all the elements SHINee’s most perfect songs to date also have in common! This song has the power, the perfect exploding vocals in the chorus with Jonghyun and Onew obviously leading, memorable melodies and the perfect badass rap by Minho. It has been a while since they last put out an amazing track like this one, this should’ve been the mini-album’s lead track. I adore this ❤

Tadajwo (Close The Door) tones it down with a beat in triple time and some strings opening the song. It has a soulful approach to it and just like Bit Sok New York it’s slightly on the oldschool side. Although it’s the obligatory ballad of the album, it’s not generic at all and it shows off everyone’s vocals at best. Even the laid back ambience keeps me interested throughout the entire song.

Closing the album with a song that lives up to its name from the very first second: Colorful. This synth-filled pop song is easily the happiest and most uplifting song on the album and I love how this also shows comparisons to some of my favorite SHINee songs. The lyrics are too cute to resist, ‘I think you’re magical / I think you’re wonderful […] You make my heart colorful‘. Aawh. Repeat please, great way to close with a bang.

I wasn’t that impressed with ‘Why So Serious?: The Misconceptions of Me’ and I almost had the fearful thought that SHINee might not release good music in Korea anymore. Until I heard Everybody and my hopes were finally up again. Although this album would’ve been less impressive without the amazing tracks Destination and Colorful, I loved hearing SHINee do some seriously badass dubstep songs. The overall production of this album was very good and although SHINee keeps on shitting out like 5 albums a year, the production value never fails. Definitely a step forward from the misconception albums!

Favorite tracks: Everybody | Bit Sok New York (Queen Of New York) | 1 Bunman (One Minute Back) | Destination | Colorful

OVERALL RATING

4 stars