First listen: Beast Is The B2ST mini-album review
It's time for some action! Attention Please! B2ST is here!
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B2ST's mini album "Beast Is The B2ST" is finally out and everyone and their grandmother knows that I'm frantically ready to punch anyone in the face with excitement. Okay. That didn't sound right. But whatever. I'm pretty busy these days but I just had to check them out---at the risk of having my boss lurk over my shoulder and see me spazz over a bunch of hot young boys. LMAO. Anyways, on to the review! Click on the song title and listen to the song!
Beast Is The B2ST- Banging intro. Intros/teasers are very important if an artist is going to put it in their work, because it's going to set the whole tone of the album. So far the best intros I've heard were Taeyang's "HOT" [I swear, it's still on my playlist] and 4minute's "FOR MUZIK." B2ST starts off with a strong beat and a loud beastly growl! Talk about a big shout-out telling Kpopdom that they have arrived. It sort of reminds me of Se7en's songs in his "Passion" era. AJ's vocals really stand out! At the end of the track they go, "This is the best time to fly." Damn right it is! We need to put a plug on the flood of new girl groups!
Bad Girl [debut single]- B2ST sings "We got a new school sound!" But after a few listen I think they incorporated some old school elements in the song, like the background beat that sounds a little 80's, and it's got that whole JPOP-electronica fusion vibe. Very catchy, you'll find yourself singing "micho micho baaaad girl! and down, down we gonna get down!" in an instant. Love it so much! The pace of the song is not what you'd expect for a debut single, because usually for debut performances most groups [at least for boy bands] start off really fierce like rawr in-your-face attack. It's really peppy and upbeat, I don't mind the auto-tune that much because you can still hear strong vocals. Can't wait to see how they will perform this song live!
Mystery - First thing I noticed---the beginning rap part sounded like T.O.P. This track didn't warm up to me the first time I heard it, because it has the same elements of 4minute's "Hot Issue" but a bit faster. There's a part where the beat sounded exactly like the Hot Issue remix. Cube's style seems to be leaning more into synths and auto-tune sounding songs, which can be a hit or miss at times. This song is okay, but a bit forgettable.
Yet - There's nothing like the sound of rain and thunder in the background to make a good RnB ballad. LOL. And is it just me or did the rap part say "Oh shit!" Then he goes "Let's fall in love spaceship" whuuut. Despite that this song is candy for the ears. It may not stand out that much but it's a good breather from the previous auto-tune peppered track.
Oasis - My fave track! I'm glad they added another mid-tempo ballad into the mix. The piano accompaniment is beautiful, and it's refreshing to hear their voices clearly. The boys have a lot of potential vocal wise. I think the rapping needs a little more work, Idunno, for me the rap parts get overshadowed by everything else and you kinda forget there was even a rap part. Nothing stellar in the rap department unfortunately. Kind of like when AJ came out with "Wipe the tears," where Joon and Poppin' Dragon were featured as rappers, their rap was just so-so.
Just some pet peeves: Some of the tracks sound similar to others and Cube's preference for auto-tunes should be "tuned" down a little bit, because it seems like B2ST's mini-album is a male version of 4minute's. Not that I'm complaining, because even though 4minute's vocals may not be great, their songs are pretty good. As for B2ST, like I said, they should work on their rapping. Rap parts add more flavor to a song to make it escalate to the chorus, but in their case, it just passes by. And some of their "Engrish" lyrics are hard to comprehend. Stuff like "I wanna come to me girl," "Love is sober [when the chorus goes love is over]," "this is for the brokenhearted song," and pretty much the whole intro of Yet. And to be honest, I don't think they suit the whole "beastly" image. I am 2PM biased [because that title should be reserved to them], but just by looking and listening to their songs, B2ST seems like a very fun, outgoing group. Not too fierce or shirt-tearing beastly. But these are small stuff, really, and the refreshing beats and energy make up for it.
So! I give it a Junsu seal of approval!
Up next: MBLAQ!!
Yayyyy more new boy bands!