Hey fellow Kissmes! Since uBEAT's songs came out 10 hours ago, I have been putting the tracks on playlist mode XD It's too good for words. Ironically, I'll be writing a review of this album, and I hope to hear your comments on the album too... :)
First of all, if you haven't seen the teaser photos, go here and here.
If you are fine with soundcloud, go take a listen to the songs here.
Youtube Links to songs: full album
1. intro
2. should have treated you better (title song)
3. it's been a long time
4. standing still (remix)
5. can't breathe (remix)
6. party all the time (remix)
7. sweety girl (remix)
Teaser Pictures
When U-KISS first confirmed that their 1st unit group uBEAT is formed by Eli and AJ, featuring Kevin, I believe many kissmes were as excited as I was, since they are the English speakers of the group who receive more global attention, I assume. Since AJ & Eli are rappers, I thought they would have very rap-ish image, probably very manly or something similar to Big Bang's G-Dragon and Top's image. Well, I was glad it wasn't, as I didn't like the idea of U-kiss turning vulgar (like during the 'shut up' days) or too manly. The teaser photos certainly did not look like the image U-Kiss usually portrays. In fact, I felt that it was very western-like. Does anyone see its resemblance with One-Direction? I'm not sure about the rest, but it was very refreshing for me to see the fun side of my biases.
Hair-style: I was shocked at first, but I now think their new hairstyles are really cute. In the teaser photos, all of them had dyed their hair brown. AJ's hair is in a gradient of brown to blonde, with purple highlights on his bangs. Eli's hair is quite normal, with a slight tinge of blonde, while Kevin's are brown to golden, with a little green highlight. Their hairstyle are not as bombastic as some of their previous comebacks (Eli's hair red, Aj's shaved etc), and they are of very lovely colours... :)
As for the costume, they seem very... English. In the first few photos released, they either had bow ties or neck ties, which seems funny at first sight, but I'm getting used to it. They look good in those bright coloured suits and all kinds of outfits.
Well, what I didn't really like was AJ's white specs. They looked like lab goggles to me... XD
And AJ's shorts/bermudas.... He looks like a footballer jock now... not bad but... oh well... spoiled my image of him being a cool nerd, without specs.
And their necklaces.... seem too big for their necks..
Anyway, I love the white guitar placed beside Kevin. Proves his angelic side.. XD AJ and Eli look a little badass with those excessive rings, but I have no complains. But somehow their poses are a little.... weird? There's this photo with Eli sitting on AJ's thighs? I'm not sure... ehhem..
Oh, there's something I have to mention about their hairstyles. Somehow when they were in Singapore promoting their Collage album just 2 days ago, AJ and Kevin had blonde hair, with AJ's being slightly lighter? It was the first time seeing AJ's hair so light coloured... So this is to give a heads-up... He could be blonde...
Album Songs
Before I reveal anything, you must hear their songs if you haven't. Click this, and hear the remix versions of some songs in Collage too.
I am too belated for words after hearing the songs. They sound very cute and boyish~ I'm really glad they didn't produce some badboy-ish songs, and went for the upbeat, happier melody kind. It's really rare for rappers to do so, and I love it. It's unique.
Like what they said, the song 'should have treated you better' is really catchy, even thought the title's so long. It features Kevin's really sweet voice, and I'm sorry Kevin, but you really sound like a girl beside AJ and Eli's rap. It has a very happy tune despite the sadness of the lyrics, quite ironic, in a good way. The titled song tells the story of a guy who regrets not treating his girlfriend better, and he is reluctant to break up. Although the way Kevin sings it makes it sound very childish, like a teenager's love life, it really is quite light and playful. It lighten my moods since I heard it right after sitting for a terrible exam paper. I don't see the childishness as a bad thing. It's just very different from U-KISS' mainstream titled songs, which are usually sad, heavy and such.
I have one complain though. The album should be by Eli and AJ, only featuring Kevin. But why are the two songs produced sung by Kevin, almost all the way? I thought they would be rap songs with Eli and AJ's unique rapping styles, while Kevin would probably sing at most one verse? Or probably in the background. Yet it seems that I hear Kevin's voice throughout the songs... =.= Don't get me wrong, I love Kevin's voice and all, but I feel that AJ and Eli should own major parts of the song, at least the chorus. My concept of feats may be wrong, so feel free to comment and give an alternative view point to this. Once again, if I ignore the fact that it's a Eli & AJ album feat Kevin, the songs are really great.
My next point, which makes me doubt my hearing ability, is about their individual parts. As a singer myself, I like to identify voices of each singer and rapper. I am usually rather good, I must say, at identifying individual parts of groups that I have listened to for so long that I can sing most of their songs. Yet, in this album... I seem to hear unrecognisable voices... I can't even say that these voices could belong to other U-KISS members... because they don't. For example, in the intro, I don't think it's either of the rappers saying the first part that goes "3 boys from U-kiss, Kevin, Eli, AJ..." with the weird stray voices at the background going 'yeah' & wooh' and so on. It could be the Electroboyz. I try to think that it is AJ, but... I don't think so. It's too low for his norm. I'm not sure, so any comments?
Also, somehow I don't manage to hear AJ's voice anywhere... :'( He's my bias so I'm quite sad, but back to business. Really. Maybe in the title song he raps a bit here and there in the background during the chorus, but other than that, I can only hear Eli, if it even is him. Maybe the first rap part is AJ, but it doesn't sound very like him. I always identify him by the way he raps in a tune or maintaining the same key, and making it sound very nice and cool. Maybe I should wait till someone posts their individual parts before saying this.. but somehow I really do hear rappers that are not Eli & AJ in the 2 songs... which I am guessing is probably the Electroboyz. E.g. the nasal 'oh, oh, oh, oh' in the title songs that could possibly be Eli but I'm still not very sure. Also, there's this one verse where someone who's not Kevin is singing... It doesn't sound like AJ nor Eli to me... so I'm really doubting my hearing ability.
If I pretend those odd rapping voices belong to AJ and Eli, then I must say this: wow. I've never heard this style of rapping coming from them before, especially AJ. He has almost a totally different rapping style in this 2 songs, and I can't quite put my hands on what's different. So... good for you AJ.
Putting that aside, I reallllyyy love the beats of the song. It's actually rather slow, but they manage to keep the song lively throughout and its really not boring at all. The beats, which are actually what mainstream bands-with-drums use all the time, have been miraculously transformed into very pretty beats. It is, of course especially so when AJ beat-boxes it. Aha! I think you might not know about it. During their concert in Singapore, they gave a short teaser of the song, and while Kevin was singing 1 or 2 lines of the chorus, AJ enhanced Kevin's angelic voice with his powerful beat-boxing skills. In fact, I would love it if he had beat-boxed in the official song itself. If you wanna hear the short teaser, go here.
Going on to the remix. I loved them. The producers added beats and new chords and instruments to the songs, which may seem a little weird but in fact fits perfectly into the songs. The producers of course rearranged them, and I guarantee that if you are the kind of fan who had heard the collage album songs more than 5 times, you would love it. Otherwise, you might feel that the arrangement is all over the place, which in fact isn't, since it's a remix. :)
I must recommend the remix of their Collage title song-- Standing Still. The remix for this is more special, instead of adding beats, they removed all of them!!! You should really check it out, as it really sounds nice. The guitar is still in the background, and the plucking gives the very nice indirect beats, if I may say. It sound like an almost acapella version, which I totally love. Oh.. but one thing... somehow, even though this IS an Eli AJ album, the remix version removes their rap parts... so i'm still wondering whether it is done on purpose for good laugh or what... Hope they can explain it soon... >:( just kidding... :D
So. I'm loving this album, and I hope you are too. If anyone would care to do so, could I clarify whether there will be an mv for this album? I haven't heard any info of that sort, only that they'll debut on 25 April in Taiwan. Good for you, Taiwan kissmes. But I'm thinking that the mv is a yes, since I remember seeing Eli's tweet that they were filming the mv sometime on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Anyway, daebak U-KISS uBEAT!! I've had my hopes up, and I'm very happy with the album. Just can't wait for the mv (if there's one... I really wanna see it XD)
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