I am not uploading the whole album, reason being that it would take up a lot of my time and be kind of pointless, since it’s pretty easy to find. Also, I try to refrain from uploading whole albums - if you really want the entire album, support the artists and buy it. This post is intended mostly as a review, although I have uploaded a couple tracks.

- Haruhi



Super Junior Vol. 3 - Sorry Sorry

Tracklist:
01. 쏘리 쏘리 (SORRY, SORRY) [download] [watch MV]
02. 니가 좋은 이유 (Why I Like You)
03. 마주치지 말자 (Let`s Not...)
04. 앤젤라 (Angela)
05. Reset [download]
06. Monster
07. What If
08. 이별… 넌 쉽니 (Heartquake) (Feat. 동방신기 (U-Know & Micky))
09. Club No.1 (Feat. 이연희 Lee Yeon Hee)
10. Happy Together
11. 죽어있는 것 (Dead At Heart)
12. Shining Star

Review:

The album kicks off with title track “Sorry Sorry” - urban, modern, and addictive. The arrangement is bold - pushing on being too jarring and repetitive, it lands right where it should: aggressive, energetic, and confident. These kinds of songs are usually hit-and-miss with me, for me, this song was definitely a hit. I was really impressed by it.

“Why I Like You” is a dance-pop track - catchy, sweet. Although it’s upbeat, the beat and arrangement is kept minimal enough to let their voices through. Although it must be said that they’re not the strongest vocally, they have definitely improved. I loved the faint but unexpected use of acoustic guitars in this song, it really gives it a unique touch.

“Let’s Not” is the first ballad of the album, IIRC it was sung only by SuJu K.R.Y., and partially composed by HwanHee (of Fly to the Sky), who gave it to SuJu to perform. Or something like that. Anyways - no offence, but FTTS probably could have done this song a lot better. Not that SuJu has done too poorly - the vocal work is good, but not outstanding. The song itself is fairly forgettable - this can sometimes be salvaged by an amazing vocal performance, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in “Let’s Not”.

Moving onto “Angela”, which returns to SuJu’s bubblegum-pop routes, although it’s quite nicely balanced out. A sweet, poppy song that’s just fun to listen to, if not the most original. I love the line “you’re my angel, whisper softly” (even if it doesn’t make much sense) a little before the chorus.

I’ve already uploaded and briefly commented on “Reset” in an older post. Hearing the synth-y, Big Bang-esque intro, I was expecting “Reset” to break out into an upbeat dance track. Instead, it transitions (somewhat awkwardly) into a meltingly smooth R&B song. They sound great - the vocal work is soft and flowing, really suiting the accompaniment. I love the chorus - Press the reset, press, press, the reset. There are vague electronica influences that kind of tie in with the intro, but they’re not too overpowering. A genuine, well-executed track, and one of my favourites from this album.

“Monster” picks up the tempo a little, another R&B influenced number. It’s a little darker in tone, but I really like their vocals in this song. It’s fairly catchy and has a lot of replay value. Although it didn’t particularly stand out at the first listen, it’s starting to grow on me.

“What if” is a pop ballad. The accompaniment is overpowering - the vocals kind of sink into it in some verses, only really coming out in the chorus. I’ve never been a big fan of SuJu’s ballads, which, at best, hit mediocrity, and “What if” is no exception. This song was performed by Super Junior K.R.Y.

I had high expectations for “Heartquake” which features DBSK’s U-Know and Micky. IIRC, the only SuJu vocalists in this song are the members of Super Junior K.R.Y., which I find a little odd, since they seem to be the only vocalists used in quite a few songs. I’m guessing these three are the best vocalists, but this is still no excuse for not trying to encorporate more members of the group. “Heartquake” is a dark pop number, I think the DBSK members mostly contributed to the rap verses. It’s a good song, but maybe my expectations were too high as it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.

“Club No. 1” is, as expected by the title, an upbeat track. I’m glad to see that there’s a better distribution of parts. Lee Yeon Hee’s voice is extremely synthesized, IMO it was a little overboard. I liked the guitar work in the arrangement, which blends surprisingly well with the synths thrown in there.

“Happy Together” is midtempo and, as expected, quite poppy. It’s pretty standard SuJu fare ... actually certain melodies remind me of “Marry U”, which is not surprising as the two songs were composed by the same person. A cute, cheery song that lacks much substance, but makes for a nice occasional listen.

“Dead at Heart”, an R&B ballad, is probably my favourite ballad from this album. Although that’s not saying much. The chorus is surprisingly strong and vocal work throughout the song is, generally, quite good. I’m really liking the melody of the chorus, actually. Also, it sounds like other members of SuJu participated in this song, as opposed to the other 2 ballads which consisted only of K.R.Y.

“Shining Star” is a cheerful, sugary song that is true to SuJu’s style. I like the piano accompaniment, which adds a little depth to the otherwise quite bland song. It’s listenable, although not very memorable - a sentiment that could be applied to this album in general.

Overall, Sorry Sorry seems to follow the format of their second album, Don’t Don, quite closely - a nice if predictable variety of pop, R&B, and a couple ballads. And the more experimental title track. Really, the stuff the title tracks are made of is what I’d like to see more of - a little more out of the box, a little more innovative and unique. Sorry Sorry is a solid, decent album. There were no songs that I absolutely hated, but there were also many that were simply mediocre and forgettable. SuJu has no reason to change it’s formula. The general public seems to eat up their standard material, so why take the risk? But songs like “Don’t Don” and “Sorry Sorry” prove that they can do more, and it’s a shame to see that other than the title tracks, most of their songs are nothing special.

Recommended Tracks:
Sorry Sorry, Why I Like You, Reset, Angela, Dead At Heart

Labels: album review, Super Junior

I am not uploading the whole album, reason being that it would take up a lot of my time and be kind of pointless, since it’s pretty easy to find. Also, I try to refrain from uploading whole albums - if you really want the entire album, support the artists and buy it. This post is intended mostly as a review, although I have uploaded a couple tracks.

- Haruhi



Super Junior Vol. 3 - Sorry Sorry

Tracklist:
01. 쏘리 쏘리 (SORRY, SORRY) [download] [watch MV]
02. 니가 좋은 이유 (Why I Like You)
03. 마주치지 말자 (Let`s Not...)
04. 앤젤라 (Angela)
05. Reset [download]
06. Monster
07. What If
08. 이별… 넌 쉽니 (Heartquake) (Feat. 동방신기 (U-Know & Micky))
09. Club No.1 (Feat. 이연희 Lee Yeon Hee)
10. Happy Together
11. 죽어있는 것 (Dead At Heart)
12. Shining Star

Review:

The album kicks off with title track “Sorry Sorry” - urban, modern, and addictive. The arrangement is bold - pushing on being too jarring and repetitive, it lands right where it should: aggressive, energetic, and confident. These kinds of songs are usually hit-and-miss with me, for me, this song was definitely a hit. I was really impressed by it.

“Why I Like You” is a dance-pop track - catchy, sweet. Although it’s upbeat, the beat and arrangement is kept minimal enough to let their voices through. Although it must be said that they’re not the strongest vocally, they have definitely improved. I loved the faint but unexpected use of acoustic guitars in this song, it really gives it a unique touch.

“Let’s Not” is the first ballad of the album, IIRC it was sung only by SuJu K.R.Y., and partially composed by HwanHee (of Fly to the Sky), who gave it to SuJu to perform. Or something like that. Anyways - no offence, but FTTS probably could have done this song a lot better. Not that SuJu has done too poorly - the vocal work is good, but not outstanding. The song itself is fairly forgettable - this can sometimes be salvaged by an amazing vocal performance, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in “Let’s Not”.

Moving onto “Angela”, which returns to SuJu’s bubblegum-pop routes, although it’s quite nicely balanced out. A sweet, poppy song that’s just fun to listen to, if not the most original. I love the line “you’re my angel, whisper softly” (even if it doesn’t make much sense) a little before the chorus.

I’ve already uploaded and briefly commented on “Reset” in an older post. Hearing the synth-y, Big Bang-esque intro, I was expecting “Reset” to break out into an upbeat dance track. Instead, it transitions (somewhat awkwardly) into a meltingly smooth R&B song. They sound great - the vocal work is soft and flowing, really suiting the accompaniment. I love the chorus - Press the reset, press, press, the reset. There are vague electronica influences that kind of tie in with the intro, but they’re not too overpowering. A genuine, well-executed track, and one of my favourites from this album.

“Monster” picks up the tempo a little, another R&B influenced number. It’s a little darker in tone, but I really like their vocals in this song. It’s fairly catchy and has a lot of replay value. Although it didn’t particularly stand out at the first listen, it’s starting to grow on me.

“What if” is a pop ballad. The accompaniment is overpowering - the vocals kind of sink into it in some verses, only really coming out in the chorus. I’ve never been a big fan of SuJu’s ballads, which, at best, hit mediocrity, and “What if” is no exception. This song was performed by Super Junior K.R.Y.

I had high expectations for “Heartquake” which features DBSK’s U-Know and Micky. IIRC, the only SuJu vocalists in this song are the members of Super Junior K.R.Y., which I find a little odd, since they seem to be the only vocalists used in quite a few songs. I’m guessing these three are the best vocalists, but this is still no excuse for not trying to encorporate more members of the group. “Heartquake” is a dark pop number, I think the DBSK members mostly contributed to the rap verses. It’s a good song, but maybe my expectations were too high as it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be.

“Club No. 1” is, as expected by the title, an upbeat track. I’m glad to see that there’s a better distribution of parts. Lee Yeon Hee’s voice is extremely synthesized, IMO it was a little overboard. I liked the guitar work in the arrangement, which blends surprisingly well with the synths thrown in there.

“Happy Together” is midtempo and, as expected, quite poppy. It’s pretty standard SuJu fare ... actually certain melodies remind me of “Marry U”, which is not surprising as the two songs were composed by the same person. A cute, cheery song that lacks much substance, but makes for a nice occasional listen.

“Dead at Heart”, an R&B ballad, is probably my favourite ballad from this album. Although that’s not saying much. The chorus is surprisingly strong and vocal work throughout the song is, generally, quite good. I’m really liking the melody of the chorus, actually. Also, it sounds like other members of SuJu participated in this song, as opposed to the other 2 ballads which consisted only of K.R.Y.

“Shining Star” is a cheerful, sugary song that is true to SuJu’s style. I like the piano accompaniment, which adds a little depth to the otherwise quite bland song. It’s listenable, although not very memorable - a sentiment that could be applied to this album in general.

Overall, Sorry Sorry seems to follow the format of their second album, Don’t Don, quite closely - a nice if predictable variety of pop, R&B, and a couple ballads. And the more experimental title track. Really, the stuff the title tracks are made of is what I’d like to see more of - a little more out of the box, a little more innovative and unique. Sorry Sorry is a solid, decent album. There were no songs that I absolutely hated, but there were also many that were simply mediocre and forgettable. SuJu has no reason to change it’s formula. The general public seems to eat up their standard material, so why take the risk? But songs like “Don’t Don” and “Sorry Sorry” prove that they can do more, and it’s a shame to see that other than the title tracks, most of their songs are nothing special.

Recommended Tracks:
Sorry Sorry, Why I Like You, Reset, Angela, Dead At Heart

Labels: album review, Super Junior

Welcome to Fashion Scans, an mp3 rotation that features Korean, Japanese, and Chinese music as well as the occasional English song. Fashion Scans was created in October 2007 and is run by Haruhi with contributions from Carmi.

Please send all affiliate requests to Haruhi. Carmi is currently open to requests.

Files are for sampling purposes only, I am not responsible if you keep them for longer than the 24-48 hours permitted. Please support the artists by purchasing their CDs.

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