So how did the album turn out?
The girls, in my opinion, delivered an album that does its job in presenting us a slightly grown up A Pink. The main title track, Mr. Chu, is fun pop song that takes us back to old school days of Kpop, with the edge of modern sound because of the instrumentation. It actually has two versions, the Original and the On-Stage version. Honestly, the On-Stage version took a while for me to understand why it is like that. This version plays with dynamics because the of the change of tempo occurring during the verses. It actually is a good tweaking of the song in my opinion because it shows how flexible this pop song can be. Play it in slower tempo and it will still sound like a good pop song.
The verses starts off with member Ha Young, then Na Eun, two of A Pink's weakest singers. I think the arrangement of the song is done well. The melody is easy enough to sing, but enjoyable at the same time. Then came the chorus. A Pink's last title track "NoNoNo" will always stay on my mind as the song with the most annoying hook part. Annoying, because it's so catchy it's really hard to get it off your head once you're hooked. In the case of "Mr. Chu", the hook sounds slightly forced in my opinion. It's the type that says, "You should remember me. I won't stop until you can get me of your head wahahahaha" rather than NoNoNo's "Hi. I know I'm catchy, I know you can't get me off your head ;)" type of hook. You know what I mean?! Hahaha. Also, one thing that can be observed in this song is A Cube's staying away from showing off Eun Ji's vocals too much. Heck, this song is as easy as 123 to sing for Eun Ji. I don't really know actually how I feel about this because as a big Eun Ji fanboy, I think she deserves to show off that vocal chops more, but it also shows how the other members of A Pink are not on par with Eun Ji when it comes to singing. Don't get me wrong, Bo Mi and Nam Joo are good, but they're nowhere near the level of Eun Ji. That's pretty much the weakness of this group. My favorite part of the song would be the choruses towards the end where intensity builds up along with the instrumentation.
Overall, "Mr. Chu" is still a good pop song. The melody at the choruses and Eun Ji's vocals are enough to carry the song. I will personally play this song on loop for several days because it's so enjoyable.
"Mr. Chu" is actually the second track in th album. The album actually starts off with "Sunday Monday" a midtempo song that, in my opinion, is one of the weaker songs in the album. Intro songs should be able to introduce us to the kind of sound that the album will be presenting. "Sunday Monday" falls short on that note in my opinion because it sounds like something that wouldn't have any problems fitting in with their previous releases ("Secret Garden").
The third track in the album would be "Crystal". Honestly, when I first heard the teaser for this song in the highlight medley, I didn't like it that much. Now, hearing the song as a whole, it's one of the better songs in my opinion. The moment that the chorus hits, I literally clapped my hands while listening to it. The vocals are just gorgeous, especially Eun Ji's. Bo Mi's voice also shines during her parts. It just sounds so unique and good. I just keep banging my head while listening to this song.
Next song would be "Fairytale Love" a sad ballad from A Pink that will melt your heart. As usual, Eun Ji, Bo Mi and Nam Joo sound great but the other members also sound comfortable in their parts. Cho Rong's voice thrives in these kinds of songs because her soft timbre suits really well with the song. However, compared to "Secret Garden" (the song, I mean) this ballad is just okay. In my heart, "Secret Garden" will always be their best ballad so far.
Now, on to the next song. The song that nearly teared me up because of its beauty. "So Long" is my favorite song of the album. It's an RnB type of song, and this is the song that best represents the maturity of A Pink as a group in my opinion. The verses are beautiful, all the members sound like they are really feeling the song. I like Nam Joo's parts in the verses. Bo Mi and Eun Ji just flat out slayed their parts during the chorus. They are really giving off mature vibes that is expected from this album. But my favorite part, ironically, would be Na Eun's part during the bridge. It's unusual that I find her parts in the song as my favorite, given that she usually sounds flat, especially in these kinds of songs that require good vocals to pull off. But that part really suits her voice. I've said it before, but Na Eun has a nice tone to her voice, but she just doesn't know how to sing properly.
The last track in the album is actually the original version of Mr. Chu. Nothing to say much, I think it's just a more upbeat version of the song for all those listeners who just wants to bang their heads all throughout the song.
Overall, the album is good, but I still like "Secret Garden" better, just because of the number of songs that I really like in that album is greater than "Pink Blossom". My favorite songs would be So Long, Crystal and Mr. Chu. :)
Wew, that was looooooong. I hope I didn't bore you with the length of this post. Lol. Maybe next time, I will try to express my thoughts about SNSD's latest EP "Mr. Mr."
Until next post. :)
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