(ALBUM REVIEW) BtoB - Complete [Vol. 1]

Complete (Intro): Put earbuds in or headphones on for this album, friends! If this intro is any indication, not having the music playing directly into your head results in you missing quite a bit of the music. Also, I have been teleported back to the early 2000s and the glory days of *NSYNC with this song and I'm loving it. The harmonization, the beatboxing, and the general feel just has the 12 year old me really excited about this album. I really love *NSYNC, okay? 

괜찮아요 (It’s Okay) [TITLE]: I'll admit, I had heard a lot about how great this song is before I listened to it. I mean, who releases a ballad for a summer song? Answer: BtoB, apparently. And man, they pull it off. I'm not usually a ballad fan unless the people are singing it really understand it to be a ballad and not just a "sad sounding song," since not all ballads are sad. But this ballad makes me hope. I mean the 3:25 mark alone gives me goosebumps, it's so pretty. Even the rapping fits! And it's not just a 10 second rap either, it's an actual rap part! I don't know who is singing each part but I love all of them! If this song ended up as the last song I ever hear, it's okay. See what I did there? Check out the music video!



너나 잘 살아: Okay, seriously now: who's the beatboxer in this group and why aren't they doing this all the time? Anyway...I'm not sure how much I like this song. I know I like it, but even after the first listen, I felt like I had listened to it a thousand times before, and the song itself isn't over four minutes long. I checked the time, because I was sure I had been listening to this song for over five, but I hadn't. It's a good song, it's just so repetitive that I feel like I listened to it a lot. A song should make me want to listen to it again, not make me feel like I've listened to it too much. I feel tired.



북치고 장구치고: OH MY GOD, THEY ARE *NSYNC. I'm sorry. Lost my cool there for a little bit, but seriously, the "Bow wow wow" bit reminded me of a part in *NSYNC's "Space Cowboy." Now, considering up until now we've only had slower songs, this is not only a nice change in pace, but is just the right change in pace. This song still feels like it fits in the album and with this group, but it doesn't feel overpowering, if that makes sense. I'm not a fan of the complete stop in the song not even halfway through the song, but otherwise, it's a happening song. Also, go listen to *NSYNC.

Summer Romance: From the title, I expected another ballad, but I was pleasantly surprised to be kind of wrong. It's a mid-tempo song, so it's not like it's a quick pace, but considering I was expecting full-on adagio, I am surprised. The song itself is okay; it isn't my favorite, but it isn't a song I would expect to be a strong song for them. They do well in it, it just isn't remarkable in many ways, though the ending note is really pretty. If you like it, don't apologize. If it's your favorite, it's your favorite. It just isn't mine.

친구의 여자친구: Went into this song going "Oh, there's going to be a fight!" and immediately I hear "Let's get 'em" and I am so onboard. This isn't exactly the hardcore fight song I wanted it to be (unless you're from West Side Story), but I wouldn't mind watching a dance/fight to this song. Also, I really love the syncopation of the title. I tried typing it out, but it just didn't read right. Listen to it and you'll hear it though. For those that don't read Korean, listen for "Chingu eh yojachingu."



꽃보다 그녀: Another good song from BtoB, but it's almost certainly a filler song. It never fully grabs my attention, but considering that the rest of the album is pretty attention grabbing, I'd say I'll forgive a few filler songs. Particularly of this quality. Their filler songs are better than some groups' title songs. I will give this song this credit: it's really cute. Like I wouldn't mind if my significant other gave me a mixtape with this song on it, for sure. Yes, I still like mixtapes.

보고파: Yeah, that beginning was kind of weird and creepy. It took me a few listens to be sure it wasn't threatening to kill me. I haven't listened to it backwards to be totally sure, but I'll update you. After the weird beginning, the song becomes kind of really cute. I love the fact that members are repeating "I miss you" after each other in the chorus, and there are so many vocal sound effects to catch. I caught myself smiling as the song went on. Also considering earlier there was a song that felt really long, the fact that this is a longer song that felt shorter than it was good. I want to listen to it more. Having said all that, it still can't beat "It's Okay" as my favorite so far. So far.

어기여차 디여차: Okay, so I've seen the English title of this song as "Yo Ho Ho," and all that makes me want to do is sing "And a pirate's life for me!" But this isn't a pirate song. It's not a ballad either. It's full on dance. In fact, there's a Bollywood movie that came out a few years ago called "ABCD: Anybody Can Dance," and this song feels like something I would hear in that type of movie. It makes everyone want to dance. It's also a very different song from the rest of the album. For the rest of the songs, I've imagined these guys to be a pretty serious group. This one, however, makes me realize that even though they are really talented, they're still pretty young. Some of them (most of them) are younger than me.

Open: I'm not sure what this song is supposed to be. It feels like it goes through a few genres, which can either work really well or sound weird. This song isn't bad when you compare it to several other songs by other artists that have tried similar things, but for BtoB, this sounds weird. I probably wouldn't have done this song, but still, despite the awkwardness of the songwriting, the talent of the members is evident. It just isn't enough for me to like this song. There are a few other songs named "Open" that I have problems with--maybe it's me?



비밀 (Acoustic Ver): I'm assuming there's a non-acoustic version of this somewhere, since it doesn't make sense to release an "acoustic" version of a song without an original version somewhere. But there's a part of me that wants this to be the one and only version. It's really nice to listen to. Also, this sounds like it was recorded live and in one shot (and on stage), and if that's the case, I don't feel any regret over praising them. They really are talented. Not talented enough to make me switch back to only listening to boy groups, but hey.

Shake It: What is it with songs that are called "Shake It" this summer? I don't know if it's the fact that I've been hearing "shake it" so much this summer or if it's the cringe-worthy English lyrics (I mean "booty" was bad enough, but "Shake it in the air" sounds painful), but I just found myself giggling throughout this song. If this had been the only fast-paced song on this album, I would have suggested they stick solely to ballads, but since I know they're better than this, I can only shake my head at it. Favorite lyric has to be "Hey, you're nice."

Everything’s Good – Ilhoon Solo (Outro): Is Ilhoon the leader? And why does he not only get a solo, but why is it the outro? It's not like it's a short song. And while I'm sure many people who are exclusively Ilhoon's fans are loving this song, I found myself yawning. I know he composed this song, and with work, he'll be good, but I felt like everything except the chorus was monotonous, and the chorus that wasn't had some weird English bits, that, while totally understandable, just felt strange. Still, props to him for creating this song! Even if I didn't like it.

Overall: This album was pretty awesome. These boys are obviously talented, and they really aren't a big name yet, but I suspect if they keep doing music like this and have endearing members, they'll become household names soon. Even their filler songs are better than some groups' title songs, they're that good. And after listening to the whole album, I can say that these guys are the *NSYNC of K-pop, and that's high praise coming from me. I'll be looking forward to their next releases!


Score: 8.5/10