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It’s been 18 months since CNBLUE‘s last mini-album and four years since their first full length album. But lucky for us, the wait is over. The four member pop rock band and so-called Maroon 5 of Korean is finally back with 2gether, their second full length album. 2gether features 11 tracks that showcase their growth and maturity as a six-year-old band. Their music is still as energetic and memorable as ever, only this time around, CNBLUE played with a variety of music genres like electro dance, jazz, and even reggae to extend beyond their pop rock roots.
Track 1 – 신데렐라 (Cinderella)
Cinderella contains more electro pop flavor compared their previous pop rock songs — with a hint of disco. It’s got an interesting warping synth sound mixed in with strong drum beats to create a new upbeat background. It certainly feels like one step closer to Maroon 5’s current music style. The verses and chorus are immediately catchy and easy to hum along, yet not repetitive thanks to its complex background beats.
Track 2 – 숨바꼭질 (Hide and Seek)
The most pleasant surprise of Hide and Seek is its use of groovy saxophone coupled with heavy beats and light percussion during the intro and verse transitions of the song. It breathes new life into this otherwise standard soft rock number and makes it sound almost like a funky jazz song at times.
Track 3 – 롤러코스터 (Roller Coaster)
This time, the boys experimented with reggae in Roller Coaster and gave this soft rock song an unusually laid back feel. During the second verse, Yong Hwa sings it in such a husky way that nearly made me mistake him for Skull & HaHa for a second. Listening to it just makes you feel happy and wave along to the song’s relaxing groove despite the lyrics describing how a relationship feels like a roller coaster.
Track 4 – Domino
Domino is an electro dance based song where the boys’ rock roots are practically nonexistent. The melody is a bit monotonous and perhaps too repetitive for long-term enjoyment but the back beat of the track is quite catchy. The crisp clear female vocal feature (WheeIn from Mamamoo) towards the end is easily the highlight of the song. Though sadly, it’s also too short and almost feels like tacked on on a whim.
Track 5 – Hero
Hero is a fairly straightforward alternative rock song primarily backed by acoustic guitar during the verse and electronic guitar during the chorus. Within 2gether, Hero is one of the few songs that represents CNBLUE’s usual music taste but the song’s melody is a bit flat to me. However, I really like how the song is a touching tribute to a dad, comparing him to childhood heroes like Superman and Batman.
Track 6 – Drunken Night
It’s dance time with Drunken Night! From the upbeat melody, to the electronic synth-filled back beat, to the inviting lyrics, Drunken Night is one big catchy party tune. Perhaps it’s not the most musically creative track of 2gether, but it’s easy on the ears and bumpin’ — both are great reasons to like a song.
Track 7 – Catch Me
This fierce pop rock song has a bit of 90’s Michael Jackson pop elements added to the backbeat. Honestly Catch Me is pretty nice and Yong Hwa’s powerful vocals pleasantly vents about those that hate on him, taunting that they’ll never be able to catch him. Yet it’s rather forgettable to me as there are no apparent highlights or twists.
Track 8 – Hold My Hand
Jingle bells…trumpets…piano…and saxophone? Am I listening to a jazzy Broadway musical performance right now? In my humble opinion, Hold My Hand is one of those experiments that just didn’t work out so well because it’s not particularly memorable and deviates too far away from CNBLUE’s original color. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate musical songs, but this is certainly no Seasons of Love.
Track 9 – Control
Control is in essence a classic J-pop rock band number where the electric guitar rifts lend itself to an energetic opening and an emotion-filled chorus. The wistful melody and pleading lyrics both exude a sense of determination — a resolve to live life the way you want to regardless of the difficulties on the way.
Track 10 – Radio
This is yet another J-pop styled rock song but with heavy EDM influences. The dynamic synth beats, dramatic electric guitar solo, explosive vocals, and stadium crowd chant combine their powers to give Radio immense intensity and fervor. Radio can easily pass for a theme song of an Shonen Anime.
Track 11 – 발자국 (Footsteps)
2gether wraps up with Footsteps, another one of those more traditional CNBLUE type of pop rock songs. It starts out with soft and mellow verses, then builds to a passionate shout out during the chorus. While the melody is not particularly unique and resembles other similar rock songs, the singing is a perfect marriage to the lyrics in expressing a sense of uncertainty towards the future.
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