With 4 minute's debut and the success of their first single "Hot issue" comes their first mini album. Just like their style, it's a bit of a mess and has a air about it that seems really familiar.
To give something new right off of the bat, the album's first song isn't "Hot issue", but instead, "Muzik". A cool song, but there's far way too much auto-tune. I'm not on the auto-tune hate bandwagon. I like how it sounds on certain songs. But I hate when songs utilise auto-tune unnecessarily. The production on "Muzik" is so hot and the hooks are so catchy that the song would have worked just fine without it. It would've made a much better debut single than the horrid "Hot issue", which is just 3 minutes and 44 seconds of annoying migraine inducing vocals and a really bad rip off of a Lil' Jon beat. Then again, "Hot issue" was a hit, so...whatever.
If the girls aren't wailing in auto-tuned vocals, then they're ripping off other songs. "What a girl wants" and "Won't give" sound like the dime-a-dozen productions that radio has been inundated with ever since Stargate popularised the now signature drum patterns with Beyoncé's "Irreplaceable". These songs falter because the jumps between singing, rapping and shouting cause the songs to sound like mess. Not every song has to feature a rap or a chant. Sometimes it's cool to just pick one and feature a bit of another. As per 2NE1's "I don't care".
"Funny" sounds like the illegitimate love child of "Womanzier" and "If U seek Amy". It is actually a good song, but there's no denying the comparisons between this and Britney's Circus singles. I hope Cube entertainment listed "If U seek Amy"'s songwriters in the credits for this song, otherwise they could find themselves getting slapped with a lawsuit.
4 muzik doesn't give me a real sense of who 4 minute are musically, because every song sounds like another song by somebody else. Across this mini album I heard what sounded like Usher's "Moving mountains", The Black eyed peas' "My humps" and "Rock your body", Britney Spears "If U seek Amy", The Dream's "Rockin' that shit" and "My love" and a couple of Stargate productions. The K-Pop game is no stranger to quickly jumping on bandwagons that everybody is hauling ass onto in the States. But with this album it's done so flagrantly in every song. When I listen to a mini album like 2NE1's, I get it. I can see what they're trying to do and where they might go with their future releases. With 4 minute's, I don't get that. There's no sense of who they are now or what they're really trying to do other than just have music that's out.
If the 4 minute girls were put in the company of producers who can actually hone the talents of these girls structure the songs better and craft them a sound, then there would be potential for a decent album. Cube entertainment have something to work with here.
4 minute. 4 muzik. 4 songs I like. 4 out of 10.
Album highlights:
■ Muzik ★ J's fave
■ Funny
■ Won't give
■ Hot issue (Remix)
Do you ever rate album's a little higher than 5? Random J, it seems like you rate these albums VERY professionally, yet sort of harshly and true.
ReplyDeleteI've rated lots of albums over 5. It just seems that it's my reviews where I score an album under 5 that get highlighted and commented on. *shrugs*
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm being THAT harsh. Just honest. It's just a reflection of how I feel personally about the albums.
In 4 muzik's case, the album is a little too messy and needs refining. Hopefully (for them), their producers will hone their style a little better for their next full length / mini album and lay off of the taxing.
:)