Album review: Girls' generation - Girls' generation (1st Japanese album)

Two-stepping in coloured skinny jeans, and swinging borderline anorexic legs in Sailor outfits seemed to strike a chord worldwide. And SM entertainment took note. Slave Monger entertainment were not in a position to roll Girls' generation out worldwide, but there was a window for them to try and push these girls out into Japan finally start making that real money. Several months of being locked in a room to learn Japanese and re-learn the routines to old songs later and we have Girls' generation, SNSD, Shoujo jidai (whatever the hell you want to call these girls') debut Japanese album. In with some of the old, in with the new, making for one pretty decent album.

Opening song and first proper, un-hashed, un-recycled Japanese single "Mr. Taxi" opens the album. It does the job of being fun, danceable, catchy and featuring enough synth work and auto-tune that it will sit alongside everything else out on every chart around the world right now. But stacked against some of Girls' generation's most notable songs, "Mr. Taxi" is weak, because it's so forgettable in the long run. Luckily it's followed by the pop perfection that is "Genie".

There is always that one song on an album which makes you wonder what the person in charge of the whole thing was thinking by not releasing it as a single. The such song on this album is "You-aholic". This would have made a much stronger single than "Gee", "Run Devil run" and "Mr. Taxi" in Japan. I understand that SM entertainment wanted to play up the girls' Korean charms with those songs, and capitalise on the songs which probably caught the Japanese interest of these girls in the first place. But "You-aholic" would have done so much better within the Japanese soundscape. Not only is it on trend, but its just a bloody good song.

The girls get dark and electro sexy for "Bad girl". The girls sing about how they is some bad bitches who will handle business. But we all know the only girl in this group would could handle anything is Sunny. She will handle that business with her bare hands. She is the only female in the world that could go toe to toe with Chuck Norris. So you could say this song is really just about her. The verses on this song are a stuttered mess. But the hook sticks. My initial impression of this song was that 2NE1 would have done it better. But after hearing how well Taeyeon worked the hook, I had to hand it to 'em. Girls' generation pretty much own the song.

The Girls' get stompy, lock their swagger down and go militant on "In love with the hero". The song is a hot mix of sounding like something from Sonic & Knuckles and a Diplo production. The sharpness of the song is interrupted wonderfully by the bridge section, which takes the militia style bounce of the song and drops it into this dream like swoon of soft chords and pianos. Seeing as I've already mentioned the militia influences in the song and Diplo, I will say this: "I'm in love with the hero" is better than Beyoncé's "Run the world (Girls)". That is all.

"The great escape" has the girls ploughing further forward with their electro pop sound. It's much faster than "You-aholic" and "Bad girl", and sexier too. The whole thing stinks of Janet Jackson and I'm here for it. The first verse opens with a stuttered set of minimalist beeps and 56k dial up modem connection tones, which girls ride the hell out of somehow. Who knew these bitches had rhythm!? The song is killer. It should have been a single. Not just in Japan but worldwide.

"Beautiful stranger" is not a cover of Madonna's William Orbit produced Austin Power's classic of the same name, but instead a cheap shot at attempting Britney Spears' "Womanizer". The song is absolute garbage. I kinda wish it has been a cover of Madonna's song, then we could have gotten rid of this and that 60s wannabe spy sounding mess "Hoot".

Girls' generation's Japanese debut features four of their Korean singles. This makes sense, given they were all so popular in their home country, and that two of the songs were responsible for gaining these girls exposure outside of South Korea. It's just a shame they all sound crap in Japanese. "Genie" sounds nowhere near as hot as it does in Korean. "Hoot" was plain garbage in Korean anyway, so flipping the lyrics into Japanese neither makes the song worse nor better. It's just as garbage. "Gee" suffers the most. The lyrics do not flow well in Japanese what-so-ever and even the hot production on the beat isn't enough to save this badly translated mess. "Run Devil run" is the only song which comes out relatively un-butchered. It sounds no worse or no better. And of all the Korean singles featured on this album, "Run Devil run" is the only song which slots in nicely with the new material and doesn't feel out of place.

The Girls' slow things down a little for "Let it rain". A song I may have to rank in the top tier of Girls' generation's best songs. It has a very westernised sound about it, with smatterings on R&B which marks a departure from anything the Girls' have done before. But it works. "Let it rain" is also one of the few songs where the girls actually harmonise. It's always annoyed me how despite having nine members in the group, no effort is really made to utilise them all for the sake of harmonies. But this is addressed on "Let it rain" and they sound great.

The new material on this album showcases the vocals of the girls far better than any of their Korean releases, because they sound like they are singing as opposed to child-like chanting on hooks. Greater focus is placed on vocal production and harmonies too, which not only enrich the sound of the songs, but have you buy into every one of the Girls' having a part in the songs in some form, even though the background vocals are probably just Taeyeon, Jessica, Seohyun and Tiffany. And their Japanese sounds much better on the new material than it does on the Korean re-records, which felt prematurely recorded,seeing as at that stage they were probably still learning the language.

The sound of this album is a point in the right direction and it's welcomed following the lack of progression with their Korean released. I'll be pissed if SM entertainment have these girls resort back to nursery rhymes with good beats when they return to Korea. Cutesy pop jams are all well and good, but these girls are making the approach in womanhood. So their songs should be reflecting this and sounding much more grown. Those of you who were on board with the direction of "Run Devil run" will like many of the new songs on this album, as they build upon the foundations built with that song, and pretty much leave it in the dust.

A wise decision was also made to keep this album uptempo, with the slowest moment on the album being "Let it rain". Girls' generation's Oh! album was bogged down with ballads. Nice ballads. But not what fans want to fear for more than half an album from a group who have become popular for their catchy uptempos.

Initially it didn't seem as though SM entertainment were serious about their precious SNSD'bots music in Japan, given their badly re-hashed singles and music videos. But this album says differently. SM took action to enlisting the help of two of Japan's most in-demand producers STY (Crystal Kay featuring BoA "Girlfriend") and Hiro (Kumi Koda's "Taboo"), and US heavyweight songwriter Evan Bogart (Beyoncé's "Halo", Brandy's "Right here (Departed)". Rihanna's "SOS"). The result is a cohesive album with a really good sound.

I am pleasantly surprised by how good this album is, because I wasn't expecting much from it...if anything. But after years of delivering hits singles and miss albums and EP's, SM entertainment finally got the formula to a hot Girls' generation album right.

Girls' generation's Japanese debut is a hot lil' album. Fans will love it. And Pop lovers who have never heard of the group before will find much worth checking out here.

VERDICT: *SHLOW WHINES IN THE RAIN*

Album highlights:
■ Genie
■ You-aholic
■ Bad girl
■ I'm in love with the hero
■ Let it rain
■ The great escape ★ J's fave