So down to business, I'm gonna give a bit of background to this album for those of you left out of the loop (Which sort of includes me because I'm getting this information straight from Wikipedia...)
"After a short break, the group's first full album was released in late autumn 2007, with the lead single "Girls' Generation" (Korean: "소녀시대"), a cover of Lee Seung-Chul (Korean: 이승철)'s hit. The album was released in two versions, each edition features the same contents, however the cover art used for one of them was used as back cover for the other one, and the other way around. A MV for "Baby Baby" was released as well, containing scenes of the Making of video of the Girls' Generation MV, and footage of the girls working on their first album.
The album has sold 121,143 copies to date, placing 8th in the year-end charts. In early 2008, Girls' Generation began promoting their second single, "Kissing You". In March 2008, the album was re-released and re-titled Baby Baby. A third single, "Baby Baby", was used to promote the album .
Girls’ Generation, the album also includes Ooh La-La! which incorporated the stories of fairy tales like Cinderella and Snow White into the lyric and impressive melodies, Kissing You, a house style dance tune with the sweet lyric sung as if they are whispering love to their boyfriends and created by the hit composer Lee Jae-Myeong, and Baby Baby, a shy confession of love and a present from Hwang Seong-Je, the composer of BoA’s Atlantis Princess, to Girls’ Generation. Tears have the impressive, sweet and lovable vocal while Complete have elegant melodies and clear and transparent harmony. The first regular album of Girls’ Generation contains 11 songs: 9 new songs including the remake, Girls’ Generation’ and other songs in a variety of genres such as dance, ballad and house brought by prominent musicians such as KANGTA and Kenzie."(TL;DR) It was a very successful debut album that was backed by the guys you really want to work with in the Korean industry if you want to have a good album AND get noticed very quickly.
But how good was it really?
Song 1 - Girls' Generation
The titular track (not their debut single but pretty darn close to it...) really sets the tone for the rest of the album...
It's gonna be cheesy, it's gonna be girly and you are going to fucking love it! ^_^
But enough about that, let's get into the song itself...
The beginning gives off a nice vibe, a bit of mystique about these pretty teenage girls and then the beat drops in and you just think to yourself--
"I'm about to get diabetes from the aegyo, aren't I?". Well I almost did, I just managed to wash it down with enough 2PM!
What really makes the song for me is how well layered the vocals are for a song made in 2007 and how in sync the ad-libs were in the song, they didn't detract from the happy-go-lucky vibe of the song in the vain effort to prove some kind of point.
Every member had a part that fit them perfectly and gave them their own musical identity, Jessica's voice sounds more unique (and just as awesome) in this song than some of the others, the same could be said for Taeyeon, they sound like twins in "Into The New World".
The producer needs a big old high five as well, because they made it rocky enough to give it a distinct sound that's different to that of other K-Pop groups around that time, but poppy enough to make you want to sing along and not be put off by it, heck it even screams girly innocence to you, giving you no choice to smile like a giddy schoolgirl who got a yes to her first date from the oppa she was crushing on!
I do have some issues with it, the drums are too thin and for a song like this they need to be out there and making an impact like Sunny's hairstyle in "I Got A Boy", instead the drums are weaker than f(x)'s discography...
Furthermore, Yoona's bit is a bit of a double-edged sword for me, I like it and dislike it at the same time. Yoona's personality and demeanour speak to you in that part and the vocals don't detract a lot away from the song, but it's slightly off putting to hear and I think if given more time, Yoona would've sung it in a way that would have made it more comfortable for my ears.
It stuck with me and I remember that bit a lot now, so maybe it's no entirely a bad thing that Yoona was just being Yoona in that bit, but I enjoyed the song thoroughly and it's a great start to a great album!
(8/10)
Song 2 - Ooh La-La!
The intro? ALL OF MY YES!!!
Immediately I'm in love with this song, the track is so upbeat that you just can't help but smile as the song bounces along the meadow of your mind.
The vocals do this song justice in so many ways, the instruments are arranged perfectly and the blend between the violins in the background and the pads in the forefront during the breakdown (the talking bit here is gold too, it just feels so pleasant...) just flows so nicely, and I'm really tempted to shake the hand of the guy that made this beat and beg him to become my mentor... I seriously need one.
This song isn't perfect however, and my problem isn't with how the track is constructed or even the vocals (Taeyeon's oohs in the last part were simple yet divine!) it's more to do with the lyrics...
The first verse harps on about how they are Cinderella and they meet a prince, yadda yadda...
Because they are a girl group and this is their first album where they are marketed with a squeaky-clean image, I'll let it pass... But the sheer amount of cheese that emanated from this song lyrics just made me question if I truly enjoyed this song as much as I thought I did...
Lyrics aside, I truly enjoyed this and I would definitely call this one of the best songs in the album! :)
(9/10)
Song 3 - Baby Baby
Please baby, baby, baby~ Stop being so catchy!
Seriously, when I first listened to this, I could not get it out of my head for a week... I still can't get it out of my head! Now I know how Kylie Minogue feels! >:(
Unfunny anecdote aside, this song is so good that it almost made my cry tears of joy, nothing has ever done that to me before. This song is a testament to how good music is made and sustained, and I honestly believe that this song is a timeless relic that should be cherished and loved forever more.
Everything from the intro to Taeyeon Aguilera taking over everything and giving you more perfection to add onto perfection at the end. The beat has an old-school pop feel that wouldn't be too far off from the likes of NSYNC or Spice Girls, and normally the cheese could be smelled from a mile away if they sung anything else on this beat.
As it is now, it is still pretty cheesy but it's the kind of cheese that won't give you nightmares if you watch it on loop for about 2 hours with no rest...
My point is that this song has great vocals, is easily memorable and a timeless classic and really makes this album worth buying... And it's only the 3rd song! XD
No matter how much I repeat this song, I cannot find anything implicitly or explicitly wrong with how its arranged or anything that would throw my ears off, it's literally too good to be real.
(10/10)
Song 4 - Complete
I can see why this song is Taeyeon's favourite. I've had a massive headache for a while now and the soothing intro has completely healed it, this is how a ballad is properly orchestrated!
A lot of artists now-a-days have neglected to realize that the authenticity of the instruments and the compassion and dedication to making the vocals sound light and crisp are what make ballads successful and that's what this song does perfectly. It also showcases the purity of the vocals and gives more identity to the tone of each member, you can tell that it's Taeyeon singing or if it's Sooyoung singing.
Speaking of Taeyeon, her vocals just shine on this song and it's not for having a wicked ad-lib in it either, but just by holding a note as long as need be that really makes her shine on this song, Jessica really does well to back her up on the vocals too, thus cementing their place as two of the best vocalist in SM Entertainment, quite possibly all of K-Pop!
But from a personal perspective, I don't like Ballads as much as upbeat songs and that completely ruins my unbiased nature in reviewing this song. As much as I'd like to call this perfection, I just feel that it doesn't progress as well as the likes of "Baby Baby" and "Girls' Generation", and it progresses too slowly on top of it, so I'd have to detract some points away from it in light of this.
(8/10)
Song 5 - Kissing You
Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo...
Kissing you baby~
Remember how "Baby Baby" got stuck in my head? THIS FREAKING SONG!!!
I fell in love with the guitar riff and violins in the intro and I keep replaying it to hear them, and after about five hours I finally got around to listening to the song... And I'm currently still replaying the video to date! XD
I'd also like to say that based off of the M/V, this is the first time that I've seen Hyoyeon been anywhere near cute, because she's always either been fierce or surprisingly attractive to me (which is why I like her...) but she just looks adorable in pigtails! :)
Anyway, fan rant over, let me get into why this song is awesome...
This song is such a pop song, it had the typical chord progression found in most pop songs and EDM based drums that have a kick that is both heavy enough to leave an impression but light enough to not intrude, and it helps that the snare doesn't pop obnoxiously. Clearly a lot of due time and attention was put into the beat by the producer and I sincerely thank him/her for it.
The vocals are rather simple (excluding ad-libs) it's nothing like Shinee's new stuff, where everything is layered to hell and nigh on impossible to accurately perform it live. But the catchiness of the tune gets you singing along (if you know enough Korean) and makes you want to nod your head along to it like an idiot, I know I did.
It also helps that the girls aegyo shines through and puts a goofy smile on your face (yes, even Sooyoung...). But how much is too much?
I'm trying to make it a point that the M/V shouldn't affect my judgement of the song, but the M/V just further validates something I've noticed just by listening too the song. It sounds too girly.
I said the same thing about "Ooh-La-La" and I'm going to say it here, the song is almost cringe-worthy because of how girly it sounds with just the English parts alone... It's not as bad or as noticeable as "Ooh-La-La" but it does detract away from how catchy the song is, because doing too much aegyo can work against you...
Exhibit A:
Poor Sunny...
Overall, this song is very good and could've been perfect, but it just needs a bit less girly and aegyo for me to call it perfect...
(9/10)
Song 6 - Merry-Go-Round
Sources tell me that this is Jessica's favourite song, I used to wonder why? Then I listened to it...
WOW! OMG!
Seriously, this song is too perfect for words, but I'm gonna try it anyway...
I'm not entirely sure who's vocals it was at the beginning but that harmony was beautiful and then the beat kicks in and the verse, then the chorus and manly tears were shed... All I could think to myself was that this song was awesome!
To be fair the song does sound a bit like a ballad, but it's upbeat enough for me to like it and it progresses perfectly with both the vocals and the background synths and violins, the production level is a masterpiece and overall the vocals are complex in both application and layering and yet it works! This song is just too good to be a relatively unknown song left to gather dust as a filler song on an album...
Unfortunately, ballads have a history of not getting a lot of airplay in the Korean Music Industry (within regards to groups anyway, but of course there are examples...) but this song has rightfully earned its place on my iPod! :D
(10/10)
Song 7 - Tears
Ballad #2 (3 if you count Merry-Go-Round), unfortunately I didn't like this one as much as any of the other songs on this album. The authenticity of the instruments and a decent production value was there, but at times it felt like the vocals were carelessly handled (even if
I don't really have much to say because ballads aren't really my forte, but the piano accentuated the vocals and complimented them at parts, but there are moments where even the Piano's best pick up lines couldn't lift up the self-esteem of the vocals, they even emoted well, but the vocals weren't given enough justice for this song to be as good as it could've been.
Heck, it felt like they were trying too hard to be more like "Boys II Men" and less like themselves, which is a good aspiration. However, I think that if they put their own spin on this song I would've enjoyed it a lot more, personally speaking...
Overall (7/10)
Song 8 - Tinkerbell
Immediately I thought to myself, "If this turns out to be like Ooh-La-La again, I will scream!"
So I looked up the lyrics, and...
I'll give you all the dreams you want, I'll be your Tinker Bell in the sky.
Like the first snow in the winter like the sun in early spring,
I fly to you with mysterious magic...
Poetry... It helps that Tiffany sings the "Tinker Bell" part beautifully as well...
Alas, this is another ballad and once again I feel as if it doesn't progress well enough for me and that it was too short (coming at 2:59) for a ballad anyway. The song itself is rather beautiful and well written, but it just felt like album filler, I think that this song would be so much better as a more acoustic piece or something that incorporates more classical instruments because then it would have it's own character and identity as opposed to sounding like a Merry-Go-Round expy.
I would give this a 7, but because of the lyrics (8/10)
Song 9 - 7989
I have reason to believe that this is the song that the ever-so-talented Kangta featured on, so take it away 2PM!
I'm joking, obviously... But Taeyeon really shows that she can hang with some of the best in K-Pop with her vocals and the two really compliment each other, and I think I have a bit of a soft spot for duet ballads as opposed to group ballads. But her tone sounds mature for her age and the vocals sound so smooth as well!
There's one problem, the instrumental has sadly become an afterthought...
Someone pushed the vocals to the forefront and the beauty of the instrumental (acoustic might I add) has been pushed to the back and there isn't a lot of synchronicity between the vocals of the artists and the instruments being played, which is a shame because then it detracts from the character of the song.
Ah well, sorry 2PM, looks like its gonna be (9/10)
Song 10 - Honey
Sigh, another ball-- Was that an acoustic guitar? ALL OF MY YES!!
Then the typical pop drum beat comes in and I'm just like, the instrumental is awesome already! The vocals help it along as well...
But it just sounds like filler, really generic even... The song is really nice and the vocals have the slightest bit of attitude to them, but it plays onto the safe side because that's the theme of the album...
Wait... You still don't know the theme? Well it's Honey, Oppa, Saranghae~
I guess it's nice, but I just feel so underwhelmed when listening to it, because after listening to everything else on the album it just feels like the same old stuff, especially when the other songs on the album sound like better versions of this song, making this song easily forgettable... And it doesn't help that it barely progresses at all...
Final Verdict? (7/10, just because I like acoustic guitars...)
Song 11 - Into The New World
Quite frankly, this is my favourite song of the album and I still cry whenever I listen to it... Not just because it started it all, but simply due to how it was made and the sheer amount of emotion and effort that the vocals and instruments have been put into this track just tug at my heartstrings and make me explode with childish happiness...
In other words~
Saranghae neol i neukkim idaero geuryeowattteon hemae-imui kkeut
I sesang sogeseo banbokttoeneun seulpeum ijen annyeong
Sumanheun al su eomneun gil soge huimihan bicheul nan jjochaga
Eonjekkajirado hamkke haneungeoya dashi mannan na-ui segye
I love you, just like this. The longed end of wandering.
I leave behind this world's unending sadness.
Walking the many and unknowable paths, I follow a dim light.
It's something we'll do together to the end, into the new world.
Pure poetry... The lyrics are amazing, the arrangement is amazing,
I just get taken over by pride and other strange emotions whenever I listen to this song, because I honestly believe that it defines SNSD as a group because this song was responsible for launching them into a new world (well if we can pretend that Gee doesn't exist for a moment...).
This song makes me proud to call myself a Sone and I am glad that it has a permanent residency on my iPod...
Overall (10/10, would go for higher, but it would be mathematically incorrect...)
This has been my album review for Girls' Generation's self-titled debut album and I hope anyone who has had the time to read this overly long post has enjoyed it...
If not then TL;DR it's a good album, buy it! :)
Average Track Rating (8.6/10)
Album Rating (9/10)
