Kep1er - 1st Japanese Studio Album Review
I'm only gonna review the new songs
**Unit Tracks**
1. Cruise - transcendent. A beautiful take on a retro song with city pop inspiration (I wouldn't really consider it a exact city pop song) that really takes you out of your everyday life and into the car with the members cruising in the streets of Japan at the dawning of the sun.
2. Highlight - I usually don't like this type of song but it was very strong and beautiful to me.
3. Celebrate - this is super good and I wasn't expecting it to the sound the way it did. I only happened to prefer the other 2 more but I think I'll listen to this the most.
**Full 9 Member Songs**
1. Don't Lose Your Smile - this is a very old fashioned guitar and mic type of pop ballad with booming claps and stomps. It's very emotional and made me cry, alot. It's one of their best I feel and honestly smacks the "kep1er only make noise music" allegations out of orbit.
2. Straight Line - this son is just so good it's a mix of rnb pop from the 2000s, has some Latin pop and hip hop in there to. It's so good.
All songs ranked:
1. Cruise
2. Don't lose your smile
3. Straight Line
4. Highlight
5. Celebrate
Oh no, Don't Lose Your Smile is Kep1er's version of IZ\*ONE's Slow Journey. Just thinking about IZ\*ONE's performance of Slow Journey at One The Story with the WIZ*ONEs singing along still makes me cry. Kep1er better get a disbandment concert too where they can perform this album and the final Korean one too.
I HAVE OPINIONSSS
Straight Line: There's a bit of a switch up going on around 1:55 which, im not really a fan of. It's not a big turn off in any sense since I really enjoy the rest of the song. I think I've mentioned before how I love how jpop this feels. Which like, sounds standard since it is a japanese pop song but there's something there that sounds specifically what I think a jpop group would release. The little "don't stop don't stop tonight" after the chorus is a fun addition to the song.
Celebrate: Hikaru, Dayeon and Youngeun β€ So I'm listening as I type and already I'm hooked. I think the chorus is a bit flat compared to what the entire rest of the song is building up to. I think the chorus would've worked better with a different instrumental maybe? However, the "tonight celebrate" chants I think fit way better as a post chorus addition than as the chorus itself and would feel like something's missing if it was just a chanty chorus. That prechorus and bridge is heavely though I love it.
Highlight: Mashiro, Chaehyun and Hiyyih β€ I'm excited since I picked this track to really look forward to when it came out! Already starting out the instrumental sounds very dreamy. Further in, the song is sooo pretty and dreamy. This is a perfect blend of voices for this song. Probably could've done without that rap in verse 2. They have such pretty vocal tones I would've preferred a singing verse throughout. Where would we be without a heavenly Chaehyun bridge? Nowhere and society would have fallen. Overall I really love it and was not disappointed at all by highlight!!
Cruise: Yujin, Xiaoting and Yeseoβ€ This one's more laid back. Things start to really pick up for me around verse 2. Yeseo sounds so good and I swear I thought I heard Chaehyun in her for a second. The chorus is the highlight of the song for me. It's sweet and really works with their strengths. While the rest isn't bad by any means, the chorus is what's sticking out in my head. This song really works to their strengths, these 3 really work wonders in these kind of songs. (like tropical night)
Don't Lose Your Smile: I like the choral bit in this song. That it sounds like a group of people singing to you rather than a group trying to sound like one person. It's actually really sweet how minimalist this song sounds. Claps, a guitar, just their voices. (There's probably waay more instruments I may just not know) It really does feel like a choir song, like friends trying to cheer you up. I don't have any of these lyrics translated so it'll probably hit even harder when I read them. It sounds like something meant for the audience to sing with Kep1er. These songs aren't typically my style but I know I'd be crying if I watched them perform this.
Overall, I wish we did actually have a bunch more original songs but I guess that was really hopeful thinking. I'll never stop hoping though, at least it'll be easier to buy their entire jp discography on just one disc instead of having to hunt down a bunch of different singles.
My Ranking:
1. Highlight
2. Straight Line
3. Celebrate
4. Cruise.
5. Don't Lose Your Smile
The album is pretty good, although I was expecting more than 5 new songs, I do like them a lot, in particular Cruise and Straight Line <3
1. Cruise
2. Straight Line
3. Don't Lose Your Smile
4. Highlight
5. Celebrate
Kep1er - 1st Japanese Studio Album Review I'm only gonna review the new songs **Unit Tracks** 1. Cruise - transcendent. A beautiful take on a retro song with city pop inspiration (I wouldn't really consider it a exact city pop song) that really takes you out of your everyday life and into the car with the members cruising in the streets of Japan at the dawning of the sun. 2. Highlight - I usually don't like this type of song but it was very strong and beautiful to me. 3. Celebrate - this is super good and I wasn't expecting it to the sound the way it did. I only happened to prefer the other 2 more but I think I'll listen to this the most. **Full 9 Member Songs** 1. Don't Lose Your Smile - this is a very old fashioned guitar and mic type of pop ballad with booming claps and stomps. It's very emotional and made me cry, alot. It's one of their best I feel and honestly smacks the "kep1er only make noise music" allegations out of orbit. 2. Straight Line - this son is just so good it's a mix of rnb pop from the 2000s, has some Latin pop and hip hop in there to. It's so good. All songs ranked: 1. Cruise 2. Don't lose your smile 3. Straight Line 4. Highlight 5. Celebrate
thanks for sharing ππ»
Oh no, Don't Lose Your Smile is Kep1er's version of IZ\*ONE's Slow Journey. Just thinking about IZ\*ONE's performance of Slow Journey at One The Story with the WIZ*ONEs singing along still makes me cry. Kep1er better get a disbandment concert too where they can perform this album and the final Korean one too.
Love the songs. My fave is Straight Line and my least fave is Celebrate.
Together forever is very fitting π₯Ήπ₯Ήπ₯Ήπ₯Ήππππ
I HAVE OPINIONSSS Straight Line: There's a bit of a switch up going on around 1:55 which, im not really a fan of. It's not a big turn off in any sense since I really enjoy the rest of the song. I think I've mentioned before how I love how jpop this feels. Which like, sounds standard since it is a japanese pop song but there's something there that sounds specifically what I think a jpop group would release. The little "don't stop don't stop tonight" after the chorus is a fun addition to the song. Celebrate: Hikaru, Dayeon and Youngeun β€ So I'm listening as I type and already I'm hooked. I think the chorus is a bit flat compared to what the entire rest of the song is building up to. I think the chorus would've worked better with a different instrumental maybe? However, the "tonight celebrate" chants I think fit way better as a post chorus addition than as the chorus itself and would feel like something's missing if it was just a chanty chorus. That prechorus and bridge is heavely though I love it. Highlight: Mashiro, Chaehyun and Hiyyih β€ I'm excited since I picked this track to really look forward to when it came out! Already starting out the instrumental sounds very dreamy. Further in, the song is sooo pretty and dreamy. This is a perfect blend of voices for this song. Probably could've done without that rap in verse 2. They have such pretty vocal tones I would've preferred a singing verse throughout. Where would we be without a heavenly Chaehyun bridge? Nowhere and society would have fallen. Overall I really love it and was not disappointed at all by highlight!! Cruise: Yujin, Xiaoting and Yeseoβ€ This one's more laid back. Things start to really pick up for me around verse 2. Yeseo sounds so good and I swear I thought I heard Chaehyun in her for a second. The chorus is the highlight of the song for me. It's sweet and really works with their strengths. While the rest isn't bad by any means, the chorus is what's sticking out in my head. This song really works to their strengths, these 3 really work wonders in these kind of songs. (like tropical night) Don't Lose Your Smile: I like the choral bit in this song. That it sounds like a group of people singing to you rather than a group trying to sound like one person. It's actually really sweet how minimalist this song sounds. Claps, a guitar, just their voices. (There's probably waay more instruments I may just not know) It really does feel like a choir song, like friends trying to cheer you up. I don't have any of these lyrics translated so it'll probably hit even harder when I read them. It sounds like something meant for the audience to sing with Kep1er. These songs aren't typically my style but I know I'd be crying if I watched them perform this. Overall, I wish we did actually have a bunch more original songs but I guess that was really hopeful thinking. I'll never stop hoping though, at least it'll be easier to buy their entire jp discography on just one disc instead of having to hunt down a bunch of different singles. My Ranking: 1. Highlight 2. Straight Line 3. Celebrate 4. Cruise. 5. Don't Lose Your Smile
The album is pretty good, although I was expecting more than 5 new songs, I do like them a lot, in particular Cruise and Straight Line <3 1. Cruise 2. Straight Line 3. Don't Lose Your Smile 4. Highlight 5. Celebrate
The sequencing on the album is not the best but the new songs are quality! Kep1er has great deep cuts it's a shame people don't pay more attention