IRENE & SEULGI - 'Monster' round up

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

'Monster' (Top Note Ver.) @ IRENE & SEULGI THE STAGE

'Monster' (Middle Note Ver.) @ IRENE & SEULGI THE STAGE

BTS

I wanted this to be so much more...

source: red velvet 1, 2, 3, TaeTae Juice,

Comments

[adenar.livejournal.com]

I really like the whole mini.
- I've already said my thoughts on Monster but I still love it. I love the dirty brass, the spooky woodwind towards the end, I love the vocals, I love the snapping pre-chorus, the chorus itself is really catchy (I've had 'I'm a little monster nal geomnae' stuck in my head every since)
- Diamond is a nice little stripped back funky number. I love Seulgi's lower register and that this gives her a chance to show it off, as well as some lovely soft higher register moments throughout. It kind of reminds me of a lot of album tracks girl groups were using around 2014-2016 but updated, and I love it.
- Feel Good is really a track where Irene shines, she can really show off her vocal tone and get stuck into some verses. This time Seulgi really gets to show off her higher register both soft and belt. I like how it's also stripped back but it's a bit dirtier, the bass is rough just enough to give the track some depth and darkness.
- Jelly is the one that most makes me think of Red Velvet proper, I can imagine the whole group singing it. It wouldn't have been out of place on any of their ReVe Festival albums. It's missing a bit of that straight pop sparkle that would really make it a Red Velvet song, but that doesn't take away from the song, it just helps it fit better with this mini.
- I admittedly didn't listen to Uncover because while Seulgi is a talented singer, I think a whole track of her voice isn't for me. Her voice is just a little bit not my thing.

They may as well have called the dance practises 'black/white' versions lol there's no shame! I don't know what 'top note' and 'middle note' is about. It makes me think of the rachni from mass effect. I like Seulgi's styling in them but not Irene's, they were really clinging onto not letting her be unfeminine. I'm impressed they even let her near trousers though, so baby steps I guess.

Honestly if they'd just dropped the music video at the right time this whole comeback would have been so much more of a thing. Saying screw sm is redundant at this point but screw sm

[benihime99.livejournal.com]

I wish Monster had more oomph and teh MV left me a bit disappointed as well
It makes sense to promote this one but I liked "Feel good" more

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Monster is such an earworm. It was stuck in my head for a full 6 hours after release.

[4rang.livejournal.com]

Top and middle notes are terms used to describe the different layers of scents in perfumes. Their album packaging concept is beauty care and they used this fragrance terminology for the different album versions. The black cover is the top note version and the white cover is the middle note version, and they extended this to the peformances. They're releasing a base note cover as well.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

Ah! That makes perfect sense. Thanks for explaining!

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

I watched Monster line distibrution video and it was sped up a bit for copyright reasons, ahhh it was so much more pleasing to my ears. I was like hey it’s growing on me! But then they played a clip of the original speed at the end and just reminded me that original drags so much for me. So I wish it was a little faster.

The b-sides were just ok. They were songs I would normally really vibe with but they all lacked that oomph, as I said on ontd I wish they were cooked longer because I see what they were going for but they sounded ‘undercooked’ lol. Basically other songs in this sound pull it off better than these bsides have. Seulgi’s solo is the only one I saved so far but I haven’t replayed it much post.

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

the minis pretty solid the only song I kinda skip is Jelly. SM The Stage videos are so hit or miss for me, this one barely showed the best parts of the choreo because it was too focused on getting beauty shots of the girls.

[smilla-sini.livejournal.com]

SM really likes to include a song named Diamond on every other album they release

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

It's A Thing

[inwazyja.livejournal.com]

Monster would've been a good soundtrack song for It's Ok to Not Be OK, tbh.

[mortkero.livejournal.com]

I thought the top note and middle note MVs were meh

I didn't like the camera work and I thought the background screen was pointless.

I rather watch their performance on SBS radio.

[myungung.livejournal.com]

The album feels very RV’s velvet side, but lite. Some of Irene’s parts felt like Yeri could have been the one singing instead, which sounds more like an issue of SM to make them sound alike?
The album does make me want to hear something from vocal line ala TTS, because of the potential it could be

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

as with most kpop, the song grew on me. i just feel like the choreo is mostly soooooo lackluster, i hate the chorus choreo completely

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

the constant bouncing or whatever you want to call it is so distracting to me.

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

Yes! I hate it. The little stepping theyre doing looks so dumb!

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

the shoulders, the twist, the everything. It's just...distracting. With this song I feel it should all be sharp and smooth.and those moves are killing the mood for me.

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

the song was better on first listen. After watching the above 2 videos, I've decided I'm not a fan of Monster. Also, what's the difference between high note and middle note? they sound the same to me. did I miss something?

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

it's a play on their album packaging to describe each look. notes meaning perfume notes not music notes.

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

ah. yeah. did not get the perfume thing from the videos. Just looked like 2 different dance versions to me.

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

you'd have to have gone hunting to find out what the album pack looks like tbh unless you remembered their very first teaser so not your fault. notes was maybe not the best way to describe something also music related.

[xoxkenzxox.livejournal.com]

hahaha! yeah. I first though they would be singing higher on one and lower/middle range on the other. I thought it was going to be a new vocal challenge. Dancing 2X speed is out and singing the same song in different ranges is in. whoops

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Uncover is my favorite song on the mini. I looooove the scenes of them in the white dresses. I laughed so hard when they giggled after staring at each other too long.

[4rang.livejournal.com]

I am really enjoying this release and loving the bsides, especially Feel Good and Jelly. The choreo looks good too, aside from that weird little stepping/bopping part, lol. I hope they release a proper practice video. I initially wasn't sure how well Irene and Seulgi would work as a duo, but they actually balance each other well.

[ashdevilrun23.livejournal.com]

A solid album! usually on a rv album there is always a song I HATE but I like all of these I’m happy