“Now, two years later, Super Junior is still trying to live up to (if not re-do) everything from the “Sorry, Sorry” era via crazy concepts and ‘reinvented’ arrangements. More than impress, it translates as a lazy effort on YYJ’s part, and a tired one from Super Junior.
It begs the question, how many more times will they recycle a set of songs before they realize it’s time to move on?
Unfortunately for Super Junior, it resulted in a fifth album that had some great tracks, but poor overall cohesion. Ultimately, it felt like the boys faltered somehow on their way back to the throne as Korea’s K-Pop princes, and the hype just didn’t match up to the finished product.”
Click here to continue reading the full review of Mr. Simple by Super Junior via allkpop.com
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Sorry, do you mind if I comment on the review here? The allkpop comment section for the article wasn’t exactly a breeding ground for intelligent conversation (no offense intended).
I actually thought that at first listen Mr. Simple sounded different from Bonamana, but after a few more listens I pretty much agree with you. This song is as gimmicky as it gets, its like a Lucifer/Sorry Sorry hybrid- except it takes the worst bits on each song instead of the best bits. It took on Lucifer’s one note ‘melody’ and Sorry Sorry’s… Sorry Sorry-ness?
As for the rest of the album- I actually liked quite a bit of it. I’m a fan of most of the up tempos, I’m especially loving Be My Girl. Though only because of the lines Kyuhyun and Sungmin sing (which is what you meant by the pre-chorus bits I’m presuming). I thought Storm was a complete bore, and if they’re going to use Donghae and Sungmin in KRY songs then they might as well give them lines that are a bit challenging, because otherwise I feel like any other SJ member could just sing them.
I thought Y was phenomenal, and I think Donghae shows real potential as an artist, and yes, I think SuJu should just sing RnB forever and ever, The pretty ballads did them no favours, and they sound surprisingly stellar on ‘Y’- they have 10 voices, and for once it doesn’t seem like too much.
My Love, My Kiss, My Heart was amazing. Like, completely amazing. I was only a bit childishly resentful towards KRY since 4jib was chockful of their voices and it all came together in a boring album (I know, not their fault, but still >..<
TL;DR: I pretty much agree with everything you wrote.
Thanks for taking the time to leave an actual comment worth reading.
In all honesty, this album was not bad, and it could have been much worse. Granted, my expectations were low, but at least I wasn’t disappointed. I had hoped the title track would be a little more explosive in the sense that it would brake out of the SM rudimentary mold of a pop song, but it didn’t. Sadly.
Contrary to what mindless readers believe, I’m a big fan of SM Entertainment and there’s a part of me that trusts they, being the pop juggernaut they are, will continue to hone the aspects of Kpop that make it ‘Kpop’ and reinvigorate their music with livelier points of views, rather than churning out music that is too hell-bent on being just catchy. I mean, catchy-ness comes with the territory of a pop song, but it does not equal quality music, and that’s what I aim to find when I go into review-mode. I believe in pop music and this year has offered some pretty amazing stuff. Unfortunately, Mr. Simple and the majority of this album don’t quite do it for me.
Speaking of Donghae, I’d like to at least address the ‘quacking’ that seems to have made ELFs upset. First of all, how trivial of a complaint!!! I would understand if fans went into this review with an open mind and disagreed on the main points I made throughout the article, but not only have people taken such a small detail personally, but have also taken it completely out of context. It’s almost moronic that these people believe I’m ‘attacking’ anyone in this review, and that’s saddening to me, because that’s not what is going on nor my intention. If people would end this group think, one would see that my phrasing and way of describing things is lighthearted, slightly sarcastic, and loosely done. (btw, since when does the word “endearingly” have a negative connotation? I can’t even…)
allkpop isn’t CNN! My reviews aren’t intended to be read as esteemed pieces of analytical work nor written for people in that regard. It’s an ed-it-or-i-al for a kpop site, and just because my writing style is semi-pessimist in tone and written very loosely, it’s a review – something I do on a daily basis, so of course I’m going to toy with descriptive words. It doesn’t mean I’m being unprofessional. Visit Gawker, or Vulture and clearly they write to entertain; and when it comes down to it, that’s the basis of what I do as a features writer.
…errr, I know a lot of that isn’t directed to you, obviously, but I just had to voice a sprinkle of my frustration to the backlash.
As I said, I don’t dislike this album, and I don’t even dislike Super Junior or SM. Furthermore, I have no bias or non-bias or whatever – if anything, I reserve my bias for quality music.
Thanks for the comment, and just checked out your blog. Is it new? Good stuff!!
Yep, those are pretty much my thoughts. I think I ended up liking the album more because I first listened to the songs out of order with huge gaps in between in each listen. So in the end my initial and final impression on them was based on them as separate songs, and not part of an album. This is probably why I ended up enjoying it more, since the lack of cohesiveness didn’t occur to me. If that makes sense?
I know what you mean. My standards were pretty low too- at least for the album. Even though I promised myself otherwise, somehow I got my hopes up for the lead single. I thought they’d try harder with SuJu since unlike f(x) and CSJH, SJ was one of their high roller bands. Plus the audio for teaser two was the hottest thing to come out of SM this year.
I have faith in SM, and I know that they know what good music is. But they also know what catchy, I-hate-this-song-but-I’m-going-to-abuse-replay-regardless music is, and I feel like lately they’re trying just trying to aim for the latter and completely disregarding the whole ‘quality music’ idea. It’s almost offensive, sure the public loves a catchy ‘melody’, but we consumers aren’t stupid. We know uninspired music from good music.
Oh, oops. Sorry, my praise for Donghae wasn’t in response to your ‘attack’ on him if that’s how it came across :’D I didn’t even know you *ahem* ‘attacked’ him.
Are you serious? You got backlash for the ‘quacking’ comment? Wow that’s… ridiculous. I highly doubt it was the ‘quacking’ that set them off. I see stuff like this all the time. People don’t like an opinion they read, but they don’t know how to refute it. So what do they do? They take out the most frivolous statement or mistake- like the author using ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re’ (or in your case, using the adjective quacking), twist it, and base their whole dispute on that alone.
Aaaand taking into consideration the fact it’s Donghae (aka: the worst live singer SM has ever seen- though lately he has improved tremendously), ‘quacking’ is one of the nicer things I’ve heard people say about his vocals. To be honest, if they were to take out anything, I thought it’d be the fact you subtly called Ryeowook’s voice ‘shrill’ xP (I kid, I kid)
I actually think you’re very open-minded in your reviews. I’ve seen quite a few reviews for Mr. Simple and your one is the most respectful/unbiased I’ve seen thus far. Your use of sarcasm is very sparse, and I’ve never really seen you do it in a way that’s meant to attack. ELF are a touchy bunch, it was just them taking the negative comments too personally and ignoring the positive things you said.
Plus, you’re probably more aware of this than I am, allkpop has a very bad reputation behind. I know the site has had a major overhaul. But a lot of their past articles have blurred the line between ‘witty’ and ‘mean’, and I’m sure a lot of fans still remember all the crap they’ve read on AKP in the past (I mean, I’ll admit it. I still sort of do). So even though the site runs differently now, everytime an editorial comes up that expresses even a bit of opinion, there’s going to be backlash. Because you know, it’s ‘allkpop’, and so even the slightest bit of snark is going to be blown up to a thousand times its worth, and even constructive criticism is going to be taken as ‘uninformed’ and ‘biased’. It isn’t fair to people like you who know what they’re talking about and are genuinely good writers, but it happens ):
Aw thank you Yeah, it is new. I used to just comment on other blogs, but I have a lot of thoughts and am kind of type happy (as you see) so my comments ended up longer than the actual post >.< Plus it’s a way to morph three of my favourite things: music, writing, and the internet xP I’m far from being a good writer, but this is a nice way to practice and indulge.
Oh whoops, I realised that half of my initial comment didn’t even post >.< ergo. The rest of it was just me agreeing with you on the lack of cohesiveness and the fact the songs are pretty much 'hit or miss'. That and the fact Good Friend belongs in hairspray.
McRoth, I am so sorry for the recent backlash in allkpop. I have to agree with Ree on the discussion/comment side for allkpop. I sincerely apologize. Majority of the fans there are really young..in their teens so is they got a little overworked on the comment. On that endearing part, lol..I think they saw the quack part only. I made a conclusion reading the comments, don’t ever try getting involve in allkpop’s comment/discussion.
I just got into Kpop this year, and yes, it is through Sorry Sorry. They are the first boy band group that I like in my 20+ years of life. I find it unbelievable liking boy bands at this age but their dance music just sucked me in. Plus, having KRY in their group is like heaven. I haven’t heard Bonamana much (I didn’t like it..), but I ended up liking Mr. Simple. It is crazy but addictive. I love the dance moves and the simplicity of the MV since we could focus on their dance and not some Kdrama story lines ( I would hate it). Maybe is still fresh for me… I wanted them to do SJ FUnky again but from what I have been reading, definitely would do them better if they could go a different route next time. I find their Sorry Sorry, It’s You and Super Girl their best track yet. Superman was insanely badass too..I still cracked up hearing The Last Man Standing. I really think donghee has quite a good musical sense, listening to his beautiful and Y. And can I tell you how I love your comment to Good Friends. Some don’t like the style but I love the upbeat music, the instruments plus the way they were belting out…iiiggoooyaaa. My Love , My Kiss and My heart was a perfect end to the album for me. It makes me yearning for more. Thank you for the review and recommendation. It is not the perfect album but I might just get it for the 70% of the songs… (if only they have super girl and super man in the album. The titles are so ridiculous..I just have to point it out. Even their group name..sigh. Just like all kpop groups..WHY? Well, is too late now since they are such famous entertainers/musicians that they can’t change anymore
I wished they would have paid more attention to the rest of the songs, but they know songs like “Sorry, Sorry” and “Bonamana” are the ones that sell, so they just reused and recycled. -sigh- But great review, your analysis is always profound and enjoyable.