written by: McRoth
Considering the fact that so many of you wouldn’t shut the eff up about this album – my continuous promising and postponements of posting it didn’t help – you have left me with no alternative than to bust out a ginormous review for you, right here and right now. I will serve you track-by-track realness and you’re going to eat it raw and your scroll bar will weep like a little biotch, because this thing is going to be equivalent to a gigantic veiny boner. Are you gagging yet?
—–
Junsu‘s “Tarantallegra” album is as mind-numbingly amazing and exquisitely confusing as its title. I don’t know how much sense that makes as a descriptor, but I’m hoping it’s effective because I felt all kinds of mixed emotions as I listened to this thing. A week later, I’m still quivering in anxiety.
Tarantallegra is by no means perfect, regardless of how amazing of a singer I think Junsu is. It’s important to state this in advance, because Junsu is one of K-pop’s most highly revered singers, not just by me, but by the global K-pop fandom and Korean professional critics errwhere. The fact that he’s immensely talented goes without saying at this point, however, I do believe that even the most talented people shouldn’t be easily rewarded with praise, because there is always room to grow. And where there’s room to grow there is room for mistakes to manifest in one form or another.
So, were there any of these mistakes crawling about in Tarantallegra, or is it as brilliant as we had expected it to be?
Let’s find out.
McRoth's Residence is a fun blog with quick access to everything McRoth and his friends enjoy. From their fascination for Korean media to their full-fledged reviews on the latest Korean pop music - they'll make sure the hospitality is badass and the content awesome. So, kick back, take a sip of your tea and enjoy your stay.
I have only listened to the album once. That pretty much sums up how I feel about this album.
Good review. One of the things I dig about Junsu is his bold ambition. However, execution is something entirely different. There didn’t seem to be a consistent theme tying all the musical elements together in this album. It almost felt like three different mini’s: k ballad, dance & r&b. I kind of feel he should’ve done 3 separate mini albums. Even with the album’s weaknesses, I still look forward to more work from him. Decent first solo effort from him and I love “Intoxication” and “Lullaby” the most.
I pretty much agree with this review completely. When I first listened to the title track it took me a while to even identify where the chorus was since it barely stood out.
Indeed, Junsu is one of the most talented vocalist out there. I appreciate that he tries to do more and expand his skillset but please leave the producing to the real professionals. The production value of most of the songs in this album was so amateurish. I really only liked Lullaby…
FINALLY someone who has the same opinion as me… “The bare and haunting instrumental was the best aspect of “Tarantallegra””
so true!!!! i absolutely LOVE the instrumental it just LACK the awesome lyrics to fit the epic instrumental…
i love this album, it’s way better than “in heaven” imo. but i gotta admit, whatever they (jyj) trying to sell to us fans the next time, please don’t be a cheapskate… hire a proper producer to edit all this mess, work with more song-writers out here. if all south korea producers/song-writers chickened out, there’re tons out here who want to work with them if cjes/jyj looked them up seriously. and it’s not kanye west is the only one around. dear cjes, i know you’re doing business. i get that your boys could still sell million won with cheaper production cost. but if they truly are musicians, they can do better than this. no. they SHOULD do better than this.
Is it just me, or is “Around and Around” sound A LOT like a mash of OSTs, especially “fox rain” from MGIAG???
It feels like a cluttered album. And I love JunSu and his voice is beautiful, but I’ve had to listen to it a few times to pick out the good parts.