BoA: Will this Korean princess translate to success in U.S..
Written: Oct 26 '09
Product Rating:
Pros: There are some great songs on this album.
Cons: Somehow becoming mainstream in the U.S. translated into sounding like another Britney Spears.
The Bottom Line: BoA is definitely a worthwhile artist but this album doesn't really do her justice. Five songs on here are really good and the rest is Britney redux.
BoA (Beats of Angel) is the stage name for Korean pop princess Kwon Boa who began her career at the tender age of thirteen. She began her career when was a tagalong to her big brother when he attended a talent search for a record company. They decided to sign her instead and she began training for a career as one of Asia’s brightest pop stars. Two years later she released her debut in Korea with respectable success and then set her sights on Japan as well. As her star was fading she was hoping it could rise once again across the ocean here in the states. I began to get interested in BoA when I discovered her on YouTube and she’s a fantastic video artists. So will her talent and charisma translate?
If you are looking for groundbreaking, earth shattering eargasmic singing then you’ll be disappointed with BoA on this album. If you are looking for music to get you moving on the dancefloor and the treadmill then this album will be just fine. In her best moments she’s a singer more than capable of delivering ear candy that will definitely stick with you. In her worst moments she sounds like she’s been cloned from Britney Spears DNA. We’ll get more into that later. Overall though, BoA’s ability isn’t really showcased here. She’s capable of some pretty ballads (far more engaging than any slow song Britney’s ever done) and she actually has recorded many songs in different styles.
Let’s start with the fun tracks. “Eat You Up” is a fantastic little pop gem with a nice snap, crackle, pop sound and its unbelievably addictive. The vocals are only passable in all reality, the song isn’t really original but for some reason my daughter and I are both hooked. It helps her likability considerably that the video is one of the best dance videos I’ve seen in awhile. “Energetic” is one of the better Britney tracks Britney didn’t do. The song lives up to the song and has plenty of highly processed ear candy. Stuttered vocals and autotune galore it also recalls what Madonna’s been doing more recently. “Touched” sounds pretty good as well. I can’t quite figure out who she’s channeling on this one but it sounds a bit familiar. Likeable but I’m definitely experiencing some auditory déjà vu.
Now let‘s go with the“Look Who’s Talking” sounds exactly like a Britney Spears song. I don’t mean similar like some of the other tracks. I mean like straight up jacking our tortured pop princess here! Anytime an artists sounds THAT similar to someone its just distracting. Its so close I almost wondered if they were short on time and took one of Brit’s outtakes! (I looked this up on Wikipedia and actually Britney is listed as one of the writers….so I guess it was) “Scream” sounds very similar to Britney’s “Shattered Glass” but not as engaging. It’s okay and might get your head nodding but not nearly as cool as its doppelganger predecessor. The opening of “Girls On Top” which is a newer version of a song she released back in Korea channels Spears pretty heavily as well. This song is pretty catchy though. I liked it better in Korean as she sounds more passionate and involved.
Overall, most of these songs are pretty similar although I have to say the blandest is the first release “I Did It For Love”. The song is completely forgettable and probably one of the most uneventful ones on the album. The production is from Sean Garret who is half of the duo Swizz Beatz but he left his A Game at home. Thankfully he did much better on “Energetic“. While some songs are quirky and cute like “Did Ya” produced by Bloodshy and Avant” (even if it does have echoes of “Toxic” going on who is produced by SURPRISE………..Bloodshy and Avant) others are pretty forgettable like “Dress Off” which gets my vote for worst song on the album. The fact is BoA is far better than this English debut indicates. It has some great moments but as an album there is far too much Britney adoration going on. With Britney making a bit of a comeback there really is no opening for an album like this which is frankly a watered down version of Circus.
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