ALWAYS YOURS review (JP singles run)
ALWAYS YOURS (2023)
the 20th part of my svt discography review! side A of japanese compilation album ALWAYS YOURS includes Seventeen's complete run of Japanese singles, plus two new japanese songs. I won't be reviewing side B because it's just japanese versions of songs I've already reviewed.
Ranking system:
🍇 - 10.0 BNM one of their most iconic slays
🍉 - fantastic song that made me feel something
🍓 - eating, a few flaws that are either easy to overlook or a bit charming
🍊 - good background music but i wouldn't seek it out
🍌 - it does nothing for me but isn't outright offensive
🍐 - does nothing for me and is offensive
🍈 - so bad that it almost wraps back around to good just bc i was laffing so much
(note: tracklists are not in album order. they are very loosely ranked)
🍐🍈 Ainochikara (Power of Love)
erm.....what the fuck is wonu doing at the beginning of this...LOL @ MINGYU LIKE UM, GIRL....oh man, jeonghan...a honey VOCAL lmfao. hoshi singing through a marshmallow... um... VERN? YOU HATE HIM SO BAD FOR MAKING HIM HEAD VOICE LIKE THAT. i know ive pretty consistently called scoups a good singer throughout these reviews but let me rescind that for a few minutes. man is it just me or were people lowkey farting on the track? omg jun's nose gold... BOOSEOK THANK GOD FOR YOU GENUINELY. man... this is kind of a trainwreck it's not even vocally challenging they just kinda weren't trying...
🍐 HAPPY ENDING
So let me try to explain why I don't like this...first of all, that drone in the background is not focused on enough to not stress me out. I'm like (looking around) is something wrong? Also everyone is kinda in their butt rock bag for this one. It's literally just kinda unpleasant to listen to...oh man that siren sound is so stressful. There's also no payoff whatsoever there's just the river of slop and HAPPY ENDING HAPPY ENDING... like dont get me wrong theres a couple of pleasant parts (dk bridge) but like i just dont understand the purpose or structure of this song like is this a demo or who decided it should sound like this idk
🍌 Dream
the way no one gave a fuck about her lol. it's cute how they made hoshi sing about becoming a star, self-referential! josh in that prechorus was feeling himself. i mean the instrumental is super pleasant but i don't know what seventeen think they're doing over the top of it...like, the minwon verse...i just can't... like maybe they should've done something different over the top of it. omg dk your BEAUTIFUL VOCAL on that last chorus, this should've been your solo...omg following that up with josh is so sick lmfao. yeah this is pretty much mid tier. great instrumental though! i guess i can see why nobody moved when this dropped
🍊 Sara Sara
So this track opens with mingyu lisping all over the place, and instrumental is really...well, just listen to it. Their japanese singles are different than their korean singles. It's kinda funny hearing vern rap in japanese for some reason, he's ENUNCIATING. I'm not really sure what this song is about, like... liking someone so much you become them(?), I think. Codependent kings! Dino gives us everything he's got on this one lol. Like it's cute but it's nothing too special, I think. Maybe it's a grower. There's nothing wrong with it and I like the details in the instrumental. The hook could've been stronger, i guess.
🍓 24H
Youngblood say you want me okay sorry. This song's main appeal is how it slows down and gets all heavy for the chorus. It's a little...ominous? If you look at the lyrics it's another codependency banger, like I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOUR SIDE FOR EVEN ONE MOMENT MY DARLING I WANNA PLAY WITH YOU FOR 24 HOURS...whatever that means, like omg...i guess this is a sex song? Like the most dramatic sex song ever, jeez. I feel like this song is probably better if you watch it performed/the mv or something, cuz you have to see with your own eyes that they're attractive and harmless. Cuz without the visual this is a bit scary. That little thing mingyu does plus the fact that he's in a crop top in the mv makes this kinda his best work.
🍓 CALL CALL CALL!
I mean, a phone concept is...a choice, I guess. Complete with a chanting hook and phone onomatopoeia... It's cute hearing vern say moshi moshi although I'm positive I'm not the first person to hold that opinion. This song is kinda hilarious cuz it's seventeen as your overdramatic boyfriends who really wish you would call more often. Like what kind of life do you think i lead where I'd need to hit you up to rescue me!? Like omgggg seungkwan please pick me up from workkkkk 😭😭 I mean this song is like...fun? It's fun. I think it's a bit too fun for its own good, honestly, like I'm trying to imagine when i would listen to this... I guess if you're depressed and seventeen begging you to call them in Japanese will cheer you up, then...
🍉 Hitorijanai (Not Alone)
So the prechorus of this is kinda one of the best things they've recorded (is it just me?) but that drop is kinda...lol. Like I'm not sure what that is...it's kinda sad...that little three note synth fart...but the prechorus is just so fucking good that I can forgive it...this is also their covid song is it not? I love how that was a thing, just having kpop groups making pandemic themed songs where they're either stuck somewhere together or connected via webcam fgjdifjghkdjfh wasn't there a zoom call in this mv? I mean if I had been a carat during this part of the pandemic this song would've been my go-to age regressing traumadumping kidcore sobsong if I'm real. Jeonghan is gonna be famous post-seventeen btw, like listen to him on this and tell me that's not a solid J-pop VOCAL. j-pop (idol pop in particular) is typically structured differently than k-pop and relies a lot less on technical vocals (which lets be honest kpop just fixes everyone's vocals in post and forces them to hit the notes lol) so I think he could pull it off. meanwhile I need booseok prechorus extended into a full 5 minute song and injected into my veins. i get the same feeling listening to this that i get looking at baby clothes...baby socks and little baby shoes...that heartache...
🍇 FALLIN FLOWER
Now THIS is excellent...like wow. What a dynamic song ... There's a real sense of urgency, isn't there? And when it pauses for dk prechorus...they could only give it to me once cuz they knew how crazy i am for the unadulterated siren VOCAL. Also the lyrics to this are particularly poetic. Was this a hanahaki inspired song or is that just a coincidence... I usually am not a jeonghoneyvocal stan (as in, why always make his parts in falsetto!? You hate him!) but it really works for me here like omg...you ARE a flower arent you. Beautiful. I think the way this song is propelled forward is interesting, the pace changes a few times and it keeps things engaging. Definitely one of their best JP singles and the video is fun too with everyone in those silk pyjamas lol.
🍇 Ima -even if the world ends tomorrow-
In some ways, Seventeen's japanese singles can be stronger than their korean singles sometimes due to the difference in their target audience...This song is a really good example of that. Japanese people don't fuck with the same sort of music that Korean people fuck with, evidently. The songs you see getting popular in Japan are a lot more melodically complex, for better or worse. sometimes this results in convoluted messes where im like why is this playing in the grocery store omg, what is this, math rock!? Other times you get stuff like this that splits the difference. Woozi has tried to write a school food punishment song a couple times now, and I think this might be his best attempt yet. Like omg that guitar solo at the beginning fjfndkgjg...the atmosphere fits the subject matter, too. Everything's all dramatic with this crazy prechorus and a string section during the refrain like omg, but they're singing about the end of the world so it's fine. Like, party at the end of the world with your loved ones(?) which is kind of a random topic to choose but Dk sells it (on his ONE. LINE. Lol. I'm not bitter.) Jeonghan should really move to japan, by the way. They're obsessed with him and he could churn out songs like this and rake in cash for the rest of his days. He's got a good "voice actor singer" voice.