Pretty solid review, i can understand why you gave this album a 4/10 (i actually think thats quite generous for someone who isn't familiar w kpop lol). Stray Kids' music isnt for everyone, quite a lot of kpop fans aren't actually fond of their music as well. I also understand why you'd also pay attention to lyrics, but i personally pay attention to the music itself more than the lyrics.DM FOR MUTUAL wrote:
25th July 2024 (it took 4 days to realise I was going 22st, 23st, 24st lmao)
Stray Kids - 5-Star
K-Pop, South Korean, 2023
(Link to the rest of the album)
I've never really been a fan of K-Pop, and this album didn't really change that.
It was cool and I enjoyed it, but I didn't really get into it if that makes sense.
One of the reasons that I might not have enjoyed this album that much is that I'm still not fully sold on hip-hop musically as a genre (this album had a very strong hip-hop influence in the first half), and unlike with Kendrick Lamar, the literary aspect couldn't carry the music because my Korean isn't good enough to understand the lyrics.
I don't think this is that relevant though, because starting from track 8 Collision, the album strays away from the super sharp, biting hip-hop that it was before. Collision sounded more like a typical k-pop track, to the point that the overwhelming vibe that I got form it was that I was in a Korean hairdresser because this is the stuff they always play on the speakers lmao. These variations in style was welcome, but it didn't really change the fact that I still wasn't fully into it.
I think another reason for why I wasn't fully into it could be that I think with k-pop there's quite a lot of other aspects to it outside of just the music, which are stuff that I personally didn't engage with or care about. I feel like the dancing and the aesthetic appeal of the members of the group are a big part of k-pop, but I personally avoided watching the music videos while listening to this album because I had done so with every other album I've listened to. And it's not like I really care about them much in the first place. I think there's also an aspect of idol culture where you'd follow the group members as celebreties/idols, but again, this is something that I don't care about at all. With me being so far removed from the culture of k-pop, I feel like I'm really not the target audience for this type of stuff, which made it harder to enjoy.
And a final realisation that I came to was that to me it felt like the music lacked personality. It didn't really feel like an artist expressing themselves through their music, but something corporately produced, if that makes sense. I could be completely speaking out of my ass about this, idk how these tracks are written nor did I pay attention to any of the lyrics, but that was the impression I got from this album. Like the production was cool, but it didn't really feel like there was anything I could attach myself to.
In fact, while I was listening to the album I was enjoying it to the point I was thinking it would be a 5 or a 6, but now that I've finished it, it feels like a 4 because it didn't really feel like I got anything out of it.
So yeah idk I guess k-pop just isn't something I can really get into. I really liked the rocky Dreamcatcher songs that I've come across while playing osu, but that's pretty much the only k-pop that I've really enjoyed, and it's probably more to do with the fact I generally really enjoy j-rock.
I also wanted to mention that S-Class was my favourite track.
4/10
As for the tracks (excluding the last 2 tracks as those were originally released as singles), I personally enjoyed this album, especially the 8th track Collision (i could talk abt this for 50 pages but yea), the instrumentals were amazing and the details really suits the lyrics of the songs. The vocal parts for the first track Hall Of Fame was pretty enjoyable for me too. A fan favorite for this album, TOPLINE was quite a surprise as it sounds more western-like compared to what we have in the industry so far.
I was actually kinda hoping you'd have a good impression on this genre considering the first half of the album sounds pretty kpop-y, especially with the more "loud music" side of the industry (and yes, Collision doesn't really sound kpop-y, at least to me) but recommending something from Stray Kids was probably a hit or miss for first impressions of kpop lmao.
a small note here, i actually dont like S-Class :3c (i actually hated it at first, but it somewhat grew in me).
I'm not a fan of hip-hop or rap in general, but Stray Kids' rap line is pretty strong, combined with 3RACHA's (Stray Kids' producer line consisting of the members Bang Chan, Changbin and Han) weird style of music made Stray Kids' music stick well to me a lot.
Overall, for me it's a 8/10 (excluding the last 2 tracks), I tried my best to be as unbiased as possible and this rating is also based of the music itself and not counting other shit within the kpop industry glad i was able to hear your opinion!