VIXX - 'ZELOS'
Track List:
1. Dynamite
2. Six Feet Under
3. Farewell Hands
4. Dynamite (Inst.)
VIXX is back, and this time with a brand new concept. One of three albums in their year-long "Conception" project, they bring you the three-track disc 'Zelos.' Zelos is the Greek god of rivalry and jealousy, and the boys portray guys who have been bitten by the green-eyed monster (i.e., they're jealous). This is their fifth single album.
"Dynamite" is the title track, and I'm not as enthused about this as I could be. It's a good herald for summer with its expansive, horn-like synths and the danceable beat. The hooks and harmonies are actually really good, along with the staccato nature of the bridge. It's got that heightened tension in the main verses, giving you a nice progression to the chorus. It's bright, upbeat, and a pretty good pop tune. But is it VIXX?
The standout track, IMHO, is "Six Feet Under." This is much closer to the dark concept we've come to expect from VIXX. While I'm not much for their brighter, happier songs, I'm very into the dark stuff. Starting from the title to the lyrics, this song has a lot of dark written into it. Lines like "She's just like a transparent coffin" and "My love is already DOA (dead on arrival)" pretty much give you a good idea. While I like the body-moving beat, it almost sounds like they're happy singing it, which is a bit weird. Still, it's a good listen.
"Farewell Hands" is a ballad, starting out somewhat stripped down, then about 30 seconds in the boys are joined by a beat and strings. There's a nice tinkling bell effect right before Ravi's melancholy rapping, and then the boys join in a skilled harmony before splitting off again. They do a good job here, Ken's moving falsetto and Leo's tenor add some emotional heft to the song. As to what it's about, these lines say it all:
I'm sorry
I don't feel a thing
When I hold your hand
When we hold hands together
Ultimately, I'm not sure this wasn't an experiment, though I think it came out okay. VIXX seems to have strayed from the dark concept we're used to into more of a traditional K-Pop mold. I'm not sure if I'm happy with it, but I do know the other albums that are planned have to do with Kratos (personification of authority) and Hades (god of death), so hopefully we'll see a return to the dark concept. Ultimately, I liked 'Unchained' better, even though this album definitely shows a creative shift. Misfit and Ravi wrote the title track, and Ravi had a hand in all the rest. This album wasn't bad, but I was hoping for something a bit different.
MV REVIEW
Watch as the boys of VIXX dance their way through different environments. That's it. That's literally all they do. The imagery is a bit odd, too, from a room that is stacked with TVs to claustrophobic hallways to an area with unclothed mannequins and lots of neon lighting. If there was a plot, it got lost somewhere.
What the MV does feature is tons and tons of dancing. If you thought they were switching away from the dancing scenes in MVs too fast, this one's for you -- but not really. If you look pretty close at the dancing, there's a couple outstanding scenes, but a lot of it's individual locks, or even them moving their arms in a half-assed way. There's precious little synchronization, the camera switching from one scene to another willy nilly.
Ultimately, this is a good showcase for the band, but that's about it. You get lots of shots of each one doing his thing and a few group shots. The sad thing is that unless you're completely distracted by how handsome they are, it's not much of an MV. Oh look, here's some dancing. Oh look, more dancing. And it's not like it's that much on point either. The choreo just didn't seem that interesting. I don't know what they were looking to achieve with this MV, but I don't think they succeeded.
Score
MV Production.........7
MV Concept.............7
Album Production...7
Album Concept........8
Tracklisting..............8
OVERALL...............7.3
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