BTOB - 'Complete'

Track List:
1. Complete (Intro)
2. It's Okay
3. Live Well Yourself
4. One-Man Show
5. Summer Romance
6. My Friend's Girlfriend
7. Her Over Flowers
8. I Miss You
9. Yo-Ho-Ho
10. Open
11. Insane (Acoustic Version)
12. Shake It
13. Everything's Good – Ilhoon Solo (Outro)


The boys of BTOB want you to give some summer lovin' to their newest LP, 'Complete.' This marks the first time Born TO Beat has released a full album, and it's chock-full of songs written and composed by the members themselves.

We start off with "Complete," which is rather long for an intro track, clocking in at almost the length of a full song. Funky and snappy, they talk themselves up and present a confident front: "Just in case you missed I'll repeat it for you one more time: We are BTOB."



For the first time, BTOB leads with a ballad, "It's Okay." It's hit number one on the music charts, so the risk paid off. It's an earnestly sung ode, sentimental and syrupy at the same time. I believe largely what makes it work is the lack of orchestral accompaniment, which lets their emotional vocals carry the song. And it works well, conveying the sense of loneliness and frustration that characterizes the lyrics.  

The next song is again a ballad, the mid-tempo "Live Well Yourself," a moving and tender song dedicated to their girl, telling her they want her to be happy now that they're broken up. Insistent vocals and a beat that builds from mild to strong definitely help this song pop.



The boys channel Michael Jackson on "One-Man Show," because that's what I was reminded of initially. As the song progresses, the boys drop to a register too low for Jackson to initially match, and it contains hooks that he'd be jealous of - "Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay" has you repeating it along with them, and the hip hop influences and a chugging guitar join up and soon turn this into a solid, body-moving track.

"Summer Romance" is a pleasant soft-rock offering evoking a summer of love, talking of campfires, sand, and the sound of the waves. Ilhoon definitely knows how to put emotion in his raps, and the "du du ru ru's" are nice hooks.



"My Friend's Girlfriend" is at a higher tempo than the bulk of what we've heard so far, and they almost sound frenzied here, tenors going fairly high, and I love the energy here as they agonize over crushing on their friend's girl.

The boys slow it down just a bit for "Her Over Flowers," singing about their preference for their girl over flowers. It's not explicitly stated, but I'm pretty sure they're saying she's more beautiful than the other supposedly beautiful girls -- "flower" girls. 



"I Miss You" is a ballad, in case you couldn't judge from the title, and you have 10 seconds to tell me what you think this song is about. It's pretty enough, and there's some fierce rapping here as well. It's a little calmer than their other ballads, and I like that better.

"Yo-Ho-Ho" is frantic and tribal, immediate and playful. Not quite pop and not quite rap, it has some awesome hooks. Singable and danceable, this is BTOB's let's-have-fun song:

"I don't care who sees
paparazzi or police
Cuz tonight we're all
gonna be wild and free"

"Open" reminds me a lot of "Summer Romance," except it manages to distinguish itself with sick rap interludes and a funky beat during the chorus. I love the sax blasts too! They're asking the girl to be open with them and let them know every secret. They're definitely interested in her.

The next track, "Insane," is the acoustic version of their debut single. It apparently has been completely re-worked, including the vocals. Vastly different from the original, this one shows off BTOB's inimitable voices. I like the tempo, too, as they didn't slow it down that much, and the snaps and raps help make this track shine.



Slip on your dancing shoes for "Shake It," because it is all about throwing off your inhibitions and shaking it to the music. Hook-laden and high-energy, this makes for a pretty awesome dance track. The nice thing is the Michael Jackson influences are absent here, giving us a fresher and more original song.

They slip into a more pensive mode for the outro "Everything's Good." A solo by Ilhoon, this has the mood of a confession, after she's gone. It's an emotional rap, filled with lines like "Sometimes when I wake up, I wanna go back to when I was a child" and this:

"I think I'll miss the times we snuck out to play outside
It'll be boring now cause I don't have anyone who'll listen to my silly jokes
If I work really hard, maybe I won't miss you?
There's nothing more to lose..."

I enjoyed this. Occasionally playful, occasionally danceable, and soft and heartfelt at other times, this is a pretty solid release. I didn't detect any fillers on here, which is a risk for an album of this length. They've been at it for some time, and it looks their hard work has paid off again. They deserve their success, and this album is worthy of much love.

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