[MV & Album Review] SHINee � 'The Story of Light' EP.2

AKP STAFF

SHINee � THE STORY OF LIGHT EP.2

Track list:

1. I Want You
2. Chemistry
3. Electric
4. Drive
5. Who Waits For Love

SHINee has released the second of three planned releases for their 'Story of Light' project. This mini-album gives you five tunes, including the title track "I Want You."

The EP starts out with the title track "I Want You", and it's largely tropical house, which is appropriate for summer. Of course, it has the marching, full-bodied chorus, just like the first album in this sequence. I think the chorus really saves it from being just another bland pop tune. "Chemistry" starts out the same way, but I really like this one -- they should have made this one their title track. It's got this prideful energy that just gets into your ears and into your heart. The boys feel like their giving their all here, and the enthusiasm is infectious.

"Electric" is exactly that. It starts a bit R&B/tropical house style, but they again bring that stomping beat to the chorus, plus some subtle auto-tune. And the vocal breaks are just the icing on the cake for this intense jam. "Drive" is probably the weakest tune on here, but that's not saying much. It's just that it seemed a little familiar after hearing the other tunes do rather unique things. It's not a�bad tune, but it's just mediocre. The power ballad "Who Waits For Love" is a change in direction, refreshing after all the club-bangers. It absolutely drips with electronic goodness, and the time changes and different elements here turn it into an awesome tune. �

So what to make of this? I think they topped the last one. I thought the prevalence of club-bangers helped me get into this more. Bland tunes celebrating the sun seem somehow wrong, so this album hit all the right notes with me.

MV REVIEW

If I liked the first MV, this one not so much. It's obvious they tried hard, but the room where they were dancing was just headache-inducing, as the boys were all this odd shade of pink. Not to mention that part of the stage was just cheap looking. Here, they're in the woods, and they decide to try their luck in the well again�and eventually end up flying to outer space. There are some cute moments, but they kind of end up being a bit cringe. I understand that the effects were meant to be cheesy. But it ended up being less-than-charming.

That's not to say it's ratchet -- it's not. It's kind of clever in some places, but there was enough that annoyed me about it to give it a less-than-stellar rating. The song was pretty cool, but I just wasn't a fan of the MV.

Well, well, well...

The dancing was absolutely awesome. They were able to bring it whether kneeling or standing, sweeping the floor with their hands and dazzling us with fancy footwork. Other than the fact that the color scheme was awful, this was mega-impressive.

That said, the dancing was top notch, and there were some outer space scenes that were kind of cool. But the whole thing had some colors that were weird, the formatting was also strange,�
and my reactions ranged from *meh* to *ouch.*

Score

MV Relevance...........8
MV Production..........8
MV Concept..............8
MV SCORE: 8.0

Album Production.....9
Album Concept.........9
Tracklisting...............9
ALBUM SCORE: 9.0