2PM 2nd Single Album
Time for 2PM
May 15, 2009 Picked By Sanwei YesAsia Editor's Pick
2PM was outshone by SHINee last year in the battle of the rookie boy bands, but they're getting their time in the limelight with their second single album 2:00PM Time For Change.
Written, composed, and arranged by daddy JYP, their red-hot #1 single Again & Again is pretty much a surefire hit from the first note to the last. Particularly notable for the fluid electronic beats and pounding bass that serve as intro, outro, and catchy backing for the entire song, Again & Again is an urban dance track that embraces the K-pop mantra of being both hip-pop edgy and completely chart-friendly at the same time. The song gets stuck in the head pretty easily since the "again and again" part is repeated, er, again and again, but the smooth, low-key melody and relatively soft vocal arrangement keep the track from treading into the borderline annoying territory of other recent heavy-on-repetition K-pop superhits.
Again & Again isn't as fresh or distinctive as 2PM's fun debut single 10 out of 10, but it's a stronger, more well-rounded release. Less mischief and more melody also mean less of the inconsistencies that were present in 10 out of 10, which was either fabulous or awkward depending on which part of the song you were listening to. The rapping in Again & Again is still on the weak side for a group of their style, but the vocal performance has clearly improved, and there's not much to complain about in terms of the song itself as it's clearly a JYP winner. The R&B remix version of Again & Again actually does better justice to the song's composition by toning down the chorus for a cleaner sound, although less digital effects on the vocals would have been even better.
Less digital effects and fancy electronic beats would have also helped "Hate You" (Track 3), an otherwise great uptempo R&B and electronic track. The song follows more of a Big Bang style in its arrangement, but with less rapping and more lyrical flourish. Even the rapping sounds Big Bang-esque, though that's not a bad thing. Written, composed, and arranged by FAME-J, uptempo ballad "Might Come Back" (Track 4) is the song that has grown on me the most from the single album. The song changes in tone quite a bit from one section to the next, stepping back in the R&B verses and laying on vocals and beats in the chorus, but flows well overall. The vocal performance in "Might Come Back" is probably the strongest out of the three songs on the album, and the rapping is the best I've heard from the group thus far.
All three songs on 2:00PM Time For Change have high replay value, so I'm looking forward to seeing what 2PM can do with a full-length album. It's no secret that 2AM got the singers and 2PM got the dancers and lookers (and Jun Su), but they're actually doing better than expected in the singing department. The disparity in vocal talent among the group members isn't as great as in some other idol groups, and their songs have been very well produced to play to the group members' strengths and down-to-earth charisma. Besides, out of the newer boy bands 2PM make the best variety show goofs, sure signs of survival in the Korean entertainment world.
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