I have no idea how I missed the original release of this album, but I’m making up for it now with the repackage! My boy Key of SHINee has come back with a repackage of his album FACE. This time, he is gracing us with Key I Wanna Be. It is released on March 4th, the day that he entered teh military for his mandatory military service requirement.
I ordered a copy of the album from an eBay seller in the USA. This is a link to the exact one I’ve ordered. I got my copy for $26.99 plus free shipping. Plus, with eBay, you can save a little bit of money by using the E-Bates extension on your browser, as it will save you 2% on all album purchases, which definitely adds up.
What is E-Bates?
E-Bates is a cashback site that gives you money for purchases you may have already made. They even have an extension for multiple browsers so when you go to a website that uses Ebates, it will automatically pop up the cashback button to make sure you are saving money. I use this all the time, and I got over 80$ back from them for purchases I was going to make anyway. That’s about 3 more albums I can buy!
If you’ve never used EBates before, you can use this link to get $10 when making a qualified purchase of $25 when using EBates. You will also get whatever percent cashback is being offered from the site you are purchasing from. Sephora, typically has 4% cashback, through here. Sokoglam typically has 3%. These percentages Many other major retailers are on there as well.
Can I get it on Amazon?
Yes! You can pick up a copy using this link here for about 27.50 dollars (not as good of a deal), with free shipping if you have Amazon Prime.
If you don’t have Amazon Prime, you can get a 30-day free trial using this link here. I will not lie, the free 2-day shipping, plus all of the free music and videos are totally worth it. I also now use it for books for my Kindle Paper White too, and it is honestly a life saver. They have a program called Kindle Unlimited where you can check out 10 books at a time, read them, and put them back in the Kindle library. The program cost $7.99 a month, and you get the first 30 days for free with this link.
How do I read this post?
I recommend that you put the album on in the background, and read through it while listening to the track that I am talking about. It will help you understand what parts of the music I’m referring to when I talk about different instruments and different vocal parts. This is what I recommend for all of my song reviews.
Key I Wanna Be Track By Track:
I Wanna Be (feat. Jeon So Yeon)
So, I already went and watched the music video for this bop, you can watch it below:
Overall, I definitely am a fan of this song. It’s fun and bright, just like Key. It matches his personality perfectly. I love the Euro-Pop synth sounds, and the general simplicity of the instrumentation. More than that, I absolutely love Soyeon’s feature on the track. For being such a young rapper who debuted in the past year, she has made her stamp on the KPop industry in such a short time. She’s incredibly talented.
This track is almost perfect for me. The only thing that I think would have pulled it over the top for me would have been the addition of dynamics throughout the track. It’s would have taken this track up another notch. Still love it though. It’s a serious dance gem.
Show Me
Okay, you all can probably guess that this will be my first comment on this track: that bass line! If any of you have been reading my blog for awhile, you will know by now how I live for a strong, heavy bass line. There are a lot of things that I really enjoy about this track, actually. I like the percussion line as well as that killer percussion moment that happens right before the track breaks into the chorus where every instrument is in sync. It is awesome.
Overall, I really love how this track moves. The instrumentation really builds throughout the course of the track, especially the guitar line, which I am also in love with! I love how when you get into the second verse bass vocals are added to the track. It makes it really interesting and fun to listen to. This is truly an awesome track.
센 척 안 해 (One of Those Nights feat. Crush)
Since I missed the original release of this, unlike my other repackage posts, we will be going through all of the other tracks on the album here. The first thing that I want to note about this track is that I love the acoustic guitar through the track. It has a calm, chill vibe to it. Another thing I love about this track is that Key is showing off his vocal range which I feel like is something he doesn’t get to go very often.
Once you get to the first chorus, I love how the track breaks down. It has an electronic vibe that you can’t help buy dance to. It’s funky, fresh and different. This is one of those songs that you can’t help but love. If I had to pick a category to put this track into just on the feel of the music itself, it feels like an I’m on the beach, embracing the sun track. Overall, I’m totally in love with this track. It beautifully expresses Key’s effervescent, creative spirit.
Good Good
This track goes in a completely different direction from the previous track. It still has that funk vibe, but I must say, I’m not a fan of the opening of this track. I think the dynamics of his vocals are off. They should be much more quiet, drawing your ear into the lyrics before building into the chorus. He’s pushing the volume too early in the track, and it pulls quite a bit of the momentum away from track.
Despite this, I really like what he is trying to do here. I love the harmonies that he added to the track. I love the beat and instrumentation as a whole. Once the beat breaks at the chorus, and that electric guitar is added, you cannot stop bobbing your head to the music. For these reasons, I’m a fan of this track.
Honest
Key has presented us with another extremely funky track. It has a serious 80’s vibe to it. What I must say about Key’s upper range is that his falsetto is on point. It’s clear-toned and light. This track showcases that a lot. I wish that he would showcase that light, breathy quality that he has to his voice a wee bit more, as his normal singing voice is a wee bit too high into his nose for my personal taste.
Other than that, I really enjoy the instrumentation of this track, as well as the melody. It has a lot of interest to it, and showcases a large range. So many tracks nowadays stay within an octave, octave and a half range, and this one goes all over the place. Big fan of that. This definitely isn’t my favorite track on the album, but I like how he is pulling in different eras.
Forever Yours (feat. Soyou)
I really like how upbeat, and fun this track is. On top of that, Soyou’s light, airy vocals are contrasted well by Key’s vocals in this track. It really makes the harmonies fun, and gives them a different feel. Their voices couldn’t be anymore different, and it actually works well together for this track!
I really enjoy the simple percussion in the track, as well as the electronic instrumentation…. no idea what instruments those are, but I like it. Once you get to the bridge towards the end of the song, I also love Soyou’s harmonies and descant that she does with those vocal runs. She’s extremely talented and compliments the song nicely. Personally, I think I like this track more than the previous one. Soyou definitely makes it for me. It’s a great dance track, and I’m jamming.
Imagine
OMG! Key is showing off his amazing English skills in this track and has produced and ENTIRE song in English! Yet again, Key has produced another serious funk 70’s 80’s flair track, with a bit of a Daft Punk, modern flair. I can see my parents loving this track, as it is in a style that they basically raised me on. I’m proud of him for producing a whole song in his non-native tongue. It’s a massive challenge and the lyrics are on point
On top of the track being in english, my favorite thing about the track is the serious Daft Punk, heavily produced feel to the song. It is a lot of fun, and really makes you want to bob your head back and forth to the music. He did quite well on this one.
Chemicals
This track I am really digging what he has chosen to do with the track in regards to the percussion. It is interesting and different. To a certain extent, it has a bit of a Blue Man Group flair, but with less blue everywhere. In this track, Key yet again really shows off the killer range that he has. It is something he doesn’t really get to do as often as a member of SHINee. As a soloist, he’s really just going for it all. I must say, I’m impressed that he is able to hit those notes without having to switch to falsetto.
This entire album thus far breathes Key’s fun. dynamic over the top personality. The music is colorful and full of life. I really like how this track, as well as all of the other tracks really move forward and are interesting. Overall, this whole album is uplifting, and I love it.
I Will Fight (feat. Vinxen)
Yet again, even though he took the tempo down a notch, Key has written another track that just makes you feel good. It’s extremely pleasing to the ear. It is also incredibly artistic. More than anything, it feels to be heavily influenced by Western artists. I feel like this is an album that I could hand to my almost 60 year old father, and he would enjoy it, even if he didn’t understand all of the lyrics.
Once Vinxen comes into the third verse of the track, I really enjoy the interesting rhythms that his rap adds on top of the very even instrumentation. He really plays with the beat by speeding up and slowing down his verse. More than anything on this track, I love the positive message, despite a topic that could be so dark. If you read through the lyrics, they are very clearly about Jonghyun, his late bandmate. It is a nice tribute to his close friend.
Easy to Love
I must say, in this album, Key has excelled at bringing musical styles of the past into the 21st century. Yet again, this track, pulls influences from 80’s punk rock, electronic songs to the present day. I really like the keyboards in this song. It has a smooth, jazz bar feel to them. He adds in these modulated vocals into the track that pulls it forward sometimes.
The thing that I love the most about this track is his message. He likes to be on his own, he doesn’t want to be held back by others, and he wants to do his own thing. He isn’t easy to tie down, which is something I never would have assumed Key to be. More than anything, I love how he made a new word “stranger-ous”. It’s fantastic and I want to use it myself, as this song describes exactly how i feel about myself at this moment in time.
미위 (The Duty of Love)
Okay, Key is changing this track up a bit with a bit of electric guitar and bass. The song starts of simply with just arpeggios and Key’s voice, which is something I really enjoy. Throughout the course of this album, Key has been embracing sounds from previous eras, and this track is no exception. It feels like a track out of the 80’s, and I love it so much.
More than anything, the lyrics to this song are cute. They are about a love towards a temperamental person who keeps you guessing as to how they feel. They’ve got a bit of repetition to them in the chorus, but it makes the song incredibly catchy. I feel like the song describes that situation perfectly. More than anything, it feels like a missing track from Grease that would have made that movie better. I dig it.
This Life
I know I have been repetitive with this review, noting how every track came from different 1980’s traditions, but I love it so much that I keep pointing it out. This track is no exception. The intro to it sounds like it could have popped out of a song by Toto. It’s great. What I love even more is how every track starts this way, and he always fades it into the 21st century with percussion elements that take Toto into more of a Cold Play, Imagine Dragons, Mika, or Zedd feel. It’s wonderful, and was completely unsuspected from a K-Pop album.
The thing that I love the most about this track is how it is a coming of age track, and that transition into being a full adult, and what it is like. The instrumentation of this track perfectly matches the lyrics. It goes from a dream like state, where he is talking about the past, and how it feels like a film, how it is and is not his story at the same time. He wants to embrace who he is and the life he is living right now. Basically, live in the present moment. Soak in every moment. It’s a message we should all live by.
Cold (feat. Hanhae)
Bonus track time! I love how this track is taking it down a notch. It’s very calm, and chill. I feel like it shows a slightly different side to Key. More than anything, I feel like the instrumentation of this track would fit beautifully in with Heize’s Wish & Wind album from last spring. It has a very similar smooth jazz feel to it.
I really like what he is doing here, but that being said, I feel like this style doesn’t really suit Key’s voice. His voice doesn’t really scream Jazz to me. He’s really trying on the track, but for me, it misses the mark because it doesn’t have the emotion that a track like this needs. Still love the instrumentation, as well as the feature by Hanhae.
K-Points: 37/5
One of my favorite things about Key, and Key I Wanna Be, has always been my favorite thing about him. It is how he is so boldly himself, and this album shows that as well. The music on this album is all so positive, and full of his essence. That being said, it’s only getting. 37 out of 5 because I am able to pick at the album. It is incredibly well produced and put together, but some of the tracks on the album are missing that one little piece that would have taken a great track, and made it a phenomenal track.
So should you get yourself a copy of this album? I mean, if you want an extremely positive and colorful album in your collection, go for it. I’m of the belief that even those this album isn’t perfect, it still expresses the positivity that is Key perfectly. Should you stream it? Absolutely. You can tell Key really poured his heart and soul into this album. He really wanted to share his energy with all of the listeners and that makes it more than worth a listen.
Which track off of this album is your favorite, K-Nuggets? Let me know in the comments below!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
