Reviews I was not planning on writing, and am writing after the fact because I was impressed. This is one of those. Up to this point, I think most of you can tell that I was pretty disappointed with the releases of 2018 that I have reviewed up until this point. Then today, while explaining to people how to use computers, I just happened to decide, hey, let’s listen to Infinite’s new album, Top Seed, and see what I think, and guess what guys, It’s a bop that had my head awkwardly moving, well, more like thrashing.
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You can also order a copy of the album from an eBay, as they typically have good prices. 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.
Infinite Top Seed, Track by Track:
- Begin: So you know that an album has the potential of being phenomenal when the intro is already top-notch. The intro to the album starts with a bass and a cello ripping a killer beat that eventually gets more hype with some violin and violas coming in. Every 4 to 8 measures they add in a new layer to the beat. You don’t even get any drums until about halfway through the song, only for the beat to drop. Towards the end, they bring in the echo of the members’ parts from Tell Me. Man, guys…. this is a great intro to the actual title track
- Tell Me: This track has restored my faith in 2018 for K-Pop, as I was terrified that people wouldn’t bring out stuff that the K-Nuggets and I would enjoy. This song though… FIRE… It gets stuck in my head all the time too. The best part about this track was Dong Woo (동우)’s attempt at explaining it on 주간아이돌 (Weekly Idol), cause he kept talking about “Future Bass” and all the members were just like… DUUUUUUDE use words people know. Besides that, the song is one you want to get up and jam out to. I’m all about it. It’s a futuristic-sounding song, but it’s great, it’s in my playlist, I dance around the office to it, and per usual don’t care what my coworkers say.
- Synchronize: Another song that has a great hook and chorus. This track has a different sound to the previous one, as it has a slightly more rock sound, as they use a traditional drum kit as well as an electric guitar. They still have some more pop, electric keyboard vibes to it, but their vocals are so solid on the track, and the harmonies are also pretty dang good too. Love it. It’s fire. This song made it into my playlist, cause I could listen to it over and over again. You all will dig it as well.
- No More: They’re taking the tempo down here. The song starts with a piano and then the members come in singing a nice mid-tempo song that eventually gets a decent beat going to it. It is a good transition song from the first two into the rest of the album, as it still has some of the “Future Bass” to it, but still has a bit more of a classic pop song vibe to it. I dig it. It isn’t my favorite track on the album, but I like it.
- TGIF (Dongwoo Solo): Bringing it down with some R&B body rolls! Dongwoo took it down with this track. It’s not your typical TGIF jam, as it doesn’t have that up-tempo jump up and down feel to it. The singing and rapping are all solid, and I love the chorus. This is like the kind of song you jam to with the windows down, sunroof open, blaring this song out the windows, staring at all the haters…. but only on a Friday…. any other day of the week, the lyrics don’t apply. It’s like wearing the Friday underwear on a Tuesday… it feels wrong.
- 기도 (메텔의 슬픔) (Pray): After the intro to this song, we got another body roller here, this time it just happens to be for the full group. Like you can seriously jam to this tune. It has some violin in it, and would probably sound wicked performed by a full orchestra… OMG, they should do that…. perform with a full orchestra. Honestly, I would love any K-Pop group to do that. It would be AMAZING. When this song finally drops into it after the intro, you could do like a tango to this song, flower in the mouth and everything. It calls for some dramatic movements. I’m all about it. I also love the guitar in the background of the song. It adds an extra layer to the song.
- 왜 날 (Why Me): BACK TO THE BALLADS! Not my favorite track on the album, as I don’t consider Infinite to excel when it comes to ballads. My main beef with the ballad is that the members do not utilize dynamics like they can and should in a ballad to add the emotion and the feeling to the song. The dynamics that they do use are only mezzo-forte, forte and fortissimo (in non-musician terms that’s loud-ish, loud, even louder). They avoid using the softer dynamics, and it hurts the quality of the ballad, as it just feels flat.
- 분다 (Wind): A more up-tempo song that starts with a whistle and an acoustic guitar. It’s decent, but in comparison to some of the other tracks on the album, it doesn’t get the head-bopping like some of the other songs. On top of that, if you have a six-member group, you can have a lot of fun with harmonies, and they didn’t do that here. There are very limited moments where they do a lot with harmonies. The rest of the time, they are singing in unison, and it’s disappointing.
- I Hate: So this song is interesting. It has a really heavy guitar, and the song has a really heavy beat to it, more in the direction of metal. It’s a little strange because the vocal parts are still written as if they were written for a pop group. I don’t feel like the music matches the lyrics and vocal track. The first time I heard it was when I was driving and I said to myself, “이노래는 진짜 이상한다.” Cause I didn’t think English expressed how strange it was. On top of that, the lyrics are talking about how I love you so much that it hurts me, which causes me to hate you. I don’t know it’s just strange.
- 지난 날 (Reminisce) (L Solo): Another ballad! L is a pretty good singer, but when it comes to ballad singers, I am extremely picky, and he just doesn’t cut it for me. If you want to hear an artist that I do love as a ballad singer, it’s Yesung from Super Junior, just so you can hear the difference in the quality of the song. I honestly just feel like L is just singing through the song, yet again he isn’t playing with the notes or dynamics and is just singing it straight through, so it doesn’t resonate with me. For me, the most important part of a ballad is if you can portray the correct emotion, and he just doesn’t do that for me.
- 고백 (Love Song) (Sungjong Solo): I like his solo a bit better than L’s because he seems to play with the notes and the dynamics a little bit more. So I approve of this a bit more. Is it on Yesung levels of ballad-ness? No, but it’s cute, and Sungjong is kinda adorable too, so it works for him. Yet again, not an excellent ballad singer, but he’s got the cute factor going for him. I can see this song being used in a drama. Not gonna lie.
- Begin Again: EVERY TIME I SEE THIS TITLE I THINK IT SHOULD BE BTS AND IT ISN’T! On top of that, I don’t enjoy this song. It just feels like filler to round out the album because they can’t end with a ballad. It doesn’t feel different from a lot of the music I’ve already heard, and it’s just there. To be 100% honest, listening to this caused me to cut it off early and play Begin (Jungkook’s solo track) cause that’s an awesome song.
K-Points: 427/5
So this is the highest-ranking that I have given to an album yet in 2018, as so far this has been the best full album release that I have heard. Am I planning on purchasing a physical copy of this album? No, mainly because I’m not a fan of the whole second half of the album because it is all ballads that are just meh, and it makes me sad. All of the uptempo songs are pretty good though, besides I Hate… which is just strange. I was honestly like… what is happening here. If the second half of the album was as strong as the first half, I would’ve potentially given it a higher score, but the excitement levels of the album that drops off immediately after the 6th track.
I personally, hope that the members work on their ballads and make them stronger. I don’t really ever consider someone a full-fledged artist until they know how to slay a ballad, and they just don’t know how to do that yet. Up-tempo songs are easier to master in my opinion. I still enjoyed the first half of the album, but I’m still waiting for my 100% wow factor albums for 2018. I have a feeling who will be giving me what I want in the very near future, but you will have to wait until then.
What groups do you expect to wow you in 2018, K-Nuggets?
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
