[MUSIC ALBUM REVIEW] BIGBANG - MADE Full Album (2016)

Bigbang finally put an end to their MADE project in the last month of 2016. This project has been going on for about one year. It started on May 2015 where Bigbang released single album, M. Then on the next three months, Bigbang consistently put other single albums called A, D, and E. Each album consisted of two new songs. If you combined all of the album title, it shaped word ‘MADE’.

Aside from the single album, Bigbang promised to release MADE full album on December 12^th, 2016. This full album consisted of previous songs that Bigbang gave last year and three new songs. The MADE project was such a long process, but it never dampened public anticipation. They still excited to listen Bigbang new songs especially because all of their singles last year became hits. They also curious to see T.O.P last comeback with Bigbang before enlist next year.

So are you ready to see say goodbye to MADE project? Check out my review of Bigbang three new songs below……….

(See my review for Bigbang last year single album here).

Fxxk It was Bigbang nod to early days of their career.  When you listen to this song, you would remember Bigbang music before rocking into stardom with Lies. Fxxk It was an old school hip-hop song with iconic 90s bass and synthesizer sound. It has a chill vibe, which resembled the type of song that you can listen on daily basis and easily sing along to.

Fxxk It was a fun song, but it lacked of punch. It was not a type of song that you sing as climax of an album. The refrain part seemed bland because Bigbang only sang few words repeatedly.

Fxxk It came with music video that represented the fun and original aspect of the song. I love that Bigbang tried to forget their tendency to follow Western culture (aside from Taeyang’s hair) and went back to Korean culture. They chose simple location in South Korea such as small alley and traditional market while played around there. Bigbang seemed to have a good time on the music video, which made us felt enjoyable watching it.

The fun aspect could also be seen on Fxxk It music video tone and styling. They used bright yellow tone along with colorful coats and hair. It was really bizarre, but somehow Daesung and T.O.P managed to look good on it.

Rating:            3.5/5

Last Dance was a complete opposite of Fxxk It. It was a ballad song with pop-rock touch. Last Dance dominated by piano, drum, and electric guitar sound. This song has simple structure, which made it became catchy and easy to remember. Bigbang also showed good vocal here where Daesung, Taeyang, and Seungri took an emotional lead.

Aside from the good song production, Last Dance offered sentimental aspect on its lyrics. It was about how Bigbang looked back on their 10 years career in music industry. They admitted that people come and go throughout those years. But they would continue to sing and dance for them.

Last Dance sentimental lyrics represented well on the music video. It showed how Bigbang members wander around alone among many people. They appeared in different scene where each of their scenes has its own color scheme. My favorite scene would be when Taeyang sang about their happiness in early days of their career. Then the scene showed five boys ran around, just like the young representation of Bigbang.

Another poignant scene was the last part. It showed T.O.P sat alone in front of television. He rapped about remembering glory days as singer. His eyes were full of tears while his expression seemed like he was wandering around. The scene became more emotional with the addition of fans cheer as the back sound. It was a perfect ending, which was also became T.O.P farewell message to public.

Rating:            4/5

Fxxk It and Last Dance were solid tracks. Unfortunately, Girlfriend didn’t follow the same path. Bigbang became lazy in this song where they basically borrowed last year hit, Loser melody to back up this song. Girlfriend piano and guitar sound along with strong beat really resembled Loser.

The lyrics of Girlfriend could not help to improve this song too. I didn’t really mind the simple lyrics about how meaningful Bigbang girlfriend to them. However, the usage of English lyrics seemed out of place this time, especially G-Dragon rap in the refrain part. In short, Girlfriend felt like the last minute song that Bigbang put in sake of completing MADE full album.

Rating:            2/5

Three new songs from Bigbang were overall good. However, it lacked of punch if you considered it as MADE full album climax. As a whole, MADE was a solid album from Bigbang. Most tracks could stand on their own. Beside that, it showed Bigbang strength to tackle any type of songs.

Still, MADE eas not a perfect album. It seemed that the songs quality regressed each release. Bigbang also needed to pay a lot of attention of their vocal distribution. Daesung and Seungri were two of their best vocalists, but they were underutilized in MADE.

Categories: Big Bang, Daesung, G-Dragon, Kpop, MADE, Seungri, T.O.P, Taeyang