Monday, August 14, 2017

[MUSIC ALBUM REVIEW] Girls' Generation - Holiday Night (2017)


Girls’Generation (SNSD) just marked another milestone. In the midst of peer group hiatus and disbandment, SNSD managed to reach 10th years anniversary of their career.

SNSD celebrated 10th years anniversary on Saturday, August 5th 2017. In order to celebrate this special event, the girls released their newest album called Holiday Night one day before.

Through Holiday Night, SNSD promises to bring back their old sound. It seems they want to remind public about what makes them popular in the first place. Are you ready to get nostalgic with SNSD? Check out my review of Holiday Night here……………..

Girls Are Back


Girls Are Back is a strong opening for Holiday Night. This song combines R&B and funk genre. Bass, guitar, and drum become its main instrumental, which created punch to the song dynamic.

Girls Are Back dynamic continues to be interesting because of SNSD vocal. Each member successfully plays her part well. They know how to differentiate between strong and soft tone in singing. The girls able to complement each other well. Plus, they surprisingly nail rapping part. It keeps the song interesting.

The last punch of Girls Are Back is its lyrics. Just like the title, this song is a declaration of SNSD comeback. They want everyone to watch and pay attention to them because they are back. I love this confidence and yes, we are ready to hear the rest of Holiday Night!

All Night


All Night is title track of Holiday Night Album. Through this song, SNSD tries to play with retro and modern type of music. They mix disco with electronic dance music. Check out my review of All Night along with its music video here.

Holiday


This is another title track of Holiday Night album. Holiday brings nostalgic feeling to early days of SNSD. Check out those catchy hook part and strong beat. However, SNSD tries to put a spin by channeling retro vibe. Curious? See the full review here.

Fan


SNSD throws a surprise with Fan. It is an electronic pop song, which dominated by synthesizer, bass, and guitar sound. The usage of these instrumental is unique on this song. Instead of creating modern vibe, it tends to be more old school type.

Fan reminds me with 90s era pop song. Aside from its music, the way SNSD sing the song supports this theme too. They show nice harmonization and little bit of talking at the end of several parts.

Meanwhile for its lyrics, SNSD gets sentimental. They talk about how fans always guide their path and become their place to lean on. This is another unique aspect of Fan since other groups usually sing this kind of lyrics in emotional ballad. As a result, Fan stands out and not becomes usual pop song.

Only One


SNSD slows down a bit by offering medium tempo type of songs through Only One. Similar with Fan, this is another 90s inspired track. Those lovely harmonization and simple acoustic guitar sound brings reminiscence feeling.

This added with Only One sweet lyrics. SNSD mentions their closeness bond. They feel that they know each other really well and grateful for their existence. It’s a song that nice to listen to.

Still, Only One has several lacking part. The chorus is quite let down after its nice verses. It sounds generic and could not pick up the song. Moreover, there are too many ‘Only One’ words. It sounds repetitive and could make people bored.

One Last Time


One Last Time is the first ballad track in Holiday Night album. This song brings us back to early 2000s era since it combines pop and R&B genre. Catchy piano melody represents pop music while strong beat gives R&B flavor.

One Last Time arrangement is quite simple. This becomes advantage for SNSD to showcase their vocal strength. All members’ vocal improves, particularly Seohyun, along with their ability to display emotions. We could feel their sadness because of separation, which is One Last Time main lyrical theme.

Sweet Talk


If One Last Time represents emotional side of R&B, Sweet Talk does the opposite. It is a strong and sexy track. Bass and guitar sound dominates Sweet Talk, which is effective to build up the song. This added with interesting vocal arrangement. Each SNSD member takes turn to sing and talk during verses.

Sunny shines the most because of her vocal versatility. She knows how to use her light tone well. It is SNSD powerhouse vocal, Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Seohyun that find difficulties when sing Sweet Talk. The high note does not always match these three. Plus, it sounds too similar, which makes it hard to differentiate their voices.

The sexy vibe of Sweet Talk continues to emphasize through its lyrics. Just like the title, it is about how SNSD wants the boy not to be shy and flirt with them directly. It sounds mature, especially coming from Seohyun as youngest member. Guess she is all grown up after all ;)

Love Is Bitter

SNSD tries out jazz genre with Love Is Bitter. This genre represents through the usage of piano and trumpet instrumental. It sounds playful yet festive at the same time, especially during chorus part. SNSD vocal suits this type of song too. Hyoyeon and Yuri becomes the biggest surprise. Both nailed their chorus part!

In contrast with its light music, Love Is Bitter actually has sad lyrics. It tells explains that love does not always equal happiness. Love slowly fades away and becomes bitterness. The opposite theme between music and lyrics creates interesting point to Love Is Bitter. In fact, it is actually bittersweet just like the song title.

Love Is Bitter was pleasant listening. However, there is a chance that it could make people bored. The music keeps playing out similar melody throughout the song. There is not much going on since SNSD vocal does not have interesting change too.

It’s You

Similar with Only One, It’s You is another early 2000s inspired track. It has strong beat and synthesizer as its main element. This added with sweet harmonization, which sounds like bubblegum pop song at that era. The lovely theme also showcases through It’s You lyrics.

Yuri writes this song, which is about how SNSD want to stay together with their fans and never change. It’s simple lyrics, but SNSD manages to make it more personal with several gestures. For example, the Korean title of It’s You mentions ‘Sowon’ word that describes pronunciation of their fans, Sone. Then it also talks about pink ocean, which is the light stick color during SNSD concert.

Although sweetness becomes highlight, SNSD still spices up some parts of It’s You to make it different. The tempo picks up and the synthesizer sound changes during chorus. Moreover, the vocal part on bridge seems unique yet old school at the same time.

Light Up The Sky


Light Up The Sky is the last ballad in Holiday Night album. This song brings out nostalgia feeling since it resembles SNSD songs on their early debut days. Once again, the girls showcase beautiful piano melody and strong beat throughout the song.

Light Up The Sky manages to stand out among other ballad songs in this album. Aside from bringing nostalgia feeling, this song also has great dynamic. The verses are solid while the pre-chorus serves as effective build up. The chorus becomes strongest part where SNSD vocal soars along with its dramatic music. This added with catchy hook part that will instantly stuck in your head.

The great dynamic also supported by SNSD vocal arrangement. The girls’ vocal pairs up nicely, which makes their different tone complements each other. Plus, they know where to put emotional punch.

SNSD tries to describe the touching lyrics of Light Up The Sky through their singing. The song shows their wishes to be together with fans as time goes by. Even though drifting apart is a natural process, SNSD still hope fans do not forget them.



Holiday Night finally shows how SNSD want to take their music. The girls present great balance between sweetness and versatility. The first one is SNSD signature style since debut. The girls maintain their sweetness theme through lovely melody and catchy hook part in most of Holiday Night songs.

At the same, SNSD challenges them by singing various types of song.  From jazz to disco to sweet bubblegum pop, SNSD eats up all of them. It shows their maturity as performers. The song transition does not sound jarring because each song showcases similar nostalgia or retro theme.

Consistency while also adapting trend was SNSD key of existence in K-Pop music scene. This direction does not change anytime soon. The girls have not giving signal about shifting their style. This is actually not a bad thing as long as the girls continue to evolve.



Rating:                        4/5     

Favorite Tracks:        Girls Are Back, Holiday, All Night, Fan, Love Is Bitter, Light Up The Sky
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