Album Review: Shinhwa - The Return

I never wrote an album review because I don't tend to listen the whole album at the same day. However, today is actually the day Shinhwa's 10th album, The Return, is released online and I'm really excited that I actually waited till 12 a.m. Korean time (which will be 11 p.m. in Malaysia) just to go to the Korean music sites and listen to the 1 minute preview (I was unable to purchase the songs because I don't own any credit card, damn! TT_TT). I really want to support Shinhwa on their comeback but I really had no choice but to download the album illegally. Ugh, once I have a credit card, the first thing that I would buy from online would be Shinhwa's albums and DVD concerts.

However, I have been straying from my original purpose of this post, and without further ado, I shall start with my whimsical review of each song in the album. :) Be warned, I'm not exactly really familiar with all those musical and song-related terms so bear with me.

1. On the Road
What a fitting song to kick start the album! It's a faster paced type of slow song. Love the acoustic touch of the song. Looking at the translation, it's definitely quite sentimental (On the Road translation). It's almost  as if this is their welcoming song, welcoming all the members and the fans, now that they're back together, they and the fans would continue on the journey to the future~ The more I listened to this song, the more I like it.
Rating: 4.5/5

2. Hurts
Shinhwa's ballad title song. It's such a pleasant surprise that they have two title songs in which both differ from each other in genre. It's great that Shinhwa is trying to showcase their wide range of musicality (is that even a coherent sentence?). Here is the link to the translation: Hurts translation. Ballad is Hyesung's specialty but this song actually focused more on other members' parts, which is good. As much as I love Hyesung, other members deserve more parts too. This ballad is much more depressing compared to the other slow songs in this album. The slow rap part adds quite a nice touch to this song.
Rating: 4/5

3. Venus
Shinhwa's title song, electronic and autotuned. I was so worried when I first knew that it's gonna be electronic type of song. Thanks to the "weeds" that kept sprouting in the K-Pop scene, where all the "weeds" sang overtly autotuned songs, I was pretty turned off by K-Pop already. However, thankfully, Venus did not have any abuse of autotune, in fact, it was moderately done and the members' voices are still distinguishable. Not exactly my favourite title song from them (it lacked the brilliance that Brand New has), but compared to other autotuned title songs being thrown around in the current music scene, Venus pawns. I'm sure once the music video is released (next week), I'm gonna like this song even more. (Venus translation) I can't wait to see how was the dance choreography of this song looks like.
Rating: 4/5

4. Red Carpet
Another electronic and really modern song, perfect for clubbing, and much much more sexier and hot. Don't believe me? Look at the lyrics - Red Carpet translation. I'm really loving the rap part of this song.
Rating: 4/5

5. Move with Me
Loving the beat and groove of this song! This song is reminiscent of the 90s type of songs and many people commented that it seems like M's type of music, which I agreed. The beat, their voice and the rap are just so smooth and I can't help move my body along the song. (Move with Me translation)
Rating: 4.5/5

6. Let It Go
Another one of my favourite songs in the album. The piano adds a lovely touch to the majority of the song and the chorus is absolutely vocally brilliant. I love the part where they go "let it go, oh oh oh oh, let it go, oh oh oh oh oh, let it go, oh oh oh oh, baby let it go (I just can't go on)". My ultimate favourite part of the song. I must say Hyesung sounds awesome in this song. But then, he always does. (Let It Go translation)
Rating: 4.5/5

7. Stay
An upbeat and cheerful song~ Yet the lyrics doesn't seem to be that cheerful (Stay translation). I don't know why, I felt that this song sounds more like a remix rather than an original song, not to say that it's bad though. It doesn't sound like a song to be taken that seriously, rather it's more for fun.
Rating: 4/5

8. Welcome
I'm only neutral towards this song. My least favourite fast song of the album. The good thing about this song is, again, the rap part.
Rating: 4/5

9. Be My Love
The very first song that caught my attention while listening to the 1 minute preview in Korean music site. Until now, it's one of the higher ranked song from the album in my personal list. Disco type of song, the lyrics is just so sweet and cute at the same time, on the verge of being corny and cheesy (Be My Love translation). But I don't mind cheesiness. XD From this song, Andy's rap really had improved. I'm hoping they would perform this song or have some sort of dance.
Rating: 4.8/5

10. Re-Love
Another one of my favourite songs. Love the tempo and the members' voices here, especially Dongwan and Minwoo's voices. (Re-Love translation) This song is more like a typical boyband slow song.
Rating: 4.5/5

11. Breathin'
It seems like a fitting song to be the end. The tempo and melody seem to convey that everything would be alright in the end. There's something reassuring about this song. If that even make any sense. Here's the translation: Breathin'. Excellent harmonies, vocal, rap, melody, background music and every possible musical terms that are used for description.
Rating: 4/5

OVERALL, an excellent album~! It is highly recommended that you listen in the order that it was presented in the tracklist. It's easy to tell that Shinhwa put every ounce of effort in producing this album. Sorry for my lack of in-depth analysis of the song. :P Truth to be told, this review seems more like spazzing rather than a true review.