AnyBand – AnyBand
Artist: AnyBand
Single: AnyBand
Release Date: November 8, 2007
1. TPL (Talk, Play, Love)
The opening of this song starts off with a gentle piano opening, then goes into an upbeat part of the song. BoA comes in with a slightly linear melody, and she sounds kind of bored in the process. The rapping about a minute into the song brightens up the song with the rappers’ energy throughout the short solo, which I enjoyed. The chorus is slightly annoying with “Anywhere you go. Anywhere you go. Anywhere you go. I’ll be there (ANYWHERE YOU WANNA GO.)” as the opening few lines. It’s sung over and over again. The opening piano appears in the background and it adds a nice, soothing touch to the rest of the monotonous song. BoA doesn’t sound all that interested until the bridge where she oddly starts to sing out. I don’t particularly enjoy the melody, but the accompaniment with the mix of a little bit of synth and piano is kind of nice.
2. Promise U
BoA opens this next song a lot better and actually makes this song much more enjoyable to listen to. The male vocalist is even better when he comes in (perhaps because I was never much of a fan of BoA’s voice, but I digress). He has even more energy than BoA has. From there, the two blend together extremely well through the somewhat generic-sounding melody. Either way, the two vocalists together create an excellent pop song. The harmonies against each other are very nice, and they make the generic melody appealing. Again, the rapping comes in later in the song, and he’s very rhythmic and adds to the song nicely (although he’s less energetic than in the previous song). There’s one part of the song where they have a male vocalist sing in falsetto while BoA sings normally under it. It sounds rather awkward, actually. Either way, the rest of the song sounds quite nice, despite the really awkward ending. The accompaniment isn’t anything original; it has strings, piano, and guitar, all playing in some typical pop arrangement, although the piano has moments where it shines.
3. TPL (Talk, Play, Love) (Instrumental)
4. Promise U (Instrumental)
Overall -
Favourite Track: Promise U
AnyBand, formed to promote a Samsung product, is made up of BoA, someone from DBSK and Epik High, and a jazz pianist (Jin Bora) is an interesting combination. While I didn’t enjoy the first track of the album that much (mostly due to the monotone singing), the second track was quite a pleasant listen, and I enjoyed it very much. Not a bad single.
AnyBand, BoA, Various Artists | Megumi | April 15, 2008
[...] AnyBand – AnyBand [...]
i really love anyband’s songs. the songs and the voices really synchronized together and it’s really addictive listening to them. i have listened to them all day in the office and even at home. wondering if they would produce more songs in the future. XD
I never actually heard the other songs except for TPL.
The chorus really did get irritating and dull though.
D:
^ haha XD Glad someone else feels that way. I mean, it’s catchy at first, but by the third time it’s really annoying. D:
- Megumi
I wish BoA had more of those strong vocal moments in it.
D:
I agree too. I kind of prefer TPL over Promise U because I find Promise U drags on a bit too much (although it seemed more promising at first), but both really get on my nerves eventually (even though TPL really is catchy).
-Tsuki
what?? u said TPL is dull?
lol you guys just dunno how to enjoy her voice, I hate tohosinki guys voice though, but rest of them are great, especially BoA!! XD Anywhere you go I’ll be there Kwon BoA
^ “Anywhere you go I’ll be there Kwon BoA”
XD this made me giggle, in a good way. :P
In any case, her voice is not the problem I have with the track; it’s how she presents TPL through her vocals. Most of her singing in that song is just dull and lifeless (aside from the bridge, where she actually sounds interested in what she’s singing). The same goes for Xiah Junsu (the guy from DSBK), although he has a bit more in his vocals in terms of emphasis (and he has a clearer tone). The best person in that track, in my opinion, was Tablo (the rapper), and I don’t particularly like rap. It’s not that BoA’s not capable of adding accents or emphasis in her singing, it’s that she doesn’t do it enough in TPL, and Tablo stands out as a result. I can see why people find the song catchy, but I don’t find it catchy, mainly because of how the vocals are presented.
Compare how BoA sings in TPL to Daydream and Promise U. She has a lot more energy in both those tracks, which is what in my opinion makes them much more interesting. ^^
XD Errr yeah, I tend to get a bit technical on stuff. Either way, I enjoy listening to other people’s opinion. I know a lot of people who like this single anyways :P. If they made Daydream at the same time as these two songs, I would have preferred that as the first track. XD
- Megumi
“lol you guys just dunno how to enjoy her voice”
Not sure if I appreciate that comment. It’s about the equivalent to, “you don’t know how to enjoy good singing”, and art is rather subjective to begin with, so your views on ‘good singing’ likely isn’t the same as ours.
We’ve always found BoA’s singing to be on the monotonous side, particularly in her more recent works, but if you read carefully, we’ve never implied that she doesn’t have the talent or capabilities of being a good vocalist. In fact, I’d think our disappointments of her are probably because we think she could do much better.
BoA is the full package as an artist, but she has that much more potential, that she more or less chooses not to use or build on generally.
-Tsuki
In recent news, TPL sounds better when it’s being blasted.
*is doing so right now*
- Megumi
T__T… i haven’t listen to daydream. but i’m ok with boa’s voice in the songs .. it’s the beat and tune and the overall performance that i’m attracted to. after listening to so many boa’s songs.. i only like one of her songs.
^ You really should. If you liked TPL, I think you’ll like Daydream too :P. I liked it right away, although it’s more like Lee Hyori’s Any Call songs (Which is probably why I liked it more), and I found the vocal styles blended better in that track. :P
- Megumi
i would love to listen to daydream but you know [i get these songs via download] this song is hard to get. many places only have TPL and promise u… daydream is like unheard.
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