4 Minute - 4 Minutes left

Yup, I'm doing another CD review because I didn't get enough complaints! But this one's going to be really different to my SHINee one so you HAVE to comment which style you prefer.
4 Minute is a 5 member girl group from Cube Entertainment. Their debut was June 2009 and have since released four Korean singles. It was not until 2011 that released an album - 4 Minutes left.
When I got the CD, I must admit, I was not that interested! I mainly bought it because it was only £10. But it's really good! 4 Minute are really energetic and you can hear that in their album, so much so that you can't help but dance along! The two big songs on the album are Mirror Mirror and Heart to Heart, as they as they were the two songs 4 Minute performed on music shows at the time. The two songs show completely different sides of the girls.
Mirror Mirror is the second track on the album and is all very coordinated. Mirror in the lyrics, mirrors on their clothes, mirrors on the set, mirror based dance. It's about thinking you're not pretty enough to get the attention of a guy (thus the mirrors), but I don't like that concept at all, so I will just continue not to know what their singing. As far as the song is concerned, it sounds all rather fake. Considering the lyrics sound rather pleading and desperate the song actually sounds really powerful and independent, but since I can't understand them it's fine. The problem lies more with the producer. The thing is that 4 Minute CAN sing! Listening to their other songs like Pretend, their ballad track, you can hear that these girls have talent but it's wasted on this song by the techno sounds. Techno backing tracks lead to techno voices, techno voice just smell of auto-tune.  Heart to Heart comes after Mirror Mirror and shows a much more care-free side of the girls. The MV is playful and extremely funny while the song is bubbly and cute! The MV shows Hyuna, the most popular member of the group, catching her boyfriend cheating on her so all the girls get together to get their revenge on him. But the dance is so boring! It doesn't show anything off for their dancing skills. But it is A LOT better for their their voices. The innocence in this song is such that their voices are left almost untouched. So they still have the long powerful note, the quick rap and the over-lapping voices like Mirror Mirror, it just sounds like 4 Minute are actually singing!! Out of the two I think Mirror Mirror is the better song, more catchy and sounds more fancy. It's also a great song to dance to, I would love for it to be played at a disco or club! But Heart to Heart suits them better. I think they should definitely do more cute and innocent!
Just like Sweet Suga Honey, track 4! It's great because it's bubbly and cute like Heart to Heart and still has a strong techno beat like Mirror Mirror! It's probably my favourite track as it combines all the voices together very nicely, has a good range of vocals and lots of interesting sounds in the music. Badly is also good like Sweet Suga Honey, although it's a lot more relaxed and doesn't have a techno beat (ballads are good for the last track) it still has 4 Minutes voices and the interesting sounds. Thumbs up for 4 Minutes powerful vocals and interesting sounds!
The other track on the Album to have a MV is First and it's probably the most jumpy song on the track. It sits somewhere in the middle of Mirror Mirror and Heart to Heart, it has voice and auto-tune. It's the most energetic and even on the music video the girls are mostly jumping around having fun! The best part is that it's sexy but they still keep they're innocence! It's the song I use to get me out of bed in the morning! Hide and Seek is a good morning song too! Although it is almost all synthesised voices they have a purpose because the song uses fake really low voices as well as they're own and it's used to make their voices jump a bit, it's all rather interesting! But what I love is the chanting style singing!
That leaves three songs off the album: Pretend, You Know and Already Gone. Pretend is the most emotional song, I don't think it has a rap which is a shame. But it is a very good song and the make good use of dynamics! The slow build up to a loud powerful note which quickly dies away says something about what kind of emptions this song is about.  You Know is another of their bouncy techno songs, need I say more? Then Already Gone is a strange song where everything is happening to quickly to actually verify what's happening.
So all in all, it's a good album! With a funky, orange, shiny case how could I not love it in my collection? I would like a better photo shoot of the girls in the picture book, however I'm no fashion stylist! But as a critic I would say less auto tune? Definitely. Less forced sexy? Maybe. More innocent and cute songs? Hopefully.

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