NYCSeoulTokyo

This is my review of Lee Hyori’s album, It’s Hyorish. Don’t worry, I do no bashing here. The album was produced by Park Geun Tae and Kim Do Hyun and composed by E-tribe.

• Her album starts with, 천하무적 이효리, (Jeonhamu, Lee Hyori) and it was a pleasant surprise. I actually liked it if not for Hyori’s lack luster vocals. It was reminiscent of Tainted Love with interesting guitar thrown in there. Good song.
• Lesson is track number two. Very poppy and absurd but in this song you hear Lee Hyori actually sing for about 5 seconds. I hung onto those 5 seconds haha. I think that Hyori sings at a higher range than is comfortable for her voice which is strange to listen to for me but it’s what other call “resonating”. 
• U-Go-Girl – ft. 낯선 (nassun)  is third. I don’t like this song. Lee Hyori does singing/talking/rapping thing in the verses. But the choruses are pretty catchy. I think it’s crappy pop but that would not stop me from jamming out to this in a club, let’s be honest.  
• 사진첩 (Sajibjeob) starts off with an 80’s rap beat but turns into a jazzy song with harmonies. Hyori also sings in a low voice which makes me happy because I think she’s sounds better like that. She has such a limited voice but it’s worked for her. I like the beats and background music in this track. 
• 이발소 집 딸 (ipalso jimtol) starts off with kids saying something. Then these cat-like sounds start, I have no idea. Though this is a upbeat song with interesting melodies, it’s rather boring. (And the kid chorus does not sound too hot).
• Don’t Cry is a simple hip-hop song but it’s not boring. It has some string instruments and horn instruments that carry the backing harmony and make the song flow well. I like this track too. I can look past the bad English grammar and enjoy it.
• 괜찮아질까요? – with Bigtone is  bad, and not gloriously so. It’s not so bad that I can’t listen to it, but it’s like typical hip-hop, pop song with nothing interesting and with little inspiration. Skip it. I was just waiting for this song to end.
• Sexy Boy – ft Wheesung is the worst song on the album. Not even Wheesung could save this. It’s like bad pop but with video games tones in the background. It sounds like a polyphonic ring tone. 
• 빨간자동차 (palganja dongja)  - ft Kim Gun Mo is the equivalent of DBSK’s Box in the Ship because it’s West Indies inspired and all I can think is where the hell did this come from? 
• Hey Mr. BiG should have been on Uhm Jung Hwa’s D.I.S.C.O. But it fits well here. It’s upbeat but pretty addictive and catchy. Once again, me + this song + club = ridiculously excited dancing. This is like techno and disco and pop all rolled together. 
• P. P. P (Punky Punky Party) – ft. 낯선 (Nassun) it’s like I dunno, you have to listen to this song to garner you own opinion on it. It’s good bacground music to nod your head to but it’s merits end there.
• My Life (외국곡) sounds like early J. Lo, so it’s not so hot. It’s boring and you can look past it, but it sounds lke other songs I’ve heard before. 
• Unusual – with 서정환, the last song on the album, is pretty funny because it starts off with guys saying “She’s so sensual, she’s so sexual” haha I think they mean “She’s so sexy” but hey, whatever. The album ends on a dance note, which is good.

Overall, I find that Lee Hyori’s producers put together a good album for her style, I just don’t like it too much. There are some good songs on this album but nothing I would call great. But give it a listen; if you liked Lee Hyori in the past, you’ll like her a lot now too. 

6/10