Album Review: Shinee - Noona’s Pretty

Shinee (mini album) – Noona’s Pretty

01 Noona’s Pretty (Replay)
02 In My Room
03 Real
04 Love Should Go On
05 Noona’s Pretty (Replay Boom Track)

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Over the years, SM Entertainment has launched many successful boy bands in Korea. From the early days of H.O.T, Shinhwa and Fly To The Sky, to the current roster of DBSG and Super Junior, now we add Shinee to this list. They are the latest boy band launched by this entertainment giant. Like all other SM boy bands and girl groups, they have already received a lot of hype, and of course fans, even before their debut.

Shinee consists of five teenagers ranging from the ages of 14 to 18. The members are Jonghyun, Minho, Taemin, Onyoo, and Key. Unlike other SM boy bands, their music is more contemporary, and primarily R&B songs with good rhythm. Therefore, some people refer to Shinee as "SM Entertainment version of Big Bang".

Like all SM debutants in recent years, Shinee started with a mini-album. Their title song "Noona’s Pretty (Replay)" is a mid-tempo R&B song with a good rhythm to dance along with. This song showcases both Shinee’s vocal and dance skills. It has the kind of addictive melody that young female fans will love. The song is doing very well on music charts. It also has a different version on the last track on this mini-album with a different arrangement.

Track 2 "In My Room" is an R&B ballad which is heavy on vocals, but Shinee pull it off nicely. It has great potential to be the 2nd single. Track 3 "Real" is perhaps the most up-tempo song of the mini-album that fans can dance to. Track 4 "Love Should Go On" is a very American-style R&B mid-tempo song. We have heard of a lot of this kind of R&B songs in k-pop. Fans who are fond of songs of this style will certainly like this one. Overall, all the songs recorded on this min-album are good quality k-pop songs.

Having had so much hype before their debut, I’d say Shinee have lived up to their high expectations so far. Listening to their songs, you would think that they are in their early 20s but in fact they are much younger. It tells us that they are well trained and have maturity beyond their age. Music-wise, their 1st mini-album is heavily R&B. Whether they are going forward in this direction remains to be seen, because in the past, we’ve seen other SM groups like DBSG and CSJH evolve into different genres after a while. One thing for sure, Shinee are certainly one of the top rookie artistes so far in 2008.

4/5

5/5 – Even if you’re not a fan of this artist/group this album is a must buy.
4/5 – If you’re a fan of this artist/group, you must buy this album.
3/5 – If you’re a fan of this artist/group, you might want to add this one to your collection.
2/5 – I don’t think a fan would even buy this.
1/5 – You might as well just flush your money down the toilet