Review: SHINee - Sherlock

I was out this weekend so I got to hear SHINee's album until this morning. I took my time to evaluate this album because I really wanted to hear it at least twice and really listen to the songs.

Sherlock
Although it is not the best song on the album Sherlock is a good tittle track. It's flashy and attention graving, and gives room for some awesome performances. All in all SHINee knows how to work the stage to a T when given flashy music and this will surely not be a miss.




Clue & Note
Last night I only had the chance to skim the songs and was feeling somewhat disconnected with Clue and Note, but today it's a slightly different story. I decided to play the album in random order on iTunes, and what do you know, it sounds much better. S.M made a horrible mistake in putting "Note" and "Clue" right after Sherlock because it feels like it's just one long extended song, and in truth it gets very annoying. After hearing the songs separately from one another I can actually appreciate "Clue" and "Note" on their own, specially "Note."






Alarm Clock
I really like this song, specially the chorus. This is one of my favorite songs on the album, and I can see myself replaying this on my i-pod.




The Reason
My favorite song on the album. I'm not often a fan of ballads but this has powerful music behind the smooth voices. In other words it is not stagnant but changing.




Stranger
Stranger is a remake of the a song on the Jap. album by the same name. I actually like the original and still like it here.




Honesty
This song is the jewel of the album. Firstly, it shows of SHINee's vocals. Everyone's voice sounds beautiful and really fits the mood. I really like how it seems to be just their voices and nothing else because the musical arrangement is very simple. Secondly, it was written for Shawols by Jonghyun.

In summary, I really really like the album. Of course, my opinion could be biased because of my love for this group, but I can say that it is a solid album, and shows vocal improvement from many of the members. Taemin sounds beautiful and Minho's few singing lines sound much better than before, plus he has a very nice tone. Onew and Jonghyun where as good as always, and Key was o.k., he could have been better.  

Again, the fatal mistake was that "Clue" & "Note" where placed after Sherlock. Occasional listeners of SHINee where most likely put off after listening to that and not give the rest of the album a chance. Although it was not the brightest idea to put "Clue" & "Note" on the album, they aren't bad songs, if removed far far away from "Sherlock". 

All that is left is to wait for the MV, I just need to see that dance ^^ Oh yeah and live performances, and my CD arriving in the mail, ect. !!! Excited !!!!