June 20, 2013

The B-Side: Songs I Wish Were Promoted

Sadly in K-Pop, a lot of good songs never get any air time.  Sure some of the bigger groups like Girls' Generation or 2NE1 get enough stage time that you get to hear some of their B-Sides, but it's still pretty rare.  In K-Pop, the repackaged album is promoted with a new song and even includes some more songs that never see the light of the mainstream.  There's no promoting 6 singles off a single album like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.

Here are some of my favorite B-Sides that I wish got promoted or at least got a music video!  Enjoy!

Dalshabet Girls - Dal Shabet  (Instead of "Be Ambitious")

  • So I know this album is hot off the press as I write this, but I seriously like this song so much more than "Be Ambitious".  To me, the intro is much catchier than "Be Ambitious" and even though it's still a tad slower, I still love it!
잠깐만 (Wait a Moment) - HELLOVENUS  (Instead of "차 마실래?")
  • This would have made a really cute music video, especially the awkward dialogue at the end.  While Lime is a good rapper, "차 마실래" doesn't really have a good rap... >.>  This song is without a rap and it would be nice to see a cutesy girl group try and forego that.  Also, this clicks well with girls who wanted to stab the group for their line "여자라서 말도 못 하고" ("I can't say anything [ask you out] because I'm a girl") since it's about a girl attempting to ask a guy out.



3. 6. 5 - EXO  (Instead of "늑대와 미녀 (Wolf)")
  • Um, hello, SM!  You picked a school theme for your boys and you go with..."늑대와 미녀 (Wolf)"...?????  Either stick with the cute innocent (and very hot) school boys or give them a fierce and more wolfish theme (especially since you went so literally with their lyrics, clothes, music video, and the howling...).  "3. 6. 5." is catchy and would show off a less dark (*cough* cheesy *cough*) side of the boys and let them let loose a little.  Also, as an added bonus, each member sings and there is no rapping. :D  (But I still love "Wolf" XD)
    • My sister tells me that this would also make an excellent Western debut song.
피터팬 (Peter Pan) - EXO  (Instead of "늑대와 미녀 (Wolf)")
  • We already have one Peter Pan-themed comeback with Chocolat's "Black Tinkerbell" so why not another one?  It would be fun for SM to (finally) tackle a song that could easily follow a simple plot line.  (And who wouldn't want to see EXO in green tights??)  
    • Possible Plot:  Tinkerbell leads a little girl to a dusty old diary that contains Wendy's drawings and notes about her adventures with Peter Pan.  As she flips through the pages, the adventures come to life.  She sees Peter Pan and Wendy's adventures with the Lost Boys.  At the end, Wendy realizes she wants to grow up but Peter Pan cannot.  Peter Pan returns her to her home.  The little girl is seen asleep, the book in her lap.  Peter Pan, who has been watching her, tucks her in and closes the book, leaving it on the nightstand.  He flies away when he hears someone come into the room and accidentally leaves his hat behind.  The mother finds the hat and you realize she was Wendy.
it's you - Super Junior-M  (Instead of "Break Down")
  • A much more light-hearted song than "Break Down" and perhaps with this SM might have skipped the feathers....
풋사과 [Green (Unripe) Apple] (ft. BtoB's Ilhoon) - HyunA  (Instead of "Ice Cream")
  • It's a cute and catchy song!  Also, HyunA leaves the rapping up to someone can actually rap.  HyunA could be sexy and cute without being over sexualized or comparing her tan skin to chocolate.  I like HyunA better as cute than sexy, personally.  This song also shows that HyunA isn't such a terrible singer.
Tasty Love - KARA  (Instead of "Lupin")
  • While "Lupin" was catchy, I just like this song so much better.  It's not as irritatingly repetitive as "Lupin" and runs back to KARA's earlier upbeat earworm tracks like "Mister".
Way - KARA  (Instead of "Pandora")
  • I really miss the old, catchy KARA songs.  This, off of their "Pandora" album, makes me miss it even more.  I really didn't like their darker turn with "Lupin" and "Pandora".  Like T-ARA, they did catchy, cute songs best.  They probably changed because they wanted to sound more mature, but this songs lets them keep the frenzied earworm songs while also not sounding like they downed an entire can of helium with a side of aegyo.
소녀 Pretty Girl - MBLAQ  (Instead of "Smokey Girl")
  • This still lets MBLAQ show off their new jazzy style, but unlike "Smokey Girl" it's not mind-numbingly repetitive or boring.
Good Luck To You - Andamiro
  • Okay, so this isn't a B-Side to her new song "Waiting", but it would have been a much better choice!  It lets her show off her singing ability while letting her keep the Euro-pop influences that made her stand out with "Hypnotize".  Kinda sounds like Jessie J. :)
오페라 (Opera) - Super Junior  (Instead of "Mr. Simple")
  • Seriously?  "Mr. Simple"?  SM, you sure have a way of picking bad title songs...  Opera is catchy and cool and they made the most awesome video for it for its Japanese release ("Phantom of the Opera" fan here!).
말해봐 (Talk Talk) - Girls' Generation  (Instead of "I Got a Boy")
  • I can kind of see why SM didn't make this SNSD's comeback since it was already leaked online, but seeing as they did that for EXO and "Wolf", they should have used this.  While I'm one of like 10 people in the world that doesn't think "I Got a Boy" sucks (it's really catchy and I like it XP), this would have make a lot more SONEs happy.
TRICK - Girls' Generation  (Instead of "The Boys")
  • Once again, I actually like "The Boys".  But this is a song that doesn't brag.  It's mature enough that GG could get away from the aegyo songs like "Kissing You" or "Gee", but it's still fun.
Stand Up - BtoB  (Instead of "WOW")
  • I really love BtoB, but I really couldn't stand "WOW".  "Stand Up" shows off what BtoB does best - singing ballady songs that they are up-tempo enough that they can dance to.

What do you think?  What are some underrated songs that you wished groups had promoted?

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