THROWBACK #1: CN BLUE- I'm A Loner

Released: January 10th, 2010

What better way to kick off my very first review starting with the very first song that got me into K-Pop? At that time, I had yet to listen a song sung in a language other than English, and I had no idea at first that this song was in Korean. All it took was the brilliance of live instruments and some extremely addicting hooks to garn my interest into K-Pop. As well as the second K-pop song I listened to to really sell my soul into K-Pop forever, but let’s save that story for another post. All I can say is, this is songwriting at its finest.

Immediately the song establishes its tone from the very beginning with the first chants “I’m a Loner, I’m a Loner" followed by an instrumental riff right after. The guitar and the percussion are prevalent throughout the song, with the latter changing beats in the verses. I really like the rap in the second half of the verse and how it works with the beat along with the alternating “woahs” to take us to the chorus. The chorus is absolutely perfect as it can be, giving us the ear-infectious “Da-be-da-be-ba-da doo”, but the post-chorus is the perfect icing on top of that already delicious cake, delivering memorable falsettos to keep the chorus's pulse going, because even they know they don't want it to end. As I mentioned just how infectious the percussion is, once we reach the the bridge, the percussion breaks down and the instrumental fades to introduce some hip-hop sound effects, with alternating vocals and rapping that blend really well together, followed by an epic final chorus sung on a minor scale. I love the simplicity of the song, a song you can chill to at a lounge as well as a song that can be performed at a high-energy rock concert simultaneously. The drums dictates the rhythm throughout the song well without deviating from its identity and its just infectious. The harmonies and the falsettos are some of the year's most memorable ones, and the alternating raps are catchy yet aggressive and full of pizzazz. At a time where catchy, infectious hook, computer-processed tunes were capturing the love of the national audience, CN Blue proves the use of old-fashioned production with the guitar and drums is enough to have you up on your feet for a good time.

Rating: 8.0/10