After School’s new single album, Bang! has been released and having been so anxious about it and anticipating since last week, I knew I had to listen to it all day and review it by the end of the day.
So when I actually got my hands on the single I thought it would be played out by now, since I expected to LOVE it, unfortunately that is not the case.
Let’s start off with the fact that their last single, 너 때문에/Because of You, was INCREDIBLY good. Not just the title track but the other song on the single as well, When I Fall, while not hit material, it was a great track to listen to. So expectations for this single album were off the charts.
So in a few days I might write a reconciliation piece after I’ve been better acquainted with After School’s Bang! single album. But for now I wanna focus on what I think of the album now.
Let’s Do It! – I really like the drum percussion throughout the song and in the beginning. I especially love this little ‘oohh oohh’ heard at 0:28, it’s extremely energetic and makes me think of something I would hear performed at a pep rally while the hip-hop team breaks it down. Unfortunately there’s nothing more to it than that, with very few voice overs, and it’s not so ridiculously melodic where you can listen to it over and over again. As far a intros go it’s good but nothing spectacular. Speaking of intros, 2AM’s intro Prologue for their repackaged album 잘못했어/I Did Wrong, is amazingly good.
Bekah helped this song get off its crutches. Makes the fellas go crazy!
뱅!/Bang! – If there’s one good thing the intro serves for its for leading into the title track. I like the creepy voice over in the beginning, and I still don’t know how to feel about the girls chanting more than singing. When I first heard this song, I remember feeling disoriented. There was so much going on and I just couldn’t keep up. Between the drum percussion and the clapping and the chanting I concluded quickly that it was definitely not what I was expecting. Also the girls individual singing parts are just so uninspired and formulaic. Bekah’s rap at 1:38 to 1:47 which is the only melodic input into the song from one of the girls individually (at least until the interlude) is short lived, luckily in the amazing interlude from 1:54 to 2:29 Bakah’s rap comes back near the end, though not as pronounced. I swear, the interlude saved the song for me right now, I am again glad for Raina’s addition to the group, her voice is gorgeous. But about the song, maybe in a few days I can seem myself coming to like the other parts of 뱅!/Bang! but for now I just like Bekah’s rap and the interlude.
The MV, while a little messy in the editing department, is a total win for me though. It’s fun, energetic, and colorful, and has this irrepressible character that only After School’s videos have. Did anyone even notice the new member Lizzy? I didn’t even really see her at all…
RATING: 5/5
I’m starting to wonder what the group would do without the addition of Raina’s amazing vocals.
With U – I had such hope for this song after not really feeling 뱅!/Bang!, but I actually like 뱅!/Bang! more! At least that song has some semblance of energy and spirit in it. This song while not horrible doesn’t have that X-factor that ballads need to survive, it feels uninspired and plainly boring. Even the chorus feels really contrived and formulaic. The climax with Raina at 3:05 comes way too late in the song, because by then I’m gone. But there are some parts of the song that are growing on me but I could never see myself going to the song on my IPod, I see it coming on during my shuffle…and, truthfully, I see myself skipping it.
RATING: 2.5/5
As a pretty avid follower of After School, I have to say I’m pretty disappointed. I don’t dislike the songs, I just do not like them very much (especially With U). I know they’re going to do well though, because 뱅!/Bang! is catchy enough to sustain them afloat throughout these perilous times fraught with big name comebacks. But definitely not enough to get them their Triple Crown, Mutizen or even K-Chart in my honest opinion. Hopefully they’ll rest and comeback with something amazing, which I know they’re capable of. For now, I blame this mishap on the fact that this is their first time not having the Brave Brothers produce their title track for them humph, don’t snub the producers that made you!
OVERALL RATING: 3.5/5
For K-Pop & J-Pop Lovers 
I felt the same way about this mini-album. ‘Bang!’ is growing on me, though. It isn’t their best song, but I’ll survive.
I hear no correlation between the first two songs and ‘With U’. I was like, “wtf?” when I listened to the entire mini-album because that song just doesn’t make sense with the other two. It sounds really old-school 90s to me for some reason.
I don’t get it what’s so bad about ‘With U’ i like it
To each his own lol, it’s not horrible, definitely not, it just feels dull to me.