【E】 Can't Stop - by 이기선 of Izm

Finally, a serious review from a neutral critic. He's not a fan of their music, obviously. On the other hand, he doesn't dismiss them outright musically and sees their potential. When it comes to music, his review echoes another one from one of the English language bloggers, a classically trained musician, who gave very high marks to DG and CS but didn't think that much of CL and LI. Maybe that's how it appears to a musically trained ear and, maybe, Yonghwa choose to heavily promote these two songs for that very reason. But it looks like the clouds are starting to lift for them, finally. It was a brave and unusual choice, but it paid off.

아직 평론계의 자존심을 완전히 누르진 않았지만, 그래도 충분히 쓸모있는 호평이 많은 리뷰입니다. 음방에서의 라이브 고집이 역시 옳았다는 점, 묵묵히 곡을 만들어온 것들이 인정받기 시작했다는 점, 그리고 무엇보다 Can't Stop이 긍정적인 평가를 (다소 구체성이 부족하긴 하지만) 받았다는 점이 반갑습니다. 소재도 색다를 뿐 아니라 음악관을 보여준 '아이의 노래'에 대한 언급이 없다는 점, 보컬을 평가하지 않은 점, 그리고 무엇보다 아직도 일본에서의 라이브 활동과 자작곡들을 다같이 일직선상에 놓고 평가해줄 성실한 리뷰어를 만나지 못함이 아쉽지만 (락인재팬에 가셨던 황선업님을 기대했었지만 말이죠) 그건 다음 기회로 넘기고, "꾸준함과 미래에 대한 가능성", 멀지 않은 지척에 있는 발전에의 단초, "유의미한 형태로 남을 기록들"을 취하겠습니다. ^^

I like that the review acknowledges the progress shown by the album. But I don't understand why the reviewer criticizes the limited choice of subject but doesn't care to look at "Like A Child". Hope it's not misunderstood to be a love song (like a certain English speaking reviewer did). I wonder why vocal performances aren't reviewed. As a big fan of Yonghwa's vocal skills, I'd like to know what serious critics have to say about that.

As Yonghwa is a producer of the album too, I feel particularly proud that this is a positive review.