CNBLUE "2gether" Electrified funk rockers

——CNBLUE《2gether》
Electrified funk rockers
reviewed by 星洲日报(SIN CHEW DAILY) 音乐吟游 曹杰峰 paper scanned by jiayingss (weibo account)

http://weibo.com/1896598843/CEBDEFUIV
[Originally in Chinese by a Malaysia mainstream paper] [Rough translation : )]

“Electrified” is a necessary evolution for a band. Debuted 6 years ago, CNBLUE kept climbing, and finally became the NO.1 band in Korean. In their last mini album “Can’t Stop”,  the title song suddenly became a tender piano ballad. They temporarily hid their edge: where should they go for the next step?

“2gether” is their second full-length album after “First Step” in 2011, so they replace “2” with “to”. They embrace the dance music when they decided to change.

Containing both Rock and Dance in their blood is a common approach for most bands when they strive to make a change. That’s no big news. The chemistry of the two genres is just like the sheet music written by a electrified carbon paper. It's still in Rock font, just written by a different ink. Basically, there is no sudden changes in CNBLUE’s rock genes. They just add more electronic elements.

The title song “Cinderella” is still charming and free. The fancy hook reminds people of the dashing looks. The underlying Disco-Funk arrangement makes the beat quite seducing and guide you to the illuminated dance floor. Besides, they add some mysterious filter effects (commonly used in dance music) in the middle, when their voices are teared into repeated echo. Their music is twice as sexy.

Decent electric elements brings out their own romance. The 1980 synth pop “Domino” turns the cool rockers into the romantic bourgeoisie.

Diverse productions
Funk-Rock has always been in CNBLUE’s blood. Even FTiland, under the same Label as CNBLUE, say that CNBLUE can’t be imitated. Due to their Funk and Soul style , CNBLUE is always compared with the popular American band Maroon 5. This pushes them to make their own sound. However unluckily, “Cinderella” is, once again, compared by Billboard with Maroon 5’s "Moves Like Jagger” released in 2011, which puts Disco, Soul and Rock together. The two songs have the similar elements. What’s more, the second chorus sang by Lee JungHyun in Cinderella also recalls Maroon 5’s new single “Sugar”, especially the “I don’t wanna be needing your love/I just wanna be deep in your love” part. They shares the similar beat and sentence distribution, resemble each other in chord.    

Some dance oriented tracks are backed by synths with Rock elements nearly disappeared. You may wonder if they are from a new Dance-Rock group. But this revolution is no doubt a good news to CNBLUE. Before re-create something , you have to destroy it first. It only depends on how BOICE like it. Without their funk guitar, “Drunken Night” would be a total Techno Dance-Pop, like a side-cut track of 2PM or B1A4 in their early days. In “Radio”, the bright and inspiring piano smooth the edges of Rock. It sounds like “A sky full of stars” produced by Avicii, the Swedish electronic music producer, and Coldplay, the British band. But the grand chorus and wild guitar solo defend Rock in the end from the unstoppable dance

elements.

Snappy Ska Rock
To their credit, “Roller Coaster” is a Ska Rock track they rarely try. Slap bass executions on the back-beat. There blows the wind from Jamaica. The most unexpected track is “Hold My Hand” with romantic clarinet. It makes you feel like sitting in a cabaret with candles flickering or a jazz bar chatting and drinking.

Last album “Can’t Stop” shows the tenderness in Yonghwa’s voice. As for this album, his voice is more tight than the early days, when his voice sounds like loose air, easily covered by other instruments.

With skillful vocal, fancy arrangement, and solo activities in dramas and variety shows, they enjoy high popularity. CNBLUE seems to have everything in control. But if they want to stand next to Maroon 5, they need more outstanding melodies. They lack some abilities to make the hit hook. After releasing three homogeneous albums “First Step”, “Ear Fun”, and “Re:BLUE”, “2ghether” is their most revolutionary production and this may be a promising start.

——CNBLUE《2gether》
被电离子附身的放克摇滚客

“过电”是一个乐队免不了要经历的变化期。出道六年，CNBLUE一路往上攀爬，终于攻下韩国首席乐队地位。上一张迷你专辑《Can’t Stop》，同名主打歌骤然间转变为由钢琴主导的温柔派抒情，让一向耍酷的他们暂时收起了锐利的锋芒：那么下一步，他们该要怎么走？

《2gether》是他们继2011年《First Step》之后的第二张正规专辑，因而以“2”代替“To”为字首。向舞曲乐派挂钩，是他们思变后的决定。

将 摇滚和舞曲的血脉双双打通，是许多乐队在穷极则思变之后惯用的套路，也不算什么新奇的手段。两者之间的交合，如同乐手们透过一张沾染电离子的复写纸在乐谱 上写下的摇滚.章般，印在其上的字体仍旧是摇滚的音符，只是换成了不一样的墨迹而已。基本上，CNBLUE的摇滚基因并无多大遽变，他们只是在编曲上加入 一些电气，分别在于每首歌曲程度的轻重。

主打歌《Cinderella》还是从前那个潇洒不羁的CNBLUE，拉风的调调，完全就是给人 一派玉树临风的感觉。唯独是铺埋着Disco-Funk脉动的编曲，让节奏变得更有一份挑逗的重量，迅即把人带往镜球闪烁，灯光四射的大舞池。此外，中间 还加入少量舞曲常用的filter效果器，带出神秘的层次感，而他们的歌声也被vocal chopping引成一快，碎裂成断断续续的重复式回音，音乐比以往性感一倍起来。

酌量的电气注入，确实让他们许多歌曲都流露出属于他们的罗曼蒂克气氛，好比带点1980年代Synthpop味道的<Domino>,让一贯拽惯了的摇滚客顿然间化身为风情万种的布尔乔亚。

多元的创作风格
Funk- Rock是CNBLUE过去以来就一直秉承的血统，就连同门乐队FTisland也说他们的音乐是本身永远模仿不来的。正因为这类游走在Funk和 Soul的摇滚风格，CNBLUE常常被拿来跟美国人气乐队Maroon 5比较，促使他们发愿有一天也要打造出属于自己独一无二的声音。然而很不凑巧的，<Cinderella>却又被Billboard乐评拿来 跟Maroon 5发表于2011年，将Disco，Soul和Rock交融和在一起的<Moves Like Jagger>相提并论，因为两者刚好都有相仿的曲风构成，撇开这一点，<Cinderella>由吉他手李宗泫带头演唱的第二段主 歌，也有点像Maroon 5的最新单曲<Sugar>中那一句“ I don’t wanna be needing your love／I just wanna be deep in your love”，除了节奏的跳跃感和语句分布方式外，尤其还有相仿的和弦使用。看来想要彻底从Maroon 5的影子里抽离出来，CNBLUE似乎还需要更大的决心和气力。

一些舞曲导向的歌曲，感觉犹如摇滚编制的三元件都被电流强行绑架去了，以 至于你会认为这是哪个新冒出来的Dance-Rock团体的作品，但这对于给予蜕变的CNBLUE无疑是一件好事，唯有摧毁才可以重见，只看Boice的 接受程度到哪里而已。<Drunken Night>如果不是一路贯穿着他们标志性的funk guitar，来到副歌的4/4拍是彻头彻尾的Techo舞曲格式，会让人误以为是早期2PM或B1A4的side-cut电音作 品。<Radio>用明亮振奋的钢琴柔化了摇滚舞曲的峥嵘棱角，很像瑞典电音制作人Avicii和英伦摇滚乐队Coldplay交手的作 品<A sky full of stars>，但后段的壮阔合唱和电吉他的狂野solo，还是稳守住摇滚的最后阵线，没有兵败如山倒地狠狠被舞曲凌驾其上。

俏皮Ska Rock音乐风
值 得一提的是，<Roller Coaster>是他们鲜少尝试的Ska Rock乐风，在反拍上重重弹奏的轻佻贝斯，吹来了一阵牙买加的闲适海风。更完全让人始料不及的是<Hold My Hand>竟然摇曳着单簧管的浪漫吹奏，感觉犹如置身于烛火辉煌的cabaret或杯觥交错的jazz bar里。

上一张的《Can’t Stop》让人意识到主唱容和声音里深情绵绵的迷人温柔，至于这一张专辑，他的嗓音有更加紧致的凝聚力，挥别早期像聚不拢的空气一样，容易被喧闹乐器吃干抹净的虚弱。

纯熟的唱腔，精致的编曲，加上四位成员在戏剧综艺和主持各自发展出一片天，已经积累下高涨不坠的人气，CNBLUE似乎什么条件都具备了，但想要向 Maroon 5看齐。CNBLUE需要的是更加鲜明纯粹的旋律线，因为他们在设计一击即中的hook时还是缺少了浑然天成的功力。在经历作品区隔度近乎模糊难辨，特色 似乎八九不离十的《First Step》，《Ear Fun》和《Re:BLUE》三张专辑后，图变心最强烈的《2gether》也许是一个值得引颈期盼的美好开端。