Album Review: F.T. Island Vol. 2 – Colorful Sensibility

F.T. Island (에프티 아일랜드) Vol. 2 – Colorful Sensibility

1. 사랑후애 (譃爱) (Lying Love)
2. 여자는 몰라 (Girls Don’t Know)
3. 그대는 사랑입니다 (You Are Love)
4. Love Is
5. 멋쟁이 vs 예쁜이 (FT vs PRI) (The Cool vs The Pretty)
6. 외워두기 (Memorize)
7. 미워하고 원망하고 (Hate And Resentment)
8. 1분 1초도 (Even For One Minute And One Second)
9. 사랑하지마요 (Please Don’t Love Me)
10. 사랑이라 부르는 이름 (A Name Called Love)
11. Troublemaker
12. Train

Purchase this album

Debuting in 2007, the year of girlgroups and boybands, F.T. Island came and conquered in ways other than dancing and singing. Unlike many of the other groups, they did it the old-fashioned way and stuck with instruments. With that, their debut album, Cheerful Sensibility, sold over 82,000 copies and landed in the top-10 best selling albums in Korea for 2007. Now releasing their sophomore album, Colorful Sensibility, the group return with a more mature image. Whether or not they can meet the same success they had with their first album will be quite interesting to see.

The title track, Lying Love, is a powerful rock ballad that just screams sad. The song is very similar to their hit last year, Love Sick, as they both start off subtle and explode with emotion by the chorus. Musically, the song is quite interesting. The use of contemporary instruments, such as the electric guitar and drums over a layer of strings as the foundation, really gives it an extra edge. Still, there are parts where the arrangement is quite messy and it just seems like the vocalist is floating on a layer of jumble. Vocally, the song is quite strong. The singer, Lee Hong Ki, has a powerful, yet husky voice that plays right into the song. His technique of singing isn’t anything new in the industry, but he’s able to emit the right amount of emotion for the song.

Much of the rest of album is filled with upbeat rock songs and rock ballads. This might be disappointing to some, but there is definitely a lot for fans of this genre. The next song that really stands out is track 10, A Name Called Love. The song has some upbeat qualities to it, though it isn’t too crazy or messy. It’s a more mid-tempo rock song that makes use of the nice touch of piano. The vocals are quite nice throughout the song as they show another side of the vocalist’s voice and the extra rap in the middle is surprising, but helps the song flow with a different feel. A far more upbeat track, Train, is probably my favourite of the album. It’s one of those fast-paced rock songs with hints of pop. The guitar riffs sound quite sweet and the everything else seems to blend in with it. The vocal arrangement is probably the most interesting part of the song because it’s just so different, but exciting.

Despite quite a few treats in the album, there is definitely one major problem the album holds and that’s the repetitive sound of quite a few songs. The rock ballads sound very similar to one another, including the title track. Even when the song sounds different at the start, it goes right back into that mode where it sounds like the other tracks. The more upbeat songs are a great and don’t fall into the repetitive loop, though there are definitely a few. Still, the album is of high quality. The vocals are rich and the the fact that the members played their own instruments in most of the songs is also great, though it would’ve been nice to hear a song they composed themselves.

3.5/5

5/5 – Even if you’re not a fan of this artist/group this album is a must buy.
4/5 – If you’re a fan of this artist/group, you must buy this album.
3/5 – If you’re a fan of this artist/group, you might want to add this one to your collection.

2/5 – I don’t think a fan would even buy this.
1/5 – You might as well just flush your money down the toilet.

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