M - Vol 4 - MRizing

Oct 10, 2008

Initially, for me and maybe other fans, it is a little bit of a disappointment, especially if you are a fan of the distinctive sound and style that M has made his own over the last 3 albums. The opening track lacks that M energy that the previous albums kicked off with.

남자를 믿지마 – Feat. BigTone (Don’t Trust Men), however, is the first single from the album and, because of its similar beat and rhythm, is being compared very heavily to Taeyang’s ‘Only Look at Me’. It is the current trend and I think that’s where my disappointment stems from – that Minwoo has followed the trend rather than setting it for himself. It is catchy nonetheless and one of the better tracks in the album.

I was having some serious doubts about the album until Track 6 멋진 인생 ( Beautiful Life) came along. Upbeat and fun it had a lot of character to it and was one I enjoyed a lot. Things started to get better after that with track 7 ‘Masquerade’, which is flavoured with ‘Habenera’ from Bizet’s Carmen. It was a very interesting combination of Spanish guitar and Big Tone rap and kept my interest the whole way through. ‘Wink Show’ followed on with a very jazzy feel to it, a very enjoyable change of tone from the rather generic R&B that had gone before.

‘Sad Song’ was a good opportunity to show off his vocals, a mid-tempo ballad that contrasted nicely with the previous track ‘Honey’, which featured the Wondergirls. M’s ‘Epilogue’ is a beautifully simple arrangement of just vocal and piano, reminding me of ‘Girlfriend’ even though it wasn’t penned by him.

Overall the songs are good quality, Minwoo’s vocals are excellent and the album is very listenable, but it lacks that ‘M’ factor and feels a little disjointed with the two conflicting styles. Personally, I preferred the more jazzy styles than the initial R&B tracks and it would have made the album more interesting if he had made that style the main theme.

01 . I’m Here
02 . 남자를 믿지마-Feat. BigTone
03 . I “M” U-Feat. MightyMouth
04 . 용서해
05 . Hot!-Feat. 손담비
06 . 멋진 인생
07 . 가면 무도회-Feat. Big Tone
08 . 윙크 쇼
09 . Honey 꼬시기-Feat. 유빈(Wonder Girls)
10 . Sad Song
11 . 반한 Girl
12 . 나의 여백(M’s Epilogue)