Album Review: Kim Dong Hee - Halfway

Kim Dong Hee – Halfway

1. Without a Word When Breaking Up
2. Don’t Love
3. Didn’t Know About Love (from drama "New Heart" OST)
4. You You
5. Finally Now
6. Doing This…
7. Closer To You
8. Someday (from drama "Single Papa In Love" OST)
9. On A Day Like This
10. Hand

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Being the vocal coach for renowned artistes like Big Bang and Zi-A, and a chrous vocalist for Fly To The Sky and Tei before her debut, one can imagine Kim Dong Hee being a spectacular singer.  She was also in the R&B group Soulcity before turning solo.

This album “Halfway” is a compilation of hit songs from her previous albums as well as songs that she has sung for drama OSTs. This album also includes two additional new tracks, including the title track "Without a Word When Breaking Up" (Track 1) and also "Don’t Love" (Track 2). 

The collection of her previous hit songs include her debut single "You You", her second single “Finally Now”, a song that put her on the music industry map.  Drama OST songs such as MBC drama "New Heart" and KBS drama "Single Papa In Love" are also recorded in this album. 

The main title song for this album is "Without a Word When Breaking Up", which was composed and written by the team of Hwang Sae Joon (a member of the Hwang project) and Cho Eun Hee.  Together they wrote hit songs such as Tei’s "Leaving A Love Scent", "Same Pillow", HowL’s "Parrot" and BMK’s "When Spring Of Blossoming Flowers Comes".   "Without a Word When Breaking Up" is a great pop ballad with a modern and beautiful melody that showcases Kim Dong Hee’s emotional voice nicely. Her other new track, "Don’t Love", was composed by Han Sang Won, who is known for composing the title songs for her past two albums. This song is more of an oldie/retro-style ballad.  Kim Dong Hee is known to like traditional ballads from the 90s.

This is considered a “throw in” album in the large batch of CDs that I received for reviewing. There were many albums by megastars in that batch, but this is my favorite album among them, and one of the best albums I’ve heard in 2008.  All songs are of top quality, and Kim Dong Hee’s spectacular vocals just add points to each song.  I’ve listened to this album over and over again and never got bored.  Best of all, this is a “best hits” album and you can collect all her hit songs at once.  That’s a bargain!

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.