Album Review: The One Vol. 3 - The Last

The One (더 원) – Vol. 3 “The Last”

01 intro
02 죽도록
03 만나지말자
04 Because of you
05 사랑은.. 항상…
06 내 여자
07 그대하나만
08 My Love
09 안되나봐요
10 가시는 길
11 Why
12 한번쯤
13 outro
Bonus Track
14 죽도록(MR)
15 그대하나만(MR)
16 사랑아

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Three years since his last release, The One is back again to impress with his voice. Working the past two years as a vocal trainer for big names such as Super Junior and Taeyeon of Girls’ Generation, the man who is known for his drama songs and hit “I Do” is no doubt going to make another wave with his latest release, which puts emphasis on sorrow. Hopefully this won’t be the last we hear of this powerful singer.

Styled in a similar way to that of the current Korean ballads, 죽도록 is a stellar opener and promotional track. Featuring a gorgeous string arrangement and powerful accompaniment, the focus of this song is still the vocals. The One does an amazing rendition, exuding the emotion needed in telling the story of the song, where one thinks that dying is better than living any longer without the other person. Armed with his rough, yet strong vocals, The One pulls the song through to the end, giving a memorable performance. The soaring strings also add sorrow to the song’s already sad presence and the inclusion of the guitar solo for the bridge adds another striking, but interesting edge.

The rest of the album is composed of mid-tempo R&B songs and emotional pop ballads. One of the stronger songs is Because of You, which features the a light-hearted R&B sound. Although the song doesn’t show the strength that The One usually features in songs, he shows another side of his talent, giving us a lighter and easier listening sound. The airy quality of the song is also emphasized by the use of female background singers. Another stand-out track has to be the ballad 가시는 길. There are certainly many ballads in this album, but the melody in this song is one of the strongest in the album and gives the song the potential to be a promotional track. The One performs quite well as always, keeping control over his voice throughout the song.

For those looking for a strong ballad album, this is it. There is one fault that the album has and that is the lack of upbeat tracks. It would certainly be interesting to see The One show off more variety in his song types so we can see other sides of his voice. Nevertheless, this album is strong and The One’s excellent vocals are not in doubt, as he easily pulls off every song on the album despite the fact that they are all slow.

4/5

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.