Album Review - Shin Hye Sung Vol. 3 – Side 2: Keep Leaves

Shin Hye Sung Vol. 3 – Side 2: Keep Leaves

01 Keep Leaves…Part 1
02 Even If It’s a Lie
03 Why Did you Call
04 I’m Dying
05 Love Sick
06 Keep Leaves…Part 2
07 Love Letter
08 Beautiful Girl
09 In Place
10 Still

Purchase This Album

Just last year, Shin Hye Sung returned to his fans with Side 1 of his third solo album, where he stepped out of his comfortable zone and experimented with various genres, ranging from alternative rock to swing music. This year, he released the second installment of this third album, which unlike the former, focused more on heart wrenching ballads which he is known for.

The album begins with a short instrumental, "Keep Leaves…Part 1," which is a beautiful piano and string arrangement that sets the mellow mood of the upcoming songs. With a quieter introduction, the song reaches its peak around the one minute mark. It is a good start for the album.

The title track "Why Did You Call" is an emotional ballad that showcases Hye Sung’s soft, yet powerful vocals. With a climatic chorus, the song is very expressive. The only problem I have with it is the fact that it sounds too similar with his other works.

There are two songs that I believed stood out from the others, both composed and arranged by Vink who have made couple of other songs for the singer in the past. The first is "Love Letter" which is a mellow medium tempo number. The synth sounds and strings in the background are very appealing and surprisingly match well with Hye Sung’s vocals. Overall, the song is very relaxing and very easy to listen to. The last song I enjoyed was "Still," the last track of the album. Like "Love Letter," this song also has an attractive background that brings out a modern feel to it.

In conclusion, I was pretty disappointed with the album. Aside from the two songs I recommended, the others including the title track seemed very filler track-ish. All the songs were of similar genre which is one of the reasons I got bored of them. I recommend Side 1 of Hye Sung’s third album for those interested in listening to his other works.

2.5/5

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