EXO have been inaugurated into my “K-Pop A-Z” feature, which means anything they release automatically gets a full review. To be honest, I’ve regretted that rule over the past few years since I haven’t vibed with the group’s albums since 2018.
Is there new work REVERXE any different? Read on to find out!
1. Crown // 2. Back It Up // 3. Crazy // 4. Suffocate // 5. Moonlight Shadows // 6. Back Pocket // 7. Touch & Go // 8. Flatline // 9. I’m Home
MOONLIGHT SHADOWS
With Moonlight Shadows, we enter REVERXE‘s second, more subdued side. EXO have often boasted R&B style b-sides on their albums and their vocals suit the genre incredibly well. Their discography has at least a handful of classics within this soundscape. However, the style can also veer too subdued until we end up in coffeehouse territory. Unfortunately, that’s the case with Moonlight Shadows.
I love the sound of Moonlight Shadows, and that’s mostly thanks to the members’ voices. But the thing is, if I want to listen to this particular texture there are so many better options within their discography. The melodies here leave no impression on me. Sure, they are pretty to listen to, but they go in one ear and out the other because they’re so clipped and unsubstantial. The phrase “it’s a vibe” has become more of a complaint than a praise coming from me, and that’s 100% the case here.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
Grade: C
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I could say I don’t know why I don’t like this song more than I do, but I do actually. It’s a very sleepy, “vibe-y” track, but EXO has done those in ways that are much more interesting to me in the past. Sweet Lies and Let Me In (and heck, even She’s Dreaming to an extent) say hello, both of which I didn’t necessarily appreciate on a first listen but then clicked with me in a major way. Moonlight Shadows just feels very flat to me, and I don’t mean off key. Like, it’s missing texture vocally. We’ve got harmony in there sure, and I’m struggling to describe this, but it’s not textured in any way. It’s flat and just kinda there. And I just realized on my most recent listen that there are absolutely zero ad-libs. Not that I think every song needs to go crazy on ad-libbing and vocal showboating, and that’s not the type of ad-libbing I’m suggesting, but they are sorely missed here as they would have added some layers, interest, and a bit of a build towards the end.
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Well they are missing half their vocal line. Chen Baekhyun. Xiumin was pretty good too.
Of those here, there is D.O. from the vocal line. Suho is actually also pretty good. He has done musicals in Korea and you have to be good to be chosen for that.
For this song, it just sounds like they didn’t spend a lot of time on it. The vocal was recorded for all the basic lines to be smooth and clear. And then the producers put their pen down and called it good. Nothing more. It is the standard soft song B-side for EXO but a tick or two under-produced and under-polished.
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Yeah, I was going to comment that of all the tracks where I miss their voices (and I feel that sentiment about this whole album to varying degrees throughout), this might be the one where I feel that the most. That being said, we’ve still got beautiful voices in the group as it currently stands. So I think maybe it does come down to what you said, they just didn’t spend much time on this one. Covered the basics and called it good without adding any extra flavor.
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abt musical actors, there are many idols who do musical now and i used to think that being in musical means one is good too, but after my favourite female vocalist started doing musicals seriously after her group disbanded many years ago, i have watched a lot of musical singing clips from various actors and idols and there are many bad singers too among both actors n idols and the musical fans would criticize them for it, just like when idols who cant sing get criticised for it. so yeah, being in musical is no guarantee of a singer being good. an idol i’ve seen actually go offtune/crack or just avoid singing in every single of her curtain call that i’m surprised she get casted for 2 seasons of same musical, probably name value. but my fav female vocalist thankfully is none of that, her vocals stand out even among musical actors(excuse me going offtopic to brag abt my bias) honestly Suho doesn’t sound very stable usually from what i’ve seen(unpopular opinion i find Chanyeol’s singing better though he might have less range or sth, and i have no technical knowledge n just base on how they sound) but musical wise, idk how good Suho is since i didn’t follow any of his musical.
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i actually like this, you can’t really go wrong with r&b exo. i hate that i can hear where cbx could be though 😑😭 maybe we just needed more yearning or adlibs idk. exo does what they can with this vocal lineup though and the song skates by just enough for me.
it doesn’t help that the other songs on this album are not nearly as good though, so this is almost like a little diamond in the rough.
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oops, what i meant to say was this is alright, but it lacks any special character other than the natural prowess of EXO’s voices. And yes, the melodies are pretty lackluster here, no single line stands out in any way or have any special flow to it. I would say its like mid 7’s for me!
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im bored nick
could you recommend me some 1st gen Kpop albums? specifically ones never mentioned on this blog
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Yes, but they’re not on streaming:
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thank u nick! in return, i want to ask for your thoughts on these jpop songs i recently discovered
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Ah, Ryoga. They didn’t last very long. One album, I think? I feel like I downloaded it once upon a time but never really listen to it. I think I should like their music more than I do but I don’t really care for the vocals. They have a few good songs, though. I wish AVEX would try this sound again with a new group.
The other two songs I hadn’t heard before. They’re not bad!
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