Ever since their debut, MEOVV have been a frustrating prospect. They have all the talent and charisma to be on top of the K-pop game, but are often sabotaged by so-so material. Come to think of it, this has been a pattern with every artist from The Black Label. Helmed by the sometimes-great Teddy Park, their musical output tends to be undercooked and overly trendy.
Like any trend, the “speaking about how cool we are over a club beat” approach has worn out its welcome in K-pop. The difference here is I never appreciated this trend in the first place, which makes material like Go Hard more insufferable. This song ties a spoken word hook to a verse that is completely the opposite. The track opens almost as a ballad, delivered in that familiar, affected BLACKPINK style. The contrast is interesting, but neither extreme within the song works very well. One part feels a bit pedestrian. The other feels close to irritating.
Much better is Go Hard‘s bridge, which imagines how the track might sound if its energetic production had been paired with a more fleshed out melodic anchor. To its credit, Go Hard attempts to do more with its choice of trends than many of these songs do. It’s only a few steps away from being great, but those steps are important ones and Go Hard‘s lack of development ultimately makes it more frustrating than thrilling.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
Grade: C
Hm, this is fine. A bit disappointing though.
Rating’s the same.
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bro did not care lmao
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This release actually wasn’t half bad! The opening section was quite nice, and the song features some wonderfully focused, melodic moments throughout. However, the chorus seems to throw all of that beauty out the window in favor of a direction that feels a bit odd and jarring. It feels as though they are wasting their genuine potential here, because I can clearly see what incredible talent and skill they are truly capable of displaying.
7.5 (7, 8, 7, 8)
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I’d give the title and b-side a average of 8 together, with the b-side edging the title track, even though the b-side still feels like a better pop song I heard back in the 00’s.
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I felt that the contrast between the ballad intro and the EDM beat did not mesh too well either. The melodic chorus part was a bit interesting, its a familiar game melody arranged to disco beat. However, the verse parts were too bare bones and its quite lacking in narrative so the song ultimately ended in another disappointing note.
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First listen I was thinking “wtf.” But the more I listen, the more I enjoy it because I know that EDM beat is about to drop and switch it up.
First listen score was probably a 6.5 for me (im not into EDM), but probably sitting at an 8 right now after a few more listens. The vocals on this are amazing. Production was great. That bridge…wow. Their bridges are always so good.
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Oh and the B-side Indestructible is pretty good. I think Meovv may have some of the best b-sides of any 5th gen.
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i didn’t have that great of a first impression with this song at first too but i lowkey feel like this is gonna grow a lot on me in a similar way ive – kitsch did for me. that chorus just has so much earworm potential.
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yep it’s already been a day and i think out of all the releases yesterday, this is the one i keep coming back to the most. it has that same quality as ive’s kitsch where the pre-chorus sounds so good and even tho the chorus isn’t as impressive, it works as a whole package and is addictive enough for you to want to come back (or well at least for me i guess lol).
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Hmmm. I guess that I stopped wondering “does this work” and just went with it meant that it actually does work.
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At first I was like WTF because it truly sounded like those mid to late 2010s electropop ballads in the style of Rita Ora or Annie Marie and I thought “oh no this is gonna be bad.” They had me for a second there… and them boom, the drop hits and I laughed so hard lol. It was just so unexpected. I agree with Nick though, the best part (wish they could’ve used it for the entire song) was the bridge and the final chorus-drop.
MEOVV have always been hit or miss for me but I appreciate their production team trying to use the current trends in the most unique way they could, even if that didn’t work out in the end lmao.
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I think I have mostly the same thoughts as everyone else lol. I’m not really a fan of the chorus, but I knew that since the teasers so I cant really say I’m disappointed or anything. The drop and honestly like the last 45 ish seconds of the song is definitely my favorite part, I just wish the chorus had a vibe similar to that. The verses are cute, and I also quite like the pre-chorus. Now that I think about it, Meovv has some pretty good pre-choruses like in Ddi Ro Ri or Drop Top. Always over all I’d give this the same rating of 7.5, but it’ll probably grow on me as I listen to it more.
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I usually don’t think this at drops that are majorly different from the rest of the song, but this probably could have benefit from being two separate tracks. Mostly because the bridge and starting verses are the best parts.
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MEOVV is meovving again! Great production – starts like a classic BP ballad then evolves into badass EDM then culminates with a gorgeous D&B bridge – and generous voices. Very stimulating!
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I think lot more of my issue with it is artists trying and failing at times to replicate Black Pink in the first place…as if that is a perfect group to imitate in the first place. I mean why not the groups just develop and do their own style of singing and ballads nad such rather than imitation? I mean that’s no better than a group doing a cover or an original song and changing up the lyrics somewhat and the sound like Disturbed did with the old Simon and Garfunkel song The Sound of Silence and in that case Disturbed did it far worse.
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To be fair it didn’t start out so bad…but then was just ok that completely flipped it from a nice ballad to well all over the place bass or whatever that was.
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