A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve.
Once I got past its cringier elements, NCT Dream’s Boogie Woogie has grown on me a bit. However, I’m more impressed by the album as a whole. There’s very little filler here and the vibe is upbeat and even a bit experimental in places. There are a number of tracks I could have featured as a buried treasure, but I’ll go with the one that stuck out to me most on first listen.
Pressure is for all of us SHINee lovers. It could have easily been one of their hyper rhythmic funk songs, but Dream do a great job with it as well. As you may have guessed from its title, the entire track is about sustained tension (or “pressure”). It sounds like the musical equivalent of a balloon blowing past its limit, about to pop. Pressure never resolves with that pop, but that’s the joy of it. Instead, we’re kept on our toes for three minutes as the instrumental teases us. I love the driving house beat, interspersed with electronic sound effects that add to Pressure‘s suspense. It helps that the entire track is catchy as hell, moving through several memorable refrains with panache. A cool instrumental break adds to the appeal, punctuated with perfectly-placed drum shots.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
I liked the song on first listen, but I don’t know how it escaped me that it was so SHINee coded. Re-listening to it again really makes it clear!
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I clocked the moment I heard those house beats that this is indeed SHINee-coded (the traffic for the Atmos album reviews this week is most likely from me, as I checked if my memory of them being dance-y is correct). It doesn’t beat around the bush for its main hook, and its bridge and Jaemin usage is the best.
Also, that streak from track 3 to 7 is especially top-tier; I can’t wait to see your other picks! All of this album’s instrumental breaks need to be studied. They elevate all their respective songs so much. I had a blast listening to this project!
If I may ask, do you remember any standouts from the full album DREAMSCAPE? or was it too mid-tempo for your taste?
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I need to listen to Dreamscape again tbh. I didn’t connect with it at the time but people seem to love it so maybe I missed something or just wasn’t in the right mood to receive it.
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Oh DREAMSCAPE has some bangers! I think the only song I find myself skipping is Rains in Heaven (it is cute and they performed it for the very first time in Bogotá, when I saw them live, so that was very special). But it is just that very corny/ballad side of NCT DREAM I’ve never been a fan of.
As per my favorites, I love When I’m With You, Heavenly, Night Poem (their R&B songs are so cool), but specially Off the wall! It carries the same charm and sentiment from the Beatbox/Glitch mode eras.
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this is my favorite off the album for sure. it somehow reminded me of SNSD’s Fire Alarm.
the album sounds like an upgrade of DREAMSCAPE, and I loved that album down.
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The instrumental break with the random chords is so sick. I also love the how the beat changes throughout the song. Probably an 8.5 for me.
My buried treasure is 100% Tumbler. The melodies are exquisite and the way the track develops is so emotional. The vocals were perfectly recorded too, just giving the track more feeling. Other standout b-sides are Dream After Dream, Skydive, Watch U Watch Me, and This is Your World. Might be album of the year for me. I’m still in shock that we got the full album 1 2 3 punch of Dreamscape, Gbttf, and Dream After Dream. What a legendary run
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Didn’t love the singles at all for this new NCT DREAM album, but it has 5-7 solid tracks. My favorites are Skydive, Presure, and the album’s closer, This is your world. I said on a previous post that I think NCT DREAM will probably become a legacy act, with mostly small releases here and there and maybe an album for every important anniversary. If this is the last “big” NCT DREAM album we’re getting, I can’t complain. It has some great highlights, a couple of lows, but it’s just true to the group’s sound and identity!
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this song is a treat. finally, some outstanding music this year!!! we won!!!! i’m especially geeked since this is my first dream comeback as an nctzen (as i got into nct this year) and it surpassed my expectations. easily a top 3 album of theirs for me.
my personal favorite off of the album is watch u watch me, without question. runner-up is skydive 🙂
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