[Kpop] K- Beautiful Smile

Beautiful smile is K's second, and what would be the last released in Korea, album released on 2006.01.20- two years after his first self titled debut.

The album starts with a short but beautiful Intro which consists mainly of a gorgeous piano part and K wordlessly singing over the top. It's amazing how emotional and haunting just a short introduction can be. I love music like this, so this intro to me is just the perfect way to start this album (starting on a good note)

The intro kind of flows into the next track 웃어요(Laughing) which starts with piano before introducing the sweeping, over the top strings, before quietening down for the first soft verses  then becoming louder and introducing the bass and a nice acoustic guitar part as the song builds up for the epic chorus. The track continues to build up and down throughout the song and really it's a pretty standard ballad, but I'll give it to K that he does sound amazing and the track is very pretty. The way the song changes all the time as well as K's vocals also saves it from becoming too boring.

Time for a change with 눈물은 차가울 때 아나봐(Tears As Cold As Ice) which at first reminds of those ballads done in like the nineties?  It's a lot like the previous track with the standard changes of dynamics, the build up and build down to create the ballad atmosphere and throw emotion in your face. There is something a bit different about this song though... it has an interesting sound/feeling to it. I like K's vocals, especially in the chorus, and there is also a really nice section towards the end. This sounds like something that should play in the angsty scenes in the dramas where the main character is forced to let go of his love. There's nothing that sad about this song, it feels rather hopeful in a way. So overall It's an over the top, but beautiful song. I'm just glad it doesn't sound too much like 웃어요.

Beautiful piano introduces the third track 너는 내 운명(You Are My Destiny). The song stays quiet and reserved, almost but not quite carrying that same haunting atmosphere that the intro did. As the song builds up it loses any traces of that, although it does sound very tender and at times, romantic.  The strings are prevalent, but they aren't so overdone like in 웃어요 and actually sound rather nice, blended with the piano and all. As always K's vocals make the song, filled with tender emotion and really moving the song forward with a subtle power. This song unlike the others never really makes the OTT build up to a super loud part, although by the end it has slowly become louder it is still quite quiet and holding back- staying gentle and tender. I like that about this song. It's different and it's very pretty and not too overdone/throwing emotion in your face.

The cheesy strings mean 이별도 사랑처럼(Byebye Like Love) starts on a bad note for me, although I love the piano that follows as well as K's vocals (caus' I always love K's vocals). It's another standard ballad in a way, but like 눈물은 차가울 때 아나봐 there is something about it that sounds kind of different and interesting. The ballad has a very strong beat, and once it gets going the instrumentation is quite nice (and less cheesy dominating strings). Compared to the track before it it's a very strong, louder ballad even with the different dynamics of the actual song.  I guess I've grown to like this song (although again like 눈물은 차가울 때 아나봐 it sounds like it should belong to some drama OST) And wow, K really doesn't hold back in this song: his voice is pretty powerful here especially with at one point some adlibbing he does.

The next track 기다릴께요(Wait) has a bit of an RnB feeling going on which is like a breathe of fresh air on this album. It's still a very mellow, laid-back song that isn't quite RnB but it's not quite a ballad either. There is a very strong, prominent beat which kind of drowns out K's vocals for the a while before he finally puts a bit more power into his voice and well, I love how he then uses his higher register at some point too. K's vocals really shine here. The saxophone introduced again is unique and pretty gorgeous.   This is a lovely, relaxing but not boring song and I'm glad that K has introduced something a little different here.

그대 날 보면(If You Look at Me) also has a very strong beat and some synth that lend it that RnB feeling like기다릴께요.  I think you can hear K's gospel influence here too with the backing vocals (that aren't annoying nor cheesy) and some of the effects. It's a very lively, up tempo track with quite a romantic, almost sexy, feel that immediately grabs my attention back to this album (I was growing so bored, I nearly gave up on this review). This is what I like K to do ^^

Yes, not back to the ballad yet!! Everything is also a pretty up-tempo song with a strong beat and interesting synth effects. It's so romantic and beautiful- yet there is a darker edge, something bittersweet about it which is interesting. The instrumentation is pretty simple, allowing K to dominate with his strong vocals.. K just sounds gorgeous like always- and again he shows how powerful his voice is with some lovely adlibbing.  This song is interesting and different.  I love how this album has changed. These past few tracks have been really good. 

Ok no need to get too excited about the new sound. It is back to ballads with track 9- 사랑하긴 했을까(Do We Love). I'm feeling more enthusiastic about this album though, which maybe will affect this review from now on. I quite like this song. It's a standard ballad but it's pretty with good vocals. OK, maybe I would have preferred K to continue as he was instead of going back to the songs like at the beginning of the album...but it's not bad. It’s very pretty- both the instrumentation and K's vocals.

Unfortunately the rest of the tracks, 고개 숙여 걸어야 하는 이유(The Reason I Have to Walk), 빈병을 걷어 차버렸죠 (Filled The Empty Bottles) and 사랑을 해요(Loving)  are also these standard ballads that I'm sorry, for fear of repeating myself too much I'm just not going to go into detail about. They are pretty much different versions of the same old thing.

Overall rating: 7/10 (let down alot by weaker tracks)
Favourite tracks: 너는 내 운명, 기다릴께요, 그대 날 보면, Everything

As a person not a fan of ballads, it takes something amazing to really impress me. I remember being bored with K's last album (first album, technically) and this time around…well it is still killing me reviewing these albums (I don't know why I impulsively decided it was a good idea to review K's Korean discography).  I do prefer this album in a way (not that I can remember the other one) because although these ballads are still something you'd put on in the background when you want to relax, most of them remain reasonably unique from each other even if not to the genre. It's nice. However it doesn't go beyond that unfortunately. And then it's worth mentioning that although I grew a bit bored the sudden change that happened after wait really changed my view about this album. Those are the sort of tracks worth listening to!  It’s a shame that there weren’t more tracks like this on the album. Lastly, I think K gave up too easily leaving it at just two albums in Korea. He should have tried a third album, bringing out that RnB sound found in some of the later tracks of the album. I guess that is what he chose to do in Japan instead…I think (maybe I'll give his J discography a listen because of that)