Kpop fans say they are too noisy and weird, rock fans say they are not rock enough. As someone who likes both genres they hit the spot for me. I think that they sound like themselves and it's good to develop a certain sound for the band. The bassist is actually practicing growling and screaming (sometimes he goes of on stage) and on a livestream he was asking fans if they want a metal song. They seem like fun guys and they're pretty young so they should get better with time.
The bassist, jooyeon, actually has an amazing rock tone! I hope someone recommends a preformance or cover where he showcases his vocals more! (He did screamos and growls several times before)
Jooyeon said in a video that he wanted to do more rock sound but I think their studio and some of the members were concerned because they never really gone full rock.
comparing this reaction to your very first makes me proud somehow loll. i do agree with another commenter tho, their b-sides would likely have more of that rock sound than their title tracks since those are usually made to be more "palatable" to the GP (and even then, they're still very slept on in general). I'm not sure if you've reacted to these but ones I'd recommend for B-sides is Come into my head, Bicycle, Enemy, Freddy, X-MAS (anyone feel free to add to this!)
I'm happy to see that you were into the track! In your reaction to "Sucker Punch" (Link here: th-cam.com/video/QOzwyLhEz3k/w-d-xo.html) you asked "Will it ever be 80% Rock and 20% Pop? Are we ever gonna get to that point? I don't know. Maybe." So you saying that "Break the Brake" is "95% Rock and 5% Pop" means it's clear that Xdinary Heroes has exceeded your expectations, and that's awesome! Like I said, Korean bands on the bigger music labels have been striving for years for that rock-heavy sound, but it's a tough climb. As I said in the intro, I was genuinely surprised to see "Break the Brake" selected as the main single, considering the rockier "Sucker Punch" from their 1st EP wasn't chosen, while the more pop-oriented "Test Me" was. It seems there was a lot of behind-the-scenes effort to bring a hard rock sound to the forefront with "Break the Brake." Listening to it again, I notice the strategic sound mixing and songwriting choices they made to make it palatable for a mainstream Korean audience, which probably helped it clinch the main single spot. The guitar solo is a case in point. Notice how short it is. It's my only main complaint with the tune. A longer solo would have matched the song's energy perfectly, but it's intentionally brief to align with Korean listeners' preferences, who aren't too fond of lengthy electric guitar solos. Believe it or not, long electric guitar solos often get cut down in length in live performances or are even muted on South Korean TV. So, while I wish the guitar solo was extended, I understand the compromise. One last thing, while I was happy that you really dug this, you rated it with that soon-to-be-retired system (thankfully). Since you say you would hear it again without hesitation, David, can you give the track another spin right now, and say what would you rate it out of 10? Pretty please. :-D
I’m starting to get the feeling that you might vibe with some of their b-side tracks that aren’t the most mainstream palatable among fans and k audiences. Particularly ones like ‘Ghost’, ‘Man in the Box’ (HUGE shoes to fill with that title 😅), and ‘Come into my head’
Thanks for the reaction to these guys! I'm a big rock fan and joined kpop much later then rock, but I actually understand why XH and other Korean rock bands still sound a bit like k-pop. It's all about the Korean language and it necessarily creates associations with this genre, no matter how the brain tries to fight it huh. Jooyeon (the bassist) has amazing skills in growl and screaming techniques and even now he is having some health problems with his voice because of too many practices of this. I advice you to check out the one of their perfomances of the show "immortal songs 2" with their rock cover of the old trot song "Why Calling", but there may be some difficulties with the copyright of the video. Personally, I think this one is the most powerful of all their performances vocally. ( th-cam.com/video/yqs6w5JsRj8/w-d-xo.html )
Very happy to see your reaction to this song .I know that you prefer the rock style, so I suggest you listen to their other title song called freakin’ bad. I think you will also like that one too. By the way, they sang the OST for a comic called wego wego is also very passionate. I hope to see your reaction to these song after.👍
David just posted his reaction to "Wego Wego." Here is the link to his reaction: th-cam.com/video/AJYMLTki1as/w-d-xo.html By the way, if you do leave a comment in that video, please let it be something other than making requests especially to "Money on My Mind" and "Moneyball." :-) With the exception of my comment, that's literally all that the other people said there so far.
Not sure if you check comments out from videos a few months old but I totally need to see what you think of their newest album, its called troubleshooting and it came out about a month or 2 ago and it for sure has some of their most rock songs yet. Songs like Moneyball, undefined, or money on my mind would probably be the ones you would like the most from the album but i would recommend giving Moneyball a listen! And if you still wanna see they rocking out then try their live practice video for money on my mind (linked here th-cam.com/video/JRE5E2hGXE8/w-d-xo.html ) though keep in mind its only an instrumental practice so no vocals in the video!
I recommend one of their latest tracks "money on my mind." Definitely made me think of the upbeat 80s rock. Here is the link of their live performance : th-cam.com/video/3xMBueotrAU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=oaKiS7cA1cIFQpBg
Kpop fans say they are too noisy and weird, rock fans say they are not rock enough. As someone who likes both genres they hit the spot for me. I think that they sound like themselves and it's good to develop a certain sound for the band. The bassist is actually practicing growling and screaming (sometimes he goes of on stage) and on a livestream he was asking fans if they want a metal song. They seem like fun guys and they're pretty young so they should get better with time.
The bassist, jooyeon, actually has an amazing rock tone! I hope someone recommends a preformance or cover where he showcases his vocals more! (He did screamos and growls several times before)
Jooyeon said in a video that he wanted to do more rock sound but I think their studio and some of the members were concerned because they never really gone full rock.
comparing this reaction to your very first makes me proud somehow loll. i do agree with another commenter tho, their b-sides would likely have more of that rock sound than their title tracks since those are usually made to be more "palatable" to the GP (and even then, they're still very slept on in general). I'm not sure if you've reacted to these but ones I'd recommend for B-sides is Come into my head, Bicycle, Enemy, Freddy, X-MAS (anyone feel free to add to this!)
I'm happy to see that you were into the track! In your reaction to "Sucker Punch" (Link here: th-cam.com/video/QOzwyLhEz3k/w-d-xo.html) you asked "Will it ever be 80% Rock and 20% Pop? Are we ever gonna get to that point? I don't know. Maybe." So you saying that "Break the Brake" is "95% Rock and 5% Pop" means it's clear that Xdinary Heroes has exceeded your expectations, and that's awesome! Like I said, Korean bands on the bigger music labels have been striving for years for that rock-heavy sound, but it's a tough climb.
As I said in the intro, I was genuinely surprised to see "Break the Brake" selected as the main single, considering the rockier "Sucker Punch" from their 1st EP wasn't chosen, while the more pop-oriented "Test Me" was. It seems there was a lot of behind-the-scenes effort to bring a hard rock sound to the forefront with "Break the Brake." Listening to it again, I notice the strategic sound mixing and songwriting choices they made to make it palatable for a mainstream Korean audience, which probably helped it clinch the main single spot. The guitar solo is a case in point. Notice how short it is. It's my only main complaint with the tune. A longer solo would have matched the song's energy perfectly, but it's intentionally brief to align with Korean listeners' preferences, who aren't too fond of lengthy electric guitar solos. Believe it or not, long electric guitar solos often get cut down in length in live performances or are even muted on South Korean TV. So, while I wish the guitar solo was extended, I understand the compromise.
One last thing, while I was happy that you really dug this, you rated it with that soon-to-be-retired system (thankfully). Since you say you would hear it again without hesitation, David, can you give the track another spin right now, and say what would you rate it out of 10? Pretty please. :-D
I'm on the road right now, so that's gonna be kinda hard to do.
you should listen to their recent album “troubleshooting”, at least tracks like no matter, money on my mind, undefined
I’m starting to get the feeling that you might vibe with some of their b-side tracks that aren’t the most mainstream palatable among fans and k audiences. Particularly ones like ‘Ghost’, ‘Man in the Box’ (HUGE shoes to fill with that title 😅), and ‘Come into my head’
Thanks for the reaction to these guys! I'm a big rock fan and joined kpop much later then rock, but I actually understand why XH and other Korean rock bands still sound a bit like k-pop. It's all about the Korean language and it necessarily creates associations with this genre, no matter how the brain tries to fight it huh. Jooyeon (the bassist) has amazing skills in growl and screaming techniques and even now he is having some health problems with his voice because of too many practices of this. I advice you to check out the one of their perfomances of the show "immortal songs 2" with their rock cover of the old trot song "Why Calling", but there may be some difficulties with the copyright of the video. Personally, I think this one is the most powerful of all their performances vocally. ( th-cam.com/video/yqs6w5JsRj8/w-d-xo.html )
now i want to see your reaction to their cover tomboy,
Very happy to see your reaction to this song .I know that you prefer the rock style, so I suggest you listen to their other title song called freakin’ bad. I think you will also like that one too. By the way, they sang the OST for a comic called wego wego is also very passionate. I hope to see your reaction to these song after.👍
oh! And I really like the keyboard player’s performance at the end of freakin’ bad. I think it’s quite rock and roll. You should go and listen to it!
David just posted his reaction to "Wego Wego."
Here is the link to his reaction: th-cam.com/video/AJYMLTki1as/w-d-xo.html
By the way, if you do leave a comment in that video, please let it be something other than making requests especially to "Money on My Mind" and "Moneyball." :-) With the exception of my comment, that's literally all that the other people said there so far.
Not sure if you check comments out from videos a few months old but I totally need to see what you think of their newest album, its called troubleshooting and it came out about a month or 2 ago and it for sure has some of their most rock songs yet. Songs like Moneyball, undefined, or money on my mind would probably be the ones you would like the most from the album but i would recommend giving Moneyball a listen! And if you still wanna see they rocking out then try their live practice video for money on my mind (linked here th-cam.com/video/JRE5E2hGXE8/w-d-xo.html ) though keep in mind its only an instrumental practice so no vocals in the video!
I recommend one of their latest tracks "money on my mind." Definitely made me think of the upbeat 80s rock. Here is the link of their live performance :
th-cam.com/video/3xMBueotrAU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=oaKiS7cA1cIFQpBg
Good
That was a good song! I was boppin' my head along with it as well. In the words of HardcoreChristopher, "good".