SISTAR Alone Mini Album Review

SISTAR is a four member group that debuted on June 3, 2010 in South Korea, with their first single Push Push. SISTAR consists of leader Hyorin has astonished the music world with her powerful and unique vocals, Bora whom showcases great rapping ability, sharp vocals, Soyou a vocalist with a melodic voice, and Dasom the maknae (youngest) and sub vocalist.

Alone is the latest mini album from SISTAR released on April 12,2012. It has a total of seven tracks, six songs, and one instrumental. The title track for this mini album is Alone.

The mini album alone really inspires a feeling of disco nostalgia. Many people have suggested that the theme for this album is provocative, this is accompanied by the stylization of the music video for alone. I however feel that the style is very reminiscent of the twenties mixed with the forties, giving of a very vintage post modern sexiness that resonates throughout all of the songs.

Come Closer- is the introduction song on the mini album, it is one minute in length and has a soft feel to it. It really showcases Hyorin's vocal talent with slight interjections from the rest of the group. It is simply short and sweet and really sets the stage for the rest of the album.

Individual Score: A-

Alone- Being the title track this song really lives up to the expectations of the album, and as the second track it gives an introduction to the dynamic sounds SISTAR is presenting in the album.The song gives a nostalgic feel of disco, combining it with modern pop flares. Hyorin's voice captures the mood and gives a sense of loneliness and yearning, and carries much of the song. While Soyou really draws you in with her mid range vocals pulling you into the corus. Dasom adds a little flair with her sub vocals throughout the song. Bora gives a powerful impression not only with her singing but with her soft, flowing rap. The rap itself was placed wonderfully and brought that modern spin to the nostalgia of the song.

Individual Score- A

No Mercy- This brought disco, funk, and pop together to create an interesting sound, with a modern spin with the flow of the lyrics. This song also showcases the vocals of Soyou and Dasom more than another song on the mini album. It is not as captivating as some of the other songs on the album, but it is still a decent showing. It actually feels a little reminiscent of the vibe many YG artists have in their music.

Individual Score- C+

Lead Me-This is by far the best song on the album, it is a soft ballad that really has a soulful feel to it. Coming right after three heavily disco inspired songs, this provided a great bridge in the mini album. The soft lyrics and the melody of the music combined with Bora's rap, gave great flavor to the track. This song gives you more of a SISTAR feel, then the rest of the songs, its very true to their original sound. This really could be the leading track to any K-drama.

Individual Score- A+

Girls On Top- Going back to a more retro feel, the guitar rift combined with synthesized pop elements really gave this song a distinct feel. It was far from the best song on the album, but it was still somehow reminiscent of SISTAR. It was more about the music and dance feel you got from it rather then showcasing any vocals, so they kind of fell flat in this song.

Individual Score- C-

I Choose to Love You- This is a very soft ballad unlike lead me that had pop flares, and was cute and bubbly, this feels serious. This is a solo by Hoyrin and It is a bit of a let down to end the mini album on this note. Seeing as how they were going for a disco feel throughout the album. They should have ended on something that would have tied the album together. This song is also a let down because it only showcases Hyorin. She has one of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard, but that does not mean she should be focused on more than any other girl in her group. This song for me although beautiful was not as captivating as the others and did not seem to fit the mini album.

Individual Score - B-

As I stated before, Alone was a great song and brought fourth a new sound for sister, however the accompanying music video was a bit of a hit and miss.

STYLE

Clothing: The clothing in the music video switches from modern ensembles to vintage inspired looks. The retro looks appear throughout the video in three different color varieties, red, black, and white. Out of all the the the vintage inspired looks the red and the white stood out more then the black which was a bit more provocative than the other looks. As for the modern clothing, they were beautiful club wear that really went with the overall theme, and stood out well with the retro looks with out overpowering them.

Scenery- The scenery is a bit inconsistent with the music and the looks. It is set in modern Las Vegas and moves between the modern day club and nightlife scenery to an open area with a black glossy floor, and red overhang for the dance scenes. I think they could have gone a little more retro for the scenery, to make it more intuned with the disco feel of the song.

Dance- The dance showcased signature bend over move, all throughout the video. Their was also a bit of classical ballroom dance thrown in during the chorus, that gave a more mature feeling to overall dance, and went well with the song. The dance move that was conflicting with the others was the knee high movement and back thrusting which was a bit out of place.

Story Line- There was't a story line the song which was a real disappointment. The song itself was powerful and really gave you a god sense of emotional turmoil, but the music video didn't reflect that. Instead they choose to go with individual shots and dance scenes. The song would have gotten an added boost if their had been a retro inspired music video featuring some characters you could follow.

Likes - I really liked the fact that the song and music video featured a new look and sound for SISTAR that showcased a great vintage feel. I also loved the clothing in the video, which really tied the past and present together, and was really the only element that tied in the music,and video.

Dislikes- I was disappointed in the over all scenery and lack of story line for the music video. The music video had a much to modern feel for the retroness of the song, and the main outfits. It would have been nice to see a vintage Las Vegas in the MV,

Individual Score- taking in all the elements of the music video and the song I would give this MV a B-.

After going over all the individual grades and averaging them together the final score of SISTAR's mini album Alone is a B. The reason it comes out to a B is because over all some of the songs on the album were a miss while other were stands outs. Combined with the music video everything averaged out to a solid mid range rating. The stand out in the album was Lead Me so go check it out!

Yesasia

http://www.yesasia.com/global/sistar-mini-album-vol-1-alone-special-edition/1030779768-0-0-0-en/info.html

Itunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/alone/id518563970