[MV & Album Review] Golden Child � 'Miracle'

AKP STAFF

GOLDEN CHILD � MIRACLE

Track List:

1. Miracle
2. It's U *Title
3. LADY
4. Crush
5. All Day
6. I'm Falling

Golden Child has just dropped their 2nd mini-album 'Miracle.' Debuting five months ago with 'Gol-cha!' they're back once again with 6 new tracks for your listening pleasure. Early in January, Woollim Entertainment announced that Jaeseok would be leaving the group to focus on his health, so this will be their first time promoting without him.

"Miracle" is the instrumental intro and it' a fairly decent synth track. It starts out soft�and ends up as a playful dance tune -- sans vocals. The title track is "It's U," is an upbeat, cheery tune. It's okay, but I'm not sure I would use this one as the promotional song. It just doesn't seem to have the heft to be a title track.�

By contrast, "LADY" has emotional, pleading vocals, and an epic feel to it. "Crush" is even better than that, with a crunchy guitar, bold vocals, and the chorus is a pretty sweet hook.�

"All Day" is the lone ballad on the EP, and has an inspiring vibe to it, particularly once it gets to the chorus. "I'm Falling" is a more standard pop tune, with some vocal pyrotechnics, and a rocking synth beat that hits when the chorus does. There's some more traditional rock instrumentation that makes this tune really pop.

I've always felt Golden Child had more potential than what Woollim was willing to show, and I think some of that shines through on this EP. There are some solid songs on here, much stronger tracks than the light, airy title track. Nothing against cheerful tunes, but I didn't really think it had enough to it -- it almost sounded juvenile in comparison to the other tracks.

MV REVIEW

If I didn't like the song all that much, I can't say the MV was worse. It's not.

It's alright. We've seen the school environment done to death though, and changing outfits didn't help that much. The guys are stalking a girl at school, peering around corners, watching her play games with her classmates (including potentially toppling a Jenga tower), and general hijinks. At the end, she apparently warms up to the guy, waving and smiling. But there were some parts where she looked aggravated.

The dancing sequences were alright, though they were suffused with aegyo. I've seen it in quite a few girl group vids, but very few guys. So these guys are trying to be cute. Oh well, as long as they don't say oppa in a squeaky, annoying drawl I'll be okay. �

It's kind of a cute MV, if not exactly original. I've seen this setup a lot, and there's not much left they can do with it. And there were some cringy moments, particularly with the cutesy moves and the ear to ear grins. You can enjoy what you're doing without flashing us a grimace that says your toothpaste tastes bad. I'm sure they realize that�but were told to do it anyway. Still, it was fun the first time around, but repeated viewings? I can't see it.