B.A.P are back yet again with another mini album! It feels like a very long time since January 26th 2012 when they released their debut album Warrior. Despite being barely a year old, B.A.P have a larger discography than groups that have been around for triple the time, which makes it very interesting to see how their musical direction shifts between each comeback.
Track 1) Punch
A sadly unimpressive beginning to the mini album, Punch is an okay song but nothing special, sounding pretty similar to many of B.A.P’s other past album fillers; and not to mention that the chorus of Punch sounds incredibly similar to the chorus of ‘No Mercy.’ It’s not a bad song but I’d recommend listening to ‘No Mercy’ over this song, as ‘Punch’ feels like a far less catchy version of it.
In terms of the mechanics of the song, Yongguk’s rapping is to a high standard as always and Daehyun’s vocals are excellent. The other members don’t really stand out so much – but they do blend together well, which is an important skill of being a group. Zelo’s rapping is also good, but it doesn’t really add anything to the song and feels recycled, in the sense that in a lot of B.A.P’s songs, Yongguk does his deep voiced rapping, Daehyun does a falsetto chorus, Zelo does a fast rap and the other members cover the rest of the parts. It’s not a bad formula when it works well, but after hearing the same layout so many times with B.A.P, it becomes predicable and boring, and in this case it means that ‘Punch’ unfortunately does not live up to its name.
4/10
Track 2) One Shot
‘One Shot’ is the best song on this album and arguably B.A.P’s best song to date. Ignoring the strange Engrish opening (sorry Yongguk, I don’t know what you mean…), the song is really good. It feels edgy and the violin instrumental gives it this brilliant sound of tension that keeps the song interesting. It is also a song that instantly sounds good, unlike some songs that have been released this year that apparently need to be listened to over and over again before they sound decent, ‘One Shot’ really does only need one attempt in order to hook. It still follows B.A.P’s normal song format, but in this case instead of sounding tired and recycled it sounds fresh and actually connects. B.A.P’s vocalists Daehyun and Youngjae sound fantastic here, and I think it’s what makes the song so good.
Additionally, Himchan and Jongup’s break downs in between Yongguk/Zelo’s rapping and Youngjae/Daehyun’s singing keep the song going and don’t let it fall flat. The emotion in Yongguk’s rapping and Daehyun’s vocals are on spot in ‘One Shot;’ and it really shows how they’ve grown musically. And in fact I think this song is particularly important in proving to people that B.A.P are able to move beyond the rut they’ve been in since Power. B.A.P fans may be unhappy to admit this but B.A.P’s music has been sounding very much the same since Power, and it’s only now that they are finally beginning to shake this off. (However they do still have quite a way to go, as the other tracks on this album are much more of the old stuff.)
‘One Shot’ is truly a song that B.A.P can be proud of, it surpasses most if not all of their past discography, and really demonstrates an impressive maturing of their style and music.
9/10
Track 3) Rain Sound
‘Rain Sound’ was released a few weeks prior to the mini album release and so I’ve had a bit more time to digest it. I’m glad to say that its appeal has not faded yet. It is a good ballad that is enjoyable to listen to, again due to the wonderful vocals. Although it’s unlikely to be a song that B.A.P are remembered for, and it is somewhat forgettable, for fans it’s a decent song and contains all the elements of a solid ballad. ‘Rain Sound’ is one of the better tracks on the album, even if it lacks anything particularly hard-hitting.
6/10
Track 4) Coma ft. Jieun of Secret
Coma begins well, Yongguk has a talent for pouring his emotions into his rapping and expressing them very passionately. Daehyun and Youngjae again work very well with their vocals mixing smoothly with the others.’ ‘Coma’ is probably my second favourite song after ‘One Shot,’ due to it having similar good points; the song is enjoyable to listen to, there is also no jarring Engrish (as far as I can hear), and in fact the English sounds natural and fitting for the feeling of the track, adding rather than taking from the song.
My main criticism of the song is how Zelo’s rap feels pushed in, rather than a flowing progression, and I doubt that the song would be worse without it. The chorus of ‘Coma’ is excellent, but sometimes the verses feel a bit awkwardly stuck together, which is sort of the case with Jieun’s vocals – after a few listens it sounds a bit more natural, but overall the song still feels a bit disjointed at times.
However, ‘Coma’ has more positive aspects than negative, and is another indicator that B.A.P’s musical direction is beginning to mature and expand beyond their previous discography.
7/10
Track 5 – Zero
The final song on ‘One Shot,’ is an interesting track. Parts of it sound very B.A.P-like, but unlike a lot of their previous album tracks, it doesn’t sound stale. I still don’t think this song has any massively special qualities that ‘One Shot’ possesses, and I can imagine it becoming forgettable after a while, but in terms of quality it sounds good, and technically it works. There is some strange English in the song, but at least grammatically and pronunciation-wise there’s nothing wrong with it! ‘Zero’ has a cool, rockish sound that gives the song a really relaxed, chill feeling; and like with a lot of B.A.P’s songs, Daehyun’s vocals make it sound particularly good, I think his contribution to their songs cannot be underestimated.
5/10
Overall album verdict: ‘One Shot’ is a step in the right direction for B.A.P, for the past year it has felt like they’ve desperately been trying to re-capture the intensity of their debut, and never quite managed it. ‘One Shot’ isn’t like Warrior at all, but this is a good thing because it shows that they’re not trying to copy what made Warrior good, instead they’re creating something different that is just as good, with a much more mature sound that is helping them demonstrate that perhaps they are more than just a rookie group chained to their debut sound forever.
