[ Information ] Artist : SS501 1st album : S.T. 01 NOW.. Released on November 14th, 2006 Publisher : CJ Music [Order this CD]

[ SS501 - Vol.1 : S.T. 01 NOW.. ] Tracklist : 1. Existence 2. 4 Chance 3. Unlock 4. Again 5. Stand by me 6. Sky 7. Geopjaengi 8. Man 9. Hana 10. Confession (Seotun gobaek) 11. Bye bye 12. Radio star 13. Sesangui nalgae 14. Gyeongo (Original ver. String add) 15. Unlock (Heavy edition feat. Kim Sehwang)   [ Review ] 1. Existence With a pop/rock intro, this first song shows the powerful side of SS501. The electric guitars follow the members' voices during the verses, while they are less noticeable in the chorus because of the five members singing with harmony and an addictive melody. The instrumental part is slower than the rest of the song, with sounds making this part mysterious, and then with electronic sounds and electric guitars again. 2. 4 Chance You just can't go through this album without paying attention to this song. It was one of the three songs chosen to promote the album. A short piano melody is introduced at the beginning, and it will lead the song until the end, it doesn't stop except in the instrumental part and before the final chorus, but this is the appealing point of "4 Chance". The chorus is the best part, dynamic, even more addictive than "Existence", with the lyrics sang rapidly at the beginning, and then with some English lyrics added which make it easy to remember. The instrumental part is just a sort of remix of the main melody. 3. Unlock Here is another of the three songs chosen to promote the album, and this time it can be considered as SS501's rock song so far. You may think that the electric guitars are low at the beginning but they increase in the verses and during the chorus. The battery is also very noticeable, the rhythm is very well marked. The part before the chorus is also interesting, since one of the member is singing very high before the chorus in which the voices are powerful and should express a little bit of anger and power. There is also a slow part in which violons can be heard clearly in the background, but in reality they are present in the whole song, to give a grandiose feeling. 4. Again Is it another singer ? No, but after three powerful songs one after the other, it was the right time for a first ballad. This ballad is my favorite in the album. The voices are very soft and low in the verses, accompanied with an acoustic guitar, while the chorus is introduced by violons. The five members create an harmony in the chorus which is very calm and soft. The tone changes at the end of the song, the instruments become more powerful, but for a very short time because it decreases quickly to finish softly with Heo Yeong Saeng's clear voice saying "Jebal" (Please). 5. Stand by me "Stand by me" is a mid-tempo song. The kind of song expressing happiness but without showing it too much, just by the tempo and the melody in the chorus. The verses may not seem very attractive, but some voices make it interesting, since we can hear them clearly without being as soft as in "Again", nor as powerful as the three first songs. This song is also a success thanks to the acoustic guitar leading the song from the beginning to the end. 6. Sky This song is almost a ballad, except that the rhythm is very well defined so it is not completely one. You may not even realize this song passed, since the verses and the chorus are not really delimited since the instruments are the same, and the melody is not very cheerful nor sad. It gives me the feeling that it is always the same thing in the song, and the group doesn't sing together sometimes so there is no big change. 7. Geopjaengi "Geopjaengi" is what i could call a cheerful song ! The rhythm is faster than "Stand by me", and the chorus sang together gives a happy feeling. There are also some clapping sounds, increasing that feeling of happiness and joy. 8. Man This song is in the same style as "Existence", with some electric guitars and violons, a fast rhythm also. But i think the chorus is a little "cold", it doesn't give much feeling, maybe because they talk rapidly during the chorus and it is too short. It is just as if a verse and a chorus were put together without real connection, and at one moment an instrumental part not really interesting, with just some sounds before the chorus comes back. 9. Hana The whole song is lead by an acoustic guitars, with a light R&B feeling in the rhythm which is rather slow, but it is not a ballad. The chorus is not bad, but as for "Sky", there is no real change in the song so it seems repetitive and quite monotonous to me. 10. Confession (Seotun gobaek) This song has the same kind of R&B feeling as the previous song, but this time it is a ballad. The chorus has not the melody we could expect, it is beautiful and original, with an harmony created with the members' voices. The tone of the song goes up at the end of the song, so there is no boredom feeling even though it seems very regular at first. 11. Bye bye It had been a long time since i didn't hear a joyful song ! If you liked "Geopjaengi", you should like "Bye bye" too, the rhythm is slower but it is not very noticeable since it is a happy song, with a chorus which is even more attractive than "Geopjaengi" i think. There are even very short rap parts in the song, which makes it more dynamic. This time, the instrumental part is a dance music. It is a pop song that fits very well the common boysband image. It is "light and fresh". 12. Radio star Another mid-tempo song, in which the rhythm is a little jerky during the verses, and the chorus is happy again but i think the music is not noticeable enough in the background, and finally it seems a little too fade. 13. Sesangui nalgae Here is the last new song of the album, and it is a real ballad like "Again". It starts with the piano and an acoustic guitar but not very noticeable, and then violons are added in the background for the chorus like many ballads. Unfortunately, i think the melody of the chorus is a little too fade. 14. Gyeongo (Original ver. String add) "Gyeongo" is the first song of SS501's first single, so it is a remix of it here. The original song was a dance song, but here it has an R&B feeling in the verses because of the jerky music, although the violons were kept from the original song. As the title says, some electric guitar sounds were added in the chorus, but it is still very far from a rock version. Maybe it is not as good as the version of the first single, but there are no strange arrangements and it is good to hear another music background keeping the same atmosphere. 15. Unlock (Heavy edition feat. Kim Sehwang) As the title says, this version is the same as the original version of "Unlock", except that the electric guitars are more noticeable and there are some improvisation melodies added here and there. I think that it is a little better, but really... there's no big difference. Conclusion While the first part of the album seems very, very good to me, the three first songs included and the ballad "Again", i think the second part is a little too fade compared to the first one. Maybe putting three very powerful songs together was a bad choice ? In the second part, there are only "light" songs, sometimes mid-tempo cheerful ones, sometimes rather repetitive and slow ones. The two last songs are good bonuses but they should not be the reason you buy this album or not, especially the new version of "Unlock".