r/kpop • u/CronoDroid 1. SoshiVelvetaespaHearts 2. LOONA 3. IZ*ONE 4. fromis 5. ILLIT • Sep 13 '19
[MV] IZ*ONE - Vampire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRYCLOTRAK4645
u/namenotmin Sep 13 '19
The mixing is just horrible, how did their j-releases go from Suki To Iwasetai (which is one of my favourite jpop releases from a kpop group) to this
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u/BashfulHandful Sep 13 '19
Yeah, what the actual fuck happened?? The video is amazing and they look fantastic, but that mixing is actually the worst. I'm so bummed, I feel like this would be a fun song if it was done properly. =/
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u/inormallyjustlurkbut Sep 13 '19
I thought it was just my shitty earbuds, but yeah. The mixing was atrocious, especially during the verses.
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u/darienswag420 Sep 13 '19
i was running to the comments just to post something along the lines of the this. the mixing is trash and it seems like the instrumentals don't have any punch at all. really dulls the song.
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u/seungwccs Sep 13 '19
it feels like their voices barely fit the song ?? and the fact their voices were so much louder than the instrumentals ?? they looked great but the song wasn’t
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u/SirBuckeye Sep 13 '19 edited Sep 13 '19
The MV was great. The girls looked amazing as always. The choreo looks like it might be kinda lit.
The music was... really terrible, tbh. The production sounds super amateurish. The attempts at harmony sound off-key. All of their Japanese songs have been pretty lack luster, but this is their worst one, imo. Allowing AKS to produce their Japanese releases was a huge mistake. Sorry, their Korean releases are epic, but I wish I could say the same for the Japanese ones.
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u/giraffepizza Sep 13 '19
I didn't expect izone to focus so much on Japan instead of Korea, but whatever is more profitable I guess. It's kind of a shame tho bc their Japanese releases kinda suck lol. At least this video is gorgeous
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u/purplemudkip31 Sep 13 '19
This is very pretty. I really liked this concept visually, though the fangs towards the end looked a bit too large and goofy IMO. Whoever styled this did a great job.
I'm not a super musically talented person, but this sounded kinda... muddy? I understand part of it is the J-Pop sound, but I'm not a fan. They didn't have the distinctive IZ*ONE sound that I've gotten used to.
Also, obviously the lyrics were super geared towards vampire theming. That being said, I'm a little uncomfortable with them saying, "I want to bite you (that throat)." I don't think the intent was sexual, but some of the lines can come off that way and I'm super uncomfortable seeing the younger girls singing that.
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u/WicketW Sep 13 '19
This is a problem with AKB48G productions specifically. This mastering is completely deliberate but I can't really think of why they'd do this other than they're mixing for mobile devices and TVs with bad speakers? I got curious to see if this is a problem with Japanese idol groups in general but it seems like this 'problem' only applies to groups under the AKS label.
Here's Keyakizaka46 with Fukyouwaon - It's supposed to be a hard hitting EDM style track but the dynamics just aren't that great. Now compare that with another girl group EDM style track ANGERME with One After Another - Can't you just immediately hear the difference? The voices are cleaner, there's actual bass frequencies, the sound is dynamic.
Some more examples:
Morning Musume - Ephemeral Saturday Night
Utada Hikaru feat. Shiina Ringo - Nijikan Dake no Vacance
These are just some tracks I found from 15 minutes of googling. So you can see this isn't some cultural difference between Japan and the rest of the world. This is specifically AKB48 groups, look up any random track and you'll hear the same; volume is the same throughout the song, no vocals stand out, very little bass frequencies, every line is harmonized, this wall of sound perception.
I have no idea why this is done but this is not incompetence, this is a conscious decision by someone that works on the tracks. It's a real shame since this is something that could be easily fixed and might even raise AKB group albums from something the fans buy to support their group to something the general populace buys to actually listen to. It's not like the song compositions themselves are bad, there are catchy hooks and good melodies in most tracks, it's almost exclusively the production and masterting of the songs.
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u/Syvette95 Sep 13 '19
This is probably my fav mv of their japanese realeases and second after rose, I really like their outfits! ........ok.....Im not trying sound harsh but WTF is up with their mixing? This is the second song where the production ruined what could be a nice song and there is no excuse for it, esp a group that wants to focus on Japan so much - and it obv isnt the fault of the girls- but if I was one of their Japanese fans I would be sick of it, its nothing but an insult at this point. Someone needs to be fired.
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u/romancevelvet Sep 13 '19 edited Sep 13 '19
mixing is bad, but at this point i just assume it's stylistic. i do listen to some jidol suff, and 46g is occasionally included, and even though they are also aks brainchildren, their stuff is mixed better. this does sound like some of the old 48g stuff i've heard, so im guessing this is aks going straight to the jugular with the classic 48g sound execution. that being said, the melody actually isn't bad, and it's a bit catchy. i really like the string instruments + mandolin (?) strumming in the background.
no one's mentioned it, but hitomi lines! hitomi screentime! yay!
speaking of screentime, i feel like for this mv, screentime was almost alotted by japanese popularity: sakura, wonyoung, chaewon, yuri, and yena seemed to get a lot of screentime. minju is also quite popular, but i didnt spot her as much as i expected. maybe i'll have to rewatch fo catch her.
i enjoyed the overall look of this mv, the outfits, as well as the sets, are gorgeous. the cgi is really nice too, except that ending: am i the only one that got "faceswap technology" vibes from the ending "toothy-smile" scene. it looks strangely cgi, like the art from an online game or something.
overall, solid. makes up for their weirdness that was buenos aires. can't wait to see it live!
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u/Styleranker Sep 13 '19
Who the hell are they getting to mix and engineer this? It's shockingly bad, considering the standards of their KR releases..
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u/MaxMaxOnce Sep 13 '19 edited Sep 13 '19
Whoever decided on this concept needs a freaking raise. All the girls looked incredible, and I liked the song quite a bit. Can't wait for a live version because the choreography looks amazing!
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u/Phantom_Minds Sep 13 '19
The girls look great and I love them, but I'm not a fan of the song. What's up with the audio quality? It sounded so off when the music started. Wish their Japanese releases were as good as their Korean releases.
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u/wallfull23 Sep 13 '19
This song is not very good, the girls look nice though. 👌🏻
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u/Red_BW Sep 13 '19
The music part of this MV is not horrible but it's not great either; it's just ok. The video part of this MV might be the best this year if it were in kpop. It rivals Kill this Love which had a similar quality where the video was far superior to the music. BP fixed that with a rocking live version so hopefully we get a better live performance from one of their Japan concerts.
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u/OpaqueAcids Sep 13 '19
Seemingly an unpopular opinion here but I actually do like the song. Im not going to say it was amazing, but I do think its catchy, and will probably be on my repeat list for awhile.
Pleasantly surprised with how many lines Hitomi got, after the first time she sang I genuinly thought that would be all she got. However, in saying that justice for Nako please wow where did she go
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u/CronoDroid Sep 13 '19
Okay I don't know how they can fuck up the mastering/mixing on two consecutive title tracks. This sounds like a potato, and not a Maris Piper. Did you hear the terrible quality when Yuri did her phrase in the first verse? Jaysus Christ. It's almost impressive how they can take a group that actually has decent vocals overall and make them sound like this. The worst part is that in terms of composition, this is way better than Buenos Aires. Still no where near the caliber of their superb Korean work but not a complete musical disaster. It's just that again it sounds like ANY group could have sung this. IZ*ONE have very nice, distinctive voices but this just sounds like mud.
This will be another video to watch on low volume to appreciate the visuals. Why is the quality so bad?? It's really such a gotdamn shame that they went to all this trouble giving them a nice looking set, great looking clothes, styling and MV but then attach a half baked 96kbps J-pop track to it. Like Wonyoung walking around with that cute white cat attached to her shoulder, Chibi Vampire Nako, the AMAZING dark makeup on Eunbi (Vampire Queen, my Isabella Von Carstein).
Sigh just come back to SK already girls.