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In October 2016, SHINee returned with a colorful, 70s inspired concept and title track 1 of 1. A month later, the repackage came out with a new album called 1 and 1 and track Tell Me What to Do. At the time, I was busy with adult life for the first time and kind of missed the boat on the whole promotional period. I regret that, because this album was the final Korean release with all five members of the group. When I finally came around to listen to the album, it was about a year later. Therefore, I feel like I never properly took the time to enjoy the record. I'm excited to take a slower, more intentional walk through these tracks now.
Disc 1
Tell Me What to Do - This is a total power ballad, so a very interesting choice for a title song. I love the way they enunciate the words "tell me what to do." I love the the electronic, chime-like backtrack. It's kind of whimsical sounding while the vocals are melancholic. Jonghyun's belts are iconic as always, especially in the chorus. It's got a very powerful sound. While the song is a ballad, it's something you can still dance to, with a distinct pop feel. I love the rap verse, especially when Key joins in. It's upbeat and sad all at once. Onew and Taemin also provide powerful vocal performances. This is probably one of SHINee's most emotive title tracks. It's beautiful and a stand out. One of my favorite SHINee songs of all time, though I feel it does get overlooked.
Wish Upon a Star - Another ballad, but of a slower variety. Onew opens softly, then Jonghyun joins in with a more low-key performance than is typical. It has a simple, straight-forward sound. Taemin sings next, with a bit more flair, sounding as pretty as ever. Then Key gets a turn, with a more toned down performance, showing off his ability to sing gently. Minho finally joins, demonstrating how lovely his voice can be. It's a cool song in that they all get to sing, one at a time, joining in little by little. I think Taemin's performance is the most impactful, but the best part is when they all harmonize together about 3/4 of the way through the song.
Beautiful Life - Another ballad and another favorite of mine. Sweet. I like the organic sound of the backtrack. I also love the lyrics, with good, subtle use of English. Key's performance on the chorus is one of his best. The song exudes a feeling of gratitude and peace.
Rescue - The song is almost disruptive, considering all the other songs to this point are ballads. This song has a sort of old school R&B sound. The backtrack is simple, but the vocals are more complex. The verses aren't memorable, but the choruses are quite good. I like Key and Onew's bridge, too. I like the way the song fades at the end with vocals only.
If You Love Her - And we're back to another ballad. The song is slow and sweet, but the chorus is easy to sing along with the lyrics, "If you love her, if you want her." The instrumentation consists only of piano, letting the amazing vocals do the heavy lifting. I think the song has a truly timeless feeling. The closing with each member singing and layering the words "if you love her" over each other is stunning.
The remaining five tracks on disc one are instrumental versions. I think that these songs have some of the best ballad backtracks, but I won't review them separately here.
Disc 2
Prism - The track has a backtrack that reminds me of like a 2000s era snowboarding video game. To my ears, the song has a jazz influence. Minho's lines in the pre-chorus sound really wonderful. The choruses have an unusual tempo. I love the way the chorus picks back up again after Onew's final note in the bridge.
1 of 1 - The song has a very upbeat, cheerful sound. The sound is very 80s or 90s to me, like something you'd hear on a children's television show. However, the MV aesthetic was definitely more 60s or 70s feeling. And while the backtrack is youthful, the vocals are mature and excellent as usual. The chorus is incredibly catchy with the "1 of 1, girl," hook. I like Minho's reference to Replay in the rap. The slowed down bridge is lovely, Taemin and Jonghyun show off a soulful emotion while the backtrack takes on a more organic, guitar sound. The acapella outro is classic SHINee. The final note sung by Taemin hits my ear in a strange way, though.
Feel Good - The track builds up, then fades out in the beginning, before the vocals are introduced. Key and Onew's lines in the first verse are crisp. Then, the song builds again to the chorus. The pre-chorus is the best part of the song. The build up fizzles again for the actual chorus. The rhythm of the song is odd, even through Minho's rap. It feels at times like two, groovy songs, got stitched together. I do like Key's crooning and the sort of remixed portion of the song about 2/3 of the way through. The song is memorable, if not for the odd mismatched feeling, for the repeating lyrics, "I can make you feel good."
Don't Let Me G0 - I love the opening of the song: piano accompanied later by a beat, then Onew's silky smooth vocals. Taemin jumps in with his own beautiful, falsetto voice. The song's beat is definitely the kind to bob your head to. Minho's rap flows easily with the sophisticated yet understated backtrack. Key's rap is also really nice, suiting very well his sort of nasally tone. The song reminds me of the Jay Z and Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind" with the R&B and piano motifs. The rain sound effect with the lingering keys at the end are a great way to cap off the song.
Lipstick - The song isn't that easy to identify by the opening bars. Even once Jonghyun and Onew begin singing, I can't easily place the song. Only when the pace picks up with Minho and Key's lines do I begin to recognize the song. The chorus kicks off with the words, "I want your lipstick..." and then, of course, I know what I'm hearing. Minho's rap followed by Jonghyun and Onew's adlibs of "give it to me, baby" is a sexy way to end the song.
Don't Stop - This is one of those songs I just never jived with. The organ/synth in the backtrack is not pleasant to my ears. The song has an odd rhythm, and while the harmonies are tight as usual, there's just something grating about the melody. I find it to sound like moaning, but not in a sexy way. More in a whiny way. (This is all personal preference of course). I also hate Key's rap. The flow is strange and the lyrics "till the fast lane comes to the dreamers to the asteroids" make no sense. Minho's extended, whispered rap at the end is probably the highlight.
SHIFT - I like Jonghyun's opening, falsetto lines, followed by Key's robust, natural voice. The lyrics are problematic. "It's like a shift in you and I" is not grammatically correct. It should be "a shift in me and you." But of course, that wouldn't sound as good, so it's just a small nitpick. The high pitched vocals in the song are pretty and ethereal sounding. Onew's falsetto is impressive, too. I do feel the song ends abruptly, though.
U Need Me - This song reminds me of something from the Sherlock era. It has that strange reverbing, dubstep sound effect and a sort of retro 90s sound. Some of the instrumentals sounds like Mario sound effects. The "oh"s in the backtrack contribute to that old school 90s feeling. The low key bridge is the best part. I like the brass instrumentals around the two-minute mark. Key's rap is great, and Minho joins in more aggressively than usual. I don't much care for the choruses as the "U need me" lyrics are not particularly well enunciated. It is very catchy, though.
So Amazing - A happy sounding song with lyrics that seem to match that theme. The song is easy to sing along with, especially the chorus. I love Onew's lines "One step, one step... Two Steps, two steps." The song has the designation of being a "special track" on the album. I do not know why, but it always puts me in a good mood anyway! It's a fun way to round out the album.
After listening to the album through, I realize that I really am not super familiar with the tracklist! I've recognized each song, but they're not ingrained in my mind like SHINee's other albums. Tell Me What to Do, Beautiful Life, Don't Let Me Go, and So Amazing are my favorites from the album and are the songs I've listened to the most; that's not likely to change after this re-listen. But, as usual, SHINee would be hard pressed to release a crappy song as their vocals are so on-point. Overall, this isn't my favorite SHINee album, but I still found a new appreciation for it through this project.