Description:
The year is '99, and the saga of CLEO begins here. This debut definitely aims for the old-school charm, cheery, bright and somewhat daft. The production of the music is sterile and sharp while the girls are given generous reverb. Musically it's fairly minimalist by K-pop standards, allowing for a fair amount of breathing space and dynamics.
Honestly, it almost feels like a "bedroom K-pop" deal with many of these songs stuck with real chintzy beats, like preset shit. At least half of the songs don't even feel finished; they just fade out after three and a half minutes.
Vocally they give it their all with vibrant e
The year is '99, and the saga of CLEO begins here. This debut definitely aims for the old-school charm, cheery, bright and somewhat daft. The production of the music is sterile and sharp while the girls are given generous reverb. Musically it's fairly minimalist by K-pop standards, allowing for a fair amount of breathing space and dynamics.
Honestly, it almost feels like a "bedroom K-pop" deal with many of these songs stuck with real chintzy beats, like preset shit. At least half of the songs don't even feel finished; they just fade out after three and a half minutes.
Vocally they give it their all with vibrant enthusiasm substituting for vibrato skills, hence the cheery vibe. They work in context with the pop numbers, but morph the ballads into awkwardly humorous takes.
But while this album does resonate as a lower budget recording, I can't deny a couple of songs, particularly the most well-known track "Good Time". A sunny and cute bop. The second track with the "yeah yeah yeahs" is fun too, and the intro sounds like someone had a thing for Radiohead's "No Surprises" without ripping it off.
Despite the humble origins, CLEO did pretty well in hopping onto the 1st wave bandwagon while the scene was hot, scoring a hit and selling units. Too amateurish for my taste and about half of the tracks are underproduced and/or pretty dull, but it does have its moments.
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Release date: 3 March 1999
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