Barely three months after their debut, SM Entertainment's new boy band received their first award as Hot New Star at Mnet 20's Choice, which only confirmed their popularity. On August 28, 2008 their first full-length album, The SHINee World, was released and with that they proved that they're no flash in the pan.
As you could probably already guess by their promotional singles, the album places an emphasis on R'n'B, although the first track, The SHINee World (Doo Bop), is a real hip hop/urban influenced track. It has a distinctive, hard beat with distorted sounds in the background that are also at the forefront of the track over the strong vocals of the five young singers. One could almost compare it to a Big Bang song, as their band name SHINee is mentioned quite often, and in the middle the infamous words "Nunan neomu yeppeo" are suddenly heard. After a slower section, a short rap part is featured at the end and each member is introduced before the track fades away to its own beat.
This fast intro is followed by the slower Sarangui Gil (Love's Way). With this mid-tempo ballad, SHINee demonstrate a more mellow vocal style. The verses are soft yet powerful and the harmonisation in the chorus is perfect. The obligatory rap part follows near the end and adds some diversity to the melody. Accompanied by smooth chimes, the song fades out before we go on to the next upbeat track.
Sanso Kateun Neo (Love like Oxygen) was released as digital single shortly before the album release and served as a herald for it. The beat sounds easy and light-hearted, while Jonghyun starts singing. The song builds up to the chorus in a relaxed yet vigorous way, which doesn't sound overdone and fits with the verses. Sanso Kateun Neo (Love Like Oxygen) is refreshingly different from what you often hear in the pop scene and it's a pity that it's the shortest track on The SHINee World, being only 3 minutes long.
Sadly, after this feel-good song comes a small disappointment. Neo Animyeon Andoeneun Geol (ROMANTIC) is probably one of the songs you take to heart until you listen to it repeatedly. Starting with typical R'n'B guitar sounds and a short rap intro, the song turns out to be a drabbling ballad up until the chorus, when it builds up some atmosphere. But only at the end of the song, where the melody sounds stagnant and the vocals change a bit, is a small climax reached. It ends as poorly as it started, while the five boys sing their last verses.
The following track gets off to a better start. Geunyeoka Heeojyeottda (One for Me) has a remarkable yet calm beat that it is easy to nod your head along to. The rhythm changes fludily between slow and lively passages, and whil it's no world-shaking song it is enjoyable all the same.
Hwajangeul Hago (Graze) goes along with the theme of the previous song. The phrase, "You gave me a heartbreak" introduces this mid-tempo song and it turns out to be another similar sounding track, which aren't really compensated by the nice vocals. Majimak Seonmul (Last Gift) (In my room-Prelude) continues to ballad run. The song starts with a slow piano part and evolves into a soulful, calm ballad. Fitting the slightly desperate tone of the melody is the English phrase in the chorus, "I don't know why I can't move on". Near the end, the vocals grow in intensity before the piano fades away.
Another bright and upbeat song is Nae Gyeoteman Isseo (Best Place). Due to the odd timing of the beat, the track stands out from the others on the album. It does sound like something you could find on one of the western charts, which definitely isn't meant in a bad way. It's a sweet, lively R'n'B track that's fun to listen to.
Hyeya (Y Si Fuera Ella): with this title we can already imagine the direction this song is going to take. It's a remake of the hit Y Si Fuera Ella by the Spanish singer Alejandro Sanz. Sentimental, almost whispering, Jonghyun aspirates the lyrics, which are accompanied by a guitar, into the listeners ear. As the main vocalist of the group, 18-year-old Jonghyun delivered a respectable song here that they should be proud of.
Next is Nuneur Gamabomyeon (Four Seasons), an electro inspired R'n'B number. As the final new song on the album, it is fresh and different with a perfect balance between rap and singing that makes it an enjoyable track.
It is only fitting that since the prelude of In My Room is on this album, In My Room (Unplugged Remix) is as well. It was already featured on their debut mini-album and was unfortunately one of the weaker tracks. It's a simple ballad without a big climax but it lets the five's vocals shine. As an unplugged track, the song has a calm and more soulful feeling compared to the original due to there being fewer background sounds. This doesn't help it much though, as it is 'just' a ballad.
Last, but not least, is the hit that made them one of the most successful newcomers this year, Nunan Neomu Yeppeo. The simple R'n'B melody that never fails to get stuck in your head time and time again is placed perfectly at the end of the album, making you want to relisten to the entire album from the start again.
With this album SHINee had a great debut, where you can only criticize the number of tracks, especially the number of new songs. The five are at the start of their career and that still is noticeable in some songs, but this album lets us hope for bigger things and makes us hope that they'll also grow with time.
