BoA - Atlantis Princess

Love her or hate her, it's hard to deny that BoA has come a long way in her time in the Korean pop music industry, and it is often amusing and nostalgic to look back on her past achievements to see just how far she has come. With a great number of both Korean and Japanese albums in her name, it's not really surprising to see her making a US debut in 2009.

Today we'll take a step back in time to one of her earlier Korean works: Atlantis Princess. This album was released in 2003, and was BoA's third Korean album, following ID Peace B and No.1.

Atlantis Princess is surely a good example of BoA's earlier work. Filled with cute, upbeat songs you can dance to, as well as soothing ballads, it is an album that is a bit of a blast from the past, and is not only an example of BoA's earlier style, but also represents the earlier days of K-Pop, before So Nyuh Shi Dae and Super Junior took central stage. But despite this, it is an album that includes both great releases and some not-so-memorable additions.

The album begins with Time to Begin. Considering its namesake, it's a good song to start the album with. It's also quite upbeat and energetic, however this song didn't suck me in as much as I'd hoped when I first bought the album. When listening to this album, I often find myself skipping this song, as there are others on here that are much more memorable and simply more enjoyable to listen to.

Atlantis Princess - the album's most prolific song - is next on the list. This song is addictive. And it's your typical, young BoA. It's cute, it's catchy, it's something you can dance to using cute dance routines. It is obvious that this song is a highlight of the album. BoA's voice is clear, she sings with an energy that is passionate and happy and it truly sounds like she's having a good time!

The following song, Neomu, however takes a much different tact. It's slow and quiet. Very slow - sleepy, almost. A great ballad to listen to if you're reading a good book on a rainy day, or simply if you want to sleep. Personally, I find this song a bit boring and much less exciting than other installments of BoA's ballads throughout her career.

Milky Way was another single release for BoA from this album. Again, this song is extremely cute and catchy and BoA sounds almost child-like. The MV for Milky Way features a bleached-haired BoA dancing her way through the song with cutesy male backup dancers accompanying her in the nicely choreographed dance steps. She is extremely smiley and almost too happy, and the song is so sweet that it could be called "corny". But despite these criticisms, it's a BoA classic and something that's hard to forget for all BoA fans - young and old alike! And considering the stage she was in when it came to her career, this song helped to define BoA and her identity in the rapidly growing Korean pop music industry.

Following Milky Way is Beat of Angel, which is another somewhat catchy song, but again not something that really compares to Atlantis Princess or Milky Way. It's neither very cute, nor incredibly catchy. It's quite predictable in its tune, words and beat, and also includes snippets of English in the form of the lyrics "I'll be your angel", as well as its title.

The rest of the album continues in this same fashion - cute, upbeat songs followed by slow, sleepy ballads. BoA has definitely done better when it comes to ballads. The slower songs on this album are almost mediocre in comparison to others she has released throughout her career. They are good for putting you to sleep and are not really songs that you might listen to up loud while driving.

Although the majority of this album mostly consists of this formula - ballads and cute, upbeat songs about first loves - it ends with the song that screams "Korean pride", despite the fact that the album includes both the Korean version and the English version. It's called The Lights of Seoul. Its introduction features the sound of a screaming crowd and gives the impression of BoA singing this song, loud and clear on a big stage in front of a large, Korean audience. However, it's a little baffling why the English version of this song is included on this album. The English version is hard to tolerate, sounding incredibly corny and cheesey, and the song's focus is on Korea and its central Seoul - so why have an English version at all? Still, this song is catchy in its Korean version. The first time I heard it, I wasn't sure what to think, but I soon found myself listening to it over and over again.

Overall, this album is a great example of young BoA and her Korean career. Her Korean installments are different to her Japanese albums, but that's part of what makes them somewhat unique - the fact that she can pull off quite different sounding styles for her two different audiences. Despite its popularity when it was released - this album debuted at number one on the Korean charts and was the fifth most bought album in 2003 - BoA has done better. Although there are some memorable singles that were very popular and helped to define BoA's career today, the other songs on this album leave something to be desired.