One year after the release of their Japanese debut album Heart Mind and Soul and a phenomenal first live tour through Japan, Tohoshinki (DBSK) return with the second album Five in the Black. As part of the promotion for this album, DBSK started their 2nd Japan Live Tour - Five in the Black (available on DVD as well) in May 2007 that took them to 10 cities in Japan. During all those performances people had the chance to listen to the new songs live. Five in the Black is a nice mixture of previously released singles but also contains new songs. All in all it's definitely more mature than the previous one and shows how their voices and Japanese have become better.
With a few guitar chords the listener is immediately pushed into this great album and the first song ZION. Junsu starts off with a never before heard raspy voice and gives this song a somewhat mysterious and jazzy feeling. He sings "everybody come with me" and yes, this song is a good one to start the album, hooking the listener who wants to go with the five members of DBSK and listen to the rest of the songs.
Sky was DBSK's summer song in 2006. A catchy light hearted track, that soon becomes an earworm and even in the coldest winter day you can feel the hot summer through it. But that bouncy feeling has no chance to remain, as the velocity is calmed down with the next song. Fans say, that Begin is one of, or possibly the most, touching and sentimental ballad by DBSK. Yoochun's deep vocals start the song accompanied by soft piano and it builds up slowly until the chorus, where Jaejoong takes his role as main vocalist with a perfect harmonization. With more than five and a half minutes it's the longest and most expressive track on the album.
To balance it out, Begin is followed by Choosey Lover, an upbeat dance track that had also been previously released as single. It easily goes into the listeners ear, this is helped by the few English phrases which make it easy to go with the flow of the song.
DEAD END is the second new song on Five In The Black. As the previous song, it's more of a dance song but with the fast piano at the beginning and the heavy electric guitar, darker than Choosey Lover, and has a slightly rock feeling that fits the lyrics about fighting for someone you love pretty well.
Quickly the next upbeat track follows and High Time lights up the mood. Again the English words in the chorus are what make this song so catchy but also the easy going melody and the smooth vocals. As this song had been the b-side to the Sky single aswell, High Time has this summer feeling to it and makes the listener want to dance along.
At the half way point of the album another sweet ballad appears. PROUD. Compared to Begin it doesn't have this bitter-sweet and sad taste, it's sweeter and like a declaration of love. Fans are reminded of the live DVD while listening to this song, as it was the encore song during their live tour. DBSK dedicated the performance of PROUD to their fans and even the group themselves were moved to tears while singing it. So maybe this is the reason why this song has a special relevancy.
Yakusoku is a bit faster that the one before and the title means 'Promise'. As one of those rare occasions, Yunho starts off after a really short piano intro. Yakusoku is about wanting to be with the person you like and the light mood and soft vocals embosom the listener with a warm and cosy sentiment, just as if the promise they're singing about is directed to the listener personally.
Slowly Five in the Black takes up on velocity and Miss You appears. From soft chimes this song overflows into an upbeat dance melody. The English parts in the bridge that make Miss You an earworm are once again remarkable. Though, even it has this upbeat rhythm the melancholic feeling of the lyrics are carried well.
O - Sei Han Go, the Japanese version of DBSK's title song from their 3rd Korean album, follows quickly. As one of their more aggressive and powerful songs it's easy to understand, even you don't know the lyrics, that it's more serious and critical then any of the previous songs on this album. Still it never gets boring to listen to this song as the rhythm changes constantly and the short instrumental insertions combined with the five strong voices of the five members transport the message of O - Sei Han Go perfectly.
Next is another Japanese remake of one of their songs from their 3rd Korean album, I'll be there. Initiated by nice strings it's a slow song with a strong chorus that transmits the feeling of hope just as expected by the title. Remarkable in this song, but also on the whole album, is that DBSK are finally able to transmit emotions with their songs, even though they're sung in a foreign language, so I'll be there in Japanese doesn't have a reason to hide behind it's original version.
Now we're getting near to the end of the album and, to lighten up the mood again, Step by Step comes up. Just as most of their Japanese songs the lyrics are easy to sing along. A bouncy song with a sweet chorus that is nice to listen to on sunny days as well as rainy one's to brighten it up. The sweet melody is broken by a small rap part where Yoochun actually raps in Japanese and Yunho in English, which proves that they've practised this languages a lot to become better.
Just when you think this album has ended DBSK say Hello Again. Jaejoong starts off accompanied by guitars and even if it seems like it's going to be just another ballad, they prove us different and sing a sweet and light chorus. Hello Again, and this way also the whole album ends with DBSK not singing but humming the chorus again, giving the song a childish and innocent feeling.
For people who don't know DBSK it's a good album to get to know them. They've grown a lot since Heart Mind and Soul and with Five in the Black they show their mutability and every member gets to prove their strengths. As a personal favourite, I think this album is one of the best pop albums of 2007 and I recommend it to everyone who's a fan of male pop music and who doesn't have a problem with influences of jazz, hip hop, R'n'B and rock.
Now in 2008, their new album T is going to be released and everyone is looking forward to see how DBSK are going to surprise us this time.
