Hello
안녕하세요
(Annyeonghaseyo)
こんにちは
(Konnichiwa)
你好
(Ni Hao)
It's nearly been 4 years since I last posted about Taemin's solo releases, so I'm back and sharing with you his 2nd full length album Move.
On the 28th of September 2017, SM Entertainment announced that Taemin would releasing his 2nd full length album, several days later on the 9th of October 2017, Move Teaser Clip #1 released.
Owned by SM Entertainment
On the 10th of October 2017, the Move Teaser Clip #2 was released.
Owned by SM Entertainment
On the 11th of October 2017, the Move Teaser Clip #3 was released.
Owned by SM Entertainment
On the 12th of October 2017, the Move Teaser Clip #4 released.
Owned by SM Entertainment
On the 16th of October 2017, the Move #1 M/V was released, along with the Move #2 Performance Video (Solo Ver.) and the Move #3 Performance Video (Duo Ver.), also on the 16th of October 2017, Taemin's 2nd full length album Move was released physically and digitally.
Owned by SM Entertainment
Solo Ver
Owned by SM Entertainment
Duo Ver.
Owned by SM Entertainment
On the 24th of October 2017, the Move dance practice video was released.
Owned by SM Entertainment
Originally the title track for the album was supposed to be the b-side track "Love", which SM had chosen, but Taemin decided against the song, since he did not think it would allow him to show his true identity. He aimed to break gender stereotypes and the perceived limits of K-pop's artistry and worked with Japanese choreographer Koharu Sugawara and a team of female dancers to create the choreography for the song, with the intention to use Taemin's soft frame as a starting point to counter the gender norms; stating: "my aim was to find middle ground, mixing both masculine and feminine movements into the choreography together. My body shape is like that of a dancer's, it's not too masculine or overly muscular and I wanted to take advantage of that. I thought I could show the soft lines like the dance movements of a ballet dancer by adding subtly to my choreography. I wanted to break the idea of what male performers are supposed to show, what performances girl groups are supposed to show. I really wanted to break those labels, showing that dance is a form of art."
A couple of months later the album was re-released as a repackaged album.
Move peaked at No.2 on the Gaon Albums Chart, No.11 on the Oricon Albums Chart and No.3 on the Billboard World Albums Chart.
Gaon Sales:
115,286+
Oricon Sales:
15,813+
Giving the album a total of 131,099+ sales.
*YouTube views correct at time of writing post*
The M/V for Move has gained many views with Move #1 M/V gaining 40,238,773 million views, Move #2 Performance video gaining 3,312,625 million views and the Move #3 Performance Video gaining 3,585,546, giving the M/V a combined view count of 47,136,944 million.
The album was released in 2 versions; Wild and Mood. Both versions are set out as hardback book style cases, with both versions coming with the Cd, photo book, a letter to fans postcard and a random photo card.
Track List:
Move
Love
Crazy 4 U
Heart Stop (feat, Seulgi of Red Velvet)
Rise (이카루스)
Thirsty
미로 (Stone Heart)
Back To You
*Bonus Track* Flame of Love (Korean Ver.)
Let me start off by saying that I have the Wild version and the album is bright red but because I had mine sitting on my Cd player in the living room window, the sunlight made the colour fade, soon as I noticed this, it was removed and now safely out of the sunlight. I personally feel like it was only last year that Move was released, the M/V really made an impression on me. I loved that it was a side of Taemin that we hadn't seen yet, without even knowing it at the time my first thoughts was how it broke boundaries and allowed him to show off a more feminine side. I personally think this will be one of Taemin's albums that will be remembered for it's bravery in breaking the norms of K-pop as well as being one of his most inspirational releases. I love the photo book for this version, I think it shows what Taemin was aiming for that, music, choreography as well as the human body is a form of art.
I still love listening to Move, it reminds me how amazingly talented Taemin is as a soloist and how he's unafraid to try something new and try to change how soloists and groups are seen based on their gender. I love how his voice blends with the melody, he sounds so sexy and sultry, which works really well with this track. Whenever I listen to this song, I always think it proves that men don't have to be constantly masculine, they can also show of their feminine side.
I can understand why SM wanted Love to be the title track because it really helps to showcase his voice, but I think they forgot Taemin isn't all about his voice, he's a performer. I can imagine that the choreography would be really elegant for this song, but I'd personally would prefer to see him sing this song without, and show of how elegant and powerful his vocals are on their own. I think this track really shows the beauty within his voice, I've always been a fan of his voice and whenever I hear him sing in slower songs it takes me back to reading about how he really struggled at first when he was training.
When I first heard 미로 (Stone Heart), I was really surprised as I was expecting it to be a ballad, but it's actually more upbeat. I love how the background vocals blend with Taemin's they really compliment his. I love the melody and arrangement of the song, and I bet it's an amazing and powerful song to hear and see live.
안녕
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye
I still love listening to Move, it reminds me how amazingly talented Taemin is as a soloist and how he's unafraid to try something new and try to change how soloists and groups are seen based on their gender. I love how his voice blends with the melody, he sounds so sexy and sultry, which works really well with this track. Whenever I listen to this song, I always think it proves that men don't have to be constantly masculine, they can also show of their feminine side.
Move
I can understand why SM wanted Love to be the title track because it really helps to showcase his voice, but I think they forgot Taemin isn't all about his voice, he's a performer. I can imagine that the choreography would be really elegant for this song, but I'd personally would prefer to see him sing this song without, and show of how elegant and powerful his vocals are on their own. I think this track really shows the beauty within his voice, I've always been a fan of his voice and whenever I hear him sing in slower songs it takes me back to reading about how he really struggled at first when he was training.
Love
I think Crazy 4 U is another track that really showcases Taemin's vocals and I love how the beat drops at the chorus, it's a song that screams Taemin and takes me back to his solo debut.
Crazy 4 U
I absolutely love Heart Stop, I fell in love with this song on my first listen, I love how well Taemin's and Seulgi's voices sound together, I love the beat of the music. I can honestly say this is one of my favourite tracks off the album. I hope there will be more collaborations between the two of them in the future.
Heart Stop (feat, Seulgi of Red Velvet)
Rise (이카루스) is another of my favourite tracks on the album, I absolutely love the melody and I can hear and feel the emotion in Taemin's voice. I'm not normally a big fan of ballads, but this is just perfection to me, it never fails to bring a few tears to my eyes.
Rise (이카루스)
Now personally for me, we're back to what Taemin does best with Thirsty, I honestly think they maybe something slightly wrong with you if you don't come away from listening to this song feeling slightly thirsty. I think there should be a picture of Taemin under the definition of Thirsty, because with everything he does you're left with the feeling of wanting more, this track made me completely forget he's the baby of SHINee.
Thirsty
When I first heard 미로 (Stone Heart), I was really surprised as I was expecting it to be a ballad, but it's actually more upbeat. I love how the background vocals blend with Taemin's they really compliment his. I love the melody and arrangement of the song, and I bet it's an amazing and powerful song to hear and see live.
미로 (Stone Heart)
I feel like I've heard Back To You before, it's such a familiar sounding song, I love how simple the melody is. I personally don't think I've ever heard Taemin's voice sound as beautiful as it is in this song. This song from start to finish is just perfection an all forms.
Back To You
I remember when I first heard the Japanese version, I felt I was being transported to another world, the Korean version does exactly the same thing. It makes me think of the fantasy genre as well as hearing the oriental side to the song, it makes me think that this would fit perfectly with a ballet, it also has the sounds of a lullaby, that even the lyrics wouldn't suggest it makes the track rather calming, it's such a beautiful song worthy of Taemin.
*Bonus Track* Flame of Love (Korean Ver.)
I honestly think this album will stand the test of time and will age extremely well, each track is amazing and shows how talented Taemin is, personally some songs stand out more than others, but that's just my personal preference. This year marks my 6th anniversary being a SHAWOL and I'm so excited that I can finally say that I will get to see Taemin live next month in London with SuperM.
Do you have a favourite track from the album?
Let me know in the comments below.
See you soon!
(Annyeong)
さようなら
(Sayonara)
再见
(ZaiJian)
Bye
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