Album Review: CNBLUE Show Musical Mastery With 'Can't Stop'

CNBLUE make a grand comeback with their fifth mini album Can't Stop. Can't Stop is the culmination of experiences shared by CNBLUE's Jung Yong Hwa, Lee Jong Hyun, Kang Min Hyuk, and Lee Jung Shin, with the band displaying musical maturity in comparison to the 2013 release RE:Blue. CNBLUE's leader Jung Yong Hwa is attributed as the lyricist and composer for five out of six songs on the mini album. Guitarist and vocalist Lee Jong Hyun is the lyricist and composer for Sleepless Night. In an industry filled with idol groups, CNBLUE is unique in their adherence to pure and undiluted pop rock.

In support of RE:Blue, CNBLUE embarked on the 2013 CNBLUE Blue Moon World Tour which included performances in Australia, Peru, Chile, and the United States. Tracks like Cold Love incorporate the richness of live instrumentals and vocals. While many artists find that large tours reduce their creativity, it seems like the Blue Moon World Tour sparked the group's inspiration.

 The title track, Can't Stop creates a romantic ambiance that prevails throughout the mini album. Can't Stop reflects the style of CNBLUE with Jung Yong Hwa providing entrancing vocals. The song harkens back to the First Step album, showing CNBLUE's strength in creating music that serves as the backdrop for love. Can't Stop is so upbeat that it is almost impossible not to dance while listening to the song.

Diamond Girl incorporates elements of jazz rock with woodwind instruments rounding out the quality of the song. Diamond Girl chases the emerging trend of electro-swing in Korean pop, but is still undeniably a rock song. The song is like Can't Stop, atmospherically romantic without being a ballad.

Another highlight of Can't Stop is the stirring rock ballad Cold Love. Cold Love delivers the strong points of CNBLUE as live performers in a studio song. Upon first listen, the track sounds like a live performance however it is immediate despite the arena-style power and acoustics.

CNBLUE's Lee Jonghyun contributes one of the most unique compositions on Can't Stop with Sleepless Night. As a lyricist Lee Jonghyun encapsulates the beauty and fragility of love with lyrics such as 'You came into me like the scent of flowers spreading on with the wind'. The refrain harkens to Kim Chun Su's love poem The Flower, the focus of a key line in the drama The Heirs. The sentimentality of Sleepless Night continues with Love Is..., although the heart-rending emotionality of a break-up is now the topic. Love Is... has subdued rock instrumentals throughout the song, with prominent use of violins. However, as the song reaches its crescendo, heavy guitar riffs accompany drums to bring the song to a powerful conclusion.

Can't Stop concludes with Like A Child, a song about innocent love. Like A Child provides an uptempo conclusion to the mini album. Like A Child highlights the seamless vocals of CNBLUE, whose harmonic abilities are the foundation of their success but are ever evolving and changing. Over all, CNBLUE's fifth mini album is a complex release that will appeal to fans of Korean rock, as well as K-Pop audiences.

Tags
CNBLUE
CNBLUE Can't Stop
FNC Entertainment
Jung Yong Hwa
Lee Jong Hyun
Kang Min Hyuk
Lee Jung Shin
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