Track Listing

1. BUMP BUMP! feat. VERBAL (m-flo)
2. IZM feat. VERBAL (m-flo)
3. BUMP BUMP! feat. VERBAL (m-flo) Instrumental
4. IZM feat. VERBAL (m-flo) Instrumental

1. BUMP BUMP! feat. VERBAL (m-flo)

Another collaboration with VERBAL?  You know I’m not the biggest fan for him and I still not too fond of his appearance in this song.  I’ll admit that BoA is continuing to get better with her A-sides since her floptastic “Vivid” single.  I enjoy the saxes and the dance style here and it mixes together very well.  BoA isn’t showing as much attitude like she was in “Eien”, but it’s passable.  It might be one of BoA’s better releases as of recent IMO.

2. IZM feat. VERBAL (m-flo)

Ugh, I do not want VERBAL under stupid auto-tune.  IZM feels like an emptier version of BUMP BUMP! since they have sax parts and similar flow.  IZM is slower though and showcases BoA’s vocals quite a bit more.  I’m thinking that this song was showing BoA in a more sexier light and it kind of works because the music is pretty chill and I liked hearing BoA singing. 

I’m happy BoA finally released something in Japan because both her American album and the “Eien” single was starting to get overplayed for me.  While BoA likes the R&B genre, I don’t think she’s ever had this good of a single in quite a while.  I still dislike VERBAL being part of the song because he was actually the worst thing idea, but whatever.  This single is good!

Track Listing

1. I Did It For Love (Radio Edit)
2. I Did It For Love (King Britt Main Mix Vox Up)
3. I Did It For Love (King Britt Main Mix)
4. I Did It For Love (King Britt Instrumental)
5. I Did It For Love (King Britt Radio Mix)
6. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Main Mix)
7. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Dub Mix)
8. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Instrumental)
9. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Acapella)
10. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Radio Edit)

1. I Did It For Love (Radio Edit)

Honestly, there’s no difference between the single and album version of this track, so I’ll review it like it was before the album.  Compared to her last American single “Eat You Up”, this was a more club-like tune rather than an dance R&B track.  Now Sean Garrett is also featured in the song and at some points you can’t really tell where he comes in because his voice rides on BoA’s a little bit and they sound a little similar, but that’s until he uses his deep tone where you pick-up that it’s him.  BoA’s vocals are actually under auto-tune pretty heavily which does sound strange.  Still the song is even more catchier than her last…the chorus = oh god..Great song.

2. I Did It For Love (King Britt Main Mix Vox Up)

Now we got two different remixes (but tons of variations of it).  First up is the Vox Up version which I’m not sure what that exactly means totally, but the beat is more lighter and a bit more smoother actually which does give the song a bit more depth.  It’s kind of pretty cool, but the song is amazingly repetitive because of the damn chorus.  I’m also noticing that the song has slowed down a bit, I’m guessing…the chorus oddly doesn’t fit this remix either….Lazy attempt if you ask me.

3. I Did It For Love (King Britt Main Mix)

Clearly, I’m confused because this is just like the track before….same sounds, same length….Is there really anything more I should say that I haven’t said already god!

5. I Did It For Love (King Britt Radio Mix)

Luckily, after the instrumental, we get the radio mix which is basically the main mix basically cut short.  It still is pretty chill and the chorus is still quite strange in the arrangement, but at least it isn’t as horribly repetitive as the longer version. 

6. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Main Mix)

Now the other remix on this single, takes a bit more of an edgier ride which is quite the difference between the two.  Like most remixes are, there’s a long start-up to the song, but I can actually take this one.  There’s a little bit of a latin-flavor being pulled along the song, but just like remixes as well, it’s too long for me…considering it is over 7 minutes.  Another sad thing is that BoA is covered way too much by the music and that’s another concern.  So much for that.

7. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Dub Mix)

Ehhhh?  Cut the main vocal parts out of the song and you get this track which is surprisingly a minute shorter….It’s still the same track, just more attention to the repetitiveness of the chorus….HOW LAME.  Not amazing if you ask me.

9. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Acapella)

Being the WTF moment off this single, There’s an acapella version of IDIFL love here?  Well, you are gonna need a lot of patience because the song has the same time length as the original which is going to bore and it doesn’t help that there’s over a minute of silence which doesn’t make sense.  It’s pretty funny how there’s no music and the song sound like it’s skipping everywhere it’s just lulztastic!  You’ll have to skip to the 3rd minute to actually hear the song going on…I don’t but giving an electronic song an acapella version is just a poor idea on paper.

10. I Did It For Love (Dj Escape & Johnny Vicious Radio Edit)

The final track is of course a more friendly version of this remix and I guess it does it’s job right despite the music covering up BoA and Sean.  I kind of like the xylophone beat which makes it latin in the first place, but it’s also a little stale since it doesn’t make the arrangement special or anything. 

BoA’s 2nd single for the “BoA” era was alright, but c’mon the original just tops the remixes in one fall swoop.  I think the remixes were OK, typical American remixes though.  The acapella track was just something strange especially since it’s based from the remix.  Iono, this single was just different and I think I like the remixes here more than the ones on “Eat You Up”

Track Listing

1. I Did It For Love (feat. Sean Garrett)
2. Energetic
3. Did Ya
4. Look Who’s Talking
5. Eat You Up
6. Obsessed
7. Touched
8. Scream
9. Girls On Top
10. Dress Off
11. Hypnotic Dancefloor

1. I Did It For Love (feat. Sean Garrett)

I have to say, to begin this album with one of the catchiest songs she’s put out is a great way to kick things off.  Sean Garrett is obviously part of the song singing a few lines and some low passages while BoA is under vocoder which is a pretty cool idea and it worked.  Now I don’t really like this version.  Someone made a pretty good version of it where the chorus wasn’t so much repetitive and they went through the verses more than the chorus.  Talking bout the chorus, it’s so freakin catchy though.  Great song!

2. Energetic

BoA once again is under a little bit of vocoder and a guy is actually singing before her.  Once BoA pops in I’m very surprised at the attitude she’s giving off, but the song kind of is top-heavy of that guy.  He has more lines than she does and seriously, it’s her song stupid!  Like the last song though, there’s something really catchy bout it.  Hmmmm…

3. Did Ya

Oh this was strange.  Did Ya has a pretty cool acoustically driven dance beat.  There’s a pretty cool heavy clapping beat and the whole cute part of the song comes up after the chorus.  It’s so off the wall.  BoA’s vocals are definitly showing the accent. but it kind of comes and goes.  It’s a pretty cool track and it’s fast ^_^

4. Look Who’s Talking

It was originally going to be the title track, but BoA changed it to be a self-titled debut name.  It’s also the second song that BoA performed accordingly.  LWT has a pretty sweet opening and then you look at who wrote it and it’s Britney Spears and it really shows itself off.  BoA kind of is being arrogant in the song and hell, she’s allowed to.  Damn right the song is about her.  I still love the track to death since the live performance.

5. Eat You Up

Oh was this the bomb.  Actually on the album, Eat You Up is one of the weakest songs and it’s due to the fact that this song is so mechanical and BoA accent is really apparant here.  The bigger issue was the 3 different PV’s it had.  One was really bad, one was pretty good and one was in the middle.  Honestly, I loved the Korean because it showed off a pretty cool side BoA so this was the obvious choice.  I still like the song nonetheless, because it’s hot and has some kinky lyrics xD

6. Obsessed

I really loved Obsessed right from the start.  It’s got a pretty cool beat and guitar riff (even though it’s covered by the various synth).  Her voice sounds a lot better and more free.  BoA is sometimes put through auto-tune so it’s not surprising, but it’s definitly one of her strongest tracks on the album.

7. Touched

However, things get bad in this track.  The orgel, police siren whoop and heavy urban beat was pretty disturbing.  I think someone on one of my forums said about the preview of the song that BoA really sounds like Ciara and I agree, the chorus really made her sound like her.  The verses was her definitly but the bridge and chorus was like…WTF!  I think it’s the worst off the album, but it’s not terrible.

8. Scream

Scream is actually a cover of a B-side from German girl group, Monrose.  Now of course I haven’t heard the original, but this is got a dark dance sound going for it and it’s quite mesmerizing.  I love the energetic performance BoA gave off and it’s definitly a sweet song that should be loved for sure.

9. Girls On Top

Hey, I know this song!!!!  Girls On Top was the title track off her last Korean album of the same name and to see this track is good and bad at the same time.  It’s good because BoA’s good with singing English versions of her tracks like “VALENTI”.  She doesn’t disappoint me.  Now the bad part is that she could’ve chosen a better track to have Englishfied like “Bad Drive, AGGRESSIVE, MOTO”….I mean seriously even “My name” would’ve be an excellent choice.  I hope she has another next album.  The rapper sounded familiar too…I wonder…

10. Dress Off

Dress Off starts with some aggressive low synths and such, but this song wasn’t too memorable.  I do like that BoA went really naughty, but this song was just unappealing to me and very repetitive, even moreso than “I Did It For Love”.  Auto-tune doesn’t really save this song much either.  Ok, this was the worst song off the album.

11. Hypnotic Dancefloor

Hypnotic Dancefloor ends the album off with a pretty freaky bang.  The whole ~hypnotic~ call definitly reminded me of m.o.v.e’s “HYPNOTIZER”, related maybe?  Anyway, I’m loving the whole beat and BoA’s sexed up lyrics.  This was such a great way finish things up for sure!

Tracks Recommended

•  I Did It For Love (feat. Sean Garrett
• Look Who’s Talking
• Hypnotic Dancefloor
• Scream
• Eat You Up

Hikki vs. BoA…Well BoA definitly won the better album.  Though Hikki’s had ballads and a mix.  BoA’s was more aggressive and featured no slow songs at all which was a bummer, but she actually had the catchier songs.  I initially thought this was going to be bland, but not to the extent of Hikki’s but I was pleasantly surprised at how much went into the album, especially is LWT was written by Britney.  Definitly a cool album to begin her American career and I hope she gets really good at this like this album was

Track Listing

1. Eien
2. UNIVERSE feat. Crystal Kay & VERBAL (m-flo)
3. Believe In LOVE (acoustic version)
4. BEST HIT MEGA BLEND (Limited Only)
5. Eien (Instrumental)
6. UNIVERSE (Instrumental)

1. Eien

After that poor excuse that is “Vivid” and taking a small hiatus to begin her American career, she finallys comes back with a strong R&B track which features an awesome beat and great vocals from BoA.  It has one of those token happy feelings written throughout, but the vocals aren’t so much…hmm paradox?  I think the only thing that bothered me was those ~Yeah~ and ~Heeey~ from the odd guys voice….So bad….Still, a much better offering from BoA.

2. UNIVERSE feat. Crystal Kay & VERBAL (m-flo)

Not a lot of people were hyped enough to see Kuri and BoA get together for a song.  We begin with a rap from VERBAL that leads into BoA’s part where she’s sounds great with the mysterious beats and sounds.  Kuri too sounds just amazing if not better than BoA during some parts.  I mean VERBAL was right for the track despite it’s mainly the two gals getting by, but he held his own.  It’s definitly a hot track.  Awesome.

3. Believe In LOVE (acoustic version)

Yes, she did collaborate with ravex for this track minus the acoustic sound and was a pretty cool dance track, but what they did hear was blasphemy.  It’s not remotely interesting at all.  I’ll give the fact that she sounds nice singing along with the guitar, but seriously, why did you have to ditch the dance track, it was so hot! 

4. BEST HIT MEGA BLEND

• Sweet Impact
• Dakishimeru
• Winter Love
• Eien
• LOVE LETTER
• Nanairo no Ashita ~brand new beat~
• DO THE MOTION

You’d think with the amount of tracks on this track, it’d be Aira long right?  Nope not even surpassing 5 minutes this mega-mix has very short passing of songs mostly choruses of all the tracks actually.  We begin with some synths and some cut n’ paste moments.  Sweet Impact is the first of the songs and I actually liked what they did to make it more lively and it seemed a bit faster as well.  ~falling wit you baby~ is repeated before Dakishimeru comes roaring in.  The chorus is still as loud as ever, but giving a subdued big band taste did make it seem cooler than it was before!  Then things start to calm down for Winter Love which just seems out of place here IMO.  I’ll be honest, I didn’t figure this out the first time through, since it never really caught on me like the rest of the tracks did.  It’s got an R&B sound as well which is cool, but I like the original.  Eien is next and honestly, it doesn’t sound too different from the main which is alright.  The ~bye bye~ leads into Love Letter which is another strange moment, but needed as it become sped up as well.  I think Love Letter has the shortest air time while Eien had the longest, but that’s cool with me.  I was afraid at how Nanairo no Ashita would end up as because everyone knows that this track is very un-BoA like, but hearing this kind of chiller version and less pop like was a nice treat. Even the after chorus is filtered.  I love how latin-sounding DO THE MOTION plays in and even though it’s shortlived it’s one of my favorites covered and then ending out the song is that ~bye bye~ except from Eien.  It’s good for being real short.  That’s all I’ll say.

This triple A-side was a much better single to deal with than “Vivid”.  None of the songs truly sounded like something else and even though the new version of Believe In LOVE was that disappointing, the other two were just WOW.  Eien being so urban and the trio collaboration was sweeet.  For the first time though, a megamix appears on something of BoA’s and even though the length of the songs were too short, I think they did its purpose.  Good single overall

Track Listing

1. Kissing you
2. Sparkling
3. Joyful Smile
4. Kissing you (instrumental)
5. Sparkling (instrumental)
6. Joyful Smile (instrumental)

1. Kissing you

Kissing you, definitly runs through my mind as a slower “Nanairo no Ashita ~brand new beat~” .  I mean it’s definitly pop, but a little slower than said song.  I was overall unimpressed by this track after her album as this song just seemed to drag on.  It was worse that c’mon it sounded like her past stuff.  Very weak.

2. Sparkling

Sparkling though should’ve been the main track.  It sounds even more like “Nanaito no Ashita”.  Though, I really like the use of the synths and how BoA speaks in English mostly in the chorus and everything else on it.  She also gave a pretty good vocal performance as well, bein all happy and giddy. 

3. Joyful Smile

I was surprised by this track.  They seemed to mesh the two previous tracks to get this one.  I mean the major use of synths and clapping beats and then on the bad side of things, it’s quite uneventful and a little bland for me.  I do like how they incorporated the acoustics, but it seems to be drowned out by the rest of the music and BoA. 

BoA’s first single for the era, was pretty bad IMO.  I mean Sparkling is a cool track, but it was surrounded by the boring pop track, Kissing you and as equal, Joyful Smile.  I hope that Sparkling is on the album and since she’s focusing on her American debut we’re left with this ugh…single.

Track Listing

1. AGGRESSIVE
2. Sweet Impact
3. My Way, Your Way feat. WISE
4. be with you.
5. LOSE YOUR MIND feat. Yutaka Furukawa from DOPING PANDA
6. Girl In The Mirror
7. Happy Birthday
8. Diamond Heart
9. LOVE LETTER
10. BRAVE
11. Gap ni Yarareta!
12. Style
13. Smile again
14. Beautiful Flowers
15. Best Friend
16. Hey Boy, Hey Girl feat. BoA/SEAMO (Bonus Track CD+2DVD Limited Edition)

1. AGGRESSIVE

Knowing that this era has been kind of bad, AGGRESSIVE throws those thoughts away in a flash when I start the album up.  Gotta love the synth opening in this string heavy pop track.  BoA oozes sexy in the song and it made the song so much better.  The synth actually reappears again and it’s like the best part of the song.  Definitly a great album opener.

2. Sweet Impact

I’m still wishing that “Bad Drive” replaced this otherwise bland pop track.  I mean it’s like a bunch of her other danceable tracks but worse.  There’s some things that I do like which is the bridge of the track where some synths appear pretty quickly making arpeggios and the like.  Luckily, it isn’t the worst A-side.

3. My Way, Your Way feat. WISE

Kind of disappointing that this song is another one of those bland tracks.  Once again, I’m feeling that there’s so many other tracks like this and that are better as well.  WISE bothers me in this song as well because he’s just not interesting to listen to.  I guess it’s an OK R&B track, but it’s definitly not the best effort put here.

4. be with you.

Last single pops up next and it’s even worse than “Sweet Impact”.  Like what I said in the review, this is one boring ballad and it doesn’t help that BoA has a bajillion of these.  I’m not feeling BoA when she’s holding her notes for a longer time because it just sounds lame.  I would’ve rather had “precious” replace this.

5. LOSE YOUR MIND feat. Futaka Furukawa from DOPING PANDA

Finally comes my favorite A-side of the era and it’s still one of the best of the album.  BoA shows off some major attitude going through the song and you gotta love the strange lyrics this song has to offer.  The added brass in the music also added to the freakiness of it all and then the solo from Yutaka.  You have to give props to this man, he’s surely a great guitarist and it’s awesome. 

6. Girl In The Mirror

Continuing with this attitude, Girl In The Mirror is so much more aggressive (no pun intended) and the whole chaotic atmosphere was what caught me in.  Is BoA being quite loud and profound with the clapping beat and such.  I really love the bridge where she actually goes melodic.  The only thing I didn’t find to good was BoA doing the yelling I mean once again she does that a lot!

7. Happy Birthday

As cheesy this title is, it’s just as cheesy a song as well.  I mean it’s your fare of happy pop stuff and even though the plucked strings and synths do make it stand out, It’s just like a lot of the “LOVE LETTER” stuff.  Let’s just say it’s alright at the moment since it’s kind of cute.

8. Diamond Heart

My favorite from the “LOVE LETTER” single.  It’s another happy pop track, but with the quicker lyrics through the verses and the nice chorus and after-chrous.  I can’t help but love it.  I’m not usually into BoA’s poppier tracks but this a real good one from her. 

9. LOVE LETTER

I guess LOVE LETTER should come after with its strong presence and it’s another strong A-side.  Combining strings and the wobbly synths create a smooth song.  I still think winter track for some reason, I have no idea either.  BoA gave a nice performance and her ad-libbing near the end is to die for.

10. BRAVE

Our next new track, does rub me the wrong way.  It’s not as forward as “LOSE YOUR MIND” and it seems that there’s something missing to it.  The music could be blamed because it sounds kind of messy and doesn’t equate with BoA’s vocals.  The guitar solo was kind of cool but it just doesn’t save the song.

11. Gap ni Yarareta!

 Strange title for a strange song.  It starts off like it’s speeding the tempo up frantically and then turns into this pop track.  I’m kind of finding myself liking this track for its interesting R&B take and it reminds me of “Diamond Heart” and so it’s kind of cool.  Weird way to end a song like that though.

12. Style

Gosh, another pop tune.  The way the music and how BoA is singing along is just wild and cool.  The downside comes as the music and BoA singing can seem too wild.  I know it’s kind of weird, but how the rhythm and how she sings collide it’s cool but other times it just seems out of place and hard to follow.  It’s a pretty interesting listen and the later half is way better. 

13. Smile again

I was surprised to see this on the album.  Also a ballad, I actually loved the power of her voice.  This would’ve been a better A-side than “be with you.” because of how soothing and cute she is.  BoA’s lower register does kind of sound weak, but when she gets into the power notes it totally blows my mind. 

14. Beautiful Flowers

I actually quite liked this song after a few more listens because of the synth beat and the strings opening is still my favorite part of the song.  The use of the synths sounds so new to her and with the solo, I was like wow, this is something I would’ve never see happen.  I still think it’s my least favorite from the “LOVE LETTER” single, but that’s not saying much and I’m happy it got a spot.

15. Best Friend

Another cheesy title to a song.  This one probably could’ve been better as a ballad IMO.  The R&B beats sound pretty useless to me here and even though BoA sounds nice and all, the R&B just isn’t right, here.  I love BoA here though because she sounds so heartfelt and seems like a personal track to her.  Good way to finish the album

16. Hey Boy, Hey Girl feat. BoA/SEAMO

Our bonus track seems disco-like to me and SEAMO’s rapping is really fast and he sounds pretty cool.  BoA takes up the chorus and is in more of a higher register and even though it isn’t BoA’s song, she backed the song up pretty well.  I actually like this collaboration

Tracks Recommended

•  LOSE YOUR MIND
• AGGRESSIVE
• Diamond Heart
• Girl In The Mirror
• Beautiful Flowers

THE FACE is definitly a downer album for me.  Not a lot of songs really surprised me in anyway except the songs I love.  What really got me was that the good b-sides of the era weren’t on the list and that disappointed me greatly.  Luckily, I’m hoping her U.S. album will fare much better

Track Listing

1. be with you.
2. precious
3. be with you. (spring acoustic mix) (First Press Bonus Track)
4. be with you. (Instrumental)
5. precious (Instrumental)

1. be with you.

I’m not too fond of BoA’s ballads because like I said before there’s too many in her discography and this is one of those blander moments.  There’s nothing to really account for and it’s been heard so many times it’s just getting stale.  BoA sounds nice but it’s just the arrangement has been used over and over again.  I’m sorry but this isn’t my thing.

2. precious

Jeeze, another ballad?  This one seems a little less cheesy and sounds a bit more emotional.  There’s actual plucking of the harp heard in the song which is pretty new to BoA’s major list of these slower songs.  Sadly, it isn’t as memorable as some of her other ballads like ”Jewel Song” and such.  It’s way better than “be with you.” I’ll give it that.

3. be with you. (spring acoustic mix)

Add some acoustic guitar and we get this track.  I mean it’s nothing too different from the original but I guess BoA sounds better with one leading the music.  I still don’t like the boring arrangement found her and definitly isn’t worth listening to fully. 

BoA’s final single for “THE FACE” era was such a disappointment for me.  I mean there’s artists that do full ballad singles but this was just boring and having being released a week before the album was probably a bad idea.  Weird that precious doesn’t make the cut which is another disappointing factor.  be with you. was just too typical for my liking.

Track Listing

1. Eat You Up
2. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Radio Edit)
3. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Club Mix)
4. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Dub)
5. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Instrumental)

1. Eat You Up

I’ll eat you up!!!  Yep, BoA has unleashed something that could make her blowup in the states.  The song is her first English single and being created by Bloodshy & Avant who are major in the states, the song really has some energy in it.  Surprisingly BoA’s English has been definitly getting and her vocals are a little more stable this time around.  Now lyrically, it’s pretty weak mostly containing ~I’ll eat you up, your love, your looooooove~ and that’s the chorus.  How she takes the verses are very robotic and maybe could’ve been more smoother.  Even though the lyrics are weak there’s a line that I really like ~Like I’ve become some kind of demon in the night~ Now that was an interesting line at least to me.  The middle was better.  I think this is probably one of her better tracks in her discography between the 3 different languages Korean & Japanese.

2. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Radio Edit)

The first of the remixes.  It’s definitly not urban anymore and we just drive into some hard beats.  At some points it really is catchy, but sometimes I feel that the song drags itself on and then I want the song to end because of it.  It probably would’ve worked better if it changed pitches maybe.

3. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Club Mix)

That’s where things get worse because this is the same track just dragged out another few minutes.  I’ve heard the ad-libbing in the edit and it just makes worse sense on a remix that’s basically all about the music instead of BoA.  Way to fail!

4. Eat You Up (DJ Escape & Johnny Vicious Dub)

If it makes it better, this kind of works, but still the same music, but they took off some of the annoyance and BoA’s vocals aren’t as loud and strange and made the better fit.  It still is long, but it’s shorter than the last track which is good. 

Do I think she’ll be big in the states?  No clue, but since the song is very aggressive and pretty bold of her and knowing of her past, I actually have hope that she will be pretty popular in the states.  Just hope she gets good promotion and all.  Remixes were a bit on the disappointing side, but it’s nice to see some remixes of Eat You Up.  Good song to represent this era.

Track Listing

1. LOSE YOUR MIND feat. Yutaka Furukawa
2. Smile again
3. LOSE YOUR MIND (Instrumental)
4. Smile again (Instrumental)

1. LOSE YOUR MIND feat. Yutaka Furukawa

I knew this would’ve been aggressive since you know that Yutaka is part of DOPING PANDA so I was like thank the heavens that she’s bringing sexy back.  The song has nice fun touch and there’s energy in BoA’s vocals and the guitar solo is so beyond me.  The only downside is that well the lyrics are bizarre and nonsensical to the english language.  Still the music and BoA’s vocals are top notch!

2. Smile again

Talk about a twist, we get a majestic ballad…She has too many ballads in her discography as well, which kind of kills because it must sound like something previous and such right?  Her vocal are pretty good here, except the chorus is so loud…overpowering the music itself….I think she could have quieted herself a little bit, but it’s a pretty strong performance and the music is quite simple and cute.

BoA’s 3rd single for “THE FACE” is her best one of the four.  Both the songs are pretty different from each other and both complimented each other.  One being the sex drive and the other the beauty as well.  Awesome that both songs are on the album!

Track Listing

1. LOVE LETTER
2. Diamond Heart
3. Beautiful Flowers
4. LOVE LETTER (Winter Acoustic Version) (First Press Only Edition)
5. LOVE LETTER (Instrumental)
6. Diamond Heart (Instrumental)
7. Beautiful Flowers (Instrumental)

1. LOVE LETTER

For being a winter track, this is pretty good for being one.  Although recently her R&B songs have taken a pretty strong dive into blandness this was pretty nice to hear.  BoA sounds pretty stable in her vocals and doesn’t scream terrible.  There’s some pretty wobbly synths in the chorus and that was nice to hear.  I think this is a pretty great standard pop track.

2. Diamond Heart

So when you speed up “LOVE LETTER” we get this track.  Another sparkly pop track.  I found this to be a very memorable track indeed.  The verses could be a little more fluid and less mechanical.  Other than that the music is very poppy and the chorus shows off her stronger side of sound.  ~laaaaa di yaaaaa~  Ok?

3. Beautiful Flowers

Starts off with a drum roll before some hard violins.  Which were pretty interesting until we’re led into this odd synth happy track.  I found this to be the weakest track off the single because it just sounds too familiar to the other “be happy” tracks.  I kind of wished they left this off “THE FACE” and replaced it with “Bad Drive”.

4. LOVE LETTER (Winter Acoustic Version)

Yea, so we’ll just add some strings and call this an acoustically wintry remix.  I prefer the original, so I guess it’s an alright addition, but they could’ve done a little more to make a remix for LOVE LETTER. 

BoA’s 2nd single of the era was definitly a good one in mind though half was good and the other half was alright.  She’s another artist who has way too many ballads in entire career.  LOVE LETTER and Diamond Heart were great tracks but Beautiful Flowers was just so typical of her and it was a little on the boring side of things.