Kim Sung Kyu: 27 2nd Mini Album Review

After 2.5 years since debut, Infinite's leader Kim Sunggyu has finally come back as a solo artist on May 11th, 2015. His mini album is titled 27, and was released just a couple of weeks after his 27th (Korean age) birthday. I'm especially proud of all the work Sunggyu put into this album, as he was disappointed about his first solo album not being successful. This album is entirely produced by Sunggyu's longtime idol and of the same label, Nell's Kim Jongwan.

The album was released on May 12th. I ordered mine from Kpoptown.com, it was shipped out in two days, and arrived in 9 days, sadly a little dented in the corner as usual.

The album is the same size as most of Infinite's albums. Sunggyu kept his hipster-artsy theme for his font^^ The album comes with an exterior album cover, which has a little flap on the right to open up. It's matte black, so it's easy to get fingerprints on it...be careful!

The backside is simplistic, with only the album title.

Because this exterior album cover is made of paper, it's fragile and easy to rip the flap. I just slid the album from the bottom, and then gently undid the flap. This is the thing that many people were confused about-each album comes with a random hidden back cover out of three designs, and this is it. Also these three designs aren't in the photobook. This is such cool packaging, to have a random back cover!

The actual album is matte white and looks similar to the exterior cover.

Sunggyu's name is intended with a silver font while the album title has a reflective layer over it.

The backside has the same 27 logo, and the tracklist printed on the top.

Inside, it looks like an art gallery with its white background and black and white theme.

The disc is really pretty too. It matches the design of Sunggyu's top; this is like the same style for Infinite F's album, how they used the blue print on Myungsoo's sweatshirt to make the design of the album. The print is also on the album underneath the disc.

The first page of the photobook reveals the photocard sticker.

Here's my sticker; it's maybe just a bit smaller than Infinite's small photocards. There are five designs, which don't look like images from the photobook (except for one) and all from different photoshoots.

The backside of the sticker has his name and the album logo. Because it's a sticker, it's really thin so it curls easily. The backside splits in half horizontally, so that's how you'd use the sticker.

Here is a closeup of the tracklist printed in the photobook. There are double titles, the first being "너여야만 해" and the second being "Kontrol" (with a "K" because Sunggyu's officially with a K). The intro, "27," I think is intended for "Kontrol." I love all the songs, as they're so beautiful and showcase Sunggyu's amazing voice and talent. At first I was disappointed that Sunggyu didn't participate in writing any of the songs, as he wrote "Light" which was so spectacular, but after listening and falling in love with all the songs, I'm also happy Jongwan did write all the songs.

The photobook is 48 pages long and has many gorgeous photos.

There are several photos from all six photoshoots (the six teaser photos for the songs are all from different photoshoots, so that's what I'm referring to). Among those teaser photos, only the last three photos are in the photobook. I'm really sad they didn't include any of the bubblegum photos in this album, except on one of the photocard stickers (in black and white though).

Many photos are artistically grainy, which match the photoshoots that seem to be portraying a hipster feel.

Some photos are also in black and white to also have that old-school feel.

It's really cool seeing the song credits, and how the tracks were all recorded at Woollim Studio.

The last two pages are of Sunggyu's "Thanks To" and staff credits.

This album also has three posters. Two designs are photos from the photobook, so I didn't find it necessary to get a random poster.

Overall, I'm glad Sunggyu has finally come back with his second mini album, and that this time around I hope he feels more successful with this album due to all the support he's received and to the two well-deserved wins he's gotten.