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Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Infinite: Top Seed 3rd Full Album Review

Infinite is back! Infinite made their comeback on January 8th, 2018, over a year since their last Korean comeback and the first release as OT6. Sadly 2017 was a relatively stagnant year for Infinite, but hopefully this year will be different. This release, titled Top Seed, is Infinite's third full album. With the release of a full album, it breaks Infinite's chain of releasing mini - mini - single - full - repackage. Furthermore, the packaging of this album greatly differs from Infinite's previous regular Korean releases.

I preordered 2 copies of this album with folded posters from Ktown4u for $37.82 USD for both copies plus $21.48 shipping for a total of $59.30. This is my first time preordering multiple copies of the same version, and all for good reason as this album comes with many randomized goods. My package shipped on January 9th and arrived on the 23rd, in exactly 2 weeks. My package came in a cardboard box with the albums and posters bundled together in bubblewrap.

This album comes with the following:
  • 1 3D special card (random out of 2)
  • 1 booklet & CD-R set (random out of 6 member versions and 1 group version)
  • Metallic postcard set (14 cards total)
  • 1 photocard (random out of 12)
Sadly like many people have experienced with this album, my 2 copies contained the same exact contents (3D special card, booklet / CD-R, photocard are all the same). However I don't regret purchasing both copies together, so that I can guarantee receiving both poster versions.
The packaging for this album is really upgraded compared to Infinite's usual album releases. The box dimensions are 9" by 6.3125" by 1.25".
First off, I like the lid design because it reminds me of the design for the History of Infinite postcards.
The top and bottom of the lid have the album name printed.
The bottom of the box reveals the tracklist.
The lid has a clear plastic lining and has a cardboard insert on the sides with a height of 0.375" so that the lid can rest on top of the contents inside. This is really nice because it gives the illusion like the album is a shadowbox to display what's inside.
Lifting up the lid reveals the gold sheet, which is highly prone to fingerprints. This sheet is meant to hold the 3D special card.
Here is the gold sheet without the 3D special card. You can see just how reflective it is.
Here is the backside of the gold sheet with the 3D special card in place.
Here is the backside of the gold sheet.
This is the 3D special card, with dimensions 7.125" by 4.75".
The backside of the 3D special card is simplistic, with this era's logo in the corner.
I like how you can choose to display the 3D special card inside the album, and the lid perfectly outlines the card.

This album contains photos from 3 sets of outfits / photoshoots. I'll refer to the photoshoot used in my 3D special card as the casual outfits. The outfits used in the first poster I show (at the bottom of this post), I refer to as the Burberry outfits. And the outfits used in the second poster I show, I refer to as the black-and-white outfits.
Underneath the 3D special card and gold sheet is the random photobook. I got Sungjong's~ The photobook cover is from the Burberry photoshoot.
I really like the quality of the photobook; the finish is really smooth without being prone to fingerprints. The photobook has 64 pages, excluding both sides of the covers.
I like how the image on the front cover extends onto the spine and even a bit to the back cover. The details of the design of the photobook is really nice and intricate; I really like the photobook overall for the aesthetic that the details create.
The first page contains the Thanks To from Sungjong.
The next page contains the tracklist, along with the song credits for the first track.
Up to page 26 are photos from the Burberry photoshoot.
The lyrics and song credits are spread throughout the photobook.
Pages 27 through 51 are from the casual photoshoot.
I really like the layout of each page; it shows they really put the time into designing the photobook.
The remaining pages are from the black-and-white photoshoot. I like how each photoshoot gives off a different feel, like how this one shows Sungjong's bright smile.
The last page contains the album credits and social media information. I just realized some of Infinite's social media uses "IFNT7"...
Each album comes with 1 random photocard out of 12, with 2 versions per member. These cards are fun shots from the music video making with the members making either a heart sign or a fighting pose in their Burberry outfits. In my first album the photocard was slipped in between pages 10 and 11.
For my second album, the photocard was in between pages 26 and 27.
I got Woohyun for my photocard^^ Looking at all the photocards online, I was disappointed that both Woohyun versions look almost identical. The photocards are roughly the same size as the photocards from Season 2, Reality, and Infinite Only.
The backside is gray and has a printed message and autograph. Woohyun's is wishing us a happy new year^^
Underneath the photobook is the metallic postcard set, which is the same set included in every album. Though it's hard to tell in my photos, these postcards are highly reflective due to their metallic finish. The cards are held together with a paper strip. In my other album, the strip was covering Sungyeol. These postcards have dimensions 5.5" by 3.75".
Sadly there wasn't sufficient quality control as the top of the paper strip was a bit crunched, probably when the postcards were initially being packaged.
There are a total of 14 postcards, 7 from the Burberry photoshoot and 7 from the casual photoshoot. The order of the postcards, from top to bottom, is group from the Burberry shoot, then group from the casual photoshoot, then oldest to youngest.
Here are the postcards from the maknae line. The images of the 2 Sungjong postcards aren't in his photobook.
The backside of the postcard is simplistic.
And lastly is the CD. The CD version matches the booklet version, hence I got Sungjong's. The disc image is from the Burberry shoot as well. The disc is secured on a hard cardboard bed with a plastic center.
First press albums also come with 1 random poster out of 2, both of which are the same size as Infinite's usual posters. For this poster, the members are in their Burberry outfits. I personally love this group photo poster; Sungkyu looks like such a boss.
The other poster is a collage of individual images of the members wearing the black-and-white outfits.

This full album contains 12 tracks:
  1. Begin - intro track composed by BLSSD (aka BEE of Rphabet who also composed Infinite's titles "Destiny", "Back", "Bad", "Typhoon").
  2. Tell Me - title track composed by BLSSD of Rphabet. I really like that Infinite has continued working with Rphabet, as this duo creates songs that branches Infinite's musical style.
  3. Synchronise 
  4. No More
  5. TGIF (Dong Woo Solo) - I'm so proud of Dongwoo for having a solo track, and participating in the lyrics! This is actually his second solo studio track that I know of, with the first being "마음에 묻다 (Asking the Heart)", part of the OST for webtoon Lookism.
  6. 기도 (메텔의 슬픔) - (Prayer) is composed by SWEETUNE, my most favorite composer as this team has created so many masterpieces not only for Infinite, but also Kara, Snuper, Boyfriend, and many more artists.
  7. 왜 날 - (Why Me)
  8. 분다 
  9. I Hate
  10. 지난 날 (L Solo) - I'm so happy Myungsoo has a solo track, and for him to participate in the lyrics as well. Ballads suit him so well.
  11. 고백 (Sung Jong Solo) - (Confession) is Sungjong's first solo studio track! I'm so proud of Sungjong and his growth as a singer. This song really fits his voice well and I can definitely see this type of song in a drama OST - I hope Sungjong would have the opportunity to participate in an OST in the future!
  12. Begin Again - I really love this song, but the lyrics are so fitting to Infinite's situation at the moment, that I feel sad every time I listen to it.
My favorite tracks are definitely "Tell Me", "Synchronise", "기도", and "분다"! But of course all of the tracks are very beautiful and I do love them all. They all fit Infinite's style very well.

Infinite held a year-end showcase series, Begin Again, during the last 3 days of 2017 where they performed "Begin Again" and each member performed a new solo track, with Dongwoo's, Myungsoo's, and Sungjong's tracks landing on this album. I am sad that not all members have a solo track in this album, but that just leaves the possibility for their solo tracks to be released later on^^

I'm so proud of Infinite for winning 5 awards on music shows for "Tell Me" for the first 5 nominations they received. Despite being inactive for 1 year 4 months and losing 1 member, they came back as strong as ever. I hope we will have a repackaged album of this in the near future!

I have made several trades from the contents of my 2 albums, and will provide an updated post about those in the future.

Monday, January 15, 2018

Infinite: Best of Infinite (Type B) Review

Back in November 2016, I had already blogged about the Japanese albums within My Infinite Collection. At that time, I was certain that I'd never get Infinite's Best of Infinite album. There were so many reasons why I was against this release, mainly:
  • Woollim's focus on Japanese releases instead of Korean releases
  • This release only included one completely new song, and one new Japanese version of a Korean song
  • There are 3 (expensive) versions, one of which is Blu-ray, meaning duplicating the video content
Despite all of these rational reasons, at the end of 2016 I somehow gave in when I received an Amazon gift card. I saw this as the perfect chance to get an Infinite item that I wouldn't have normally gotten. I've said this before, but on Amazon it's always hard to buy Infinite albums (and other Kpop goods in general) because the image and description are usually not specific or accurate. I decided to order Type B (Limited + DVD) because that cover is just so deadly. I ordered it for $41.75 USD from a 3rd party seller, marvelio, who is based in Pennsylvania. My package shipped 2 days after I ordered it and took 18 days to arrive since shipment (note that this was during the holidays). My album came in perfect condition, which is rare! The cardboard packaging fit perfectly around my album (no padding so if it were to take a hit, it would've probably gotten damaged). Enough about my tangent, I'll go onto properly introducing the album and to my unboxing review.
On August 31, 2016, Woollim released a compilation of Infinite's Japanese songs in the album Best of Infinite. The new tracks of this compilation album includes the brand new song "D.N.A", and the Japanese version of "Paradise". There are 3 versions of this album. According to CDJapan's descriptions, the normal version includes an 80-page photo booklet, Type A includes a 36-page photo booklet and a Blu-ray, and Type B includes a 36-page photo booklet and a DVD. Additionally, CDJapan states that contents of each photobook are different for each version.
The album itself is the size of Infinite's usual mini albums. Additionally, the packaging has been upgraded as the casing is a very sturdy hard cover. The album cover of this version also looks really gorgeous and is definitely my favorite of the three.
The backside has a gorgeous set of individual photos, along with the CD and DVD tracklists.

Furthermore, the tracklists are slightly different for each version. Please refer to my table for the tracklists for Type B. All versions contain the CD tracks 1 through 17, and Type A and Type B contain the video content tracks 1 through 17. Type A includes bonus CD tracks "Destiny" and "Cover Girl", and bonus MVs of "Destiny" and "Tic Toc [OGS Returns Live]". Type B includes bonus CD tracks "The Chaser" and "Shower", and bonus MVs of "The Chaser" and "Lately". Note that all bonus content are the original Korean versions.

#
CD Tracklist
DVD Tracklist
1
D.N.A (JP)
D.N.A (JP, MV)
2
Dilemma (JP)
Can't Get Over You (JP, MV)
3
Last Romeo (JP)
24 Hours (JP, MV)
4
Come Back Again (JP)
Dilemma (JP, MV)
5
24 Hours (JP)
Last Romeo (JP, MV)
6
Nothing's Over (JP)
Man In Love (JP, MV)
7
She's Back (JP)
Man In Move (JP, Teaser)
8
Man In Love (JP)
She's Back (JP, MV)
9
Paradise (JP)
She's Back (JP, Teaser)
10
Can't Get Over You (JP)
Be Mine (JP, MV)
11
Just Another Lonely Night (JP)
BTD (JP, MV)
12
Bad (JP)
Bad (KR, MV)
13
Be Mine (JP)
Back (KR, MV)
14
BTD (JP)
Paradise (KR, MV)
15
Back (JP)
Nothing's Over (KR, MV)
16
Love of My Life (JP)
Come Back Again (KR, MV)
17
Julia (JP)
D.N.A (Making)
(Bonus) 18
The Chaser (KR)
The Chaser (KR, MV)
(Bonus) 19
Shower (KR)
Lately (KR, MV)

Opening the album, the photobooklet is on the left while the discs are on the right. The pink slip is a promotional event sheet.
Here is a closeup of the sheet for the promotional event on September 30th, 2016.
The disc on top is the CD. As stated previously, "D.N.A" and the Japanese version of "Paradise" are the 2 new tracks from this release. "D.N.A" is more on the darker, harder side of Infinite's songs. Infinite actually performed the Korean version of "D.N.A" in their Rally 3 fan meeting in early 2017, so hopefully they'll release a Korean studio version of "D.N.A" in the future.
In the past when there were 2 discs, they would share one plastic casing. However this album's casing also got an upgrade where the CD is isolated on its own plastic layer. You pull up from the middle of the side (it indicates where) and later you can snap it back in place.
Here is the DVD, which is for all regions. The new contents on this DVD that were not previously released are the music videos for "D.N.A" and "Can't Get Over You", and the Making of D.N.A. Infinite looks especially good in the "D.N.A" music video - they pull off this bad boy concept so well and the choreography looks so sharp. I also really like the "Can't Get Over You" music video. This is a pop ballad that's slower than Infinite's other title tracks, yet they still have a really fitting choreography. I found it interesting that they used the For You album logo at the end of this music video despite being released during the 24 Hours single.

Sadly the Making is just under 9 minutes long. The first few minutes showed the behind-the-scenes of the 2 photoshoots while the remaining time was for the behind-the-scenes of the "D.N.A" music video. The members mainly spoke directly to the camera in Korean, like mini impromptu interviews, with automatic Japanese subtitles. In the foreground were the instrumental version of "D.N.A", then the regular version. Despite the short duration of this making, it was so beautiful seeing Infinite truly own this bad boy concept!
The photobooklet may include 36 pages, however only the first 10 pages are dedicated to Infinite. There is 1 photo per member, with Woohyun, Sungyeol, and Myungsoo each getting a 2-page spread.
The remaining 4 members have their individual photos on 1 page each. These photos are all different from those on the back cover. I can't get over how good Sungjong looks pulling off this concept!
The remaining pages are for the lyrics. As for the 2 Korean songs "The Chaser" and "Shower", the lyrics are in Korean with Japanese on top of each line in a smaller font.
The last 2 pages contain the album credits, DVD info, and Infinite's social media information.

I still have mixed reactions about this release, but I am happy to have this in my collection. As for Inspirits who don't have any of Infinite's Japanese releases, I would definitely recommend this album (or any of its versions) as it has almost all of Infinite's Japanese-only songs.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Infinite: 24 Hours Single (Limited) Review

I have blogged in length about Infinite's Japanese single 24 Hours in previous posts:  the first press normal edition, here, and the seven member versions, here. In this post, I will do an unboxing of the limited version.
The front cover shows Infinite looking princely in Tom Brown attire. The dimensions of this album are similar to those of Infinite's other releases, 7.375" by 5.5" by 0.4375". The photos from this version are all from the Tom Brown photoshoot.
There is also a sticker on the wrapping indicating the contents of this version.
The back cover shows an individual picture per member, along with the CD and DVD tracklists. This version, like the first press normal edition, contains the original Japanese songs "24 Hours" and "Just Another Lonely Night", along with the Japanese version of "Together". I absolutely love "24 Hours" and "Just Another Lonely Night" and am still hoping that Infinite will releases these songs in Korean.
Opening the flap reveals the double disc holder, with the CD on top and the DVD on the bottom.
Underneath the DVD there is more info about the disc. The DVD is for all regions and contains the "24 Hours" music video and the making of this release. The making is just over 21 minutes long and is all spoken in Korean with automatic Japanese subtitles. The first 5.5 minutes shows the behind-the-scenes from the 3 photoshoots for this release. The remaining time is for the behind-the-scenes of the "24 Hours" music video. Throughout the making, the instrumental version of "24 Hours" as well as the regular version alternate in the foreground. There are also mini impromptu individual interviews of each member talking to the camera. It's also adorable seeing Infinite playing around in between filming. Lastly, I loved seeing Woohyun singing the chorus live, as well as Dongwoo singing his parts live and even singing a bit from Infinite H's Fly Again album!
The limited editions of Infinite's Japanese albums had always been lacking, because they're usually made of thin cardboard and like an open book with a loose photobooklet that just slips out of the album. However this time, Woollim has improved a lot with its packaging. The front cover of the album actually has a flap securely storing the photobooklet, along with the event card and photocard.
Here is the event card, meant for May 31st, 2015. There is also a QR code that takes you to Infinite's homepage on Universal Music's Japanese site.
Both the first press normal edition and this limited version come with 1 of 8 different types of photocards, 1 per member and a group one. All 8 cards are photos from the Tom Brown photoshoot not included in any of the albums. The photocard is the same size as Infinite's smallest photocards, like from Paradise and Season 2. Most albums come with the group photocard, like my normal album. But this time, I got Sungyeol! At first I was laughing because I usually get Sungyeol, but then I realized I'm lucky just not to have pulled another group card.
The backside has information about listening to Sungyeol's hidden message online. Each member photocard comes with a link and QR code for the message, however there was an expiration date of 2015.
The photobooklet has 14 pages, excluding the front and back cover.
The back cover has the album credits.
Each member has their own page.
There are also 3 pages for the song lyrics and song credits. "24 Hours" and "Just Another Lonely Night" were originally written in Japanese.
There are also 2 2-page group photos. The last page also includes Infinite's social media information.

Overall, I really love this album! The songs are really beautiful, as expected since Infinite continues releasing top quality songs only in Japanese (that I'm forever waiting for a Korean version), the photoshoot for this album is really dashing, and the making DVD is fun as always.