thecaitlynlee: Cat Reviews: NCT 127 - NCT #127 Cherry Bomb

Alooooha Friends! Or should I say 안녕하세요 Friends! I'm back today with my review of NCT 127's new album, Cherry Bomb! Buckle your seatbelt and get ready for lots of NCT 127 (mostly Jaehyun though tbh) gifs!

WAAAAIT! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO CHERRY BOMB WHILE YOU READ!

NCT 127 came back with their new album NCT #127 Cherry Bomb on June 14th, so it's been exactly a week aka exactly enough time for me to listen to it endlessly to give you a comprehensive review. Like with every album that I review, prepare for biases in this review because I only review albums from artists I like lol. ANYWAYS... NCT 127's new album came only six month's after their last album, LIMITLESS and if you ask any of my friends, they'll tell you that I always ask "WHEN WILL MARK LEE REST??", then SM announced NCT 127's comeback and responded to my question with "NEVER!!!!!!!!" (#LetMarkLeeRest).

An Overview and Album Artwork:

Cherry Bomb is NCT 127's third mini album and in my opinion, it might be the best of their three albums. It includes seven songs, two of which are "Cherry Bomb" but one is their performance version. I was perplexed by the "cherry bomb" concept when they first announced it but mostly because I didn't know what to expect, but this mini album thoroughly impressed me. As for the album, the artwork is a literal cherry bomb, nothing special in my opinion, but the member's individual photos are amazing, and I'll include them at the end of this post. Part of their concept are these babies with cherries for heads?? They seem a little weird, but NCT in general is known for their more "out there" concepts. The album comes with a photobook, photocard, poster, and if you're one of the lucky 900, there is a polaroid photo of a member. I haven't gotten my album yet so I don't have pictures of it for you, but I'll be posting an unboxing once I get it - keep checking back!

The Songs:
1. Cherry Bomb
Cherry Bomb is the title track and to be very honest, I didn't like it at first, but it majorly grew on me and I listen to it literally 24/7. The music video is also AMAZING and the dance is SEXY AS HELL (see below for evidence). It's such a good title track, and I'm so upset that KBS banned it (damn you KBS) because that means we won't get MuBank broadcasts of it, which is honestly fine because MuBank's mics suck anyways. Also, this song is Mark's song but Doyoung and Taeil's harmony in verse 3 IS EVERYTHING. Favorite lyrics include "cherry bomb feel it yum"and "uh hard rock scalp head shot pop no talk". (Enjoy the music video on the sidebar!)

2. Running 2 U
THIS IS SUCH A GOOD SONG. I honestly don't know what else to say about it other than that IT'S SO GOOD. Especially the breakdown and any and all of Jaehyun's lines. YOU JUST HAVE TO LISTEN TO IT TO UNDERSTAND

3. 0 Mile
0 Mile is also sooo good, but there is one thing keeping it from being one of my top favorites in this mini album. When I first heard it, I immediately was transported to Forever 21 because it honestly just sounds like a song I'd heard while wandering around looking for something I saw online with no clue of where it would be in the store, or when I'm literally dripping sweat in their 10000 degree changing rooms, but this is not a post about Forever 21. I do like the song though, don't get me wrong, it's just not my top favorite from the mini album. Jaehyun's two lines in the first verse got me though. Favorite lyrics include "touch and figure it out".

4. Sun & Moon
Any NCTZEN, educated or not, knows Taeil is the indisputable main vocal, but to be very honest, I never felt like he should be the main vocal, not just because I'm Jaehyun biased or anything, but it never felt right to me. But Sun & Moon CHANGED ME. Maybe it's the fact that this song is perfect for Taeil's voice, or the fact that Jaehyun actually has a lot of lines, but this song is amazing. It's the type of song that makes you want to take a drop in a convertible while the sun is setting with a cute boy lol. This song is definitely one of my favorites in the album.

5. Whiplash
WHIPLASH IS MY FAVORITE SONG IN THE WHOLE WORLD AND I DON'T KNOW WHY. If you've read my other K-Pop album reviews, you're familiar with the fact that these types of songs are generally at the bottom of my rankings, but for some reason, Whiplash made it's way to the top. It's seriously soooo good and if I had to pick one song to listen to from this album for the rest of my life it's probably this song. Also, Jaehyun has the most lines and that makes me happy because even though NCT line distribution is never fair and he is on the fairer side of the spectrum, I still feel like he never gets enough lines lol. BUT THIS POST IS NOT ABOUT JAEHYUN.

6. Summer 127
Just as the title says, Summer 127 is most definitely a summer song. And per the other imaginative language I used earlier, can't you just see yourself at a pool party (like a HSM2 All For One style pool party) with NCT and all your friends just having a great time?? Like with Running 2 U, it's such a great song, but I don't know what else to say about it, you'll just have to give it a listen yourself.

7. Cherry Bomb (Performance Ver.)
Okay in all seriousness, it look be until literally just now before I started writing about this song to figure out what the difference between this version and track one were (thanks Tigo lol). But this version has a longer dance break because we gotta see our boys' sexy moves of course. I'm slapping myself because you guys don't know how many times I've listened to this album in the past week and I had not noticed AT ALL that one was longer than the other... In my opinion, the performance version is better, BUT you have to watch the performance, but if you're just listening to the song, the normal-not-performance version is killer too. Watch NCT 127 perform Cherry Bomb:

Picking Favorites:
I've made it very clear that Whiplash is my favorite song, but here are the rankings for the rest of the album!
1. Whiplash
2. Sun & Moon
3. Cherry Bomb/Cherry Bomb (Performance Ver.)*
4. Summer 127
5. Running 2 U
*Both versions of Cherry Bomb are listed together because although they are different, they're still the same song if that makes sense?

Final Thoughts:
Long story short, I love this mini album. I saw that a lot of people actually didn't like it, but we all have different opinions I guess. I think this is my favorite of their three mini albums, but Firetruck is still my favorite NCT 127 song, hands down. Overall, this mini album was like REALLY GOOD, and obviously I'm bad with adjectives because how many times have I said that already... Anyways, you bet I have the physical version of the album on the way, so check back sometime after 6/28 for an unboxing post! Lastly, thank you NCT 127 and Jung Jaehyun for killing me again. Check out the Cherry Bomb music video on the sidebar or here on YouTube!

As always, thank you so much for reading! What did you think about the Cherry Bomb album??? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @thecaitlynlee! Please continue to support NCT and NCT 127!

As promised, here are NCT 127's concept photos for Cherry Bomb! (there's a lot LIKE SO MANY) Click each photo to enlarge and get a closer look ;)