It took Big Bang more than 18 months to finally release their full album, so we’re going to be unconventional, too.

This album review is going to go a little different than others for the sheer fact that every track except one was released as a single.  We’ve said almost everything we wanted to say about these tracks individually, we’ve already said.  There are only three things that we really want to cover to give you the full picture apart from what we’ve already done.

The first is about the only unreleased track of the set, Girlfriend.  The track is not a throwaway, as some might think given the release strategy.  It fits perfectly into the rest of the album with the vibe and the instrumentation.  T.O.P takes a major lead here again and dials back the delivery just a little to match the more mellow production and theme.  Daesung is understated but is the backbone of the track with his rock-style vocals.  Seung-Ri takes things down an octave and really sounds good.  Taeyang and G-Dragon brings up the rear with some solid support tones.  We like the track a lot; so much it almost replaced Bae Bae in our favorites.

Second, the track arrangement helps the songs immensely; they are not just thrown on in the order they were released.  Instead you get songs with like production and mood being grouped together with the more upbeat tracks being used to break up the more serious moments.

This point flows into the next because, third, we think there has been some re-mastering done since these tracks were released.  Sober, Zutter, and BangX3 were always the more Big Bang-styled tracks in the set, but we are noticing a lot more real instruments being used than we did before.  It’s not that they weren’t always there; they just seem to have been brought to the forefront a little more than they were before.  Whatever it is, it changes the vibe of the album and makes it a lot easier to listen to and the flow is much better.

Our favorite tracks are Fxxk It, Bae Bae, BangX3, Zutter, and If You.  The most skippable track of the set is Sober.

Click the links below the player to see what we said about the tracks and see their accompanying music videos.  You’ll also get lyrical translations for the tracks, too.

Previous Reviews:
Fxxk It
Last Dance
Let’s Not Fall In Love
Loser
Bae Bae
BangX3
Sober
If You
Zutter
We Like 2 Party