Kpop Album Review: Max’s Chocolate

          I’ve had this album for a long while now but I wanted to listen to the songs enough to really pick a favorite. So now it is time to show them off. 

          This is Changmin’s, of TVXQ fame, first solo mini album. The album is called Chocolate and it has 6 songs. Let us look at the albums first then we can discuss the songs. 

          There are two versions of the album: Orange and Gold. And they were released on April 6.

I also got the posters that came with the albums. I can’t tell you for sure which poster came with which album because they were both put in a tube together. But based on the color scheme:

This one came with Orange, 

And this one came with Gold.

Each album came with a postcard picture in an envelope, a photocard, and a photobook. Everything looks really sleek and high quality but the box they each came in the s not my favorite as it kind of is already showing some wear and tear just from traveling here.

Gold Version: 

Gold version is actually black 😬

There is this beautiful introduction on the box lid from the inside which shows just how much of a beautiful soul Max is.

It is not very clear here but I’m hoping the orange version will be clearer.

This envelope had the postcard photo in it.

No there is nothing wrong with my camera or lighting this is how the card looks.

The pictures in the photobook are all gorgeous and chic.

And this is the photocard that I got.

Finally the CD.

Orange Version:

Pretty much exactly as the precious album. 

Now let's talk about the songs. As I said there are six songs in the album:

1. Chocolate (Title Song)

2. High Heels

3. Lie (featuring Chungha)

4. Piano

5. Me, Myself, & I

6. No Tomorrow

Each one has a unique sound and each one has its charm, but if you ask me which one is your favorite it would have to be "Lie".

This is the MV for Chocolate

This is the performance video for Chocolate.

This is my favorite song in the album

Finally, this is a special video for Me, Myself, & I

KPOP Suho Solo Mini Album

          Ever since I heard about Suho making his debut as a soloist, I’ve been excited. Suho is one of the amazing voices in EXO that always gets underrated because there are powerful voices like Chen and Baekhyun. I’m also a little sad because I think that this might be his goodbye gift to his fans before enlisting 😩. I waited to see how many versions there were going to be then I ordered them all. And waited...I waited a lot longer than usual for my albums to arrive thanks to the Corona Virus but they were finally here. I ordered the two versions and their posters. This is what they looked like when they arrived:

I forgot that I ordered unfolded posters this time because the last time I forgot to choose and they sent folded ones which really didn’t do the posters any good. 

These are the two versions. The one that has only one Suho on the cover is Archive Version # 1 and the one with 4 Suhos is Archive Version # 2. Each album came with 2 photocards, 1 postcard, 1 poster, and 1 accordion card. I’m not sure if getting two photocards is the norm because on the SM site it looks like you get 1 out of 4 so I’m not sure if I got 2 because I pre-ordered or if this is something to do with Kpoptown (the site I bout the albums from). So let us dive in.

ARCHIVE VERSION # 1:

1. Poster: 

2. Photocards:

These photocards are small but because I wanted to show them clearly I scan them and now they are huge lol.

3. Postcard:

I can’t believe how pretty this is...

4. Accordion: 

I scanned all the pictures in the accordion card but I will show you its size in a later picture.  

Now the actual album. 

This is the cover. 





Inside the album, there are tabs for each some with the tab page made out of card-stock paper.

Everything about this album is esthetically pleasing.

 

And this is everything that came with the album in actual size (minus the poster of course)

ARCHIVE VERSION # 2:

1. Poster: 

I really love this poster. Suho is a very handsome man.

2. Photocards:

Again not the actual size 😬.

3. Postcard:

I love how the postcards match the album covers.

4. Accordion:

These remind me of a lot of Junmyeon’s Instagram photos.

Now the actual album: 

I'm not going to explain each picture again because it is arranged exactly like the other album.

Both albums have beautiful pictures, but if you look at the samples I provided you'll realize that all the pictures are in poses that appear to be self contemplative or meditative even. That is the feel of both albums and they fit the theme of the album really well. From what I hear Junmyeon had a lot to do with the album and it kind of shows because  I kept getting Suho Instagram vibes.

Now let us talk about the album songs. I always buy thy digital albums as well as the physical albums because it takes around 2-3 weeks for my physical albums to arrive. Plus I like to support the artists I stan as much as I can.  So I've been listening to the album since the day it dropped. I honestly don't have a favorite in this album because depending on my mood it changes. All the songs are just so beautiful. In an interview with Billboard, Suho talked about the inspiration behind the album, 

The inspiration was drawn from Vincent van Gogh’s “Self-Portrait.” I first saw it in Switzerland and Paris, and for van Gogh, it probably meant a lot to him as a person. Since I’m not a painter, I wanted to paint something in my album as a self-portrait, per se, similar to how it was for van Gogh to share his own view of himself. "

There are 6 songs in the album, 5 of which Suho helped write and one (the title song) was completely written by Suho. 

1. O2

2. 사랑, 하자 (Let's Love)

3. Made in You

4. 암막 커튼 (Starry Night)

5. 자화상 (Self-Portrait)

6. 너의 차례 (For You Now) ft. Younha

There is also a special track called Writer's Note: Behind the Self-Portrait and Suho talks during this title. I'm going to be honest and say that I don't know all that he is saying but I love the way he talks. He is motivating me more and more to really apply myself to my Korean studies.

Take a listen to some of the songs here:

But this is not my favorite rendition. This is...

Again I prefer the live session...

To be honest, do your ears a favor and just listen to the whole album, both the CD version and the live sessions. It is worth it.