Kpop veteran Lee Seung Hwan’s new album, Dreamizer [Review]

A couple of weeks ago Lee Seung Hwan, the one and only Korean singer, songwriter and producer released his latest full length album, “Dreamizer.” Here’s my review on what I’ll go ahead and call a masterpiece.

If you’re not familiar with Lee Seung Hwan, here’s his history in a nutshell: this man debuted in 1989, later created his own company (Dream Factory), sold over 10 million records, held over 1000 concerts and has collaborated with musicians from MC Sniper to the Outsider (you know, the rapper that can spit out 17 syllables in a second). He started the ‘Hwantastic Project’ last year in celebration of his 20th anniversary, where he had current artists cover and reinvent his past singles. As a refresher, here’s JoKwon (2AM) and Whale (W&Whale) singing “Dunk Shoot.”

Just as an FYI, THIS WAS SO MY JAM WHEN IT RELEASED! (I like JoKwon’s hair here, by the way)

Anyway, ‘Dreamizer.’ It’s flippin’ fabulous. I definitely think it’s one of the best album releases of 2010. I’ll briefly touch on a handful of songs and drench them with love because I’m really enjoying this album right now. I can’t help myself. This is my kind of music - quirky and fun. This album makes you feel nice things. It’s creative, emotional, and a breath of fresh air.

So, ‘Dreamizer’ opens with “Love-Breaking Engineer” - a head-bobbing, electro-pop song. It captures Lee Seung Hwan’s charming personality and delivers it with lovely melodies weaving in and out that hardly tire the cutesy vibe of this song. It’s a feel-good track that could quite possibly define the word ‘cozy‘ by sound.

“Love-Breaking Engineer” segues into the title track, “Half of Half“. It’s a ballad, and before you fast-forward to the following song, give it a good listen, because it is one heck of a song. I think I had ‘a moment’ when I first heard it. As in one of those ‘holy crap this is absolutely beautiful, crapcrapcrap’-moments. What probably drew me in was the level of emotion Seung Hwan expresses throughout the verses and especially in the chorus. It’s quite touching. I hardly get emotional with Kpop songs (of any kind), but this one really took me there. Oh, and the man has pipes.

If you’re a fan of Mika (British pop singer), “Dear Son (featuring Heritage)” will remind you of Mika’s ‘Happy Ending.’ Just like ‘Happy Ending,’ ‘Dear Son’ has a message to deliver and while it starts off slow, it builds up to an explosive ending with a backup choir and everything. When I said this album makes you feel nice things, this right here totally justifies my statement. ‘Dear Son’ is filled with life and whimsy. It WILL put a big fat smile on your face.

And if this album wasn’t whimsical enough, “I’m a Rockstar” adds a heavy dose of glitter, glam, sugar, spice and everything nice (Yes. I did just quote the Powerpuff Girls). It’s one of my personal favorites off the entire album. Unlike some of the previous tracks, which were much lighter and airy, this song has more of a hard-edge.

The closing track is amazing. The way in which “Ant Revolution” opens is quite epic already, but I love that it sounds like an old school anthem. It’s a march down Jollyville Road and what fascinates me most about this song is that it feels like an exit rather than an ending. It’s free-spirited and triumphant.

I encourage everyone to welcome “Dreamizer” with open arms, because once you have, you’ll adore it to bits. This is a fantastic record that definitely stands on it’s own as a great K-pop album. It successfully blends all kinds of styles and ventures into places I had never expected a k-pop album to go. The playful way “Dreamizer” manages to act cute while remaining mature is one conflicting enigma that I’m more than happy to have encountered.

(Before I give you my rating, I decided to change my little rating system from a number to a letter grading system because giving this album a 5 out of 5 just doesn’t cut it for me…)

Rating: A++ If you liked these five songs, you’ll love the other eight.