Shinhwa returns with their 11th album, The Classic, and are doing a great service by winning #1 on music shows. At a time where shit from 4minute, Lee Hyori, and B1A4 (seriously, who the fuck is this group?!) are charting near the top, Shinhwa comes back at the right time to restore some respect for the mainstream idol market.
Upon first watching the MV, I thought this was a parody of an SM video and song. All of the elements are there: the Shinhwa members are trapped in a box, trying to use their voguing powers to escape and Eric's rap is littered with the phrase "systematic automatic" throughout. Then I get the sudden realization of how good SM used to be and just shake my head. Shinhwa was one of SM's last good groups, and once 2000 rolled around, SM had lost it when it came to idols. Sure, DBSK came out, but when they debuted, they were the gayest fuckers around and it took them five years to start releasing respectable music. Super Junior, SHINee, EXO...yeah. SM has definitely lost their touch.
Just like a lot of SM MVs, the story here doesn't make sense. What seems to be just a normal dance MV at the onset tries to become a story MV halfway through. A random Japanese girl shows up and absolutely adds nothing to the MV.
Moving on from the nonsense MV, let's get to the song. Like last year's Venus, Shinhwa comes back with a modern sound that you could imagine other male groups, such as B2ST, doing. That isn't necessarily a bad thing; Shinhwa can't release songs like Eusha Eusha in today's environment. This Love takes the best of today's trends while avoiding the awful elements laden in some recent Kpop songs (SNSD's I Got Multiple Personality Disorder, 4minute's What's Your Personality Disorder, T-ara N4's Countryside Schizophrenia, etc.).
What makes Shinhwa click for me is Minwoo and Hyesung. Both of them carry this group as they're the two most talented, however, they're not carrying deadweight. Dongwan, Junjin, Andy and Eric fulfill their roles adequately, and that's all I fucking ask for. I don't need a group like SPICA where every member is talented but the songs are unlistenable after a few a times.
I know some of you were expecting EXO's Wolf, but I had to review a song I liked before tackling yet another piece of shit song.