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Kmusic Review: FT Island’s 4th Studio Album “Five Treasure Box”

October 4, 2012

Ft Island has been so busy in the past year that it’s hard to believe they’ve even managed to come back with their new full length Korean studio album “Five Treasure Box.” Their return sparked chaos as fans everywhere rushed to buy over 30,000 copies of their album within the first week of its release. It even made it on the Gaon albums chart as number one. This wonderful surprise consists of ten tracks, five of which are remakes, that are sure to make Primadonnas knock out and fall pass their knees. It must be noted that the amazing FT Island composed and wrote nearly every song in the album. Let’s take a look at this great gift that they have given to us.

“좋겠어” (Jotgesseo) or “I Wish” is the title song of “Five Treasure Box” and conveys a sexy unique color, different from the rest of the songs. There’s definitely a Spanish inspired sound in it since most of the song has an acoustic flamenco chord progression. It picks up nicely as the song progresses to the chorus; the band does what they do best by bringing out their rock element through electric guitar percussions, bass licks and drum combos. Hongki always carries the chorus really well with that spectacular voice of his. Although it isn’t their best, this song is still a great pick for their promotional single. Most Primadonnas will be quite happy with it.

The next song is “너의 말” (Neoeui Mal) aka “Your Word”. It has an alluring guitar intro that immediately grabs you into the song. As far as the arrangement of the song goes, it’s still rock but it’s also softer and quite pretty. Hongki has always been good at portraying the feeling of the song through his voice; therefore the song is very convincing in what it’s trying to say. Despite the sadness behind the lyrics, when Hongki sings the English line, “I’ll never leave you,” it feels like he’s saying it to the listener and that’s enables us to connect with the song. The guitar solo that leader and guitarist Jong Hoon delivers is also just astonishing. Although this is a typical FT Island sounding song, I can’t get enough of it.

“Stay With Me” is a song about not being able to let go of a loved one even though they don’t feel the same way anymore. It starts with Hongki singing in a muffled voice due to the effect implemented by the microphone. I thought that was a nice touch since the song can be interpreted as a voice message for the man’s girlfriend. Stay with me has a high tempo that allows fans to easily bop their heads along with the beat of the song. The guitar piece in the verse is also arranged in a very appealing manner.

Jaejin, the bass player and vocalist, is the one who starts singing first in “U(All I Want Is You)” and giving the song a refreshing switch up from Hongki. His voice also adds a nice touch to the song because his voice is a bit more soothing and relaxes the listener as opposed to Hongki’s artsy and theatric voice. This song is also slower than its previous counterparts and can easily be identified as Jong Hoon’s creation since it has a similar feel to “I Confess,” another song composed by the leader. It’s a cute song that fans will find themselves easily singing.

“보내주자…” (Bonaejuja…) aka “Let Her Go” starts out with a piano melody accompanied by an acoustic guitar. It is the polar opposite of the previous songs and takes on a more somber tone. The gradual tempo of this song let us sink into the lyrics and then picks up nicely during the chorus where the rest of the instruments come in quite harmoniously. The guitar solo is good too and expresses the pain of letting go quite well. Hongki also portrays the sadness and grief of this ballad in a way that just makes you tear up while listening to his voice. I actually think that FT Island performs some of the best ballads there are and this song can be definitely added to their heart wrenching collection.

“Paper Plane” is a remake from their recent Japanese album “Twenty” and just like the original, it starts out with an attractive steady guitar strum while Jaejin kicks off the lyrics with his mellow but resonant voice. Jaejin actually participated in writing the lyrics as well as composing the music for the song and I just love the whole feel of the song. Even though the English lyrics are a bit off, their pronunciation is quite good and it actually adds substance to the song. The guitar riff is steady and slow, only picking up slightly during the chorus, making the song laid back and care free. “Paper Plane” is actually one of my favorite songs in the album because of the message it holds. The lyrics fill listeners with encouragement to keep going no matter how low you may happen to fall.

“세상 끝나지 않는 노래” (Sesang Kkeutnaji Anneun Norae) or “Wanna Go” is another remake of its Japanese counterpart. This is an exhilarating song with obvious J-rock influences and I can seriously see it as an opening for anime series like “Naruto” and even “Full Metal Alchemist.” ‘Go’ is the first word to be heard and immediately one will recognize that it’s Jaejin’s voice. He actually provides full lyrics for this track whereas guitarist Seunghyun and drummer Minhwan participated in composing and arranging the music. This is the type of song you would rock out to. It’s like a crazy audacious song that gives strength to people no matter how disheartened they feel.

“Life” slows it back down as it shifts into a mid tempo range. Hongki rewrote the lyrics for this Korean release and Jonghoon composed the whole musical piece. It just sounds wonderful, in fact even better than the original Japanese version. Both Hongki and Jaejin carried this song nicely with the blending and control of their voices. I also really like how prevalent the guitar sounds in this track.

Another remake is “그 길” (Geu Gil) or “Compass (The Way).” It stays in the mid tempo range and Jaejin starts out the first verse with his clear and peaceful voice. It’s amazing how Jaejin has progressed so much in the past few years as a vocalist and it’s shown especially in this song. He has the type of voice that I can just listen to all day. Hongki then further heightens the deft of the song with his passionate vocal range. It’s a nice song that one can easily enjoy listening to, particularly during long cross country drives where you can see pass the landscape to the mountains and beyond. After all the song is named “Compass” for a reason; it’s like a song that guides you to finding the right path.

The album closes with the last Japanese remake, “Let It Go.” Jonghoon participated in writing the lyrics and composing the song. It has a faster pace beat and it also seems happier compared to the previous songs. The synchronization of Seunghyun’s rap and Hongki’s and Jaejin’s voices is able to fully exercise the song to its highest potential. “Let It Go” is a song that tells us to let go of our worries, anger, and grudges so that we may be free from it all. Although the song seems to be almost too abrupt as a closing track, I think it fits well with the position because of the message it sends.

Even though I really wanted to hear a fully complete and new album from FT Island, I believe that the choice to reconstruct their Japanese singles for the Korean audience was a wise choice. It allowed the Korean fans to appreciate the significance of the songs through intelligible lyrics and the hard work that FT Island has spent on them shines through flawlessly. In most cases, I really don’t like it when Korean groups conform to the Japanese market but FT Island actually developed into an even greater band because of this exposure. There is not one song that I dislike in the album. Even if I’ve heard half of the songs already, it wasn’t boring and just lured me deeper into their album. Then again, how can you go wrong with rock; especially, if it’s done right like this? The only thing that was a bit bothersome was the drastic difference between “I Wish” and the rest of the songs, but I guess that’s just something I have to deal with. Other than that, the sound of this album is relatively cohesive. I’ve been missing FT Island and “Five Treasure Box” has given me so much that I want even more of them now. So until their next comeback, give this album lots of love; it was wonderful and fun to listen to.