Moon Hee Jun 1st solo album - Alone

   Here is the now belated review of Moon Hee Jun's first solo Album. It was to be posted in March because his birthday is in March but alas....
     Alone caused quite a bit of controversy when released due to MHJ's drastic change from pop idol to "rock" artist. It seemed that despite the fact the MHJ was no longer in H.O.T. (as H.O.T. was no more) the music public expected him to do the same type of music. Hearing the criticisms of MHJ's rock music may lead others believe that the album would be "not up to standards" musically. Well below is my review of the album and I suggest you hear it for yourself.
The first thing I always look at is the packaging, its the first thing that you see and gets you ready for the album.
    The packaging of Alone very  detail orientated. On first look you see a picture of MHJ holding a young boy with the title Alone written faintly through the photo in cursive. Upon sliding the outer cover off I realize the photo is on the cover and the word alone is written on the cd case itself.

       The cd case by itself  if I may say is luxurious in its simplicity. The world alone is written in gold foil on a rich black paper ,very classy. However the CD was not so pretty  kinda plain but alas….. there was also a photo of MHJ with the young boy he was hold on a cardboard piece I think was meant to act a buffer between the cd booklet and cd.

    The booklet was very nice and dark but poses a problem as fingerprints show up easily on it!!! I’m not really sure about the theme of the photos in the booklet. The booklet features  a few potrait shots of MHJ  there are also a few photos of MHJ holding a young boy or watching him sleep on the floor. Not sure what this has to do with “Alone” but the photos are of good quality.

     Now on the the album...... Electric H.I.T. World  the introduction  to the album is a even mix of electronic (not dance) music with bits of rock. Music you would hear in a dystopian movie.  The song fades outs in the end beginning you on the journey to the album.

   Muse Over the Sunset picks off as H.I.T world fades off it gradually builds up into a soft and ethereal  melody. MHJ’s soft voice fits perfectly with this type of music. As soon as you think "wow this is a nice soft song” the bridge gets a little “harder” and MHJ uses his "rock voice”.  I appreciate how the guitars are used it this song as a “soft” element as certain points.  The pace of the song picks up near the end and despite opening on such a soft note it ends quite harshly.

Our Story opens with an orchestral interlude setting a romantic tone very fitting for the only duet on the album. The female vocals surprisingly par well with MHJ’s soft voice.

   The title track Alone begins with a robotic voice followed by a morphed  a sample from NWA which is weird but prepares us for the mixture of genres that make this title track stand out the rest of the album. Alone makes great uses of electric guitars and drums, orchestral music and a slight hip hop drum loop. This song also has a “ballad break” a section in the song when the music changes and he sings ballad style a pattern which he will repeat in the future. I appreciate how the song doesn't end simply after the dramatic note like a lot of songs but has a minute long orchestrated prelude to end the song giving the song a more dramatic feel (like a movie soundtrack).

    Following is another more mainstream pop oriented song The Loss of sadness. The soft chimes and melody at the start of this song make it stand out along with Alone. The music is very 90’s R&B , This song would be the type of music I supposed his anti’s expected him to come out with in his whole album. 

 After the slow and slightly calming loss of sadness TNT flips the script,  its high energy tempo very reminiscent of 90s Euro beat dance music. It was quite interesting with MHJ’s light voice and slightly mournful voice layered over such a throbbing beat (euro beat songs usually have power singers over such tracks).

  Jumping genres again we land on Red & White, which opens with a twangy guitar tune  with MHJ’s   staticy (morphed of course) voice  soon this little stanza ends and we are introduced to “rock” MHJ. A welcome contrast to MHJ “rock MHJ’s" voice is very strong and gravelly when needed and works very well. I have heard many artists (even some rock artist) try to sound more "rock" by adding rasp and gravel to their voice and it doesn't work to say the least. Love the end of this song as well.

  Aria of the Will starts off as an instrumental that may remind someone of an action movie. The second rock song on the album MHJ adds more of the orchestral instrumentation as well as choral vocals which amps up the dramatic effect of the song. Once again his “rock” voice is spot on. But this time he also uses his “singing voice” at the end of the song.

   The very next song is that's right you guessed it, another rock influenced song Persia Black Hole is actually most fans introduction to “Rock Heejun”. The music itself is very guitar heavy  and is more nu-metal/hip-rock (hip-hop rock hybrid) than rock. MHJ raps through out the song as well as using his “rock voice”. This time there is “headbanging breaks” within the song (moments of heavy guitar solos to which everyone headbangs or whips their hair around together). I know from seeing recordings that this song is great live.

Continuing the pattern Devil of an Angel welcomes us with a “dirty” gutair rift. Again orchestral music is layered with the guitars for dramatic effect. MHJ alternates between shouting and his slightly creepy talk/singing. At one point his “death voice” is very convincing adding to the slight creepiness of the song. I once again like the unexpected ending with  sorrowful violin solo a very different way to end such a rough song.

   Coming out of nowhere is I still believe this is my wth song from this album ( the one song that makes you say why is this here?). The song itsself is not a bad song  its placement is a bit defeating of  the three “heavy” rock songs before it. I still believe is pretty much  a pop song with some staticy vocals and guitars compared to its processors. It probably would have been better to put this song before the “heavy three” to showcase MHJ’s ability to do pop rock to “heavier rock”. On a positive note the slight echo and fade out of the melody was a great way to end the song. 

   Expected Farewell Sung to the tune of Auld Lang Lyne (a favorite of mine that always moves me)  even though his lyrics are different it still fits the theme of the song remembering old friends and people of times past and moving on but never forgetting . On the last stanza his voice sounds so sorrowful i thought he was crying which added to the overall feel to the song.

 One of the best endings of an album I ever heard ...........

But we’re not done yet there is a bonus song!! MHJ comes back with a old school korean pop (trot) “ rock style song”  entitled strangely Button Hole. MHJ’s voice much more deep and husky adds to the slightly dramatic song ( the tune reminds me of Gerudo valley in the legend of Zelda ocarina of time). 
check out these MVs/  from Alone 

 

Is Alone worth buying? I say a definte yes... But since Moon Hee Jun is no longer with SM the CD is hard to come by  as of now there is one still for sale on Ebay or you can purchase it here at
http://www.asiandb.com/custom/affiliate.php?aid=jewelrose&item=4515