Album Review: Brown Eyed Soul – ‘Vol. 3 Brown Eyed Soul’

Album release date: November 2010
Genre: Soul/R&B, Kpop

Rating: 4/5       
Review by: jct

On November 2010, Korean R&B/Soul male group, Brown Eyed Soul, returns with their third album with more smooth and soulful music. They manage to sing a range of ballads from traditional R&B to modern jams with skills and dexterity. Perhaps Vol. 3 doesn’t break much new ground musically or lyrically, but it’s still a very smooth and enjoyable listen.

A Solid Album

The album has a total of 15 tracks, which includes previous singles, “Blowin’ My Mind,” “Can’t Stop Loving You,” “Never Forget,” “Love Ballad” and “I’ll Move Aside” which were released earlier this year. It also includes solo tracks from the individual members such as Jung-Yeop’s “Miss Cigar Store”, Seong Hoon’s “With Chocolate” and Na-eol’s “You”.  The title track, “If It’s the Same” is a mid-tempo R&B ballad with smooth vocals. However, it sounds like your typical contemporary R&B ballad, and doesn’t really stand out as much as some of the other tracks, such as “I’ll Move Aside” which is a slow-tempo R&B ballad about leaving a loved one’s side coolly. The brass instruments flows beautifully with the members’ smooth vocals and the emotions are carried out perfectly. Also deserving mentioning is “Blowin My Mind” which is a mid-tempo ballad that showcases their strong and emotional vocals with a 1970-1980’s era soul and jazz vibe. The album ends off with “He is Real” and “Your Song (Gratitude)” which they sing completely in English.

The album certainly demonstrates the group at their finest as their resonant and smooth voices are perfect for expressing the sensitive aspect of soul music accompanied with some R&B and ballad melodies. However, Vol. 3 falls off quality-wise on a couple of songs, particularly “Miss Cigar Store” and “Can’t Stop Loving You”. These tracks just don’t seem to be as strong as the album’s other materials, mainly because they give off an overly vintage feel. Actually, the entire album has a retro feel, but it is nicely balanced with some modern materials. Other than those couple of bumps in the road, Vol. 3 is a solid album, and it is recommended for those who enjoy Soul music and traditional R&B. 

Tracklist
1. Soul Breeze
2. Blowin’ My Mind
3. 똑같다면 (If It’s the Same)
4. 그대(You)
5. Can’t Stop Loving You
6. Rainy
7. With Chocolate
8. 담배가게 아가씨 (Miss Cigar Store)
9. Never Forget
10. Love Ballad
11. You
12. 비켜줄께(I’ll Move Aside)
13. Gone
14. He Is Real
15. Your Song (Gratitude)