1. Wolf (Korean/Chinese Title: Wolf and Beauty) I was extremely disappointed that this was chosen as the title song choice for XOXO; when I first heard the leaked versions of this song several months before the album release, I thought for sure SM had been joking—only to find to my utter dismay that that had not been the case. This song sounds like an incoherent mash of howling, growling, some sort of rewound dubstep, and vocals that just didn’t fit (even if one completely ignores the high-pitched “ah, I love you” line in the chorus.) Although the song was also marketed as having K and M versions, I could not for the life of me tell the difference between the full group Korean version and K’s, nor could I tell the difference between the full group Mandarin version and M’s. As a result of having twelve members jam-packed into one song, the lesser vocalists are often lost among the power belters, the rap, and the ridiculous instrumental. There are some extremely questionable lyrics included here, the Korean more so than the Mandarin—one of the opening lines for the Korean version translate to “I’ll take you in one mouthful like cheese.” It’s supposed to be about a man who’s hungering for a girl—similar to how a wolf is hungry for, well, something—but the cheese bit, among others, just seemed ridiculous to me. The song is definitely unique, but there is no doubt in my mind that the only reasons this song won on Korean music programs were EXO’s fame and rabid fanbase, rather than any musical merit the song has. Individual song score: 5/10
2. Baby Don’t Cry (K – Suho, Baekhyun, D.O, Chanyeol; M – Full Group) After the complete mindfuckery of “Wolf”, “Baby Don’t Cry,” with its catchy piano melody and heart-wrenching vocals, is a welcome respite. The song was originally released as a teaser, and was one of the highest-demanded to be released as a full song. The lyrics are based on the original story of The Little Mermaid, speaking of a lover that the speaker doesn’t want to let go of before the sun rises and the ocean takes them prisoner, their body fading away into seafoam. I enjoyed this song immensely, as the vocals were smooth and emotional. However, I felt that the rap portions near the end were a bit unnecessary, and did detract from the song somewhat, especially since the rest of the song was entirely vocal-based (the rap portion in this song was much better than another song that appears later on in the album, though). I personally preferred the K version of this song, as I thought D.O’s voice was the best suited for this type of slow, smooth, emotional song, but both are well worth a listen. As a side note, I feel that this song represents M’s greater vocal versatility over K’s, as all the members have some sort of line, whereas in K’s version, Kai and Sehun are absent. (Now don’t kill me, I don’t want to start a fanwar.) Individual song score: 9/10
3. Black Pearl This song was also released as a teaser, but mostly as an instrumental. It includes some dubstep elements, as well as powerful vocals. If you’re thinking about a certain pirate movie after looking at the title song, I don’t think it’s mere coincidence, as the song’s lyrics include references to using a map and sailing on a (metaphorical) ship to look for their “black pearl,” which represents a lover that they're trying to find. This song struck a good balance between the verses, chorus, rap section, and bridge, and I personally enjoyed the echoing buildup before Chen/D.O’s “she’s my black pearl” line. I also felt that the fierce rapping style generally preferred by Tao and Kris worked well in their favor here, lending the song power that Kai, Sehun and Chanyeol just can’t keep up with, although I preferred D.O’s vocals over Chen’s here. Individual song score: 9/10
4. Don’t Go (Korean/Chinese Title: Butterfly Girl) “Don’t Go” is about a girl who’s ever-elusive from a guy’s grasp, but he’s willing to follow her wherever she leads him, comparing the girl to a mysterious yet beautiful butterfly. It’s uplifting and pure-sounding, and easy to listen to, uninterrupted by any rap section, giving the rappers a line or two to sing—Kris and Chanyeol, namely, are actually rather good singers. However, in K’s track, Sehun seemed rather absent (and some fans are still divided on whether or not he actually does say anything in the song.) I rather liked this track, as it gave the “underappreciated” vocalists (Suho and Xiumin) a few more lines, which worked particularly well, as their thinner voices fit well with the light instrumental. Individual song score: 9/10
5. Let Out the Beast “Let Out the Beast” is yet another song that had been previously released in a teaser, with lyrics telling the audience that they’re going to “let out the beast,” and to be prepared for the show ahead. It has a consistent “clapping” sound and alternates powerful rap segments with quick, nearly whispered lines and the chorus. The rappers are brought out with more lines here, with mixed results. It’s interesting, to say the least, although I thought that the bridge seemed rather disjointed when compared to the rest of the song, especially with that odd animal growl thrown in. I also think they could have brought a little more punch to the song, as I was left waiting for more that never came after the consistent repeating that they’re going to “let out the beast.” Individual song score: 7.5/10
6. 3.6.5 Upon first listen, “3.6.5” could easily be mistaken for a song by One Direction—a choice that I’m not sure was intentional or not. Regardless, this is a happy song about a person who wants to spend every day with someone else, but also reminds listeners to stop and take in life without rushing. Like a couple of the other songs on the album, there is no actual rap section, giving the rappers some time to sing; it was a good decision, as rap probably wouldn’t have fit too well in here anyways. It’s a solid song, but rather unremarkable as a whole, although the simple chorus is rather catchy. Individual song score: 8.5/10
7. Heart Attack This song begins with a bit of a haunting instrumental, complete with some sort of faint vocalizing that adds another layer of “creepiness” to it. The lyrics describe a person who’s so overtaken by the sight of someone they’re attracted to that it feels like they’re having a “heart attack,” and their minds are completely clouded by that person. I liked this song, although I thought it had a lot of buildup that had the potential to do something amazing that instead fell rather flat at the bridge. To my surprise, there actually wasn’t a definite rap section in this song—an odd choice, as this was actually one of the songs that a rap section would have fit well in. Individual song score: 8.5/10
8. Peter Pan “Peter Pan” is a bright and refreshing song about a relationship between a rascal-like person and their pure, princess-like love, alluding to the relationship between Peter Pan and Wendy. It’s a cheerful love song that appeals to the child in everyone. The rap section in this track—somewhat lighter fare than EXO typically puts in their songs—fit better than expected, although I thought it was a bit long. I especially enjoyed the soft “oh”-ing during the instrumental portions, as it helped lend more of a mystical and ethereal feeling to the song. None of the members particularly stood out to me in this song, which I felt was a bit of a disappointment. Individual song score: 8.5/10
9. Baby “Baby” follows up the previous track with another love song, this time a fairly straightforward one about a person who becomes breathless and confused around the one they love. It has a strong percussion sound to it, as well as something that sounds like what I can only describe as “sparkly.” This lends the song a more innocent feeling, which fits the image of twelve young men who could be confused about relationships and love. There’s no awkward rap section in here, giving the rappers a chance to display their singing chops. Again, I felt like this was a good song, but a bit forgettable, serving well as a solid filler track. Individual song score: 8.5/10
10. My Lady Originally introduced in EXO’s very first teaser, this song is a smooth, R&B inspired track about a lady who entrances the speaker, making them want to be more than just a friend to her, pledging to be her one and only and promising that she’ll be the same to them. The percussion sound works very well here, highlighting the vocals perfectly. K’s version of the song takes full advantage of D.O’s smooth vocals—the track seems to be custom made for him, and to be honest I think this could have done just fine with this as a D.O solo track. M’s version, powered mainly by Chen, still sounds good, but his sharper vocals don’t seem quite as well suited to the mood of the song. Another thing that really ruined M’s version, in my opinion, was Kris’ rap near the end, mainly due to the obvious autotune filter on it. Individual song score: 9/10
Growl Repackaged Tracks:
1. Growl Right from the get-go, “Growl” is an immediately catchy and funky song, with a consistent beat and memorable chorus. The song, meant as a follow-up to “Wolf,” describes a man who’s “growling” at anyone else who gets close to his girlfriend. It’s a unique song in a much better way than “Wolf” was, but something about it just gets so tiring after a while. The main vocals (Baekhyun and Chen) have some sort of processing over their voices that make their already-powerful vocals sound nearly agonizing to listen to after a few times. I’m still not a fan of how some of the members get so lost in the song as a whole, as it is a full-group song and of course not all the members have equal singing parts. I actually did enjoy the rap section in here, as I felt it fit nicely with the beat and generally darker mood of the song. Compared to “Wolf,” this song is the one that really deserved wins on music shows, although it is not without its faults. Individual song score: 8/10
2. XOXO This song is a love song about someone who’s nervous about falling in love and confessing, and the person of their affections is going through their mind all the time. The instrumental is very bright, which I thought fit the lyrics of the song, but not so much the actual delivery. Some of the parts just sounded downright awkward (mostly the rap and the “XOXO L.O.V.E” parts, especially in K’s version), while the chorus and sung verses worked pretty well. I felt that this song had the potential to be a lot more, but it unfortunately didn’t live up to its potential. Individual song score: 8/10
3. Lucky “Lucky” is a song about a guy who feels lucky and blessed to be in a perfect and happy relationship with the one he loves. It’s a nice song in theory, but the opening lyrics alone—Being born in the same country/Talking in the same language—while somewhat realistic, are rather alienating to EXO’s fans, many of whom live overseas and do not in fact speak Korean or Mandarin (although in Kris’ case I suppose that’s a bit less of a problem, but I digress.) This is especially ironic because Xiumin and Chen are singing in Mandarin in a group targeted at China, when both members are fully Korean. The rap section felt like it didn’t quite belong, which further detracted from the listening experience. It is a nice and uplifting sounding song, and I can definitely see this fitting right in with a Korean drama soundtrack, but there were definitely several flaws that I couldn’t really look past. Individual song score: 8/10 General thoughts: While this album was much better than the previous release, MAMA, I couldn’t help but feel like something was lacking in this album. The majority of the songs had been previously released in teasers, which I thought was rather disappointing—if anything, the teaser songs should have been included in EXO’s debut album (although I suppose this was a bit of a marketing strategy on SM’s part, to keep the fans hooked and waiting for the songs’ release.) The album isn’t bad, and many of the songs are extremely different than standard SM pop-and-electronic fare, yet several of the songs lacked punch and were made worse by mediocre “rap” sections that ruined what could have been great songs. I’m also not a fan of the fact that even in subunits, the members often sing together, when the song could sound so much better and give more members individual parts if it was separated (however this has been an SM thing for as long as I can remember, so I don’t anticipate that changing anytime soon.) I recommend this album to EXO fans, as well as K-Pop fans in general, if you studiously ignore the title song. Overall Grade: 82%—B-