Below is another review on JYJ’s “In Heaven” song.
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JYJ released the music video for the title track of their new album, In Heaven, yesterday. To be honest, I wasn’t flailing over my desk in excitement over the new video…but I was excited to finally hear a recording of “In Heaven” that wasn’t disgraced by inappropriately placed fangirl screams in the background.
The music video certainly isn’t your everyday, ankle-deep K-pop MV fare, which is definitely something to be thankful for. But it seemed to me that the dramatic nature of the video was trying to compete with the dramatic nature of the song…and in the end, both sides lose. “In Heaven” is a really great song – arguably one of JYJ’s most impressive works to date – and the MV was shot really well, despite having a painfully cliched storyline. The two individual components of the MV – the song and the videography – tug at the heartstrings in just the right way when presented alone. But put it together and it tends to cheapen the effectiveness of either component.
But enough pseudo-legitimate artistic criticism from me. Check out the MV for yourself:
Though at times it may not seem like it, I have a lot of respect for JYJ. I really do. Granted, I don’t agree with a lot of things they’ve done – sue SM, produce the atrocity that was “Ayyy Girl,” spam photos of their cats via Twitter…amongst others. Nor do I feel all that bad for them and their current situation. Sure, it sucks to be constantly cockblocked by every television network in Korea, and they’ve probably made more enemies in the entertainment world than friends within these past few years. On the surface, JYJ’s story is pretty tragic: they gave up the glory of being in one of the most celebrated Asian pop acts in K-pop history so they could pursue their true dreams…and in return, the entire K-pop industry avoids them like a Damascene crowd fleeing from a trio of lepers.
But even so, I don’t pity them too much because I think that ultimately, they’re gonna be okay.
As someone who spends a lot of time examining K-pop in detail, I find it difficult to view JYJ’s music in the same way that I view most other K-pop music. To me, K-pop is defined by trends and their influence throughout the K-pop spectrum, as well as their evolution with every new promotional concept. Within mainstream K-pop, every ‘fresh’ concept is a derivation from an old idea, which is why K-pop music oftentimes comes across as being redundant and unoriginal. But in the same way, redundancy is arguably what keeps a loyal fanbase coming back for more.
Back in their heyday as a five-membered group, DBSK was arguably a leader of trends within the mainstream K-pop scene. But now, JYJ has detached themselves from mainstream K-pop, and thus has detached themselves from mainstream K-pop trends as well.
And that’s kind of amazing, if you really think about it.
The current trend-based K-pop system is manufactured in a way that allows little to no musical or artistic flexibility, which is a pretty sucky situation when it comes to K-pop idols who are clearly in it for something more than mere popularity awards or fangirls worshipping them at their feet. I’d be more than willing to argue that JYJ’s principal reason for leaving SM wasn’t merely financial, and that it probably had something to do with the fact that Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu have long proven themselves to be competent musicians that are capable of making music outside of the confines of an entertainment institution like SM.
Even when SM allows one of their artists to put a self-composed work on an upcoming album, it rarely makes it onto the album’s version A tracklist and is often relegated to Bonus-Track-Land on the repackage version. Needless to say, there’s no way in hell SM (or any other K-pop company, for that matter) would ever let an idol’s self-composed work serve as a promotional single. In the end, K-pop artists serve as vehicles for trends – but if the current trend is defined by autotune and shiny spandex pants and made-up words that end in “-tic”….well, I’d want out, too.
JYJ’s been effectively exiled from the mainstream K-pop scene, sure. But at the same time, they’ve also been freed of the burden of keeping up with the trends and sacrificing artistry for the sake of profit. The end result? Few promotional opportunities and gratuitous amounts of drama – but for the first time in their careers, JYJ can say that their music is truly theirs. No trends driving their inspiration, no fangirl hormonal desires to feed. Say what you want about their business tactics, but at the very least, JYJ’s music is clean and honest.
Ree wrote an article earlier today about the possibility of JYJ re-integrating itself back into mainstream K-pop. For many people, this news is a cause for celebration – and for good reason: JYJ’s been through way too much crap and are way too talented to be denied of basic performing rights due to office politics and red tape. Personally, I did do a little fangirl squee when Leeteuk and Eunhyuk played “Chajatta” on Sukira. But at the same time, I’m really quite satisfied with the way things currently are. The flames between SM and JYJ are starting to cool – SM now only fancies itself the father of the prodigal son – but I reckon that they’re currently so busy taking care of their other kids so that reining back JYJ has become less of a priority. And while JYJ might not be completely satisfied with their current celebrity status, they’re starting to settle firmly into the roles of musicians and artists, rather than idols – and they’ve done the work to show it.
“In Heaven” isn’t a perfect song with a perfect MV. It doesn’t follow any trends and it’s not out there with the intent of winning any awards. It doesn’t boast flashy visuals with good-looking guys making bedroom eyes at the camera. In the most basic sense of the word, “In Heaven” isn’t a K-pop song, and JYJ isn’t a K-pop group. And thank goodness for that.
Credit: Patricia@seoulbeats
Shared By: JYJ3
hmmm. is it possible to hate and like this review at the same time? lol.
i just dont like her so called facts on the whole sm lawsuit thing. it’s pretty biased (just read what she wrote bout the KBS vs JYJ jeju issue. i guess, the freqeunt readers at seoulbeats knows that she always write not so good stuff bout JYJ if you read all the comments.).
the bolded part, definitely i agree.
Admin, Patricia wrote a review or rather her thoughts bout the MV, just scroll down at the comment section.
It’s obviously possible xD I’m just like you, didn’t like some of the things she said, but I like how she highlights the fact that JYJ are not so much an idol group anymore, and how she thinks that’s something to be thankful for. So I’m gonna keep the good things from this article.
T______T so TRUE !
i dont know why but jaejoong’s pic looks so sad to me . esp his eyes 😦
I LOVE THIS REVIEW. I WOULD MAKE LOVE WITH THIS REVIEW WITH JYJ IN THE MIDDLE!!
Hate and love this review at the same time.
I hate her injecting her skewed belief of how the lawsuit went down, but at the same time its very telling that even with her bias that is obviously against JYJ, she can’t take anything away from them musically and has to admit that they are going in a dirction musically that is admirable. That in and of itself is a big thing imo.
*direction
I just don’t like the fact that no matter how much she tries to be objective and praise JYJ, she will always end up giving them a few jabs here and there.
True, but the fact that she can’t throw jabs at their music is what, in the long run, really matters imo.
well she’s only one person why do we care ?
“sue SM, produce the atrocity that was “Ayyy Girl,” spam photos of their cats via Twitter… amongst others.”
I don’t think they needed anyone’s approval of the lawsuit, but lol at the photos of their cats, tbh. I love it, tbh.
“As someone who spends a lot of time examining K-pop in detail, I find it difficult to view JYJ’s music in the same way that I view most other K-pop music.”
Same here, tbh. I’ve thought like that ever since the beginning.
“JYJ’s principal reason for leaving SM wasn’t merely financial, and that it probably had something to do with the fact that Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu have long proven themselves to be competent musicians that are capable of making music outside of the confines of an entertainment institution like SM.”
IA.
“and made-up words that end in “-tic”….well, I’d want out, too.” > I keep lol-ing at the abuse of this!
“JYJ’s music is clean and honest.”
Which is one of the reasons I truly love them and, what’s more, respect them as musicians in a way I do not do towards other idols (not cause I don’t respect them, but cause I don’t consider them musicians in the 1st place.)
“In the most basic sense of the word, “In Heaven” isn’t a K-pop song, and JYJ isn’t a K-pop group. And thank goodness for that.”
TRUTH HAS BEEN SPOKEN. That’s the reason I feel free to recomend JYJ to people that isn’t into kpop, or that isn’t really that much into kpop, and also the reason some of them become fans and ask me to keep giving them new JYJ songs even when I’ve already passed them everything that’s been released.
And tbh, I love this review even more than the ones that only say a whole lot of good things about the song and the MV. I like how the writer expresses and what she (?) says, since obviously the main point of this is not so much to review the song and the MV but to state her opinion on how JYJ have detached themselves from the idol image (or are in the way to do so), and that’s sth I really appreciate.
Okay totally did not see that line. Just read the bold parts, then read from there. Gosh I take back what i’ve just said. SMH
I don’t take it personally; it’s pretty obvious that the writer is biased, and somehow that makes me appreciate the good thing she says more, if she’s able to say them while being biased.
tbh, I usually just download mp3 files when there’s a song I like. But ever since I found out more about JYJ, I’m buying their songs from iTunes and the physical CDs. 🙂
IKR? I only buy physical CDs from a very few artists, usually my favs. Nowadays that list consists basically of Muse and JYJ, lol.
I love your constructive criticism. I couldn’t agree with you more! I have always loved and respected their musical talents and that is what drew me to them years ago. I got goosebumps every time I would listen to their voices. I am so happy for JYJ despite everything that has happened. They may not be where they want to be at the present moment, but you know, they should be very happy with what they have accomplished. The fact that they are able to write and compose their own songs without being told what to do with it or having those self-composed songs being thrown in the background of every single/album, is in itself amazing and that is something I hope they never lose sight of! As long as they stay true to themselves and continue to try their best, they will always have people who support them and back them up. I know I always will!
“SM now only fancies itself the father of the prodigal son – but I reckon that they’re currently so busy taking care of their other kids so that reining back JYJ has become less of a priority.”
I don’t agree with that at all, SM have proved themselves to be working very actively blocking JYJ along with their cronies Avex (jeju anyone?)
I also can’t stand it when people say they’d rather JYJ hadn’t sued SM, would they prefer them unhappy in their workplace as long as their OT5 is still together.
Yea I know what you mean. To be honest, I have absolutely no detailed knowledge of the whole lawsuit ordeal but at the end of the day, I believe that JYJ did what they needed to do in order to be where they are today. Despite not even having a lot of promotions for their new album, they still did EXTREMELY well when the album was available for pre-order and they still continue to do well no matter what. That in itself is amazing to me. I like JYJ the way they are and as long as they are happy and doing what they love, then that’s all that matters! \(^o^)/
Actually, they’re doing better than a lot of groups with promotions, aren’t they? I think that, and the fact that they’re getting so much freedom when it comes to their projects and music, proves that they quite probably made the right decision.
yea you are right! They did better than a lot of the groups that had promotions! That is why they will be okay. ^_^
actually, i think they’re doing heaps better is because 1) they’re mainly up against nugu groups with considerably smaller fanbases (like, way smaller) 2) they WERE part of the group with the biggest fandom. naturally, album sales and fan support reflect that.
It’s a pretty good, honest, opinionated review that I mostly agree with/ see her point. But one thing that I’m a sliiiightly irritated by is this statement “Needless to say, there’s no way in hell SM (or any other K-pop company, for that matter) would ever let an idol’s self-composed work serve as a promotional single.”
I’m not talking about SM because that obviously applies to them, and I’m very VERY proud that this album’s made up of the members’ original compositions and productions, but seriously? Statement like these detracts from the talent and hard work that some other idols do, and the companies that allow them the freedom. Case in point, GD produces (and contributes to) the bulk of BigBang’s repertoire. CNBlue (esp Yonghwa and Jonghyun) composes most of their own songs. BlockB’s Zico is another composer/producer. ALL of them has had their work as lead singles.
Sorry bout the deviation from JYJ, just needed to get it of my chest.
Love your comment. Even without knowing all the details, if you just see what they are doing and who they are, it’s pretty amazing.
Exactly! As a fan, whatever makes them happy makes me happy because they are doing what they love at the end of the day. I truly believe they made a good decision for themselves no matter what the underlying circumstances were behind that decision. JYJ are really strong people and its definitely an inspiration!
More than “can’t stand”, I just don’t get it. When you’re a fan, don’t you want your idols to be happy? Don’t you respect the fact that they have their own opinions about their situation, and obviously know more about it than you’ll ever know? I don’t get it. I think some OT5 are so convinced that they can’t be happy if they’re not 5 than they fail to see the big picture. And it bothers me, oh god, it bothers me a lot.
“I think some OT5 are so convinced that they can’t be happy if they’re not 5 than they fail to see the big picture. And it bothers me, oh god, it bothers me a lot.”
Agreed, that attitude drives me mental, as if they can’t function unless they’re five and they never had hopes and dreams outside of being in TVXQ.
“I think some OT5 are so convinced that they can’t be happy if they’re not 5 than they fail to see the big picture. And it bothers me, oh god, it bothers me a lot.”
I agree with you. It does bother me too. Especially when they say that JYJ is not as good as when they were 5. I won’t say anything of the other 2, but we all know for a fact that JYJ have proven they are happy with their careers, albeit not performing on TV stations and freely in their own country and Japan. But no, I don’t think they are better if they are 5. I know I can say this because I was a fan of DBSK5. JYJ are perfect together in voice, technique, delivery, stage presence, and not one better or popular than the other. And they produced their own flavors as all 3 complement each other and I think that is what makes a great team. If these three debuted as 3 instead of 5, would they have judged them differently? That would be labeling yourself a hypocrite now wouldn’t it.
“I also can’t stand it when people say they’d rather JYJ hadn’t sued SM, would they prefer them unhappy in their workplace as long as their OT5 is still together.”
yeah, it’s like the rich husband who buys his wife pretty things and everyone on the outside thinks her life is fabulous, but he beats her when they’re behind closed doors. and then when she finally works up the courage to file for that divorce and everyone finds out he’s been abusing her, they still tell her that she shouldn’t have left because she had everything she needed.
like… LOL excuse me, but what? get out of here with that logic.
I agree, I really think JYJ is the future for Korean music industry. Though I lament that I can’t here all five voices together, this clean JYJ is very very refreshing. I hope they continue on this track. ^_^
JYJ is amazing at all sides !!!!!!!!!
I agree that JYJ’s music is clean and honest.
Also agree that it probably had something to do with the fact that Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu have long proven themselves to be competent musicians that are capable of making music outside of the confines of an entertainment institution like SM.
Love JYJ ! Love JYJ’s music ! Love all sides of JYJ !
V@_^V
She should just stuck with the music part of the review.
Exactly! Just concentrate on the music!
A simple scenario:
A blogger food critic came to town coz she heard a small restaurant came up with a new awesome dish.
She walked in, ordered and tasted the food.
“Fabulous!!!” she said licking her fingers and lips.
Then she go on to comment: “I love the food, it’s fantastic and out of this world. But why did you guys leave that mega restaurant across the street?”
“Oh, you have to be bonded for 13 years and get minimum pay?
And they determine what food you can or cannot cook?
And your earnings (which is the largest of all the chefs in that restaurant) were used to pay all your owners and restaurant’s and even the other crews’ expenses?”
“Erm… Well, you get to have the largest stove in that huge kitchen!
Anyway, I’m a huge fan of that restaurant.
I love your food but I think you guys should have stayed there even though I may never get to taste such great food and most probably you guys will still get tiny pays and made to work 24/7.
But all in all great food!”
I don’t hate nor like the review.
Even though she tried to be fair (and I believed am truly impressed by our boys’ music), she tends to make comments like “oh, it’s great BUT…”
And does the fact that her bias is on the other side makes her review better than the others?
NO.
Eventually, it’s only her own opinion and views.
It’ll not alter how I see JYJ’s music.
I just want to say I really LOVE your restaurant story Ha Ha Ha >O<
*Bows* thanks^^
I just feel she has alter motives in her “so-call review”. 😛
hahaha you are so creative!!!!
OMO i lolled so bag on that restaurant example…. it’s so apt!
yup u right @shadow
love your restaurant story
LOL
Well..it’s pretty amusing to hear someone said that SM now busy with other kid, because I don’t think so. SM still very very busy with JYJ and cockblocking jyj in every way which is annoying. After all, I love this review. She pretty bias about the lawsuit, but about JYJ music she got my support!
they even made snsd comeback next month, they will never leave them alone
pretty sure they announced it earlier than JYJ though. And I thought SNSD was supposed to comeback this month? I only knew bout it cos I was expecting them to clash with KARA in september, but turns out they’ll only be having their comeback next month.
i like this article. to me it is positive comparison of where jyj’s music is taking them and how good they have done in spite of breaking away from their sugar daddy sm. yeah she should have researched more on her facts but heck, she sounds pro jyj to me. i will take it as a compliment from someone good at criticizing things!
LOL writers at seolbeats are seriously butthurt that JYJ filed a lawsuit…its like they think, how dare they break the mold? lol
but anyway I am glad that despite her bias she was able to see the quality of music that JYJ created. Although I dont agree with everything she wrote, I give her credit for writing a review where its not just “ljsdadfsjkdfjkafhjasdfjsk this is flawless!!!!1111” Because that was my review lol In a way, seeing people’s opinion outside the fandom is encouraging as well b/c it means that JYJ are connecting not just with their fans but with the general public 😀
I don’t like this at all! I think she’s being rude .
What the hell is her prob? Spamming twitter with their cats? really?
I DO THAT ! I SPAM MY TWITTER WITH MY CAT’S PICS AL THE TIME!
suing sme ? AYY GIRL? seriously ?
In Heaven is not a perfect song ? not a perfect MV ?
grow up !
i am just really really angry now! i am out !
i know how u feel…im a bit mad bcause of this review…some of her/his/whatever words were so mean >< and the twitter thing…that was RIDICULOUS !!!!
I agree. It’s their twitter, they can spam whatever the hell they like. & A LOT of their fans love their cat pics, me included! What she said about the lawsuit was incredibly ignorant too. Don’t present statements as facts if you don’t know what you’re talking about.
I think this review is fairly decent. I have a tendency to skip her analysis of JYJ because she has an axe to grind over the lawsuit. As someone who is an observer of K Pop and its fans, her attitude hasn’t been uncommon. The self absorption and immaturity of some fan girls is appalling. This notion that greed was the driving force behind the suit is unbelievable to me. Being paid for the work you’ve done is not greed. Wanting creative, artistic and personal autonomy is not a sign of ungratefulness.
JYJ are creating a space for themselves in the Korean music industry, by necessity and design. They have nowhere to go but up.
Wait til she sees the Get Out mv if she thinks they left Kpop. It sits right in the middle of Kpop. In fact, I think they did a nod to Super Junior near the end (the part in the current gif up top where it says “keep you head up”. That dance looks just like an SM performance video. It even looks like the Sorry Sorry video SJ did. But the way it flashes back and forth with the rest of the video seems to me to be saying we are doing it and more. It’s like they are saying, we can do that break past it to something more.
I agree that the song itself is better than the mv because you can’t focus on the incredible nature of the song with Junsu’s cute figure running like that (: ) . But all she is really saying is the mv is too good and the song is too good to go together. Is that a problem?
At least in her comments about the lawsuit, she admits that their reason was not about money, but their desire for artistic control. As Yuchun says, “without your mind, your heart, there’s no you.” Think she got that one partially right, but it is more like being true to yourself and who you are inside (aka always keep the faith).
“I agree that the song itself is better than the mv because you can’t focus on the incredible nature of the song with Junsu’s cute figure running like that (: )”
LOL I TOTALLY AGREE! That put a smile on my face!
Well, I don’t quite agree with “sits right in the middle of KPop”. Get Out to me doesn’t really follow the current Kpop trends, at least not obviously enough. It focuses more on their vocals rather than repetitive phrases, even though it’s an upbeat dance number. I’d like to think that it’s deviating slightly from the norm. The trouble with composing your own piece is how to juggle what you want it to sound like, your artistic integrity, while also appealing to a mass audience. So yes, I agree that it has a place in the realm of Kpop, but I hope it succeeded in it’s own niche of Kpop.
And people were going on about conspiracy theories everywhere, seriously. I enjoyed the MV, made me like the song more. I didn’t even have the presence of mind to think of SM or whatever while watching it.
Forget what I said above about the Get Out mv. Her review was better than mine (see the posted link). I just dabble in Kpop, so I’m not an expert. Love her ending comment on how Yoochun doesn’t “need a damn explain”.
Saw her review on Get Out here:
http://www.callmepatricia.com/?p=3852
I read that review and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. The fact is she nailed my thoughts right on point, not only about the song or the MV but she reached the depths and souls of manufactured kop groups and realizes JYJ is more than just a typical Asian boyband.
And that is just the great thing about JYJ. They are pursuing their careers in a non-idol model cookie cutter sort of way. JYJ may continue to call themselves idols but the obvious point of it all is that they managed to pave their road as an artist rather than idols. Yes JYJ, whether you like it or not, you are not idols anymore.
That was probably the best review of JYJ thus far. I do however, felt she was cynical about Cjes being the shadiest management company. It may appear to be so but sometimes Cjes could really surprise me, in a positive way. They’re dealing with matters in an unconventional way, and that’s what I like about them.
She finds a way to insult and sooth at the same time. That way you can’t really say he’s JYJ biased or hater. It’s rather annoying.
JYJ can say that their music is truly theirs
THIS! Forever JYJ …I´m proud of you guys ❤
Same with me! I ALWAYS buy JYJ’s physical CD’s! I will always support them!
OK i had problems with this line:
“sue SM, produce the atrocity that was “Ayyy Girl,” spam photos of their cats via Twitter…amongst others.”
i mean…wtf? is she/he mad bcause of cat pics on twitter? whats the f*cking problem? they are free to post anything they want on twitter…that was so MEAN srsly =__=.
The only thing i liked about this review is the part when she/he says that JYJ are FREE to produce their own music, and their songs are honest and clean….i have to agree with that. JYJ are not another kpop idol group, they are in another level, and im so proud of that ❤
I can not understand people who are on the side of the sm, I can not really, it seems that we lose track of good and evil and only focused on their selfish desires, particularly the only thing salvageable from the revision, is the fact that it can not cover the sun with one finger, she almost gave up the talent of JYJ, very reluctantly of course, has demonstrated it JYJ the reasons that sued the sm, that even the most blind can see, but it must be a blind man with brains!, like her.
I think I shouldn’t read this review on the first place cause it shows nothing about music knowledge and I don’t know why she called it a review = =
She is only anti who is smart enough to use beautiful words cover her real intentions. Beneath that, it’s fulled with resentful which try to say JYJ is only a boy who wants lot of attention and she is really glad when JYJ finally know that they should be in their place. Only musician and artist who belongs in concert stage not TV program.
I want to ask all of you, when or where that JYJ say they want us to pay a lot of attention to their personal life? and why spam photos of their cats is related to MV review? She said nothing about melody or production of MV but continue to show her reader that JYJ is wrong for lawsuit situation. And not even give a reason why she think filing lawsuit against SM is wrong. She just cover it all up by admire JYJ with sweet words but less in reason. It likes she copy and paste another review on hers without believing anything in them. Cause she didn’t show me what she got from MV. Beautiful camera or harmonic in melody?
I’ll be glad if she is the one who C-Jes talk about, cos I think she is the big one = =
“In Heaven” isn’t a K-pop song, and JYJ isn’t a K-pop group. And thank goodness for that.
..one honest review.. Thank goodness really .. they are embraced are genuine artists to the credit of their talents .. sooooo well done!
I feel good when JYJ’s music is recognized and appreciated.
The lawsuit with SM is still ongoing. Because its JYJ its being watched like a korean drama. It wouldn’t gain any attention if a not so popular artist did what JYJ did. still long way and its always my hope & wish that in the long run JYJ will serve as catalyst for change in Korean entertainment industry.
“its always my hope & wish that in the long run JYJ will serve as catalyst for change in Korean entertainment industry.”
Hear hear to that. One of these days. And I for one can’t wait!
Mixed feelings.
She forgot to mention that they don’t have artistic freedom AND even if their song makes it on the CD, the copyright is transferred to SM. That’s just a huge DNW for me.
But other than that, yeah she’s entitled to her own opinion…And no, I don’t expect her to feel bad about their situation; but, I’m honestly eyebrowing that she didn’t acknowledge that this cockblocking situation – regardless of whether it was JYJ or not – is not right. Can’t take the fact that someone tried to break the mold?
Also…The whole ‘SM doesn’t focus on stopping JYJ anymore’? I think that’s waaay too soon to say. Not only that, we’re fans – outsiders of the entire situation. There is likely backdoor happenings that was not aired to the public – or at least not to the international fanbase.
Whatever. Lol. But my main contention is that it doesn’t feel like a music review, rather a judgmental view on JYJ’s career. And yanno, I came to read a music review about In Heaven. So…meh.
I like the music review part.
Yet on certain part of this article, where it says “The flames between SM and JYJ are starting to cool – SM now only fancies itself the father of the prodigal son – but I reckon that they’re currently so busy taking care of their other kids so that reining back JYJ has become less of a priority.” I’m highly doubtful… I hear stories saying that SM is still desparately making efforts to cockblocking JYJ from music/entertainment shows.
For one thing, I recently saw SM kids appearing in some non-popular TV programs that normally do not feature idol stars, allegedly as a part of the deal with the broadcasting station to make sure JYJ cannot appear on the music shows.
I might be wrong, but it seems to me that there seems to be still a lot of obstacles on the way and we fans should support the boys as hard as ever at this critical juncture…
I just love the fact that even JYJ sang Kpop-trending music for a long time, they are not affected by them.
They always can find a very new melody that are strange to all ears like “9095” or “Shelter” even when they’re singing pop songs in the trend of both Kpop and Jpop.
These boys always surprise you with their open-mind and creativeness, each of their songs can say it.
am i paranoid? why do i think this review just wants to make JYJ fans complacent and not see anti’s for what they really are? i find it difficult to reconcile reading she understands JYJ’s need for artistic freedom and at the same time takes a jab at JYJ’s lawsuit against SME? errmmmm…. sugarcoated words do not move me.
the more i read reviews like this, the more i am on guard. i would have just wanted an honest take on the MV no more, no less.
I liked some of what the writer had to say; totally disagree on SM( can’t give an inch on my disdain for this company!) All things being equal, JYJ doesn’t need any help with promotion: second round of tours, completed fan meets, ambassadorships, completed acting and musical gigs and awards to go with; along with their musical/composing talent and ‘whew’ I’m getting exhausted just thinking about all this! The only thing left to say is, JYJ have a good time in Spain!!!
Patricia, I get that you are using faint praise here. I’m curious about this…regarding the lawsuit…there were basically three choices….1) stay and continue to take the BS, 2) walk out the door and say ‘F’ the contract and owe gazillions of dollars for said breach, or 3) sue for their rights to end an unfair contract that had them as ‘virtual slaves’, and get a chance to move on with their lives.
So, as a person I assume that has a somewhat functioning brain, what choice did they have? Would you want to remain in perpetual slavery? Would you want to spend the remainder of your life paying back money just to be free? Or would you seek redress to end an intolerable situation and have a chance at a new life? I don’t see what’s so hard to fathom here. Ok, maybe you don’t really care about how they were being treated, but the Courts have come down on their side about the contract, so they must have been in the right. Hmmmmmm? Yes, suing can become a cottage industry. But this case was legit and you damn well know it.
There are some other issues but I won’t belabour the points. But you should really critique for the music and leave the personal stuff on the side.
Mommy-hen, 2 thumbs, 8 fingers & 10 toes up!!! ♥
Sapphire, if you can, please help me hold up all my 10 toes too while I give Mommy Hen , two high 5s with my two hands!
Baffie, I agree life is short. We shouldn’t waste it, feeling defeated and twiddling our thumbs. Good to GET OUT because in SME, it was definitley not living ” IN HEAVEN”..
There is a 4th Choice ( Some artistes chose to end their life,,5th…do some crazy things) and many more choices to choose from.
I am so glad that JYJ chose your number 3 choice. We all know, life is about making choices, and with each decision making comes the consequences.
Just like marriage, a Holistic marriage/sacred contract between a husband & wife, till death do us part, and yet, the is such word “DIVORCE” in the dictionary.
And beside, those are just career contract. That is why, there are penalty involved. It is not criminal.
Oh wow, so here’s where the party’s at, I see.
Thanks for the comments; I’ve read through all of them carefully and it seems as if a lot of people aren’t happy with my disapproval of JYJ’s contract termination (amongst other things, I’m sure). To make it clear, I’m all for standing up for artists’ rights and I definitely agree that the current idol system is in desperate need of reform. The reason why I don’t completely agree with JYJ’s decision to sue SM when they did is because of the fact that they broke their binding contract – a contract with terms that are arguably unreasonable and unjust, but they signed onto it nonetheless and in doing so, they should follow through. It’s not necessarily WRONG of them to break the contract, and I’m sure that there are tons of people who wholeheartedly support JYJ in prematurely terminating their contract regardless of the terms previously defined. But my own personal values disagree with JYJ’s decision to go against their superiors at the time and break the preestablished promise of loyalty outlined in the contract. That’s my only beef with JYJ’s legal situation – nothing more, nothing less. Once again, these are my PERSONAL values speaking, values that extend far beyond the reach of the JYJ debacle into my own personal life. I’m sure you all hold your own personal values and morals and apply them to situations in your own lives all the time. I know that, for many, the JYJ situation is a really touchy subject, but I ask that you respect my right to my own opinions and values as much as I do your own.
So even though I’m pretty sure a bunch of you probably hate me, I hope you nonetheless understand my point of view. I don’t consider myself to be biased towards JYJ nor HoMin, and I don’t really believe that you have to support one side or the other in order to state your opinion about the situation at large. In addition, this article wasn’t originally billed as a music review when it was posted on Seoulbeats, and I’m not really sure why the JYJ3 admins chose to label it as such. Nonetheless, thanks for taking the time to read and repost this article, and I hope that fruitful discussion about this topic will continue. 🙂
@Patricia
First of all, welcome.
Next, let’s see, when you’re (As in SMe) more or less the most freaking huge company in Korea, perhaps even more so monopoly, what you deem contract is basically YOUR own rules and regulation.
And for a young kid (TVXQ should be around 14 years old at that time) with dreams to become a singer, of coz they will effectively do anything to get even a single chance to fulfill their dreams.
That doesn’t mean it gives the company the right to put in UNFAIR rules and demand they follow through.
A contract is subject to reasonableness and whether the buyer (TVXQ in this case) had the bargaining power to negotiate better terms.
It is very obvious that in this case, the company holds all the bargaining chips in their hands.
In the contract itself, I dont suppose it actually indicates “thou shall only receive minimum remuneration even after working to thy death”
So pray tell, how is it not fair to walk away from all these nonsense when now they are capable of doing so?
Hey Shadow. I’m just adding to the debate here.
That doesn’t mean it gives the company the right to put in UNFAIR rules and demand they follow through
Actually according to the rules of Confucian society it does give the company exactly that right. That’s why people need to be clear about how they are viewing this issue. Are they seeing it as a legal fight, where the contract is actually a significant factor — JYJ clearly wins, we’ve been though this with a fine-toothed comb for two years.
Or is it a moral one, where the traditions of the society have precedence? Patricia takes this approach to looking at the situation. The Canadian gov’t warns it’s citizens who are considering working in Korea that what they sign as an employment contract could be rendered insignificant at any time (That’s paraphrased, but I was surprised to see a warning of this type when doing some research…). This is because the rules of Confucian society in Korea are still more important than the rule of law. I’m sure this is why there hasn’t been a ruling. The legal contract violations are so blatant, but still JYJ did go against the rules of the society by rebelling against their social superiors — what’s a judge to do?
Dear Eliza,
I am going to copy and paste from Confucius wiki source, since I know nothing about Confucius.
“While he supported the idea of government by an all-powerful sage, ruling as an Emperor, his ideas contained a number of elements to limit the power of rulers. He argued for according language with truth, and honesty was of paramount importance. Even in facial expression, truth must always be represented. In discussing the relationship between a king and his subject (or a father and his son), he underlined the need to give due respect to superiors. This demanded that the inferior must give advice to his superior if the superior was considered to be taking the wrong course of action.”
After reading the wiki,
Correct me if I’m wrong about the rules of Confucian society in Korea.
Did Confucius say -An oppressive government is more to be feared than a tiger-
Do people in Korea really worship SME as their superior?
So the SK court is not their superior?
@patricia
How do you define a contract between two parties in business?
Is it based on the agreement enforceable by law?
Is it based on your personal values, whatever those may be?
If everyone signs a contract based on personal value, do you think we will need laws in our society?
If someone is breaking the law and you know that is wrong,
Will you speak out?
Will you keep silent because of your personal values?
Would you pretend you don’t know who is breaking the law?
Would you only mind your own business and stay out?
As long as you are not suffering, you are ok.
For other people, why bother, they were young and stupid they signed the slave contract.
It’s their fault and they should live with their stupid contract.
You are lucky you didn’t sign a slave contract.
Is it your personal belief that abiding to the contract is more important than the following morals?
Don’t confuse yourself between morals, personal value, and laws.
Let’s just look at these examples:
Your moral value: having people as slaves is wrong.
Your personal value: a contract should be honored.
The SK laws: slave contracts are not allowed.
And your POV is your personal value, wow! Should JYJ fans debate on your personal value? lol
And your POV is your personal value, wow! Should JYJ fans debate on your personal value? lol
hey patricia! i really don’t expect you to be here 0.0 honestly, i have to say that i like your blog’s reviews, including the one about homin — yeah because their album is wickedly cool, thanks to yoo young jin’s geniusness and yunho’s better singing technique, at least he didn’t sound as “bitchy” as before. and i also agree with all of your opinions about shinee, kke.
but anyway, i don’t buy the “loyalty” thing. i do have a loyalty, to my own value, which based in my religion. jyj too, i think what have they done is one proof of “loyalty” to themselves, to the values they believe about getting what they deserve to get — and i think laws encourage this kind of values, right? speak of “loyalty”, i never think someone is “loyal” if they let themselves being pushed around or let their talents wasted and more importantly, let their rights to be violated by those so called “contract” — yeah, because they signed it WAY BACK THEN when they might not know anything about “values”. at least, correct me if i’m wrong, jyj did try to “fix” the contract first — not just “terminate” it.
lastly, i agree with your opinion about jyj’s detaching themselves from mainstream k-pop. i feel complete just hear their songs — though i know their songs aren’t perfect. and this is very random, but now that i think of it, homin’s “maximum” song is rather fit jyj’s situation right now~ :p
@patricia
Like others, I welcome you to JYJ3. Thank you for replying to our comments. First off, my reply to your review has nothing to do with hate. Putting aside the legal issues, the JYJ vs. SME situation is extremely emotion charged. That leads us to personal mores. We all have them and I respect your right to have yours, even if I think they are misguided.
You made this comment, “But my own personal values disagree with JYJ’s decision to go against their superiors at the time and break the pre-established promise of loyalty outlined in the contract.”
Well, here is where my ‘personal values’ come from. I’m a direct descendant of Africans enslaved in America. So, I have some working knowledge of what the term ‘involuntary bondage’ means. I’m researching my family history, so I have a very clear perspective of what being a slave is all about. Your life as you know it is not yours. Someone else ‘owns’ you, and your offspring. They tell you when you can get up in the morning, when you go to bed at night. They tell you where you can and cannot go. They tell you what work you have to do, and no, you are not going to be compensated for it. The list goes on. If you choose to go against orders, instructions, you get beaten. If they chose to use your body for sexual pleasures, you don’t get the chance to ‘just say no’. To say this is not the ideal situation is putting it mildly.
Well, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to go back to those days my ancestors endured, and to live that way. I am, however, eternally grateful they did endure and survived. Otherwise, I would not be here today. I owe them a debt I will never be able to repay.
Funny thing is, the Korean Courts have pretty much labeled what JYJ was enduring as slavery. Yes, JYJ never said that, but others have, and I agree. The Court goes so far as to use the term ‘unfair subjugation’, sounds like ‘slavery’ to me. Regarding honoring a pre-established promise of loyalty as implied in the contract. You say JYJ broke that promise. Well, that works both ways Patricia. Why is JYJ the only one here who is expected to honor a promise? Isn’t SME to be held to the same standard? Aren’t they expected to honor fairness and what about SME’s loyalty to JYJ? Have you taken a look at the terms of the contract? Please tell me what part of fair do you see? Why is this a one-way street?
Is it fair for a company to take advantage of youthful hopes and dreams, and use that advantage as a means to make themselves personally rich? While at the same time doling out a pittance of what these youths deserve. Legally, the contract was invalid anyway because not one of them was 19 years of age. There was no legal representation for the signees.
I’m going to play with my imagination, bear with me…the scene is a conference room with a big table. There are five young ‘idol’ hopefuls who have been made a ‘promise’ of becoming the next greatest thing. Just sign on the dotted line. My understanding is that signature stamps are required to be used on official documents in Korea. Do minors have those? Hope someone can answer that. Continuing…this contract is placed in front of the first hopeful, it is then passed down. Standing behind these hopefuls is the person responsible for all this mess, Mr. Lee Soo Man himself. This is my vision of him. He is gleefully patting his hands together as each one signs. His beady little eyes glisten, while the snake oil oozes out of his pores. After the last one signs, he stoically tells these five young ‘boys’, “I am now your father, and you will follow my wishes, “I ‘promise’ to make you rich and famous.” Ok, maybe I’m not the greatest story teller, but you get the message. No, I am not going to apologize for my description of LSM, it stands. This man is the poster child for what is wrong with the music industry in Korea. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.
In a democratic country, there are laws. If societal mores are more important than the law, then why be a democratic society? Slavery is not, nor was not a democratic value system. Slaves could not sue to get out of the condition. Make no mistake that is what JYJ’s contract was – SLAVERY. Read the terms of it. Contract law exists for a reason. Obviously, the Korean legislature felt it important enough to include in the legal codes. Contracts can be broken, it is not a crime. No one should be thought a criminal for exercising their legal right to correct a wrong. Getting out of a contract is not wrong!
If a contract is all binding for the ‘length’ of that contract, in your mind and words; then I feel for you if you ever marry, or are married, and find yourself in an abusive marriage contract. Because, according to you, you will be in that marriage for the remainder of your life. That is what the terms of a marriage contract start out as, for life. You will be accepting whatever comes your way. You will live, and endure the abuses because according to you, that is the most important element here, honoring that contract. I sincerely hope that never happens to you. I would not want to be in your shoes and have to ponder – do I leave or do I stay? I have a feeling you will stay and that would be a pity.
SME has shown it is without scruples. There is no justification under any circumstances for any human being to stay in that toxic environment, and not have the option to get out of it. You and I will agree to disagree. I will always be grateful these talented young men decided to listen to their better angels and leave.
I’м sorry but I’м feeling that this review more like rants than α review…there’s too much biased opinion and it’s clearly she is sm biased based on her opinion about the lawsuit, how she talked α lot about sm and how she said “The flames between SM and JYJ are starting to cool” also how she potrayed sm as “father” and JYJ as “prodigal son” (well I don’τ think any “father” would do these kind of thinks to their “son”). In my review of “this review” I think she’s trying to influence JYJ fans by some of her sugarcoating words about JYJ’s music to love sm and to go againts JYJ decision about the lawsuit. I’м not trying to bash her but hello…I don’τ think α review about α song should include the singers activities in their daily life. And btw how come one perfect mv combine with one perfect song make them cheap? You admit both the MV and the song are perfect but you said they are cheap????what α contradiction. For me this combination makes perfection..well this is just my two cents though,I don’τ hate the writer, it’s just that I disagree with her so called “review” Peace ^o^
agreed^ !
I think you’re overreacting a bit..it sounds like you think she has some sort of agenda.
Did you not read the rest of the review? You are concentrating too much on the negative.
She is not baised at all…she celebrated JYJ’s breaking out of their idol Kpop mainstream-ness, despite the fact she didn’t agree to them breaking up.
Wow. You write really well. It’s nice to read an intelligent article about K-pop for a change.
The JYJ fellas have stepped away from the machine that is the K-pop scene, and are now truly emerging as musical artists. And I’m happy to see them do so.
Again, really nice article. I’ll be sure to keep checking this site for your future posts.
Point of information, Patricia is a regular commentator over at Seoulbeats. Her original article from there was posted here. You might want to re-think nesting here if you think she’s a regular.
the things that the author wrote were quite harsh, biased and a bit ridiculous….whats wrong with junsu posting pics of his cats on twitter? they’re cute pics and im sure a lot of ppl enjoy them. i’m sure that comment offended a lot of ppl because we all post pictures of our daily lives and interesting things that we see.
but other than that, i agree on the bolded comments especially:
“JYJ’s principal reason for leaving SM wasn’t merely financial, and that it probably had something to do with the fact that Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu have long proven themselves to be competent musicians that are capable of making music outside of the confines of an entertainment institution like SM.”
and despite how she criticizes JYJ, she cant deny the fact that they truly have talent and are true musicians
I don’t know why people here don’t get Patricia’s humor. I’m very thankful for reviews like this because unlike other JYJ/DBSK fans who only say good points about them, she actually was able to give an objective review despite being a hardcore Cassie once. I don’t know about you but I’m very happy that someone shares the same view as mine regarding the lawsuit. I don’t even think that her main intention was to dissect the structure of the song and the mv. I think her review was more about JYJ’s growth as singers rather than the technicalities of the song. A song review doesn’t have to be that technical.
I agree with you. The review was very well constructed, despite it not being mainly on the song and the mv but on JYJ’s growth.
Well, apparently, many of us don’t find it funny one bit.
So there~
Gee @arctic, can you please enlighten us as to the humorous parts of the review. I guess your sense of humor and mine are on opposite ends of the spectrum. As for those views both of you have regarding the lawsuit. I hope you never find yourselves in a similar situation as JYJ. Goodness knows what kind of havoc decision making will have with your minds.
Although I don’t agree on some points. 😛 the most obvious ones.
I adore how unbiased the review is. It’s not like OMG JYJ SONG asdfo5tik5g like we all did when we heard about it.
I have to say I really liked what she said in this review (blog post?) about JYJ’s music.
I love the song “In Heaven” to bits but I don’t really like the MV as much. I don’t like ballad MVs as a rule so I figured that was the reason but this article sort of made me realize why I feel so-so about the MV.
The thing I love about this song is the real pain and emotion it expresses about losing a loved one. I’ve lost a family member to illness. I’ve heard plenty of songs about loss but somehow this is the song that does most profound job in expressing that grief. When I heard that JYJ was doing a charity concert for the earthquake victims in Japan I thought “Wow, God gave them the perfect song” You can tell JJ wrote this from the bottom of his heart after PYH’s death.
The MV was beautifully made and the acting was great but it’s almost too pretty for the song. Death as a rule is harsh and heavy. I guess the emotions that I feel from “In Heaven” are a lot more complicated than what can be expressed in a short MV so something feels a little off for me. I think the MV was beautifully made. I just can’t enjoy the video as much when put together with this particular song and vice versa.
That being said, i don’t think it would be a good idea to make a realistic video about death to promote this song (and this song really needs to be promoted) either so I still think they did a good job.
I guess what I really want to see is a decent HQ close-up of them singing this song.
i’m torn between tearing her or hugging her.
FYI, i like ayy girl mv, even though the thunder sounds turn me off from listening. but between mv and live, i’m more liking the live performances because they are 1000% times more great.
when watching MVs, i’d focus more on the message that it wants to convey. and i love the message conveyed by Ayy girl and in heaven MVs.
(i don’t think that there’s a need for bringing up unrelated topics in reviewing a MV, that’s make me turn off on this review)