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Archive for 2013

Girls' Generation were mischievous and playful behind the stage of KBS Gayo Daejun 2013

Saturday, December 28, 2013 · Posted in


On the day, the members of Girls' Generation appeared gorgeously in glamorous semi-formal dresses, which balancedly displayed their mature side with S-lines and long legs and naive side with funny 'off' moments. At the backstage, the members formed a circle and freely danced. Also, their restlessness laughs made the atmosphere more pleasant.

Taeyeon - 'CeCi January Issue 2014 Interview Full Translation

Thursday, December 19, 2013 · Posted in , ,


Taeyeon always quietly a step back person. She showed hesitations through her responds with some covertly actions. Taeyeon loves singing and showing her ability with skills through her 26-years old experiences. There are valuable things hiding inside her, her heart. Taeyeon is currently going through her best moment in her lifetime right now.

Yoona looks angelically in a white dress

Sunday, December 15, 2013 · Posted in ,



As be informed, this is a photo be closely taken while Nam Da Jung (Yoona) was trying dresses at a wedding shop located in Gangnam. This photo created a curious atmosphere to the viewers about the development of the relationship between Kwon Yul (Lee Bum Soo) and Nam Da Jung. This scene contains a competitive rival between Nam Da Jung and the opponent Hye Joo (Chae Jung Ahn played), while Nam Da Jung was choosing her suitable wedding dress.

Love & Peace Album and Blu ray Review

It has been a year, one month and thirteen days since Girls' Generation have released a Japanese album. For us SONEs, it feels like an eternity, but we were kept entertained by the girls' constant updates on Instagram, Twitter and Weibo! They made us feel closer to them more than ever and I feel that it is fitting to end the year with an album dedicated to us, their most treasured assets. Starting from June of this year, Girls' Generation have released music videos and singles from the upcoming album, teasing and preparing us for the main course. They have not let us down, believe me, SONEs, they have not let us down. Everything you had hoped for from a highly polished Japanese production is heard on the CD with twelve tracks fulfilling our every wish.

The second Japanese album did well in the charts, peaking at number 2 in the Oricon daily albums chart, a very successful ranking for a foreign girl group. With these statistics, our expectations are high for ''Love & Girls'' and we are wondering whether it is as polished as the first Japanese album. The first album really made a name for the girls and established them as a girl group in Japan who were here to stay. The Japanese heard about the Girls' Generation craze that was spreading across Asia and parts of Europe and were eager to see what they could offer in their language. They were welcomed with open arms and the first album won them the Japan Gold Disk Award for Best New Artist of the Year. This was a milestone in their success and it carried on in 2012 when they once again won Album of the Year in the MTV Video Music Awards Japan.

This year, the girls have been working hard performing a ''Girls & Peace'' world tour from Korea to Hong Kong which sold out tickets within minutes. All those years of training really does pay off if you can sing and dance non stop for two hours straight. Girls' Generation have exceeded expectations in their performance not only as artists but as entertainers. Throughout the year, the girls have been featured in dramas, variety, music and award shows, on top of that, appearing in dozens of endorsements around Korea and Japan. You could say that this year has been yet another successful year for Girls' Generation. S.M. Entertainment's flagship group are the real money makers in the entertainment business and the quality tracks in this album are proof of the girls' persistence in keeping that title. 


Love & Peace album at #1 on the Oricon Daily Album Chart.

As of writing, the third album has débuted at number one on Oricon's daily album chart selling 37,486 on the first day. A very respectable figure and we hope to see an increase in sales over the next few days, considering the amazing tracks the album has to offer and their previous commercial and critical success.  

The Packaging


Taeyeon's very own copies of the album!





















''Love & Peace'' comes in three editions which includes the regular CD edition with just the songs, a Limited Edition which comes with a Blu ray disc with music videos and some behind the scenes footage, and a First Press Limited Edition which includes dance versions of some of the music videos alongside the normal versions, excluding the making of features from the Limited Edition. The First Press Limited Edition of ''Love & Peace'' can be purchased in DVD or Blu ray format. This is a first for a Girls' Generation album to come with a Blu ray disc and the image quality is second to none, however this will further be discussed on the Blu ray section of this review. 

There is a lot of detail on the cover art as the girls are seen posing for the camera with each member wearing their own outfits to match their personalities. The cover art for the Limited Edition however is different to the rest of the versions, filling the entire box with badges of numbers, peace signs and the girls' faces. It most certainly is interesting and does set itself apart as the more expensive item. I usually am not a big fan of skirts but Hyoyeon's newspaper design really does look trendy and keeps in tone with her hair colour. She is also the most out-going member of the group and this outfit really does showcase her party girl personality. 

Balloons are also a major part of the image as it is present in all of the editions of the cover art. Of course this is keeping in theme with the music video for ''Love and Girls'' where they perform in and lead a parade. The balloons also give us a hint on the type of songs to expect within the album which contain fast dance music suitable for clubs and parties. The different coloured petals and peace sign also adds to the title of the album. 

The natural light coming through the window and blowing out part of the image is also a nice artistic choice, providing a higher production value to the photo. Each member is seen either sitting or leaning on a luxury chair, displaying a sense of class and giving the impression of premium quality which this album inhibits. This is after all Girls' Generation, one of Japan's top foreign groups, they need to scream high production value!


The design on the CDs are kept simple with a pink base, giving it that girly touch. Both the music CD and Blu ray disc have a peace sign logo on it along with the album's title. Although there is no title saying which disc contains the songs and which one contains the music videos, there really isn't a need for it as the main CD is hinted at with the more visible colours of the peace logo. The design of the disc's artwork are in line with previous Japanese releases, especially similar to the second album, ''Girls & Peace''. 
Inside the cover is a mini photobook which includes photos of each member, posing on the same set as the cover. Alongside each photo are lyrics to the songs included in the CD. 


The Songs

01. Gossip Girls

''Gossip Girls'' is a great start to the album with lyrics being thrown at us at a rapid pace. The girls describe themselves as strong and fierce individuals, hunting for the boy of their desires to find ''destined love''. They hide behind innocent faces and hold on to traps to capture the '''wonderful boyfriend''. Although at the beginning, the girls seem to be able to handle themselves, they let out their true reasons on why they need someone in their lives. In the third chorus, the girls admit that they are lonely and although they walk with confidence, it is merely a façade. This revelation in the song holds true in reality as Taeyeon admitted that she felt lonely and empty inside on ''Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook'' at the end of each day after her schedules although she did not know why. ''Gossip Girls'' gives Taeyeon the reason to her feelings; there is no man in her life! Tiffany's epic ''Ohhhhh'' during the last chorus truly adds a deeper depth to the song and is fitting after we find out what the girls' real thoughts about themselves are. ''Gossip Girls'' could also be interpreted as a name for a gang, who identify themselves as a group of people that need eachother for support to substitute their feelings of being unloved and lonely.


02. Motorcycle

''Motorcycle'' is an energetic track to get you pumping. The chorus is almost head banging and the lyrics are sung very fast, just like the motorcycles. You can't help trying to sync this song in with Girls' Generation's ''Bad Girl'' music video, which would seem more appropriate with all the bikes in it. The mixing of this track is creative too with bike noises panning from one speaker to the other and the thumping bass energising the entire track. You cannot help but appreciate the quality time Japanese audio engineers put into mixing the girls' albums. In my honest opinion, they are the most underrated members of the production team, without them, the entire song would have fallen apart. The mixing is fun and creative. Nuff said. 

03. Flyers

''Flyers'' is the classic example of J-rock music. Listening to this song will without a doubt make you think of an anime opening; I wouldn't even be surprised if it was used as the theme of a show. ''Flyers'' will get you up on your feet and make you excited about everything. This song would have been great as a music video, with the girls performing at a high school playing the instruments and having students going wild. The lyrics themselves talk about moving on and flying higher, which is easily appropriate for a graduation song with students entering their next challenge in life; a higher level, a new beginning. The lyrics ''I am one with the wind, free as a bird'' is further evidence of how great it would be to use it as a graduation song; the students are now free from compulsory education, they can do whatever they want in life and there is no authority to stop them! 


04. Galaxy Supernova


''Galaxy Supernova'' is one of the club songs in the album and it will get your body pumping on the dance floor as soon as it hits the DJ deck. This track is fast, punchy, and uncontrollably catchy. The instruments used in the song sound modern with a good amount of low end bass, suitable for parties and clubs. Girls' Generation's Japanese albums have a trademark of electronic music and this is one fine example of it. The ''In the galaxy, galaxy, oh!'' is really reminiscent of ''Mr. Taxi'''s ''Mr. Taxi, taxi, taxi'' from their first Japanese album and it's nice to see a continuing trend in keeping catchy sentences within these types of tracks. 




05. Love & Girls

''Na Na Na Na Na! Na Na Na LOVE & GIRLS!''. This song is catchy and a track to play in a festival or a funfair. It's really cheerful and the girls' voices sound complimentary to the beat. ''Love & Girls'' makes you forget all your troubles for its three minute run time. The lyrics are not the most important part of the song here but the beats and ''Na Na Na Na Na!'' is the major section of the song that gets you all excited and joining in a crowd filled with people forgetting about their troubles in life. ''Love & Girls'' is also a change from the electronic instruments that are used frequently in previous songs. This track is also an indication of a change of style within the album as the next few songs also contain a different sound from the trademark electropop beats. 

05. Love & Girls



06. Beep Beep


''Beep Beep'' is a really cute song about clingy girls wanting to know what their hubby is up to. Really, it doesn't hurt to pick up the phone once in a while, right? That is really what the song is about, it's just a more bubble gum way of making the statement. ''Beep Beep'' reminds me of the girls' cute concept days, with songs such as ''Oh!'' and ''Kissing You''. ''Hello, hello, moshi, moshi'', is so catchy that it is honestly very difficult to get it out of your head after listening to it the first time. Now everytime I receive a phone call, I'm like ''Hello, hello, moshi, moshi!''.





07. My Oh My


A song to empower those women who were betrayed by their man! The lyrics ''My, oh my'' is an expression of surprise from what the girls have found out that was kept concealed by their lover. The girls' powerful vocals are appropriate for a revenge song, which is used to symbolically overpower their prey. The beats at the beginning is also a nice touch as it almost sounds like somebody is clapping off dirt from their saying ''I'm done with you''. ''My Oh My'' is a song with great vocals from all nine of the girls and it's is a nice balance between dance and strong vocals.  




08. Lips


''Lips'' is one of Girls' Generation's best tracks out of their Japanese discography in my opinion. It has a very ''Express 999'' feel from their Korean ''I Got A Boy'' album. The beat is very addictive and the bells give the song a sort of Latin feel. The lyrics ''Can't stop thinking about you, this must be what crazy feels like'' is really engaging and will make you put this track on repeat. I really enjoy the girls' harmonic voices with the members singing ''Oohhhh'' in the background during the chorus. The voices give the overall sound a deeper depth and captures the essence of going insane over your love. ''Lips'' is a lot more relaxing than the previous foot stomping songs and provides the listener with a sort of break to prepare us for the upcoming jams. 



09. Do The Catwalk

The whistles. All about the whistles in this track. ''Do The Catwalk'' is a very persuasive song for the ladies to get up on their feet and feel confident about themselves. The catwalk is a good subject to relate to when talking about power and self-assurance. This is a song for us all who sometimes feel that we simply can't go on without hiding behind a wall. ''The vision you wish to be, stare at it directly, mirror or Mr. Mirror'' is an example of one of the lyrics in the song that demands you to strive towards your goal, whether it be a man (Mr. Mirror) or something else; in my case, a filmmaker! The strangely catchy whistling during the chorus is what makes the song so appealing at first listen. The whistles in a way persuades the listener to get up on their feet and walk shamelessly outside in their own true self; the whistling is the reaction from the people around you, envying your confidence. ''Are you ready to walk''? I bet Girls' Generation are.

10. Karma Butterfly

''Karma Butterfly'' is another club track like ''Galaxy Supernova'' but a different kind. It's the type of song that is made for the night where people come to a club to release stress after a hard day at work. The lyrics are about letting yourself go and being free which translates perfectly to the club scene and forgetting about all the worries of tomorrow. For one night, release your inner ego and just go with the flow. The bass is punchy, the beats are not too fast nor too slow, enough for a casual dance in the club. 


11. Lingua Franca


''Lovin you, lovin' me'' is the motto of ''Lingua Franca''. We all have had a crush on someone in our lives and this song encourages you to confront it. Loving somebody can also be loving yourself no matter where they are from. Lingua franca means to have a language in common between two people, in this case the language of love. Who cares if you can't understand their language? We can communicate through emotion which arguably can bring us even closer than words. Although at first, it felt odd to have such a song near the end of the album, as the pace of the music was slowing down, I understood that a bit of diversity and change in sound was needed to keep us intertwined with the run time. ''Lingua Franca'' is very reminiscent of songs from Girls' Generation first Korean album with very cute and innocent lyrics.  

12. Everyday Love


What can I say about ''Everyday Love''? An amazingly composed and sung ballad. As always, there is a powerful ballad at the end of each Japanese album and this one is no different. Although it does not rival the un-matched ''Born To Be A Lady'' with its almost poetic lyrics, ''Everyday Love'' is a cute but an emotionally powerful song about a continuing love. It's the type of love when two people cannot see eachother all the time where the names of the days keep them close, knowing when they're going to see eachother next. It's a wonderful closing to the album and represents all the love and care that went into it. Girls' Generation truly sing from the heart and this is a prime example of it.


13. Blue Jeans (Bonus Track)


This is a bonus track for fans living in Japan which is available to be won from a lottery. It's really bright and cheerful with all the electronic instruments coming through the speakers in complete clarity. When I first heard this song, it reminded me of a children's television show opening theme. It has that very cute and innocent sound that everybody can nod their heads too. It'll make you happy and a great tune to start the day as an alarm clock! ''In my jeans, in my blue jeans'' is further evidence of it being the first track of the day, to get up and get ready, in this case, by wearing blue jeans!


The Blu ray


The Blu ray comes in a very presentable menu with easy navigations to the music videos and making of. The making of is very interesting as it allows us to see what goes on in a typical Girls' Generation music video shoot. It gives us time to appreciate more on what they do and the immense co-ordination and attention to detail needed to pull off difficult choreographies. Girls' Generation would spend hours upon hours a day perfecting their every move and also their vocals.


Average and maximum bitrate for the ''Beep Beep'' music video. The bitrates are more or less the same throughout the entire run time of the blu ray.



The videos are presented in full 1920x1080 resolution at a frame rate of 29.98 frames per second which is telecined for some strange reason. All the music videos in the album were shot at 23.976 frames per second and so there was no need for the video to be telicined as Blu ray supported the frame rate natively. The Blu ray player or television has to do extra work to figure out on how to display the videos. There is a higher chance in viewing the image in interlaced format due to the television or Blu ray player failing to recognise it being telecined and thereby not performing a 2-3 pulldown.


Click to see original size, the artefacts are more clearly visible.



However, the image quality is as good as you can get from Blu ray. The average bitrate is near the maximum limit and the audio is encoded at an uncompressed 48KHz, 24bit PCM stereo. Although I do not know the origins of the mixing, the music does sound every bit as clean as the music CD, possibly even cleaner.   


The name ''Love & Peace'' certainly does live up to its name with the vocals from all of the girls, wonderfully harmonising together to create a highly dynamic sound which only our nine angels can deliver. Similar to the previous albums where the pace of the songs would slow down as the running time progressed; ''Love & Peace'' keeps this formula, leading us from one party to the next with a cool down at the end. Is this better than previous Japanese albums? In terms of musical quality and the lack of filler tracks, it most certainly is better than the second album, ''Girls & Peace''. ''Love & Peace'' is on par with the quality of the critically and financially successful first album. The lack of filler songs and the overall dynamics within the audio engineering is difficult to criticise. ''Love & Girls'', ''Galaxy Supernova'', and ''My Oh My'' singles all peaked in the top 10 in the Oricon charts which gives us an indication on how well the full album will be doing in next few days.





Reviewed by Kazi Zaman

Kazi Zaman is a video editor (Girls' Generation: A History) and writer for TheSoneSource.  He has followed Girls' Generation's activities since pre-début. He is also a film student and an aspiring cinematographer.





Yoona’s behind the scenes photos ‘Innocent• Fascinate• Sexy’

Tuesday, December 10, 2013


Behind the scenes photos of Yoona at CF studio display her three-level charisma. 

Yoona recently has taken part in the commercial filming for 'Freshlook Illuminate’ contact lens of Alcon Korea. On that day, Yoona, well adjusting to the concept, appears with various attitudes through the ‘three-level change’: pure-classic, elegant-feminine, and sexy -modern look.

Tiffany received compliments from Fashion King's PD

· Posted in ,


On 6th December, An Sang Nam informed the Star News, stating: "If the icon celebrities have no idea about fashion, we shouldn't had set up this whole show... All of the guests all own a concept individually along with their passion." He also revealed the attitudes of the contestants on the show with compliments about their impressive passion for fashion and efforts. 

Yoona topped in the Top 5 Angelic Faces in Kpop

Sunday, December 8, 2013 · Posted in


Being a fellow member of Girls' Generation, Yoona always be seen as the most outshine one and an icon of beauty among the group with an innocent, adorable look. With an innocent look, gorgeous of her, and had subdued plenty of hearts from the fans not only Korea, it's worldwide.

All About Girls' Generation: Paradise in Phuket review

Tuesday, December 3, 2013 · Posted in

This short review will be split into two sections. The first about the contents included in the package and the second being the technical criticisms of the DVDs themselves.

SECTION 1

S.M. Entertainment have finally come out with their second Girls' Generation photobook which includes 44 pages of our girls in beautiful scenery (Phuket, Thailand....anyone wondering how it's pronounced: 'Pu-ket' not 'fuck it'). But not only did they provide us with a beautiful book, but 715 minutes of footage of the girls spread out between discs. These discs include, a variety show that they filmed during their stay on the Island, each individuals 'free time' with the camera, all their music videos, the making of their music videos, back stage footage before their live performances, interviews and footage of their best live performances. It has to be said- while you're watching through those 6 discs, you cannot help but smile and at some points feel a bit teary for the girls as they show how much they've been through and what they had to do to get to this point in time. Anyone who watches these DVDs will immediately fall in love with their charms- it's a known fact that Girls' Generation are one of the most lovable girl groups out there. The DVD gives enough screen time for each of the members to show off their personalities and make you fall in love or if you've just become a fan, this 6 disc set will leave you begging for more!

''I GOT A BOY'' Music Video Review

· Posted in

It’s been 14 months since Girls' Generation have been missing from the Korean music scene, busily promoting overseas. Of course I haven’t missed them as I've been following their journey to world domination! Our 9 angles are back and they've hit it hard with a very different and unusual song. It received mixed responses with some listeners saying that ''It's all over the place'' and has ''So many genres in one song that doesn't make a pleasant listening experience.'' Other reactions were positive saying '' It's unique'' and ''It's about time the K-Pop industry changed their style; this is something very fresh''.

When I first watched the music video, the first thing I noticed was that I was in it: 
I always thought one day I'd become a music video director for Girls' Generation. Not the bloody actor.
I always thought one day I'd become a music video director for Girls' Generation. Not the bloody actor.

The second thing I noticed was how stylishly dressed each of the members were (as always). They were so different from their previous concepts and really showed a more unexplored side to Girls' Generation. Might I add, Yuri in particular looked like a BOSS:

Should women really be this cool?
Should women really be this cool?

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