Random INFINITE thoughts - Top Seed (Album)
1. Dongwoo talked about how their previous title tracks like Be Mine had a “strong point” and are quite intense, whereas Tell Me is more relaxed and less overpowering. In that sense, I appreciate that Tell Me marks a change from the past. Hoya’s movements I think epitomised INFINITE’s “knife-like” dance moves for so many of their songs. Dongwoo’s style has tended to be more fluid, and with Hoya no longer around, it seems that this has flowed into the choreography as well. It’s a good way of “beginning again”.
2. Pray (Maetel’s Sadness) apparently was recorded waaaay back in 2011, after Be Mine but before Paradise (which may explain how this sole Sweetune track appeared on this album). Why this was not released before is a mystery to me because it’s pretty epic. Sunggyu and Sungjong did not re-record their vocals on this, so what you are hearing are 19 year old Sungjong and 23 year old Sunggyu (which boggles my mind and tugs at my heart strings at the same time).
3. I really think this is Dongwoo’s era. I just want to give him a huge hug - I’m that proud. Hearing his vocals on the album, stepping up as the main dancer and rapper, and also handling questions with depth and maturity. during interviews. You’ve done so, so well Dongwoo.
4. I also wanted to give a major shoutout to Sungjong, whom I also want to give a huge hug too because he sounded so good on Tell Me (he seriously sounded like a bell), and in his solo, Confession. I love that he has more lines, and that he too, is coming into his own.
5. I’m especially in love with Dongwoo’s solo, TGIF. It’s is such a bop and I can see why Sunggyu really wanted to feature on it. And while I think it would have sounded great with Sunggyu, I still love that it was all Dongwoo, alone.
6. Confession is not my usual style, so I was so pleasantly surprised to find that I love it. Actually, I think that Confession could really use a full music video, just as Sungjong envisoned it on stage during the Begin Again fan meetings - in the streets, on park benches, perhaps with the addition of cute animated line drawings.
7. Wind - The whistling you hear in the beginning is Sungyeol! It was an impromptu decision during the recording. (Here he is, whistling during the VLive).
8. The title track went through several changes - it started with being I Hate, and then it switched to Synchronise, and then finally settled on Tell Me. The final decision was made just before Sunggyu’s Taipei fan meetings in November.
9. Interestingly, while I Hate is the song whose sound that I think some (including myself) have associated with a Japanese anime, it’s Pray (Maetel’s Sadness) that actually refers to one - “Maetal” refers to a character in the anime Galaxy Express 999 which aired in Korea in the ‘80s - ‘90s.
10. Seriously though, I Hate is amazing. It shows off each of the members’ vocals in a way I never imagined a rock song would. I can see why it’d be a hard sell as a title track on music shows etc, but this song really deserves a live performance. Forget about choreography etc, they should full out rock to it and unleash their inner rockstars to it (not that this should be a licence for Sunggyu to try screaming again….)
11. Dongwoo alluded to the possibility of the other members’ solo songs being released in other ways, whether in solo albums, units or repackages. I think we can safely assume that Woohyun and Sunggyu’s solos from the fanmeet will be released at the very least in their future solo albums, but as for Sungyeol’s solo, he had himself said during the VLive that he was glad that it wasn’t actually released in the album, and he had prepared it with the aim of performing it at the fanmeet.
12. (My own personal speculation as to why Sungyeol doesn’t have a solo in this album is that it could have simply been a matter of time and resource allocation. He was confirmed as a lead in Love Returns in October, and has been caught up with filming since then. We also know that recording and modifications for Top Seed extended into the November last year (hence the delayed comeback). To me, it makes sense that he would just focus on a performance for the fans, without the stress of perfecting something for the big comeback album.)
13. I haven’t gone into detail with each song, but I just wanted to say that I also love Myungsoo’s solo, Reminisce - it was one of the first songs I found myself humming to after the first listen.
13. Overall, I think the album feels more relaxed and free. I do think I hear this in their voices, which sound more natural without losing their emotive power (I’m thinking of Why Me in particular, which by the way is absolutely beautiful). Freedom in voice and freedom in style. This may not appeal to longtime fans who would love a throw back to the 80s- tinged, obsessive and sharp intensity that is trademark INFINITE, but personally, I love this album.
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