Review: TVXQ–“B.U.T. (BE-AU-TY)”

HoMin see the “be-au-ty” in underworld fighting rings in their new music video.


Did you like the song?
TVXQ (a.k.a. DBSK a.k.a. HoMin a.k.a. Yunho and Changmin minus Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu) is back and has released their new Japanese album. I think I prefer their new song I Don’t Know because it shows off their vocals better, but I like both the songs.

Musically, “B.U.T (BE-AU-TY)” sounds like a mixture of Super Junior M’s Perfection, Super Junior’s Mr. Simple, and TVXQ’s own Keep Your Head Down. Which is to say, super auto-tuned electronica with a cool bassline. And hey, I don’t have a problem with that; I like all those songs, mainly because they have impossibly catchy choruses. This song’s chorus is great, too, though it could use more…color? I guess it sounded kind of empty at times. This could just be me unfairly comparing them before and after the lawsuit and departure of JYJ, though. However, what is up with that constant super-high pitched noise in the background? I found that really irritating.

Changmin and Yunho
What was your favorite part of the song?
That catchy chorus, or specifically Changmin’s part of the catchy chorus. I’m not too fond of Yunho’s weirdly pitched English lyrics.

Does the English make you want to rip your eardrums out?
Okay, guys, whenever you have to explain in parentheses what your title means, it’s not a good sign. Especially when one meaning can be taken as potty humor. It’s also not good that the end of the chorus is “B.U.T.T.T.T. Wow!” Yeah.

Other than that, there are a lot of words and phrases in English in this song, though I missed most of them the first time because the lyrics go by really quickly. The majority of the English makes sense and is pronounced decently. It took me forever to figure out what on earth Yunho was saying in the chorus between Changmin’s “It’s all good / oh feel good”: turns out it’s “Girl, what is love you need? / Baby, what you want from me?” Hmm, what is love I need, Yunho? I would love for you to do some more hip thrusts. :)

Did you like the video?
(Sorry that the embedded Youtube vid is mirrored, but I couldn’t find a high quality one without a watermark. Bad Avex!) Anyway, the video was kickass! Literally! If nothing else, this video lets some random people do impressive fighting tricks and Yunho do a high kick, but the concept was kind of weird and had nothing to do with the lyrics (unless they’re trying to imply that they’re kicking B.U.T.T.T.T.).

Was there a storyline? If so, did it make sense?
So Yunho and Changmin get mixed up in some bad business and decide to get involved in a Fight Club situation…that or they are kidnapped by an evil ringmaster of an underground gladiator arena…or they decide to liberate the slaves of an underground gladiator arena. You get the idea.

Cages of either unhappy gladiators or crazed spectators.
After Yunho conquers the (former) reigning champ by out-crazying him and kicking him in the face, Yunho and Changmin install some lights, have a wardrobe change, gather some minions, and dance.

Was the dance cool and distinctive?
Cool, yes; distinctive…not particularly. It’s undoubtedly clean and neat, but there’s no one move that defines the dance or that people can easily emulate, except maybe the robot part? I like the robot part. And the hip thrusting.


Loverholic, robotronic…
Do the members look good?
Changmin just keeps getting hotter. They look good; they always look good. But, um, Yunho, I know you were getting into your martial arts groove here, but what is this expression? Are you trying to ruin your image? It’s just begging for someone to macro it, seriously.


THIS…IS…TVXQ!!
Which member stood out the most?
Yunho, Changmin, or…yeah, I’m going to have to give it to THIS CRAZY DUDE because if I don’t he will rip my face off and feed it to wolves and I am just not taking that chance.

Dude’s gonna break into a Haka at any moment.
Do you like it enough to buy the song?
Yeah, that chorus is just too catchy.

Any ending thoughts?
This group has too many names. I think I will defy the “Korean name is DBSK, Japanese name is TVXQ” guideline and instead refer to the pre-breakup band as DBSK, the new duo as TVXQ, and the members as HoMin (or, you know, by their individual names, though I never liked the pseudonyms “U-KNOW” or “Max,” really). I think I’m done with “keeping the faith,” at least for now. Of course I miss DBSK, but it seems like both TVXQ and JYJ are doing fine on their own.

Boyfriend’s one-liner:
[My boyfriend got really obsessed with how inappropriate Yunho’s vest/shirt-tie combination was for cage fighting.] “That vest is really f****** ugly—can he not afford sleeves?”

Yunho's vest

Just a reminder: never again, Yuhno.
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