Super Junior, or SuJu, for short, is sometimes known as the “King Of Hallyu Wave”, a bridge between the 1st and 2nd generations of k-pop. They’ve had thirteen members during their time as a group: current members Leeteuk, Heechul, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Yesung, Donghae, Siwon, Kyuhyun, and Ryeowook, and former members Hangeng, Kibum, and Kangin. They debuted on November 6th, 2005, and thus, here I am, nineteen years on, writing this review!

Here are my credentials: If you’ve read my Yesung review, you’ll know that my interest in Super Junior all started because my lovely mother in her infinite wisdom (can you tell who my special guest is yet) accidentally bought me Yesung’s album during her trip to Japan, when she meant to buy me Jonghyun’s. Thus began our shared journey into the insanity that is SuJu, and so, since their 19th anniversary is coming up, I decided that now would be a good time for us to go through their discography together. So, I went home from college, and on a rainy day, we sat down and made our way through two decades of content. So, let’s get into it!

(Read Part One here)

Album #5: Mr. Simple

Mr. Simple has what’s either SuJu’s best or most out-of-pocket intro, with a softly-sung “Super Junior in love….” It has a lot in common with Sorry Sorry; “Same principle, mostly wearing black and white on a monochromatic background”, my mom noted. This song is nuts, in the best possible way. It goes for broke, throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks in the same way that SHINee’s Lucifer does. And like Lucifer, it’s ridiculous but it knows it’s ridiculous and it revels in it. For my money, it improves on its formula.

The video, however, could use some work; I could do without the rope around Yesung’s neck; was that necessary, and the outfits are…something, that’s for sure. I think my mother (as usual) said it best, of Shindong, “Bowl cuts…no, for the record”. But if you can get past its sometimes awkward appearance, wild array of haircuts, and kooky dance moves, then you’re in for a pretty fun song.

A-Cha, in a way, is similar to Bonamana, harsh in a way that is clearly intentional but not necessarily enjoyable. The verses are a little too understated, too much like the other singles, and the song’s first minute doesn’t draw the listener in like it should, but it does improve, getting more interesting as it goes along. The chorus is honestly one of their best, feeling grand and sprawling with hints of electric guitar mixed into their usual electro, and the way it bleeds into the rest of the song afterward is great. The last minute, especially, with the successive belting was fantastic. My mom and I were both very proud of Yesung’s high note especially, like we were cheering at our kid’s field day. Of course, it wouldn’t be a second gen video without at least one fashion faux pas, though, “I’ll take the Davy Crockett hat over the bowl cut”, my mom admitted begrudgingly.

From the album, I enjoyed F(x)’s fun feature in Oops!, the powerful vocals in Storm, and the many layers of electro in Opera . And shoutout to the great harmonizing in A Day , by the way. With such a strong release, it was tough to choose a hidden gem, especially between White Christmas and Good Friends. I settled on Good Friends, with its swingy, snappy beat, pops of brass, and smooth vocals, but White Christmas is great too, a fast-paced, rock-tinged track that far surpasses its title. It was also nice to recognize “Super Junior: the last man standing” (the title of their documentary, which we watched) in the song Superman. I think this track is better in theory than practice, but taken with the rest of the album, I thought it was alright.

Album #6: Sexy, Free, & Single

“I have a bad feeling about this” were my mom’s first words upon seeing the title of Sexy, Free, & Single.  This one gets less wild as it goes along, but God is it crazy. We tried to focus on the song, but it was a bit difficult with all of our screaming and backtracking to figure out what on Earth we were looking at. My descriptions won’t do it justice, so I’ll treat you to a snippet of our conversation: 

• Mom: “OKAY glasses off we’ll note the amount of S & M things in the first minute, we’ve got nails in the chest, a collar, oh there’s also a giant penis structure in the middle, but moving on”.  
• [About Eunhyuck’s…collar?] Me: “It looks like there’s a cabbage around his neck, which maybe he’s into, idk”. My mother believed it was closer to Darth Vader in his death scene; we’ll agree to disagree.
• [About Leeteuk’s entire outfit…thing] Mom: “Not only is it terrible in so many ways but the poor man clearly works out, we should let him show off his hard work”.
• [About the hook] Mom: “Sexy free and single, ready too, bingo, with who? My grandma? That’s who the 82 million views are from, all the grandmas”.
• Again, we were won over by Yesung’s high note. Why is he so despondent and deadly serious when saying “party time”? We’ll never know, but we’re proud of him anyway. That’s our boy, so here we are.

 I wish I could give a better review of the song, but I genuinely couldn’t focus. I’m sorry. We nearly fell off the couch dying of laughter, so, it was a bonding experience, that’s for sure.

(If you’d like to read my full post about the song, click here)

Spy is the other single from this album, and thankfully, is fairly standard in the realm of Super Junior releases. Taking from the exact kind of 60’s spy music that both 9Muses and SNSD used for hits like Miss Agent and Hoot, it’s heavy on the brass, marrying SuJu’s electro style with an at-times sleek, at-times bombastic execution. It’s a good sound for them, innovating on a well-trodden formula while still staying true to their roots. It’s also pretty trim for a 2nd gen song, clocking in at only three and a half minutes, and doesn’t overstay its welcome, but doesn’t feel rushed either. My one big gripe is that I could do without the constant, over-sexualized shots of women’s leg silhouettes, though I do understand that it was part of the aesthetic they were going for.

From the album, I enjoyed the minimalistic sound and vocal flair of From U, the springy piano of Haru, the summery Now with its whistling hook, and the bombastic hook of Outsider. I couldn’t pick an outright hidden gem to be honest, but at the moment, my favorite is From U. Also, shoutout to the lovely A Goodbye.

Album #7: Mamacita

There’s one question we both had from the start of Mamacita: why is it so racist? Before any music even starts playing, we already have about five different Mexican stereotypes, from the fake-mustachioed bandit to the many idiotic background characters to the toreador with his red flag. By the way, toreadors are a Spanish invention, so make of that what you will. Could it get more racist? Oh yes, fear not! Because we had to sing “hey Mamacita, you make me ‘ayayayaya’”. Why?

Could we not have kept it at just a flirty song with Latin Pop elements in it? The song itself is fine, I guess. There’s good in it, peaks and valleys, and good vocals, as always. But…gross. The whole thing just leaves a terrible taste in your mouth. Could we not have had a whole MV of Heechul playing a bank robbing bartender with Siwon playing the sheriff? That would’ve been fine. There were funny parts with slapstick comedy, sure; why did we have to make it this racist? Ach. Throw it away, throw the whole thing away.

This Is Love is the companion to Mamacita, like Spy was to Sexy Free and Single, and hey, there’s really nowhere to go but up, is there? Also like Spy, it does a good job of marrying Super Junior staples (“Meeting both the ‘girl’ and ‘baby’ requirements in the first thirty seconds, impressive’”, my mom said approvingly), the black and white background, the suits, the sharp dance moves, etc, with new things too. The video is shot in what at least looks like one take, mainly in monochrome but with really interesting splashes of red. The song itself also combines old and new, marrying a kpop base with some motown inspiration in its smooth R & B. It’s a really good track, and I wish that we could have just had it instead of the nonsense before.

From the album, I enjoyed the great vocals of Islands (especially in the final chorus), the quick-footed beat of Let’s Dance, and the cheerful, sunny abandon of Too Many Beautiful Girls. My hidden was Shirt, which has a great combination of sing-talk, funk, and R & B, putting their vocals at the forefront and adding in a few bursts of brass for good measure. My mother’s heart lies with Shirt as well; she took my share of eye-rolling for Too Many Beautiful Girls.

Album #8: Devil

Devil has been a favorite of both mine and my mother’s since the first time we heard it. Accordingly, when we clicked on the music video, my mother’s first words were, “Devil has 21 million views while Sexy Free & Single has over 80??? What bullshit is that??” What is happening in the music video, by the way? I like some of the movie elements, but why, why must we sexualize every woman in the frame? The dancing scenes are good. “Mamacita was racist, this is sexist,” mom sighed. And yep, yep it is. This is not a good MV. This is not sexy, guys. It just reads as fake. Can we just stick with the dancing scenes and the playing cards or something?

We had to watch the dance practice for a nice cleanse. It’s goofy as hell, sure, but it’s so much more enjoyable.  We both had the “shower” dance move stuck in our heads. Either way, the song itself is pretty great. It has the kind of no frills, sleek beat that Super Junior excels at, married with a similar R & B to This Is Love, with the bonus of funk, a percussive acoustic guitar, and what I’m at least 80% sure is a tambourine. My favorite part is probably the dance break. Not only because it’s so much fun to watch (the saga with Kyuhyun’s hat!) but because it manages to up the ante by adding to the beat while not feeling superfluous. Devil is such a good song; I just wish it had a better music video.

Magic is from the repackage album, and feels like “old” kpop in more ways than one: the bright, R & B focused beat, the dancing down the streets in the music video, the very mid-2020s clothes and humor, etc. I have one large issue (“besides Heechul’s…bob thing you mean” my mother put in): the lyrics. I don’t know who was hired to write in English for this or how much English they actually speak, but who thought they were good? “This is not cool. This is not fire,” my mother said sagely. I did get a good laugh out of watching them “play” basketball in the MV, and I liked the beat, I’ll give it that. I’m sure it’s a great song to dance to…ignoring the lyrics.

This album is a special one, with half of its b-sides being unit tracks, now a staple in larger groups that were a rarity when SuJu debuted. I enjoyed the sweeping, nostalgic We Can, the lovely, string-led Dorothy, and the R & B of Good Love. My hidden gem was easily Rock N’ Shine, which marries funk and a tinge of rock with the kind of propulsive pop that Super Junior is so good at. Also, shoutout to Sarang (Love), which combines Heechul and Leeteuk’s voices. By virtue of it being mainly unit songs, this is less of a SuJu-sounding album than their others, so it was less for me. My mother votes for Alright.

Next time, Part 3. Tschüss!