Wow… I can not believe…the person who wrote this!

BoA has not even released her first cd-single from her album yet, her ‘I did it for love Featuring Sean Garrett’ single which will be out soon, that’s when the competition actually starts!!! “BoA unable to keep up with American divas Spears, Gaga” WHAAAT??? it’s bl00dy obvious that BoA’s american debut album won’t sell like britney’s album on the first date of release!!! but you can NOT say after 1 week of the album being released and no official cd-single even being released, that she’s unable to keep up with spears or gaga!!! Alex, if there is one thing BoA’s unable to keep up with… you know what it is??? being married and divorced and having sex-video-news and having happy-children and changing from a singer to a psycho back to a singer, or the controvery of Lady GaGa sounding and looking like Christina Aguelira. If there’s another thing BoA’s unable to keep up with? and won’t keep up with? is reading Quality-A-rubbish articles written by you, Alex Garens. kindly smiles You said: “Quite frankly, the current state of pop music is heavily dependent on lyrics — people just like a song they can easily remember, recite and enjoy.” If Sean Garrett reads this article…he’d be laughing! not with you! but at you (Alex Garens)! the lyrics “I I I I did it did it did it for love” is too good for us to get out of our heads all day!!! i love britney’s if u seek amy…and it is max martin’s best work ever for her, and Sean Garrett’s ‘I did it for love’ is actually easier to remember, recite and enjoy. (if dependent on the lyrics) And it’s funny how you compare Britney-like singers with BoA…praising the americans and stepping down on the Korean queen of music. Because a lot of her songs were made by Britney’s TOXIC-hitmakers: Bloodshy & Avant, and because her music video ‘I did it for love’ was made by Britney’s TOXIC music video producer Joseph Khan. And her song “Obsessed”??? will compete with Rihanna, if released as a cd-single, because it was made by Brian Kennedy, the DISTURBIA hitmaker. oh…and…BoA will never ‘be able to keep up’ with Rihanna’s DISTURBI-ng life, being bashed by her boy-friend(and BoA definitely won’t want to keep up with that side of life)

“What Alex Garens lacks is any point of connection with the readers.” “It’s not that the article is boring — it’s just bad.”

Written by, Obsessed (from URIBOA.COM)

I found the entire album fun. It sure makes a long drive to work, not so long. And many of the songs do have those catchy hooks.

I have to disagree with this article on one main point- Though the beats are amazing enough on their own some of the hooks are EXTREMELY catchy (“shoulda, shoulda; but you didn’t didya?”)

It sounds like you’re saying if the lyrics aren’t overly sexual and/or scandalous they are outdated. I don’t like all the music I listen to to be about licking lollipops and going to the candyshop. On the track “Energetic” the words have a unique delivery- becoming part of the dance beat in a way.

This is the most fun album I’ve heard in a very, very long time. I hope more people discover it soon (it’s only been out a week!)

-JC

I honestly think its sad. I Google BoA and after sifting through numerous articles about the other BoA [aka Bank of America] & the useless fractions of details that all say the same thing. The Bank is tanking. i come across a glimmer of hopefully positive news about my girl & even though its from a student newspaper in Wisconsin, it may’ve been viable. I was wrong. Regardless of how u feel, or the ablilty to have ur biased article visible online, there are thousands of others who will counter your views. Though I am a fan of BoA, I am not a stan of BoA.

time for a game of “YOU SAY, THE TRUTH IS…”

YOU SAY… the use of the word debut is odd and inappropriate. yet go on to say its a good marketing ploy b/c she’s new to america. THE TRUTH IS… it is a DEBUT. she’s never relased music here in the states so its a debut, period. don’t patronize her efforts to crossover.

YOU SAY… her lyrics are trite and vapid, lacking irony & humor. THE TRUTH IS… they don’t have to be humorous or ironic. and there are many songs produced by the artists u list later in ur article who have lyrics that are more trite, vapid, and humorless than BoA’s will ever be. People only listen to said artists for their MUSIC foremost anyway.

YOU SAY… BoA lacks connection with the audience. THE TRUTH IS… Unbeknownst to her, until recent years, BoA’s had a growing fanbase in the states since her debut in korea back in 2000. People who don’t know a d@m n thing shes saying in her songs, but love her for the charisma & positive persona she exudes in her vocals & performances.

BoA isn’t Britney, Gaga, Pink, or Katy. & it sucks that you demean her below their levels because i am a big fan of all of these women. Also ur penchant for naming such female vocalists has me wondering why you are unwilling to see BoA as BoA and not as a comparison to others… More than likely she’s teaching Brit new dance moves, Gaga how to incorporate japanese, korean, or hangul lyrics into her next album, Getting more piercings with Pink, & dishing with Katy about haters over coffee & pocky.

I’m not upset with this article, ur entitled to ur opinion. You also just don’t know much about BoA to like her, & if u did, it wouldn’t matter. She’s still going to make music and money. I am upset that a lackuster student paper which spews premature malorganized ideals of subjects they know nothing about gets this sort of visiblity.

BoA will succeed. With her smooth vocals and superior dance skills, Americans will be surprised and intrigued with her methods of presenting herself to the US and will realize soon enough that this little asian girl is in fact more of a powerhouse than they’d expect.

alas, my popcorns ready! thanks for giving me something tedious to do Alex. a tedious response to a tedious article no?

do agree with the fact that this album is quite boring all her songs in here sounds similar to me I believe she can do better tho, just need a few ballads =]

“The music, however, is not bad by any means. In fact, it probably would have been a much better album had the lyrics been in Korean, forgoing the distraction of their laughable hollowness.”

You must be kidding. If her lyrics had been in Korean, you would have criticized her for doing exactly that. “Why are her lyrics in Korean? This is AMERICA. Get a clue.”

I don’t really remember it being called the American LYRICS industry. Yes, granted that lyrics are a very important part of a song, and the “success” (however YOU may define it) of a song may ride on the lyrics. But I don’t know.. “I kissed a girl, and I liked it” “I’m a genie in a bottle” “I’m a slave for you”

Really, now? That sounds like laughable hollowness to me.

I disagree with this article. I thought BoA’s album was very enjoyable, not at all boring like you had stated. I found myself dancing along to the songs. I even had it on repeats for the past few days. I think this album fits perfectly in today’s market interest.

I disagree most with this line “Quite frankly, the current state of pop music is heavily dependent on lyrics”- I think this sentence is very untrue. If you look at most of the hit/ Top 100 songs out right now- they’re all have one thing in common- and that is catchy beat. For example, Flo Rida’s Right Round, Low. Even Lady Gaga’s songs are popular because of the catchy beats- none of these songs are popular for the lyrics.

BoA has an enormous amount of talents. No female singers and sing and dance simultaneously the ways BoA does. With the proper promotion, I’m sure BoA will make it big here and have the chance to showcase her talents.

Damn A student’s newspaper. Haha. You want to have war with BoA’s fans and have thousands of views, comments, right? I wonder if you are an Asian BoA’s anti or not? Haha

Agree with post #1 & #4

I agree. The album is mediocre. She doesn’t have anything special to offer to this industry according to this album. All her songs are produced, she sings…that’s it. I’m disappointed.

Deng man…

why u dissin BoA like that? I like her album. She said it’s an introduction of herself to Amercica. It’s really different from the music she’s become famous for in Asia, so i think she’s just trying to leave a positive and not controversial impression on America. Her fans overseas are expecting her to succeed and represent asians well.

I think she’ll show off for real when the reception proves accepting.

Well, ‘im a big BoA fan. I thought the album was her best album in years, since her japanese career was kinda… bleh. Now talking about the lyrics, i’d say that they don’t have a personality yet ‘cuz she’s not well known outside asia. Rihanna and Britney, when they first started recording albuns, didn’t have any personality in they’re songs as well. In my opinion, this personality is shown when the artist have some kind of control of they’re career, or when they write they’re own stuff (Lady GaGa and Utada) BoA’s english is still bad (mine too, i’m from brazil btw) to show people any personality. She can’t even get interviewed without getting some wrong pronuncioation or words to express herself. I think it’s a matter of time for her personality to be showed.

Totes agree with you bbz. BoA needs to sign with Zomba.

love, dxb13

PS - BOAJJANGERS, GTFO. BoA can’t SPEAK the language well enough to be understood. Get me some subtitles for the album.

Good lord! I hate it when people take it personally when someone doesn’t like some music. I figure they’re Korean. Just because someone doesn’t like Wondergirls, Kimchi or doesn’t care about Dokdo doesn’t mean they’re insulting Korea. Take it easy folks, it’s one persons opinion on the album, no need to throw him under the bus.

Funny thing about this report is Boa uses some of the same american producers that he has mentioned for some of these other artists. And he is gonna say that the stuff is outdated trite and dull. People humor me when they dont know all the facts.

Utada > BoA

garens, you are an imbecile…

you wrote: “While half the tracks pack the musical punch to make them potential dance-club hits, it is unlikely any actually will. “

um, she was already #1 on the billboard hot dance 100. you’re the music editor for this paper? you are so sad. well. I guess since you’re not in a major market (madison) you don’t know what’s going on, but in LA boa is already hot stuff. she’s all over KIIS FM… the major station down there.

Do some research before making uneducated comments.

Having said that, I think that this album is not as good as her others. in fact, it is far inferior to her other ones. It sounds like Brittney, whom i hate. But i have no doubt she will break in. Se7en is also trying, but i think he won’t do very well. But BoA is EVERYWHERE in LA… the center of the entertainment industry… unlike madison… if you make it big in LA you are immediately big in the US. that’s just how it goes.

get a clue.

Although I am a big fan of BoA, I have to agree with the article. Kudos on the constructive criticism. Hope her producers are reading this. BoA needs to express her personality, her unique character, in her album for it to be successful. And Gaga’s silly lyrics…priceless :)

I’ll admit I also wished some of these songs were in korean so I wouldn’t understand the banal lyrics. The beats were great, but there was no spark of personality really. Some ballads MIGHT have helped. Was overall disappointed, but not surprised. Utada’s album on the other hand has been quite a delight.

I’m sorry your intelligently-written article is attracting such angry response from psychos who lack reading comprehension. You’re right, the album is fun but has no personality. I like how your review has a well-articulated point and vivid descriptions of the music.

Also people, look up what the word bias means. It’s not something you can just throw at people for disagreeing with you.

people want to agree and say the ablum has no personality.

what type of personality are they looking for???

i find her music uplifting. even when she sing’s “I don’t trust you anymore!” people shouldn’t expect her to be eccentric like Gaga, scandalous like Britney, Bitchy like Pink, or juvenile like Katy.

for ONE she’s younger than all of those artisits, so she’s still finding herself. && two her name is BoA, wich is an acronym for Beat.of.Angel.

not Beat.of.Anarchy. .Bitch. or .Scandal.

the alternate names were just hypothetical

I find the ‘comments’ by readers more entertaining than the original article. It is quite a bold prediction for a college kid to make that BOA’s album will be forgotten quickly. I am not a dance music person, so I can’t really comment on the arguments made by Alex, but I do agree the album is somewhat ‘lackluster’ because it is my impression she played it safe. I don’t think anyone is expecting her to enter within topten billboard, but if she enters Billboard 100 for album sales, that would be record for a Asian artist and quite respectable.

I do not agree it will be forgotten because to me the music sounded like people could actually enjoy at the clubs. Let’s see the sales record a month later and then decide who was the wiseguy, Alex or a bunch of ‘anonymous’…

Whoa people are serious about their BoA.

haha u fucked up now Alex… hopefully ur article isn’t proven wrong 6 months from now… ur editor in chief might need to reconsider ur position

Um where’s YOUR debut album in a language u didn’t learn growing up???

You don’t have one. So you don’t know. So don’t judge.

I just think if u don’t like her album, don’t listen to it. && definately don’t diss it.

BoA = BoAring