DBSK's Vocal Prowess Version 2.0 - Individual Analysis

So, the individual analysis. It took time for me to write this, mainly because I spent time on the people who I needed to spend time on, but I think I did a pretty good job.

This is how it'll work. Name, what part they sing on 5-part a capella numbers in numerical form - so 5 is lowest, 1 is highest plus what I personally call that part. It gives people with little technical knowledge an idea as to where the boys' ranges are. The commentary itself + a video of what I think highlights the point of my commentary. Got it? Got it.

Wait. A note on a capella first before I start. I don't use recorded a capella versions of tracks because I have a very strong feeling that they 'cheat' on it. It's not anything bad but from what I've been listening to, I think they record the background a capella separately from the solo lines which is actually OK. The only reason why I won't use them to judge is because if one member takes a solo, you can also hear his line in the background vocals - there's no difference whether he as a solo or not. So I use their live a capella stuff to judge.

Yunho
5 (lowest)

They need Yunho in the band vocally because who's gonna sing the bottom parts? He may not have the most appealing or technically proficient voice but he's the base - everyone else in the band relies on him. It's like a cheesecake - Jaejoong's the blueberries, Yoochun, Junsu and Changmin are the cheese and Yunho's the graham crackers at the bottom - you can't not have the guy in the band. (apologies for the crap analogy - it's been used in Choral music before.)

I don't like this voice, I'll say it flat out, and I think he's trying to mask the fact that he can't sing that well (anymore) with a crap attempt at a vibrato. It doesn't help one bit.

But back to my first point. A capella-wise the reason why they're so strong is partially because of Yunho. Compare him to Kian Westlife (I just HAVE to) and a capella wise he delivers much, much stronger.

Changmin
1 (top)

Yes, Changmin takes the top parts of DBSK tracks. His voice may be high but I noticed that it's very shrill. There are times when his voice just sounds amazing, and I mean breath-taking but about 60% of the time he still doesn't know what he's doing.

I (obviously) write these posts in parts - whatever comes into my mind at one moment I write down. So I know that I wrote what I wrote above but I can't exactly remember which song/video/performance I was listening to that fueled me to write that. ANYWAY.

While watching the band on this Korean variety show, I noticed something with Changmin's voice. He (randomly) sang Jaejoong's part towards the end of Tonight (I believe it was the sub-middle 8) and you know what? He delivers the vocal gymnastics of that part very well. SO, I have a conclusion - Changmin sounds good when he sings in a slightly lower range. Not too low but around Jaejoong's range, which is just a step lower than his.

I personally (PERSONALLY.) don't like Changmin's voice. I don't like it because there are too many times that it's shrill and I don't necessarily like shrill voices. But the middle 8 of 12:34 that he did was pretty good, I gotta say. HOWEVER, his shrill voice sounds absolutely FANTASTIC when you process/auto-tune it. I'm serious. I'm talking both the obvious and not-obvious types.

Take Wasurenaide for example, he sounded BRILLIANT on it. But then again they all sounded brilliant on it. However Changmin's voice was a lot less shrill than usual so yay!

Yoochun
4 (middle low)

I wasn't that impressed with Yoochun's voice when I wrote my first commentary but after hearing a heck of a lot more, it's very good. It's very rich, old-school R&B-ish and he has an unusual timbre. It's also very different from Junsu and Jaejoong's voices in the sense that it's not necessarily made for ballads but still, the guy can sing them pretty damn well.

I still stand by the fact that he tends to let loose too much live for my taste. And in the wrong way. But not always, so he's OK.

His voice can get airy and nasal-like at times though. Not always, but there are times when he still doesn't know how to do certain things with his voice. But his is definitely the voice with the most body and dimension in the band.

Junsu
2 (middle high)

Everyone goes on and on about Junsu's gorgeous voice and I think I now know why people are saying that. He has a rich, deep voice and a wide range but the one thing he's always had is technique. When you talk about technique in DBSK Junsu is the first name that comes to mind - the guy knows how to sing. He knows how to sing difficult songs like Tonight and he knows when to hold back and let go depending on the situation - he always has. From the very beginning he's been like that and now that his voice has matured he sounds like he'd be very comfortable as a ballad singer after DBSK.

Another thing I noticed about Junsu is the fact that he sounds much, MUCH better live. Junsu isn't like Mark Westlife who really murders the song live but the one flaw (I'm not sure if it's a flaw either) is that the guy tends to be the one who really lets loose live. Sometimes it can be good, sometimes it can be bad but either way he can sing.

I can't stress enough how good his technique is - consistently, Junsu is the best singer in DBSK. The guy's voice delivers on ballads and uptempos and although he isn't versatile like another member (*ahem* Jaejoong *ahem*) and his voice can't morph into whatever style he's signing, he sounds really, really, REALLY good at what he does. He may not have the best voice in my opinion but he knows how to make a good voice spectacular, he's solid proof that you don't have to have the most fantastic voice in the world (for me at least) to sound mind-blowing.

Jaejoong
3 (Melody)

Jaejoong has the best voice, in my humble opinion, but it took some time for him to be the best singer in DBSK - I still don't think he is, actually.

To be completely honest with you, at the beginning of DBSK Jaejoong's vocals were very plain. They weren't bad or anything but the one who really brought the band in terms of vocals and made them so unique was Junsu, and maybe even Yoochun at one point. Jaejoong's voice was clean but his voice was very young and didn't have the timbre he has now and he didn't know how to use that to his advantage yet.

Like I said during my re-briefing, there's a difference between a nice voice and a good singer - Jaejoong was just a nice voice when they started but he didn't exactly know how to use it. Junsu was the one who could sing his head off at the beginning and Junsu was the one people gushed over but Jaejoong was the one with the most potential, I think. He was the one with a gorgeous voice he didn't know how to use yet - over time he's learned. It took a few years before Jaejoong learned how to be a good singer and learned how to do this and that with his voice but now that he does, I'm like WHOA. It took him some time to realize his voice was the most versatile of all five of them.

He has the smoothest voice, the cleanest one but you tell him to sing his head off and he will do it. He hits high notes like Junsu, has the versatility no one else in the band has and he's now learned how to use his voice. It's also damn gorgeous. (sorry, just HAD to say it!)

There is a reason why Jaejoong is the lead singer, there is a reason why he sings the melody in a capella parts and there is a reason why he's not necessarily the one you go to for vocal gymnastics (although he does do them). For a capella pieces you need a lead vocal/melody part strong enough to float on top of everyone but good enough to blend all the other voices together - that's where Jaejoong comes in. The reason why Westlife are so good at a capella is partly because the top and bottom parts are strong but more so because the lead vocals are outstanding - same goes for DBSK, Jaejoong carries the band vocally. You need him in DBSK for the sole purpose of making all these different voices balance out and he does it pretty damn well.

Also, you need someone like Jaejoong on lead vocals because he can sing anything and make it sound like it's the most natural thing ever. The other 4 are good, no doubt, but their voices are confined to one or a few styles - they don't have the versatility Jaejoong has. So when they chose to sing something, they can ch damn well.

And because this is my blog and I can do anything I want to on it, TWO Jaejoong videos! lol.

NOW, put these 5 together and trust me, you have magic. It took some time for it to appear but once it did, for crap's sake it blew my mind. This is the reason why they're one of the biggest bands in Asia, if not the biggest - there's magic.

Which is why once again, I will repeat - SM ENTERTAINMENT WILL NEVER, EVER, EVERRR FIND ANOTHER GROUP AS DYNAMIC AND AS GOOD AS DBSK. SHINee may all have vocal ability and they may all be very good performers but they're a different band - the magic and the chemistry is different. What DBSK have, only they do and no one else will be able to replicate it. I got into DBSK because of the music, because of the songs, because of the vocals and because they're musicians, not a bunch of random guys thrown together a month before their debut and forced to perform together. They may be manufactured and they may be split into 2 right now over a stupid lawsuit but what they've already shown us over the past few years is just brilliance.

That is all.