[#42] Kim Hyung Joon - "Heaven"

From: "My Girl" (Mini Album)
Released: March 2011, South Korea
Rating: 2.55

If you asked me last year if I thought Kim Hyung Joon would ever make it to my favorite songs of any given year, I would've laughed at you for asking such an absurd question. And now I'm laughing at myself, because here I am, counting down my favorite songs of 2011, and here he is with an entry.


But then again, it's not like I have no reason to put him on the list, now that he's released a song as stunning as "Heaven". It's very stereotypical, like a lot of other songs it's nothing new, but being out of the ordinary is getting a bit boring as well, to be honest with you, and it's not like I've heard anyone do it especially well.

The melody is simple, it's singable, it's hummable. Bar that one, kinda iffy, high note at the end, it's in a very comfortable range for majority of people, which makes it an instant selling point. That and it's stunning.

It really is.

Stunning melody. Stunning instrumental. Stunning production. Stunning dynamics. To be honest with you, the worst thing about this song is the singing, but it's actually pretty okay. I would've liked the song to be sung by a more capable singer with a much nicer timbre, but Kim Hyung Joon gives it a sense gentleness, and I prefer gentle over flat-out horrid.

What I REALLY like about "Heaven" is that it's not afraid of be quiet. It's not afraid to stop for a while and let everything sink in, but it still delivers something gorgeous. It explodes, but it doesn't leave you sprawled all over the floor, having seizures all over the place. You know very well what's happening, and the way the dynamics were arranged makes you able to process all the stunning elements. By the end, although you're left with goosebumps and deep down you're probably exploding, you know exactly why you're freaking out.