Super Junior are professionals at melting entire K-Pop communities to bubbling puddles of goo. They hold more power in the palm of their hands than most boy bands combined, and so it comes as no surprise that news of their comeback completely dominated the international K-Pop community.
Needless to say, the concept (as wacky as it may be) served its purpose – to grab all eyes and ears towards Super Junior like moths to a neon-colored flame.
With the release of ‘Mr. Simple‘, Super Junior’s fifth studio album, consider yourself jet-packing to the light and getting fried.
Their image was loud and eclectic, bold and bewildering. It left me wondering, how would this album actually sound? Is it as coo-coo bananas as what I’m looking at?
Well, let’s find out.(K POP)

Track List: ( click the title of song )
01 Mr. Simple
02 오페라 (Opera)
03 라라라라 (Be My Girl)
04 Walkin’
05 폭풍 (Storm)
06 어느새 우린 (Good Friends)
07 결투 (Feels Good)
08 기억을 따라 (Memories)
09 해바라기 (Sunflower)
10 엉뚱한 상상 (White Christmas)
11 Y
12 My Love, My Kiss, My Heart
13 태완미 (太完美: Perfection) (Bonus Track)

SM Entertainment seemed to know that this album would be Super Junior’s last before members Heechul and Leeteuk march into their military service. And so, to help them brave this impending departure, SM cooked up one final single which they could wreak havoc with, just for old time’s sake.
In truth, Super Junior’s title track is hectic and full of frenzy. It features a stu-stu-stu-stuttering instrumental and a pair of verses that are as glitchy. We hear most members chiming in through the first verse – from Siwon biting through his lines to Donghae quacking ever-so-endearingly. Then the chorus hits, hammering all the synths, dings, and vocals together in a synchronized fashion to the eighth notes; it’s resulted in something like controlled chaos.
There’s an unmistakable familiarity to “Mr. Simple” that I’m sure hasn’t gone unnoticed. “Mr. Simple” is at its core, a complete rehashing of “Sorry, Sorry” (2009). It was done with “Bonamana” (2010), which wasn’t that blatant of a copy, but it certainly came from the same archetype. Now you have version no. 3, which may actually contain samples from the two.
It doesn’t quite venture out of what Super Junior have released in the past, and so it’s not as groundbreaking as one would have hoped. But its energy and loudness is right in line with what Super Junior always seem to bring to the stages of K-Pop. “Mr. Simple” is like any other SM lead single, put together to be experienced in a setting where elements like choreography, special effects, and the members themselves are enough to distract from the otherwise recycled aspects of the song.

Elsewhere, the second track, “Opera“, finds its roots in another previously-released SM track.

“Opera” begins by setting speakers ablaze with a set of alarms that have a choppy, robotic feel that sounds vaguely familiar. “Opera” has less extraneous details than the title track, but it sounds like a hybrid of “Perfection” and f(x)’s ”NU ABO“. By the 30-second mark, I found myself waiting for the lines “Hysteric, Hysteric” to kick in, followed by “Na na na na na na na na“.

Something about this song makes me feel claustrophobic. It’s very boxed in, if you will, and just having the whole thing throbbing in time with the tempo is like sitting in a room with the walls caving in – one pulse at a time.

The effect is intensified by the addition of a breath-like nuance that eases closer to the forefront as the song progresses. It’s an interesting effect, albeit a little scary in the sense that “Opera” sounds like it’s spiraling down to eat me. It’s perhaps this meeting of the senses which gives “Opera” a dash of appeal, and lessens the impact of its similarity to f(x)’s track.

The momentum continues with “Be My Girl“.
At first, this song doesn’t come across as particularly outstanding, due to its relatively standard instrumental and melodies. But then I started getting these tiny sparks of deja vu to a style/sound I had experienced before. It hit me later that this sounds and feels at least a little like a Pet Shop Boys song. Of course, having been penned by European and American masterminds (GoodWill & MGI), it was bound to have a Euro-pop feel, and by the second half, that’s all you hear.
The pre-chorus is really where it’s at; it’s slightly eerie, and slightly indulgent. Under an electro-pop production, these pieces – Super Junior’s voices, the minimalistic style, and heavy Euro influence – come together enough to make sense, at least for this song.

Strolling behind “Be My Girl” is “Walkin’“, a pseudo-reggae pop track that marks the point in which we lose sight of any ‘conceptual‘ cohesion and veer off into unrelated styles.

For what it’s worth, “Walkin’” brings a sense of relief from the aggressive energy of the first three tracks. It has traces of the same vibes felt in “No Other” (2010), and to that effect, Super Junior comes off as a boy band singing like a boy band, which is something to be appreciated from time to time. Frequently, Super Junior strive to be the loudest, most provocative thing on the radio, but it’s when they pull back just a tiny bit that they feel more real to me.

On its heels is “Storm“, the first ballad on the album. True to SM’s style, it’s going to sound like it belongs to a fairytale.

Aside from the fact that there was one glorious spot (1:22) where the string section was split right in the middle between the violins and the bass section – staying faithful to an actual orchestral arrangement, and making good use of panning finally – there’s not much to address here. It’s a pretty ballad, but since Super Junior have so many, “Storm” may ironically find itself lost in the fray.

“Good Friends“ probably takes the position as my favorite track on the album, as it delivers all kinds of (relatively) loony ideas in one song. And yet, Super Junior did good in that delivery.
“Good Friends” has a western-ish influence mixed with a spoonful of J-pop that has a quirky bounce to its beat. Super Junior sings beautifully on top of a set of fun guitar riffs and tooting trumpets that come together surprisingly well. It’s these moments of mid-tempo goodness paired with fabulous vocals that Super Junior are at their best. They’re given room to pull back and just as much room to plow through in a stampede.
“Good Friends” embraces Super Junior for everything that this group has to offer, especially through its exhibit of pop-vocal artistry. From awesome singing to snarling whispers, it’s a concise and well-executed blend of all the Super Junior aspects that drives fans crazy.

“Sunflowers” continues this fluffy ambiance with an arrangement commonly heard rotating in the backdrop of Korean dramas (preferable in a bright lit cafe setting). It’s almost too pretty for what this album should be going for.

With that said, “Sunflowers” exemplifies the proficiency of a good production. Pretending like this song wasn’t part of ‘Mr. Simple’ (the album), “Sunflowers” does a lovely job of making Super Junior sound like the suave men we know they are. Their singing is matched well enough with the sparkly instrumental to barely stand out as a keeper.

“White Christmas” enters, and right away there’s something odd about hearing a bunch of guys singing over a rock arrangement, mainly because I’m used to watching live bands rocking out on small stages (and roughly they’re comprised of four members at the most).
In any case, there are moments when the melodies start meshing really well with the instrumental and Super Junior have me bobbing my head, but the steam dies down when the song comes up short from going anywhere. It’s a decent tune, but not memorable like it could have been.

“Y“, composed by Donghae and One Way’s Chance, is a pleasant surprise. Not so much that it is Donghae’s brainchild, but how smooth Super Junior sound under this R&B-pop style. Is it crazy to think that Super Junior may actually know what works best for them? Because “Y” is the clear winner above the rest of the slow tempo songs on this album. This penultimate track easily outshines “Storm” and “Memories” because it doesn’t indulge in these overwhelming sweeps of orchestration and composition. Granted, those styles are amazing, but “Y” doesn’t overthink the idea of a slow song, and that’s what ends up making it a refreshing experience among the rest of these tracks.