[Hanteo Chart Back in the Day] Masterpiece Selected by True K-pop Fans: TAEMIN’s 'Press It', "3-time winner! The reason why TAEMIN’s first full-length album is called the ‘Media Bible’"

SHINee’s TAEMIN ‘Press It’ has placed 1st among the albums that entered Hanteo Chart’s Monthly Physical Album Chart of February 2016.

 

The global K-pop fandom platform ‘Whosfan’ ran a poll from February 7th to February 10th with the topic, ‘[Hanteo Chart Back in the Day] Chart back in February 2016…the best album in your opinion right now?’

 

Based on Hanteo Chart’s official data, ‘the Hanteo Chart Back in the Day’ voting nominated the albums that received a lot of love during the month of February 20216.

 

The nominees included Kim Jae Joong’s ‘NO.X,’ TAEMIN’s ‘Press It,’ WINNER’s ‘EXIT : E,’ B.A.P.’s ‘CARNIVAL,’ MAMAMOO’s ‘Melting,’ B.T.S.’ ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2,’ Up10tion’s ‘BRAVO!,’ Ryeowook’s ‘The Little Prince,’ SS301’s ‘ETERNAL 5,’ and GFRIEND’s ‘SNOWFLAKE.’

After fierce and close competition, TAEMIN’s ‘Press It’ has placed 1st with 37.81% of the votes. With this, TAEMIN has won ‘Hanteo Chart Back in the Day’ three times now with ‘MOVE,’ ‘MOVE-ing,’ and now ‘Press It.’

 

As such, Whosfan looked into the reason why TAEMIN’s ‘Press It’ is selected as the best album in the ‘Chart back in February 2016’ poll and is still being loved after 6 years of the album’s release.

 

▶ TAEMIN, the best solo male singer, writes new history as a soloist

 

A substitute word for ‘TAEMIN’ is ‘the best male solo singer of all time.’ TAEMIN is the first artist to release a solo album among idol groups in SM Entertainment. and TAEMIN is also the first to release a full-length solo album. As such, he has proved his infinite potential as a soloist.

 

TAEMIN opened the door for future albums with the success of his solo debut of ‘Danger’ in August 2014. About a year and a half later, in February 2016, he returned with his first full-length album showing growth as an artist.

 

Prior to the release of his first full-length album, TAEMIN released a highlight medley video of the tracks from his ‘PRESS IT’ album. All tracks give the impression of being one whole music video, and more attention was drawn to the video as it was known that TAEMIN had taken part in the production himself.

 

Regarding the ‘Press It’ album, TAEMIN stated, “Because SHINee’s color was so apparent, I wanted to capture TAEMIN’s own color,” adding that he listened and chose demo tracks himself to find his own identity and expressed a lot of his own opinions on the song arrangements. As such, ‘Press It’ is an album where TAEMIN’s worries and efforts stand out.

 

The concept of the album also shows maturity. TAEMIN said that the teaser image of himself almost kissing his reflection in the mirror was to express the two egos inside himself. Perhaps it was for this reason, TAEMIN appeared in the album with his early debut trademark ‘bowl cut,’ showing the contrast between TAEMIN early in his debut and TAEMIN now.

 

His first full-length album ‘Press It,’ which he put his heart and soul into even turning in his vacation days, proved TAEMIN’s efforts were not in vain. At the time of its release, the Initial Chodong sales (counted from February 23 to February 29th, 2016) of ‘Press It’ topped the men’s solo album Initial Chodong sales of all time with 72,000 copies, and didn’t miss topping the Hanteo Chart Daily Ranking during the Initial Chodong period.

 

He not only topped the Hanteo Chart Weekly Physical Album Chart but also won the different music broadcasting shows, winning a total of 4 times, showing the true value of ‘the best male solo singer of all time’ in name and reality.

 

▶ TAEMIN’s vocals and performance called the ‘Media Bible’

 

TAEMIN is often called the ‘Media Bible’ among SHINee World (fandom name) because it makes you ecstatic and holy by just looking at his performance. Among the ‘Media Bible’ performances, the ‘Press It’ album contains the most tracks that are often mentioned. Let’s take a look at TAEMIN’s ‘Press It’ tracks where we can feel the artist’s soul.

 

‘Press Your Number,’ title song of ‘Press It,’ is an urban pop dance song produced by the world-class pop artist Bruno Mars and top producing team, The Stereotypes. The lyrics, which TAEMIN took part in writing, show a more mature musical sensibility with a mournful heart waiting for their loved one

 

 

‘Drip Drop’ contains the lyrics, which TAEMIN took part in writing, showing a more mature musical sensibility with a mournful heart waiting for their loved one. This song surprised everyone with its level of completion when it was pre-released a day before the album’s release through a performance video. In response, TAEMIN had stated, “‘Drip Drop’ is the best song where I can show myself,” and mentioned that he pre-released the performance video because he had a special attachment to the song.

 

‘Soldier,’ which contains lyrics that TAEMIN wrote himself and organized the performance for, is a ballad song that combines the luscious piano melody and the seductive sound of the cello with the mournful vocals, and in the lyrics that TAEMIN wrote himself, he expresses the desire of a soldier to protect his loved one.

 

In addition, ‘Already,’ is a song in which Jonghyun, his team member, participated in the lyrics, composition, and chorus. You can get a glimpse of TAEMIN’s deep sensibility through the delivery of the lyrics in a wistful voice like he’s telling his ex-lover that ‘He’s doing good as ever.’

 

British composer team, LDN Noise, who has composed SHINee’s ‘View,’ f(x)’s ‘4 Walls,’ Red Velvet’s ‘Dumb Dumb’ in the past, participated in the composition of ‘Guess Who,’ enhancing the level of completeness. ‘Guess Who’ is a dance song with various sounds such as the electric guitar’s powerful rhythm, sirens, and gun sounds are added to give a stronger feeling.

 

Subsequently, ‘Sexuality’ is a retro-like Europop dance song featuring a sexy and disciplined vocal style and sensuous lyrics that express the completeness that can be obtained only when different man and woman meet each other. At solo concerts and fan meetings, Taemin performed an arrangement that had this song and ‘Guess Who’ mixed into one song, which is one of the stages mentioned as a ‘Media Bible.’

 

‘One By One’ is a song that blends well with TAEMIN’s vocals with the addictive electric guitar riff and bass, and has a wonderful harmonious atmosphere of a sophisticated and mysterious song, expressing the beloved woman as a ‘mirage’ in the lyrics.

 

‘Hypnosis’ is an eye-catching song with lyrics expressing a man’s situation in which he cannot forget his time with his ex-lover as someone who’s been hypnotized. It is a ballad track with a memorable vocal style as if talking in a calm and sincere voice, and you can feel the unique charm of performance powerhouse TAEMIN.

 

In addition, this album contains masterpieces of various genres, including ‘Mystery Lover,’ a dance track that doubles the dreamy atmosphere with the sound of an orgel and the chorus that becomes richer as the song progresses, and ‘Until Today,’ a minor sensibility R&B song containing the sadness of breaking up.

 

Regarding TAEMIN’s ‘Press It’ album, fans responded enthusiastically saying “This album is a real masterpiece,” “The all-time album which includes ballads to performances,” and “TAEMIN is art itself.”

 

Whosfan will run a pop-up ad on the application for two days to celebrate TAEMIN winning the latest poll. The mobile Whosfan app that features the ad is available on Play Store, App Store, and Galaxy Store.

 

Meanwhile, Whosfan will hold a poll with the artists who excelled in the Monthly Physical Album Chart of February 2017 in the ‘Hanteo Chart Back in the Day’ poll that opens every Monday. The fans are looking forward to the voting which is scheduled to open on the 14th.