Atlantis Princess Monroe NC

Atlantis Princess

BoA

SM Entertainment, 2003

REVIEW BY: JB

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/14/2003

BoA made international headlines as a Korean pop artist who soldmillions in Japan. She is, basically, a Korean artist signed to aKorean label that has distributors in Japan, who in turn marketedher Korean songs in the Japanese language (at karaokes everywhereyou can get "Valenti" lyrics in both Korean and Japanese). BoA wasfrom the beginning groomed for stardom, a manufactured pop artistso professionally crafted that even those who oppose manufacturedpop music on principle couldn't resist her grooves. Think Westlife,with whom BoA has dueted.

Atlantis Princess is BoA's latest collection of originalKorean-language material (which hasn't stopped the first singlefrom going number one in Taiwan). It is more or less predictable,and more or less what the people want: a shiny glamorous world withbright-voweled lyrics and an industrial beat. The album is, forbetter or worse, replete with Western pop influences ranging fromAmerican urban to Swede pop.

The title track best represents this BoA sound, as well as thestarlit dance track "Milky Way" and "The Lights of Seoul" (there isa bonus track of "The Lights of Seoul" sung in English; BoA'sdiction is, as ever, incomprehensible). "Beat of an Angel" (if it'schunsa-eui soomgyul shouldn't it be "BREATH of an Angel"?) combinesmajor and minor chords for that Max Martin/Britney Spears"Stronger" feel.

There are some Dallas Austin-like mid-tempo tracks (R&Bsinging on hip-hop background) such as "Time to Begin," a trackthat sounds suspiciously similar to Toni Braxton's "Hit theFreeway." Most of the unmemorable filler songs are written to thisdynamic, making it clear that seventeen year-old BoA has neitherthe artistic maturity nor pure attitude to pull them off. Theseshould've been reserved for, say, the fifth album.