[Album Review] WINNER - '2014 S/S' 

YG Entertainment\'s new boy group, WINNER, has finally released their debut album! Prior to their long awaited release, members Jin Woo, Seung Hoon, Min Ho, Kang Seung Yoon, and Nam Tae Hyun garnered many fans by showcasing their talents as trainee group, Team A, on Mnet\'s reality show \'WIN.\' In addition, fans have fallen head over heels for the charismatic personalities they\'ve displayed on \'WINNERTV\'--we were given insight into these boys\' journey from their trainee days to their highly anticipated debut.  So, let\'s take a look at their final product, \'2014 S/S.\' 

The album starts with their lead single, "

Empty." This track was composed in part by B.I. with lyrics written by B.I. and Bobby (both from Team B) as well as group member, Min Ho.  This melody portraying emptiness and longing starts with Min Ho\'s rap--his voice is so amazing, there\'s no better way to start an album.  The combination of Jin Woo, Seung Yoon, and Nam Tae Hyun\'s unique vocals harmonize perfectly with the raps of Min Ho and Seung Hoon. Not only are the lyrics beautiful but the track is also perfectly soft and mellow.  To be honest, at first I thought, "

That\'s it?" but the more I listen to it, the more I love it--it\'s currently on repeat.  In addition, how beautiful do these boys look in the music video? 

"Color Ring," the next track on the album, begins with a beautiful piano melody followed by the smooth vocals of Min Ho.  The song continues to layer on an acoustic guitar and the vocals of Kang Seung Yoon and Jin Woo, then finally Nam Tae Hyun. The beat drops with Seung Hoon and Min Ho\'s rap.  This sad melody was partially composed by Kang Seung Yoon and the lyrics were written by Kang Seung Yoon, Min Ho, and Seung Hoon. You can really feel the real emotions in this song. Here\'s the tear-jerker music video: 

"Don\'t Flirt" changes the mood of the album with a more upbeat tempo.  It has a Maroon 5 feel.  Min Ho and Seung Hoon, again, helped pen the lyrics to this track. If I were dating any of these 5, I definitely would not flirt with any other guys.. 

The album flips over with a hip hop dance track,

"I\'m Him."  The track was produced by Min Ho, Teddy, and Choice 37, YG Entertainment\'s talented in-house producers.  Naturally, with the combination of Min Ho as a rapper and the sound of the other two producers, this song sounds very YG.  This track, which is Min Ho\'s solo, is like a mix of 2NE1 meet GD&TOP--it\'s awesome. 

"Love is a Lie," another upbeat track also co-composed and written by Min Ho, is a catchy song.  I was a little taken aback by Jin Woo starting the song by telling me he was meeting another girl, but still, it\'s a good song to jam to in the car or sing at karaoke.

"Confession." The song is a stark contrast to the previous upbeat track, "Love is a Lie," but it\'s a beautiful song about a boy confessing his love to a girl. Nam Tae Hyun also composed and penned the lyrics for this track, so naturally his soft voice fits perfectly and he is able to showcase his vocal talent. 

"But" is another sweet song about a boy telling a girl that he\'s the one for her--even though she pushes him away, he\'ll always be there to make her realize he\'s the one she should choose (aww!).  This song, also composed by Nam Tae Hyun with lyrics written by Nam Tae Hyun, Seung Hoon, and Min Ho, is another song that makes you feel fuzzy inside. 

"Different" is one of my favorite tracks on this album.  With the acoustic guitar backtrack mixed with the vocals and rapping... this song has it all.  Even though the boys are "different than the good guys" and it would be nice if they were the good guys, we\'ll take them as they are, too. On a side note, I love that you can tell the song is composed by Kang Seung Yoon and Min Ho just by its sound. 

"Tonight," has a slow jam beat.  This song about lonely nights and missing a girl also does not disappoint.  The falsettos in this track are on point. 

"Smile Again" on repeat for a ridiculously long time since I heard it on the finale of \'WIN.\'  Again, this song was produced and penned by the members.  This song was praised by the entire YG family, and I\'m not going to object to their opinion--it\'s a great song.  In addition, they sped up the song a little with a dance beat and bits of dubstep. I\'m really happy this song made it onto their debut album. 

Overall, I am so, so impressed with this album--it\'s hard to believe this is a rookie group and a debut album at that.  \'2014 S/S\' is already on repeat for me and WINNER is already ahead of the game, composing their own songs and achieving all-kills on these tracks.  It\'s scary to think that this is just the start, but I am looking forward to following this group and seeing them continue to experiment with sounds and grow as artists! 

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The album quality was flawless, some people may differ due to their preference of music, but really if the taste of ballad is not in your suit, then you can\'t really comment on a sentimental-rnb-ballad-pop album can you. 

I applaud to this slayage, Well done winner. <3

Don\'t flirt , I\'m him and smile agian are my favourite tracks <3

I love Empty, Love is a Lie, and It\'s Him. Mino\'s voice is so sexy, I mean why do BB and WINNER\'s rappers have such sexy voices and are just sexy as a person lol. 

TOP and MINO just kill me with their sexy raps and looks haha ;)

An album from a rookie group filled with songs composed by the group members themselves. It\'s such a rare feat from a a newly debuted group! ^_^ Yes, it\'s not the songs that we usually get from YG however, you just can\'t deny how beautiful these songs are! WINNER\'s colors are reflected on this album. Well, call it bias but I\'ll definitely give this album a 10! Filler song doesn\'t exist in this album for me. I enjoy listening to the whole thing and even put it on repeat. Anyway, kudos to WINNER, Double B and everyone behind this album!! ^_^ Can\'t wait to see their live performances! WINNER, fighting! ICs, fighting! YG fighting! I know it\'s a bit early but I hope they\'ll participate in MAMA together with all the members of YG Family who promoted this year. ^_^

I\'m in love with "Love is A Lie" and "I\'m Him". The album is sooo good!

They showed us a little of tonight on winner tv right? Anyways I LOVE this album. I bought the launching edition and it should be coming in soon

I love WINNER but the album is not my style, it\'s WINNER\'s style and it\'s quality but not what we can expected from YG. Btw I LOVE I\'m Him (ofc) and Tonight, a RnB-like ballad than I expected a lot when I heard it for the first time in WINNER TV.

This album though. It\'s just such a good listen and easy to put on repeat. It\'s a masterpiece.  Priase, YG. It was absolutely worth the wait.

Isn\'t "Love is a Lie" co-written by Kang Seung Yoon as well? Ah, I will need to wait until I get off work to reply to this review!

I have the album on repeat it\'s great they deserve recognition for all their hard work :)

Waah first time I love a review from Allkpop , this album is really great , I am really proud of them !! I can see how big they will get if YG won\'t let them comeback every fucking 10 years lol !! I am really glad to see good comments about WINNER album they really deserve it :))

Different and Empty are my fav too :) I dont know why but everytime I heard Jinwoo & Taehyun combo in Empty I began to tear down :( Lyrics,melodi,voices... ah so beautiful :\'(

Their part really touch your heart. Right.

Different is great song.. :) surprisingly, I agree with author of this article even though it is Allkpop\'s article.. :) Don\'t flirt is great... this song makes my day... :P

"I\'m him" is so sick! i love the entire album, I can\'t wait to see how this group grows =] 

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