David's Blog: Kara Damaged Lady Review

It's been a while since I made a review blog of something, so here goes! I'll start off with Kara's Damaged Lady and then proceed to SNSD's GALAXY SUPERNOVA tomorrow, or another day. I'll discuss my opinions for both the song and the music videos.

Once again, I am not a professional, thus I may use the wrong terminology/expressions throughout my review. These are strictly my opinions and you're free to agree or disagree with them. Feel free to comment/critique this post!

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KARA - Damaged Lady

Music

(*Note, the MV's song differs slightly from the song by having a brief instrumental introduction before the rapping starts.

The brief instrumental introduction in the MV starts off catchy, with a syncopated (off-beat) to grab my attention. Soon after, we hear the face of Kara (Goo Hara) rapping, with a sense of loathing in her voice.

That then leads to a brief... vocal belting (not sure of the term) from the main vocalist of the group, Han Seung-yeon. which goes well with the accompany music. It gives the song a strong start and ensures that it has my attention. Soon after, we hear the first verse: a fast-flowing melody line accompanied by piano chords and some guitar rifts.

Then comes the rock like background, followed by what sounds like a synthesizer to tell us that the chorus is soon coming up. And it sure delivers.

The chorus is beautiful, with all the members singer a melody line that is mostly stepwise (not a lot of leaps). This, along with the strong background music really creates an atmosphere of power but bitterness.

The bridge then follows continues with the synthesizer, which I think helped smooths the transition of to the modified first verse (or would this be considered the second verse). Nothing really changes besides that it's shorter and the synthesizer is still present to tell me that the chorus is coming back quite quickly!

There is another bridge... or something equivalent to a dominant preparation in which it preps up for the chorus and ending.

And the song ends well, with what sounds like a diminished chord. It's no perfect ending, but it does leave me with a sense of closure for the piece.

Overall, the song is catchy with smooth transitions. The group members are able to, in my ears, to mesh their voices into one for the chorus quite well. The strong rock guitar sections and synthesizer really creates the atmosphere for the song; the sense of bitterness from a break up and a broken heart. However, there is that power present, like the empowerment that can come from the break up (if that makes any sense!).

I have to say, that it is my favorite Kara song to date! The chorus is catchy, the verses are catchy, heck... everything is catchy about this song! There isn't any flaws I can pull out from this song.

Score 10/10

Music Video

Instead of describing the storyline of the MV, I'm just going to express my thoughts for the piece.

First off, the clothing used in this MV. All I can say is that the dresses, dress shirts/tie combo, victorian-royalty-dresses and whatever else they're wearing was well crafted. It really brought out the charm from each member of the group. The dresses looked elegant. The dress shirts and ties gave them a sense of power and independence. Nothing was overly sexual, which I believe is the right path for this song. Even with the wet dress shirt scene was tastefully done. All in all, clothing was well used well to strengthen the message, of the transition of being "girly like" in a bad relationship to strength and independence.

Next, settings and transitions. I think the transitions and settings were thought out quite well for this MV. There's probably a reason why they chose certain things, but I am unable to interpret them at this point. All I can say is that each setting is pleasantly crafted and the transitions make perfect sense, with nothing seemingly out of place. I especially liked the scene where the five members, dressed in their dresses, were looking at their reflection before they made their transformation.

Finally, the choreography. I'm not a dance expert, nor am I familiar with the type of dances that Kara usually does, but it seemed to be a pleasant choreography. Their moves aren't really flashy, nor strong looking, but it works well with the song. The "taking-off-the-ring" move feels really symbolic and caught my eye (that feeling of independence once again). Also, I liked how the moves weren't overly suggestive.

To sum it up, great MV! The clothing, transitions, setting and choreography mended well together with everything having a part to play in the music video!

Score 10/10

Final Thoughts

I'm not a huge Kara fan, but this song and music video may change my position on that! Damaged Lady is a catchy song that has a wonderfully made music video. There isn't anything I really dislike about Damaged Lady (well... maybe the short wigs at some parts). For Kara fans, it's a must watch and for non Kara fans or those getting into K-pop, I think it's a great first video for you to watch!

And now some screen caps that I captured via YouTube