Album Review - Republic of 2PM by 2PM

2PM released their first full length Japanese album last year. They took some of their biggest hits and translated it into Japanese and also made new music to make it unique for the Japanese market. How did it fare against their Hands Up album? Check out my review of this awesome album after the break.

Buy this album from YesAsia here!

2PM took the step of releasing original singles for their Japanese venture as oppose to releasing their Korean hits. The first single that was released earlier last year was Take Off. Followed by I'm Your Man and Ultra Lover. I find these singles different from what they've released before in that they are more like club anthems than the straight up pop they're used to. However, it still fits their style. As for the Japanese version of their Korean hits, it didn't bring much difference or made the track any better. Some of the them were even awkward after the translation. Perhaps I'm so used to the Korean version that I felt that the language didn't fit well with the songs.

Other tracks in the set include more pop tracks and a couple of ballads. Stay with Me is a nicely done dance pop track that has that sort of cheerful feel to it. Definitely one of the better dance tracks on the album. Crazy in Love kinda has that familiar 80's feel to it, took a while for me to like it, while Fate does sound a bit like Heartbeat. My favourite tracks from the album are actually the 2 ballads, 100th Day Anniversary and Even When We're Apart. They're much better ballads than what they've done so far. One of the reason I liked 100th was because it was produced by Hong Ji Sang who also wrote Don't You Know from their Hands Up album. Both are great pop tracks. Even When We're Apart is one of those very very sad love songs that would've fitted great with a romance movie. Junsu's soulful vocal stands out in this one as well.

Overall, 2PM brought a slightly different sound into their 1st Japanese album but still was relevant enough to be identified as their style. I absolutely loved the variety of music present in the set and also the better quality of the songs produced. Maybe I'm done having their Hands Up album on replay or something but right now, I'm hooked to this album. It's so good! Can't wait for them to come out with more great music soon! If you haven't got this, get it now!

Buy this album from YesAsia here!