[MUSIC VIDEO REVIEW] Girls' Generation (SNSD) - Holiday & All Night (2017)

Happy anniversary, Girls’ Generation (SNSD)! The girls celebrated their 10^th year anniversary on Saturday, August 5^th 2017. It is amazing to see them come this far. Throughout 10 years of their career, SNSD manages to break records as girl group, compete fiercely with boy groups, stand tall above risk of disbandment that happens on their peer group, and set legacy to their juniors.

Since 10^th years anniversary is a special occasion, SNSD has prepared special gift for public. The girls released their sixth full album called Holiday Night on Friday, August 4^th 2017. This album has double title tracks, which are Holiday and All Night.

With Holiday and All Night, SNSD tries to showcase different side of them while also give a sense of nostalgia to public. How does their double title tracks sound? Check out my review here……….

SNSD embraces retro theme again with Holiday after Lion Heart success in 2015. However, their approach is little different this time. Holiday sounds grander and bolder because of brass, saxophone, and trumpet domination. Beside that, it has stronger vocal too. Listening to Holiday reminds me with Broadway production.

Aside from Broadway, Holiday gives a nostalgic feeling to SNSD older tracks. The loud beat as well as repetitive chorus seems like homage to Gee and Oh!. This song maintains SNSD signature pop style. At the same time, it does not sound overly cute since the main retro theme keeps its elegance.

Holiday is a solid and catchy single from SNSD. But, it is still lacking in some parts. The transition after chorus could be smoother. They need to work on drum arrangements at chorus ending. It sounds like the song will end soon although it is actually not. Moreover, Hyoyeon’s rap and Tiffany’s bridge create jarring transition after chorus since their part has different tone from rest of Holiday.

Other than that, Holiday also has too many ad-libs from Tiffany, Taeyeon, and Seohyun. This becomes problem because some of their parts sound like Taetiseo song with all those retro and elegant vibe. It seems they still need more effort to differentiate SNSD and Taetiseo sound.

As for music video, it successfully captured Holiday lyrics. Seohyun write its lyrics, which talked about how you must have fun and go on holiday with SNSD. We see SNSD act to make you join various activities in front of camera throughout the music video. They pick clothes in their room, go to restaurant then dance in studio.

Their activities give interesting charm to Holiday music video. Most of them related with their previous music videos. The bedroom setting resembles I Got A Boy, elevator scene looks straight up from Hoot while mannequin properties appears as icon in Gee.

Holiday music video becomes more fun with its musical inspired concept. Throughout the video, SNSD walks around and sings while changes their activity. They also add retro vibe to incorporate with the song through cinematography. It looks a bit blur to emphasize old school feeling. Then SNSD also appears in bright styling although some of the outfits is a hit or miss.

SNSD plays out with disco music in All Night. They brings us back to 70s era through synthesizer and keyboard sound. All of these instruments dominated the song verses. It accompanied with delicate yet sultry vocal from Sooyoung, Yoona, Yuri, and Hyoyeon.

When it reaches chorus part, the music changes. SNSD put modern touch by including electronic dance genre. Their vocal tone changes too where Seohyun and Sunny take the lead. The transition sounds smooth because there is constant melody. I love this combination! It works well and builds up the song. Moreover, it is nice to see SNSD adapt with trend while still maintain their signature hook during chorus.

As a whole, All Night is better song than Holiday. It sounds more fresh and sophisticated. Still, All Night is not a perfect song. It would be better if SNSD removed rap part and dance breakdown. Both look outdated and not match the song flow.

Meanwhile, All Night music video comes with two versions. The first one has longer duration, which includes SNSD interviews. They talk about their experiences and meaning of their group. Unfortunately, the interview bits do not work well with the rest of All Night music video. It was because the song displays fun vibe while interview describes SNSD emotional moments. It would be better if they put the interview in slower song.

The second video cuts SNSD interview bits. We get more glimpse of All Night choreography. It looks sleek and energetic. Plus, it emphasizes on party scene just like All Night disco genre. SNSD tries to have fun together in club scene throughout music video.

All Night music video also displayed retro theme. It has blurry cinematography to match old era. This supported by SNSD styling which full of sequin dress along with curly hair. Their looks are on point and gorgeous.

In the midst all of these fun aspects, SNSD still shows their emotions in subtle way during All Night music video. Some of them look lonely and distant although they are in crowded place. This gesture is actually matches All Night song lyrics. It is about how SNSD misses their lover and want to spend the night with him.

SNSD delivers solid comeback on their 10^th year anniversary. Holiday brings out nostalgic feeling while All Night shows new side of them. Both songs successfully represent SNSD in mature way.

Also, the girls look enjoyed performing it on the music video. This attitude makes their presence stronger, something that they lack of since several years ago. I wish they could maintain this kind of energy on next release.

It’s impressive to see SNSD still kicking it after 10 years. They manage to show great gift on their anniversary. Congratulations and looking forward for your future endeavors!

Rating:                        4/5 

Categories: All Night, Choi Sooyoung, Girls Generation, Holiday, Hyoyeon, Kpop, Seohyun, SNSD, Sunny, Taeyeon, Tiffany, Yoona, Yuri