1. MAKE A WISH (BIRTHDAY SONG) - this damn nct type of mess...it grew on me. it's that style, what can i say. the aesthetics can stay away but it's a mood, i guess. i like jaehyun doing slightly different things with his voice and taeyong bodying all he did on this, i think it's a testament to what he specifically can pull off. and honestly lucas sold this to me looking like he's having the time of his life. and xiaojun. we don't deserve these vocals. shoutaro did his dance, he sure did.
2. MISFIT - i couldn't remember how much i liked this after the video, cause i didn't care for the mv. but! the second listen reminded me how much mark lee went off and so yes, this is an anthem. i love a good taeyong mark rap off. johnny did pretty good, but i was impressed with jeno in particular. this song is about me punching people who don't like mark lee or have some shit to say. thank you.
3. VOLCANO - first of all this lineup..yes. we love to see it. this song: i can get with when i'm in the dance mood. in fact yes, i legit started dancing. they gave lucas some good stuff to work with but i feel like he could use even more and then this would really smack me in the face. but i really like that almost boss-style bass line. jaehyun's vocals are doing exactly what they need to do here. there's maybe too many slow down vocals...just as typed this jungwoo sang that, so even he knows lmao. but when the beat drops again, it is kinda worth it. the end chant reminds me of very old SM style and as a hag who's been into kpop longer than some idols have been alive, i appreciate that.
4. LIGHT BULB - i love taeyong's vocals on this, it has that feel to it that makes me think of going home in the rain, which i might talk a lot about now that it's fall (i hope so). sungchan okay, i hear you. there's some i like about it and some i don't love. probably one that the second listen and beyond will do big favors for.
5. DANCING IN THE RAIN - rapper jaehyun, i see. okay. and johnny. very interesting. it did not go where i thought but TAEIL. taeil vocals could probably make me love ice cream cake okay. so i'm biased. but anyway, this is far from ICC, i like it. i don't know how much i'd be in the mood for this specific style but i probably won't skip it much.
6. DÉJÀ VU (NCT DREAM) - i should have been more excited for this. though, the second listen was more satisfying. haechan vocals and dream mark. it is a certain vibe. i enjoy the different sounds, effects and kind of callbacks. but it's not my style for regular play.

7. NECTAR (WAYV) - okay wayv being nasty again, what is new? you gotta know from this beat to the melody this is what i like to hear! those drums and the slight drop of traditional sounding instruments, yes, a favorite.

8. MUSIC, DANCE (NCT 127) - why are we ordering me to dance! i was bopping and bouncing but i feel like it's missing something. a sort of middle of the road track for me. but jaehyun used the sexy voice. the bridge was a blessing though. can we do that again sometime? it reminded me a little of what cherry bomb vocal line was bringing to the table.

9. FADED IN MY LAST SONG - i am listening respectfully. this lineup, PHEW. taeil tho...sir. taeil and ten duet RIGHT NOW PLEASE. i stopped breathing a moment this is my kind of shit. absolutely. thank you very much. yes. how else can i put it. you are putting taeil's lower register with ten's voice, haechan's voice, renjun's falsetto and that bass line? they were insane for this.

10. FROM HOME - you started with taeil then haechan doing THAT. how am i not supposed to have emotions? bitch, ABSOLUTELY. the quardilingual vocal excellence? MWAH. YOU BETTER. we absolutely love this flex! who is we? i cloned myself to tell you how much this is exactly what we deserve. it's what yuta, chenle, kun, and yuta deserve especially. but absolutely everybody with a throat shined in this and delivered. i typed yuta twice but you know what, i'm that happy for him and his lovely voice seeing the light of day. beautiful. absolutely. the only reason i would have a wedding is so that moon taeil could sing at it. but i'd take this entire unit tbh.- skipping korean version of from home because there isn't anything extra to say, sorry --

11. MAKE A WISH (ENGLISH VERSION) - gulp. jaehyun 😳 hold on lucas, you know how to what??!

<aside> 💡 final thoughts: okay, so this isn't quiiiite Peak NCT but it is a lot closer than my cynical side predicted. i love the idea of shuffling members a la akb48 olden days, but it doesn't quite ever give me any unit too crazy from my wildest dreams. this time, though we got closer than empathy! and actually, overall it is does the damn job! i cannot declare that it comes close enough to touch nct 127 releases for me, but i am definitely quite happy with this album.

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