Your favs discography range in 5 songs?

one of my favorite vocalists in the kpop industry!

Quote from kooxgalaxy

one of my favorite vocalists in the kpop industry!

Same! He's super talented

All my favorites

I like this idea! I have a number of singers I’ll try to cover but you made this hard by using so many of the Baekhyun songs that I’d use, so I’ll come back to Baek and think about some of my other faves.

Chen said, “if there’s one voice I want to cheer on in SM, it’s Taeil.”

(Where’s the solo, SM? Where’s the solo tracks? No OSTs, no nothing. )

There are lot of good to great voices in NCT but his always stands out to me for its richness and versatility - he can drop r&b runs and rock yells. For me, he is the best singer in NCT - others may have more distinctive tones like Haechan but Taeil wins for me every day and I can always pick his voice out. His voice is stunning and it’s effortless. He has a crazy range but a buttery, honey richness to his tone and I’m always a sucker for that sound. He’s a little quiet and shy so I feel like his voice gets slept on for the flashier neos, despite it almost always anchoring both 127 and U tracks, but when I see the “in the studio” recordings, I’m amazed at how easy he can do these things. It was really hard to pick five vocal performances that can show off the range.

Elevator 127F

He’s anchoring the hook (and usually anchors the hook no matter the style of song) here in a funky r&b groove and it lets him really dig into what I think is his wheelhouse.

From Home

I pick a lot of big notes because that’s what I love - I love a belter, ngl. This song has a number of lovely voices in it, but as always the richness of his tone anchors the airier voices here, esp in the chorus, but then he goes for the falsetto “not alone” and this whole thing here where I stop singing along at 3:09 just like I do with the best belters.

(Bonus: in studio going for that note at 4:40, thinking it’s bad and then hitting it a few more times.)

Purple.

My boy drops in from 1:12 in a lower register than he sings in for most NCT songs and it’s a silky caress.

My Everything

Spare and lovely and showcases the range of his voice, while also pairing with two other strong vocalists. I really like Renjun and Xiaojun’s voices but Taeil, yo.

Gimme More

I’ve covered a lot of the more r&b flavor songs, but even in more “industrial” tracks, he drops some solid rock screams, in addition to bringing the power in the chorus. You can just skip to 2:55.)

(Chain and Simon says also both have killing notes like this at the close. )

(Bonus here..)

I know I serve this Best Part cover a lot but it shows his control and versatility to go quieter and higher to complement Jaehyun’s lower, softer voice (particularly when Jaehyun is a little hesitant and self conscious at the start) and then crank it up in lower, bolder tones to harmonize with Doyoung’s stronger, flashier voice.

(I actually really love when Jaehyun and Taeil partner because they really blend well.)

okay, Jongdae's not my favorite soloist because his music is very hit or miss with me ( ) but he is my favorite vocalist (ever) and when someone talks about range - he's always the one to pop up in my head, so this one's gotta be about him.

The Many Faces (or Voices) of Kim Jongdae

1. The Legendary Rockdae

2, The Harmonizing King

3. The Crystal-Voiced Balladeer

(yes, I'm using an EXO song. but we must all agree, it was HIS era)

Honestly, I'm a tad bit upset at him for keeping his solo music contained in pretty basic ballad genre (at least experiment a little dude, throw more rock and high notes in there), but as long as he's happy I'm just gonna be satisfied with the few that hit the spot for me (like love words and hold you tight)

4. The OST King

5. And Most Obviously - The Master of High Notes

Quote from fluffyhairedbaek

You guys i flopped with making the title it seems i didn't mean the vocals range jssjsj but their discography range like how versatile can it be

But your answers were not that far fetched in a way haha

Okay, I’ll keep that in mind for my next ones (when I have time later to pick songs)! I like the idea of this thread and want to keep it going.

Quote from fluffyhairedbaek

Exos discography is so huge and versatile but if i were to put five songs to represent their range:

1. Monster. Literally the blue prints of the dark concept/sound in kpop for a reason

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2. Love shot. The classy and sexy aura that exos pull best. Imo they truly cemented themselves as sex icons with that one

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3. Baby dont cry. An rnb ballad. Vocal/rap flex + emotion. Enough said

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4. El dorado. Exos most epic sounding song whew the climax of the song is still one of the best things my ears ever heard. Plus its so so empowering

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5. Tactix. Bangers or trashy bops is smth not very exo like but what do you know they actually make the best ones

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your faves = my faves idk what to do other than agreeing with you

Exo indeed has the most consistent and versatile disography

Everyone has a different taste but if you stan for music check Exo they are worth it that's all I can say

Their music journey has been so satisying

From what is love

To Obsession

And Baek is the most versatile singer and pperformer with a great discograhy

BP only has 20 sumn songs so rip but they are still pretty diverse imo

Mamamoo is honestly pretty hard to capture in 5 songs

That doesn't do a good job (especially regarding b-sides) but thats a look at the scope of their titles

Everglow doesn't seem diverse from the look of their titles but I think they've got some in their discography

(G)I-dle is the definition of diverse (you can't get everything in 5 songs for sure)

Like what genre even is hann

CLC is so diverse but everyone SLEEPS ON THEM

CLC full album WHEN?

Dreamcatcher is mostly only known for their rock songs but their bsides are so diverse

Kard is mostly known for their tropical songs too but they change it up a bit

Stray Kids. Where to begin

Great, now I have to rethink EXO songs to prove range, LOL. I’ll come back to it too.

For now, I’ll go with NCT 127. Their range is more diverse than more know or give them credit for - they span the range from an experimental, industrial sound (the maligned “noise music”) to funky r&b to shimmery pop to swaggy hip-hop inflected beats. The four main vocals create a rich harmonic blend, but there are enough other strong vocals throughout the group to create additional punches of texture. Even their most industrial songs drop a gorgeous prechorus or bridge in the mix in a distinctive and haunting way.

Punch

This is actually a song I don’t like but it does serve as a perfect example of what I’m talking about: it’s different and unexpected sonically and then drops this gorgeous sequence at 1 minute, again at 1:45, 2:04, offsetting the rap sequence and industrial effects, then 2:20-41 ahead of the dance break. (I love these gorgeous vocal floats, I’m not a fan of the panting verses or the “hey we ballin” lyric.) There are many different things happening in one song - which is quintessentially NCT 127.

Highway to Heaven

A slice of shimmery pure pop that 127 handles so well. If you only know “Cherry Bomb” or “Kick It,” you may be surprised by this track, but it’s not unusual in their discography (from Heartbreaker to Love Me Now to Touch, they’ve shown an adept and frequent hand at this genre. I love both of those songs, by the way.)

Good Thing

Glossy r&b grooves - like shimmery pop, this is something they like and are good at, from Elevator 127F to 0 Mile.

Make Your Day

There is a full range of ballads in the discography, from OST style ballads to full-throated R&B like this one, but I think again, this reflects the range from an all the bells and whistles song like Punch to this simple piano-driven r&b ballad. (I’m not a huge ballad fan but I LOVE this song and the way it shows off the vocalists so nicely.)

Sun and Moon

There’s a softer side to their discography of an r&b/pop blend that offers differing soundscapes (the kind of things the title tracks offer but in a dreamy way.) Day Dream is another great song in this vein, which leans heavier into the r&b aspect and reminds me of a great ol skool hip hop group called PM Dawn. I prefer the live version of this track, which is on their live album, where the vocals are stronger and more aching.

oh god this is hard

shinee have done r&b, pop, hip hop, house, dubstep, techno, ballads, funk, rock, etc

idk how to begin to describe their entire discography using only 5 songs.

ig i'd say replay, everybody, 1 of 1, tell me what to do, and lucifer?

i can't leave out sherlock tho... and what about view???

maybe i can get away with counting everybody as 'edm' but what about tmwtd??

oh well. replay will have to do as my r&b-pop-ballad umbrella song.

replay, view, everybody, sherlock, and 1 of 1. i still feel like im missing a lot.

maybe just replace 1 of 1 with lucifer.... idk

or maybe I should have just done bsides. I feel like their title tracks are too limiting.

I've spent way too long on this already. some other shawol should come and figure it out.

the pain i went through trying to decide this

WayV

WayV is one of the other NCT units, but very different than 127. I think their discography is definitely less diverse, although there is still a variety across their music.

WayV is very pop rock n b, which I know is a lot of styles but I think there’s sometimes a dramatic, bombastic rock aspect to their title tracks compared to the other units. Despite that, their discography and vibe is definitely more relaxed than the more propulsive 127.

Partly this is a function of style (less experimenting with different sound textures in a given song) and members - WayV does not have the range and power across its vocalists the way that 127 does. That said, this can sometimes create a smoother, more cohesive vocal blend - there’s only one big belter in here, in contrast to 127’s and the arrangements are settled to suit his power notes, rather than the (sometimes) competing vocal show 127 does. (And I love that show, but WayV is definitely when you want a different vibe.)

Similarly its rappers are not as dynamic and forceful as 127’s. Yangyang is a great rapper but his style is a more mellow flow. (The other two definitely weaker than their parallels in 127.) Additionally, WayV is often sexier in lyrics and performance. It’s definitely going for the “grown folks” vibe here.

(I know you’re thinking why so many comparisons to 127...I think folks think of NCT as one sound but the sub units are actually very different. Someone who’s into the sugar rush pop of Dream could probably explain their sound better than I could.)

WayV is for headbobbing and chilling, generally speaking to me.

Like 127, I think the diversity of their songs is not well served by the singles.

Turn Back Time

Big dramatic WayV, using its typical structure of Kun’s voice in the prechorus and/or bridge to let the sound build to a big Xiaojun note. Or he lays the base within the chorus for Xiaojun to take it home. Bad Alive or Moonwalk are similarly styled (although Ten is more significant in Bad Alive) and probably the “hardest” WayV tracks. Again, WayV hard is different than, say, a Cherry Bomb.

Domino

This is the kind of sultry pop WayV really leans into - I wouldn’t characterize it as r&b or pop. When I say sultry, it’s not just a lyric here, but it’s definitely a slinkier, sexier vibe. After Midnight and King of Hearts lean into this same zone.

Nectar

When WayV gets into its r&b lean, it rides on a sexy groove that will take you of the headbobbing to chair dancing. Another great example here is Take Off (which i love the crap out of and wish they’d do another one like that.) Both of these are very much about the Kun build to a Ten support to a big Xiaojun moment.

Face to Face

The “softness” of the vocal combination here provides for a really laidback coffee and cozy socks vibe on their gentler tracks. Again, I’m not a big ballad person but I really like this one. (I quite love the delicate beauty of Kun’s voice.)

Let Me Love U

Pure pop - sweet and bubbly. We go nanana is in a similar style.

Someone needs to take the keyboard away from me. :-D I’ll tackle EXO next.

If you feel like a rabbit hole, you can actually compare 127 and WayV differences below. They’re singing the same song.

I always prefer the 127 version, ngl, because I’m extra, I guess.

Okay, last big essay.

EXO

The range of EXO's discography is breathtaking, and has been covered well already in this thread. This is a group that offer rock opera lite like "El Dorado" to full-blown R&B power ballad like "What is Love" to dark and sexy like "Obsession" without blinking an eye. I personally think their sweet spot is R&B or pop with a heavy R&B lean but the group continues to show a wide range of styles to suit almost anyone's tastes, if you like great music and amazing voices.

Tempo

R&B is the sweet spot to me for EXO - this is like a greatest hits of EXO's strengths in one song: a cappella vocal flex like the best r&b groups (think Boyz II Men or even doo-wop), 4 to the floor bop, fast and slow vocal flair, impressive ad libs.

Artificial Love

When asked what song I'd show someone who didn't know EXO, I said this one. Why? Because it shows the group isn't just ol skool New Jack Swing r&b or warm love songs, but can offer the kind of sleek and propulsive EDM that gets everyone dancing and is popular on the charts. And it still finds time to showcase those dynamic vocals...because EXO.

MAMA

Like El Dorado, this reflects the bombastic rock opera portion of the discography. It's dramatic, it's extra, but again, so very different from a Tempo or Artificial Love. For me, personally, songs like this and Wolf didn't interest me in EXO originally. (Overdose was the one that got me into them...) Over time, it's still not certainly in my favorites, but like, El Dorado, I respect it technically - and it certainly serves its point here to show the range.

Lights Out

I've highlighted a lot of flashy songs, but they can also dial it back for the kind of mellow, coffee house vibe for an adult-contemporary feel with vocal flair.

Transformer

I don't typically think of EXO for the swaggy hip hop vibe I love from NCT - but when they want to try it, dammit, it works.