The reason why 'More & More' and 'Scientist' are so weak compared to Twice's other title tracks

  • I’ve been doing a bit of a deep dive into Twice’s title track to celebrate the release of Talk That Talk, and I noticed that More & More and Scientist stick out in a bad way when compared to Twice’s other title tracks. At first, I was like ‘well it’s just cause they’re not that great,’ but the songs aren’t inherently bad. In fact, I think that if they were released by any other group I would have liked them more. So why do they feel so awkward in Twice’s discography? I listened to the songs as well as their instrumentals and compared them to Twice’s other more recent songs, and when taking a look at the credits, I noticed something.


    In the credits for More & More and Scientist are artists that have barely worked in k-pop. Then I remembered that both songs were throwaway tracks meant for western artists Zara Larson and Anne-Marie and then everything clicked. The reason More and More and Scientist stand out is because they don’t sound like true k-pop songs, they sound like western pop songs with a weak k-pop filter over them. The cheese may be k-pop but the meat and potatoes are western pop. JYPE sprinkled some kpop over songs with western pop structures and used them to try to push Twice into the western market and it just didn’t work.


    It’s also why the songs sound awkward when compared to the rest of Twice’s discography, they weren’t made from the beginning to be kpop songs. And Twice are k-pop through and through. If someone is getting into k-pop and wants an introduction to the genre, Twice is a very good place to start because they are a perfect example of what it sounds like. So of course putting two barely kpopified western songs into a group that’s signature sound IS stereotypical kpop would make those songs stand out in a bad way, especially since they’re title tracks.


    I’m just mad at JYPE for being so lazy when it comes to More & More and Scientist. Instead of hiring producers using the money Twice made them to make songs that, from the beginning of production, are meant for Twice; they decided to buy two random songs from mid-tier western pop acts and pass them off as Twice songs. And these songs are Twice’s least liked title tracks amongst the fanbase so was it really worth it? I just hope JYPE learns from the less-than-great reception Scientist got and won’t be so lazy in the future. They need to spend more time picking out quality title tracks, not just picking rejected songs from a different genre. I just wish More & More Scientist were b-sides instead of title tracks. Moral of the story, give Twice title tracks made with their sound in mind. If I get another rejected western pop song I just might lose it.


    Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.


    TLDR: Scientist and More & More were two western pop songs shoehorned into the discography of a girl group with a very kpop focused sound and it just didn't work.

  • Also, I feel like this should go without saying but, you are allowed to like Scientist and More & More. They are not bad songs. They just didn't feel as Twice-like as their other releases and it bothered me so I wrote an essay lol.

    I'm surprised that when non twice like songs are mentioned Signal is not mentioned - sure it has the catchy chorus and dance the 'sound' of the track is really quite... Alien :pepe-smug:

    "We're always with InSomnia, we can spend more time, beyond limits together!"

  • Dailee....I graduated school so that I never have to read essays again.......


    lol JK I get what you're saying, I can see an argument for your case. I actually like More and More and Scientist as well but I do believe the general consensus within the fandom is they don't like it. I was around when both were release so I believe that is generally true.


    You are correct that they do feel a lot different and stands out compared to the rest of their discography.
    Every producer has a signature style and sound eve if it's not obvious. Teddy has a signature style and sound that is recognizable. BEP has a signature style and sound that is recognizable, etc.
    And this applies to everything from movies producers, architectures, painters, etc.

    What you said also make sense because most of what is being streamed happens from within the fandom and if the fandom is used to a certain style and sound and all the sudden it does a 360, it will negatively affect it's performance on charts.


    So its quite possible you are right in that if the song was released by a different group, it could had performed very differently because the expectations will be different as well as the core fandom's taste and musical preference.

  • Also, another really important thing I forgot to mention, but one of the biggest difference's between western pop songs and kpop pop songs are the instrumentals. Western pop instrumentals are more striped back, I guess, and have fewer moving parts than kpop instrumentals do. And More & More and Scientist both follow that trend of less complicated instrumentals, which is why they feel weaker than other title tracks. One of the most common criticisms of More & More was that it felt half-baked, which makes sense. Just compare the instrumentals of More & More to Fancy or Talk That Talk.


    Also, you can tell these songs weren't built to hold all the moving parts of k-pop lyric direction as well. In my opinion, Scientist and More & More instrumentals feel crushed under the weight of their lyrics. You can tell they weren't made to have raps and dance breaks. So certain parts clash and make the songs overall just feel awkward.

  • I love More & More + Scientist


    More & More is so good idk why y'all hated it so much...not me tho yall stay safe


    More & More was good though.


    Did some of yall even read my essay post :pepe-hips:

    I never said Scientist and More & More were bad songs. Just that they were weaker in comparison to Twice's other title tracks and stood out in a weird way because they were originally western pop songs and Twice's signature sound is bubblegum kpop.

  • Did some of yall even read my essay post :pepe-hips:

    I never said Scientist and More & More were bad songs. Just that they were weaker in comparison to Twice's other title tracks and stood out in a weird way because they were originally western pop songs and Twice's signature sound is bubblegum kpop.

    But it's not weaker. More & More is heads above what they've released over the last two years. It's way above their title tracks over the last two years for me.

  • But it's not weaker. More & More is heads above what they've released over the last two years. It's way above their title tracks over the last two years for me.

    It is funny when I see people rate More & More now a few years on because when it came out holy hell people slammed it so hard lol I'm sure people were burning their twice albums or something they were so upset

    "We're always with InSomnia, we can spend more time, beyond limits together!"

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