2025 SOTY R1 M9: Sunkiss vs. Beautiful Life (1 Viewer)

[velvet]

Spoiler: Link to just the audio here

or

Spoiler: Link to just the audio here

Nobody's actually uploaded the audio file alone so here's the lyrics video instead:

Spoiler: Taglist

@athenarose
@lexus
@nature
@chiefchilly1
@pinkmelodies
@Ahsoka
@kimsguardian
@sick
@Boyo
@catonkatonk
@Nina
@Harumasa
@fairyOfshampOO
@badcrookshanks
@MusicGoddess17
@Xeulgi
@alo
@centen
@Selfmate
@StirFriedPanda
@Pirioca
@ani07
@superstay
@Moguri
@RandAlThor
@karenina
@VerrerAtHeart
@snsd2beg

 

[alo]

GOD BLESS WENDY AND ASND (no seriously I don’t think sm is capable of this) FOR THIS AMAZING SONG UGH. It’s so early-Taeyeon coded but it GOES ALL THE WAY and I LOVE THAT SO MUCH. But Beautiful Life? UGHHH URGHH it’s so good! Hard-hitting in the beginning, and a truly anthemic chorus. Someone was overdosing on Queen and MCR (I barely listen to MCR, I’m that uncultured, but I will get into them deeper I promise) in the studio, clearly. Abstaining for now, though I'll try to vote before the polls close!

edit: finally voted beautiful life because i think xdh really struck gold with that song, and it's actually inspired me to keep an ear out on them. that said, sunkiss is a great song, and if it were up almost anything else i'd have voted for that.

 

[pinkmelodies]

Beautiful Life reminds me lot of Fall Out Boy's music which I enjoy! Still I got to give my vote to Wendy's beautiful voice and song

 

[snsd2beg]

Not really into either of these, but I guess I'll go with Sunkiss

 

[ChiaraStar169]

ughhhhhhhhhh I like both! I'll just abstain from this one. Both songs are just too good to pick just one!

 

[centen]

I like both, but Sunkiss just a bit more.

 

[Moguri]

I kinda forgot how good sunkiss was

 

[magikarp]

im typing this before i listen to sunkiss but I LITERALLY LOVE BEAUTIFUL LIFE SO MUCH, this might be an instant pick, sorry 😭😭

after listening to sunkiss, it's still beautiful life.
nothing is rly gonna top it unless it's one of my other ults or smth crazy
the bridge, the "no one's here to love/find you" part, the chorus, everything is great
(yes i'm being biased too, but i promise that i like beautiful life more ngl and it's more of my vibe, sunkiss was good tho, i liked the beginning and chorus)

 

[RandAlThor]

I went with Sunkist. more fun.

It was a nice rock song.
But it is concerning that the first 100 pics on google only had 1 with instruments,
but when i googled ac/dc top row had instruments. Same for zeppelin and fall out boy.
Embrace the band image more.

 

[athenaaa]

I had never heard either song before, but personally I like Sun Kiss much better.

 

[lexus]

Sunkiss will now be added to my list of bops

 

[alo]

It was a nice rock song.
But it is concerning that the first 100 pics on google only had 1 with instruments,
but when i googled ac/dc top row had instruments. Same for zeppelin and fall out boy.
Embrace the band image more.

i agree too.

i feel like with these kpop idol bands there's that diffficulty in balancing the idol vs the band image, a lot of that, in my opinion, comes down to management and how they choose to handle such cases.

and i haven't heard of good things about studio j (the jyp sublabel that manages bands). i think they're more idol-y in the way they've done things, like decide hairstyles (once going very categorically against a member's wishes to have long hair - thankfully he has long hair now). i think photos (such as poses, order of standing/sitting, whether or not to include instruments, etc etc) is also something they (unfortunately) have too much control over.

maybe the kpop format is just plain incompatible with bands (especially if one considers independence a core part of a band's identity)? it's something to think over

 

[Nina]

The way to my heart is with a SM solo.

 

[Selfmate]

100% Sunkiss

 

[chiefchilly1]

Wendy is a good singer… but a boring one. She has a lot of skill but it’s not that interesting. XH’s vocals are wildly underrated, I like other songs more than this one, but Heroes for me

 

[Ahsoka]

I went with Sunkist. more fun.

It was a nice rock song.
But it is concerning that the first 100 pics on google only had 1 with instruments,
but when i googled ac/dc top row had instruments. Same for zeppelin and fall out boy.
Embrace the band image more.

i don’t think that’s really that great of a way to judge if a group or band is necessarily embracing a band image. Green Day and Day6 have primarily images with no instruments too, and a lot of the images with instruments are fan taken from concerts. But I don’t think anyone would claim either of them don’t embrace a band image. I’m down for more bands in kpop but that specific measure just seems a little bit arbitrary.

 

[Ahsoka]

i agree too.

i feel like with these kpop idol bands there's that diffficulty in balancing the idol vs the band image, a lot of that, in my opinion, comes down to management and how they choose to handle such cases.

and i haven't heard of good things about studio j (the jyp sublabel that manages bands). i think they're more idol-y in the way they've done things, like decide hairstyles (once going very categorically against a member's wishes to have long hair - thankfully he has long hair now). i think photos (such as poses, order of standing/sitting, whether or not to include instruments, etc etc) is also something they (unfortunately) have too much control over.

maybe the kpop format is just plain incompatible with bands (especially if one considers independence a core part of a band's identity)? it's something to think over

I agree with some of the sentiment, but I think non kpop bands also have limitations for photoshoots. They may have some say in appearance and maybe poses, but I think when it comes to photoshoots for bands, a lot of that type is stuff is decided by the photographers themselves. The whole point of the photographers is to decide things like poses and lighting and whatnot, it’s their job. Not saying that bands never have any say about the concept or denying that idol bands may still be more restricted than some more traditional type bands, but even outside of idol bands the freedom in photoshoots definitely varies. Plus I think there have been successful idol bands that have proved that bands and kpop can be plenty compatible.

 

[Ahsoka]

I’m too late but I’m not huge on either so it’s fine

 

[alo]

I agree with some of the sentiment, but I think non kpop bands also have limitations for photoshoots. They may have some say in appearance and maybe poses, but I think when it comes to photoshoots for bands, a lot of that type is stuff is decided by the photographers themselves. The whole point of the photographers is to decide things like poses and lighting and whatnot, it’s their job. Not saying that bands never have any say about the concept or denying that idol bands may still be more restricted than some more traditional type bands, but even outside of idol bands the freedom in photoshoots definitely varies. Plus I think there have been successful idol bands that have proved that bands and kpop can be plenty compatible.

ah, that makes a lot of sense! i was thinking more in terms of general image, but yeah definitely i'm sure photographers take these calls in all cases - it is their job after all. i was also thinking about why xdh in particular have so few pictures with their instruments, until i realised that 2/6 of them are keyboardists. would be pretty difficult to fit them all in a photo!

also yeah. normally i am of the opinion that bands and kpop can go hand-in-hand - as you said, there have been many successful examples of that. i was however thinking about if one values independence (over songwriting, image, etc) as a key part of being a band. i don't think the kpop system would allow for a full and complete independence in both at the same time (e.g. even if they write their own songs, higher-ups can tell them to make some edits - like beautiful life itsef, which was initally a much longer song before xdh were told to cut it down. also how they appear in front of the public, such as the interviews and shows they do, whether they're allowed to fuck up, or if even the smallest mistake would make them have to writea hand-written apology).

however, it's also worth pondering if non-kpop systems necessarily allow for this kind of independence. and the answer is oftentimes no, i'd reckon. every public figure has an image to maintain. maybe they don't have to keep the image up of being ultra-polished the way an idol does, but still, it's some sort of image. also, not every song idea would necessarily work, and sometimes higher-ups have to be the ones to tell you that. and honestly, a good part of me is convinced that lots of people's music abilities (singing, performing, or even songwriting and performing) are best honed in a kpop-like system. people forget that this system is full of great musicians, who could teach you these skills with a lot of guidance - which some people need. yubin, sunmi, and hyerim of wg learnt how to play their instruments from the company. boa and jonghyun started to write and produce within the idol set-up.

clearly, i love (over)thinking about things that won't directly impact my life. but thank you for the insights!

edit to add: i still think that balancing the idol and the band image is one of the biggest aspects of a kpop band and their management, but to be very fair to xdinary heroes, they have opened for muse at their korea shows, and have collaborated with yb (one of sk'd pioneering rock bands). i'd say that's a lot of band image in the balance!

 

[Ahsoka]

ah, that makes a lot of sense! i was thinking more in terms of general image, but yeah definitely i'm sure photographers take these calls in all cases - it is their job after all. i was also thinking about why xdh in particular have so few pictures with their instruments, until i realised that 2/6 of them are keyboardists. would be pretty difficult to fit them all in a photo!

also yeah. normally i am of the opinion that bands and kpop can go hand-in-hand - as you said, there have been many successful examples of that. i was however thinking about if one values independence (over songwriting, image, etc) as a key part of being a band. i don't think the kpop system would allow for a full and complete independence in both at the same time (e.g. even if they write their own songs, higher-ups can tell them to make some edits - like beautiful life itsef, which was initally a much longer song before xdh were told to cut it down. also how they appear in front of the public, such as the interviews and shows they do, whether they're allowed to fuck up, or if even the smallest mistake would make them have to writea hand-written apology).

however, it's also worth pondering if non-kpop systems necessarily allow for this kind of independence. and the answer is oftentimes no, i'd reckon. every public figure has an image to maintain. maybe they don't have to keep the image up of being ultra-polished the way an idol does, but still, it's some sort of image. also, not every song idea would necessarily work, and sometimes higher-ups have to be the ones to tell you that. and honestly, a good part of me is convinced that lots of people's music abilities (singing, performing, or even songwriting and performing) are best honed in a kpop-like system. people forget that this system is full of great musicians, who could teach you these skills with a lot of guidance - which some people need. yubin, sunmi, and hyerim of wg learnt how to play their instruments from the company. boa and jonghyun started to write and produce within the idol set-up.

clearly, i love (over)thinking about things that won't directly impact my life. but thank you for the insights!

edit to add: i still think that balancing the idol and the band image is one of the biggest aspects of a kpop band and their management, but to be very fair to xdinary heroes, they have opened for muse at their korea shows, and have collaborated with yb (one of sk'd pioneering rock bands). i'd say that's a lot of band image in the balance!

I do agree that when it comes to public perception, the idea of the validity of bands under a kpop style industry is a big thing. And it’s not helped by the fact that there really are very few idol bands out there that can be used as examples. I tend to disagree with those who think idol bands can’t ever be legitimate because they’re under a system that’s too restrictive. But 15 years ago the idea of idols consistently writing their songs was really new, and if idol bands can be pretty self producing and kinda independent, why not an idol band? But there are some kernels of truth in the arguments of those who think that kpop and bands are mutually exclusive because of the independence factor. Especially depending on the individuals idea of what makes a band legitimate