Ultramania

Critics like Shawn Wedel point to releases like Ultramania as the quintessential expression of his rock style:   “And a more perfect label could not be crafted, I suppose.  If asked to define Korean Pimprock, the critic in me would churn out some pretentious and pedantic answer: Korean Pimprock is a catchy yet challenging amalgamation of heavy metal's rage and guitar fury injected with a hip-hop sense of order and flow. But the music fan in me says it sounds a hell of a lot like Korn.”  While others describe Ultramania as “pimp rock,” it continues to reflect Seo Taiji’s hybrid tendencies by blending rock with hip hop.  Paul Morton notes: “Influenced by Taiji’s four year residence in America, the album is a polished and venomous slab of hardcore pimp-rock. . . ‘Orange’ uses a more poly-rhythmic rap, and follows a political message delivered in “Classroom Idea”, that of being educated to oppress both yourself and others.”  Blistering.com’s review reminds listeners that Ultramania succeeds “by infusing a pop sensibility into a style of music that seems bent on taking itself too seriously. He sprinkles the tune "Do You Remember?" with uncharacteristic keyboard noodling and impressive vocal harmonies, supplementing the tune with an almost carnivalesque vibe. He mimics the keyboard lead on ‘Tank’ with a talk box. And he even churns out a 30-second dash of sticky-sweet, Casio-keyboard synth-pop on the interlude ‘Pyo-Jeol.’”

 

Human Dream
Ultramania