I really love that Epik High is back,

but I will say it’s not the strongest comeback.

Whether or not it has to do with signing to one of the biggest kpop labels in the country when they’ve been an indie type group for so long, two of the three members just recently returning from their military service and shaking off some rust, their leading man recovering still from a hate fueled “scandal” about his educational background that should not have started in the first place, and him releasing a solo album that REALLY set the bar high,

or a combination of all the above,

half the songs on 99 sound the same. Lyrics are mostly killer as always, but the non single tracks are very bland in comparison, like fillers.

The only songs I can listen to are Up, Don’t Hate Me, It’s Cold, 아까워 (awesome awesome beatbox and Gaeko is just <3), and Kill this Love.

New Beautiful is tolerable just because of the lyrics, but it’s not a repeat for me. So I guess that’s about five or six out of 8. Apparently there’s an interlude and one extra track that’s CD only, making a total of 10 songs, but until the physical CD is released, that’s my verdict for now.