Jaurim was one of the first more alternative Korean bands I came across. I just love Kim Yuna's voice and I have no complaints on their song material. That is until I encountered last years cover album...

I prefer when a cover is made as if it was the covering artist's own song. This brings a new dimension to the song and if done well it might even turn out better than the original. Of course I can understand that an artist would like to try another style, and sees a chance to do so with a cover. But right now I can't think of any such cover that I'd listen to rather than the real thing. My issues with Jaurim's remake album is that it falls under the latter cathegory.

There's fifteen songs in total on this album. Out of those I'd say only three holds to the usual Jaurim standard, and those are all remade Jaurim songs... The title track, 청춘예찬, is the fourth album song #1 in a new arrangement (featuring Hareem on Irish whistle and bodhran!) with new all Korean lyrics. Social Life first appeared on their fifth album and has now reappeared with the background music on par with the force of Yuna's voice. Best out of them all though is 새, from Jaurim's 3rd. It's remade beautifully with a piano that follows through the entire song and even with the extra 30 seconds it feels too short.

Jaurim's cover of Un poète is closest to Jaurim standard out of the "real" covers, but I'm already in love with 배인숙's enthralling folk take on the song in Korean. When I try to be objective I can hear that Jaurim actually did a good job on 누구라도 그러하듯이, but as soon as I relax all I hear is somebody trying to copy 배인숙's beautiful song without keeping the warmth that made it so special to begin with.

The other decent covers on here are Jaurim's versions of Starman, Gloomy Sunday in an English version and Lover's Rock. I think all of these would sound awesome if only more Jaurim was put into them. There's some of it there, but despite their obvious potential they fall blank compared to original Jaurim songs.

As for the rest, Another Day in Paradise, Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon, Angel, Take A Bow, Penny Royal Tea, Summertime, Even Flow, Goodbye To Romance, they all sound lame, boring or just totally wrong.

The CD comes in an envelope style pocket glued onto the digipack on the opposite side of a thick booklet. The booklet is filled with photos of the bandmembers, that also has written their own notes for every song. (I'd love to have Kim Yuna's handwriting!) Lyrics is only available for the last song, which is the only "new" song on the album, but my guess is this is done for consistency because of licensing troubles. While the whole package has an old and worn out look, my copy is slightly torn for real. Usually this would bother me for a new album but now I could care less - cause my copy is signed!! Lucky me - I hesitated to buy this album for $4.99 knowing that I didn't like it much, ended up doing so anyway because it's Jaurim and am rewareded like this! YesAsia must have run out on posters for their usual $39.99 autographed set or somebody screwed up in my favor ^-^