Diva's third album, Wave - Millenium, is producing hit songs despite the fact that Jini Kim has left the act. Lee Min Kyung has joined Rina and Vicki to replace the departed Jini. The addition of a new voice appears to have added some spark to the group and a variety of new sounds appear this time out. Track one on the album, Gori [RealAudio], is high up on the charts as I type this. Gori [MP3] is ostensibly a rap tune, but its got a strong dance rhythm and lacks the harshness of heavy gangsta rap. Track two, Neuhkyuhba1x [RealAudio] offers a sound a little more like the songs from their last album. This number starts out as if it is going to be a ballad, but then quickly transforms itself into a light dance number. Although Gori is the song getting all the airplay right now, I think the rapping is much better in the fourth cut on the CD, Jowahamyun Da Geurae [MP3]. The rhythm and the harmonies are definitely stronger on this track. Track four, I.E..Ya1x [MP3] reminds me a little bit of Joy [RealAudio] off the Snappy Diva album. Like Neuhkyuhba1x, I.E.,Ya1x starts with a few quiet measures (maybe they secretly want to start singing ballads?) before embracing a disco beat. Track 5 Dongchunkatun Sarang [MP3] tries for another new sound with the addition of a male voice and a bit of a rap dialogue going on in the middle of the song.

Track six, Never Say Goodbye [MP3] with its allegedly Chinese-influenced opening measures, should sound very familiar by now. This is a (mostly) Korean version of a song off Diva's 2.5 album (Dream). It's one of the group's strongest songs, possibly because the singers have worked with it so much. DoraDora [MP3] may be the dark horse in the race. It provides a nice respite from the non-stop rap leading up to this spot on the album. It, too, has a rap passage, but it's not the focal point of the piece. By the time you get to Track 8, Onul Bam [MP3], on Wave - Millenium, you should have Diva's recording tactics figured out: open with a few measures that imply a ballad, then start rapping. Rina, Vicki and Min Kyung are more than competent with the rap sound, but I'm starting to find the material between the raps more interesting by this point. Maybe that's why track nine, Namanyeh Kudeh [MP3], caught my attention. This is truly a ballad, a very unusual song on this album.

"What' up?" Diva wants to know on track ten, Riheoseol [MP3]. This is a good follow-up song to Namanyeh Kudeh as it is still fairly slow paced and smooth. It serves as a good transition from the ballad of Namanyeh Kudeh to the celebration of track eleven, I'll Get Your Love [MP3]. Like Never Say Goodbye, this is the Korean version of the English song from their 2.5 album. This song makes it easy to get up and dance. Our tour of Diva ends with the final cut, an "Outro" [MP3], a slow scratching bit that eases us off the stereo.

If you'd like to compare this album to a few of Diva's older songs, look up GuRae [RealAudio] off their first release. This song should have been on their second album, as the best adjective I can find to describe it is "snappy." Also off Diva 1 is the ballad December's Drama [Real Audio] and Whaebulru [RealAudio]. From Snappy Diva, look up Whoo~~ [MP3] and Joy [MP3] for purposes of comparison.