Review: BTS’ New Album “Love Yourself: Answer”
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August 27, 2018
BTS’ highly anticipated album released Friday, Aug. 24, to the joy of many. Met with a chorus of approval and new fan speculations as to the deeper meanings of the songs, “Love Yourself: Answer” is the last installment of the album series “Love Yourself.” A combination of remixed earlier hits and brand new songs, the album tracklist was released on Aug. 19 by the BigHit group.
Among the older remixes from other Love Yourself albums, the BTS remake of their song ‘DNA’ from previous album “Love Yourself 承: Her” was a shocker to me. Instead of the old acoustic background and upbeat tone, the beautifully mixed English-Korean lyrics were backed by rock-like guitar solos and rapid chord progressions. However, song “Fake Love,” which was the lead single of “Love Yourself 轉: Tear,” remains–at least to my ears–essentially untouched. Other familiar songs include “Her,” “Mic Drop” and “Euphoria.”
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New tracks include “Idol,” with its own music video put out by BigHit Entertainment. The video released on Youtube on the same day as the album, and has already generated 64 million views, and it’s no shock. The ingenious visuals and striking colors and costumes are universally attractive, not to mention the BTS members themselves. And, as always, the choreography is to die for.
BTS’ other new songs in the album include “I’m Fine,” “Trivia: Seesaw,” and my personal favorite “Love Myself,” among others. “Love Myself” has such an honest feeling to it, pointing back to the forgiving theme of the album. It fully realizes getting rid of false egos and embracing your true self, which “Idol” does as well.
Many of the songs delve into more raw emotions, such as “Trivia: Seesaw,” whose lyrics deliver the message of a toxic relationship with the metaphor of a seesaw. This track was a solo vocal feature by band member Suga.
Because of the recent release of the album, I’ve been scrambling to listen to all of the new songs while doing homework or even studying for tests and quizzes that are coming up. Despite the stress all of that schoolwork brings, the album definitely offsets that. While the lofi feel of some of the tracks, such as “Singularity,” lets me concentrate and relax, others helped to relieve the stress through the upbeat or emotional tunes.
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This album is especially diverse in the way of genres, with some songs, such as the new remix of “DNA,” “Her,” “Tear,” “Go Go,” “Magic Shop” and “Idol,” being more upbeat and seemed the most pop-like to me. The tracklist was balanced by “Singularity,” “The Truth Untold” and “Trivia: Seesaw” as more raw and emotional.
The album is split into two CDs and showcases the strength of the group in expressing their feelings. The number of preorders of the new album simply after the first announcement by the band on Twitter was outrageous–rocketing to No.1 on Amazon music preorders and reaching over 1.5 million total–and BTS has not disappointed.
Overall, I really enjoyed “Love Yourself: Answer,” both as a fan and as a music lover. I strongly believe that even those who aren’t fans of K-Pop would appreciate the exceptionally raw yet uplifting music that BTS has put into this album. Go check it out on Spotify or Youtube–especially for the music video for ‘Idol’–and prepare to be JUNGSHOOK.
