The Bulletproof Boys are back! BTS, a.k.a. 방탄소년단, a.k.a. Bangtan Boys, have just dropped the bomb by releasing the last part of their "The Most Beautiful Moment In Life" (Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa) series. Prior to the release of the first track from the album, the boys made a little "comeback" in the traditional K-POP style by giving fans a taste of what they can expect from the album. The music video for the track "Epilogue: Young Forever" was released and the fans went bananas over it in social media.
Jin confirmed, however, that "the song "Epilogue: Young Forever" is not the album's official title track, but instead serves as the comeback trailer and intro for the upcoming album." This is a typical "BTS move" since “the group is known for releasing the intro track of their albums weeks before the actual album release date”. As a fan, I guess I'll be expecting another music video and a track to be released within the next few weeks.
Now, I am still a fan of these boys despite the fact that I haven't paid attention to them in a while. I still like them and their music. Although I find myself liking only a handful of their songs now, which means I can only endure to listen to a few songs on loop. The rest have become a bit "so-so" for me. I still enjoy tracks like "Dope", "Run", "I Need You" and "Butterfly", but the other tracks, which shall not be named, are already forgotten.
So, of course, I was so stoked to hear that they are finally releasing a full length album. However, I found out from my "trusted sources" that the "Young Forever" album, which will have two versions (Day version and Night version), will "contain 9 songs from "Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa" Pt. 1, 9 songs from "Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa" Pt. 2 and 5 new tracks, including the Rap Monster-produced "Epilogue: Young Forever."" So basically, it's a recycled album. They're just putting together all the good tracks from each of the last two albums and then adding five new tracks. I'm not an expert when it comes to the music industry, but I'm pretty sure that this is all a marketing strategy and a ploy to rip off the fans.
In all fairness to the song, Epilogue: Young Forever, the rap parts by Rap Monster, Suga and J-Hope were pretty cool and awesome. I could feel the emotions that they were channeling while rapping. And it was indeed emotional since they were rapping about their frustrations and anxiety while performing on stage. The chorus seemed a bit out of place for me. It was like somebody suddenly changed the radio frequency and the new song just happened to have an almost similar beat to the previous song playing. While the song does sound uplifting and motivational, there was no "DAMN THAT WAS GOOD!" feeling to it. I didn't jump up and down or bang my head or tap my feet to the tune. It was pretty lacking, in my opinion. The vocals were fine, as always, the rapping was slick, but it was the whole song itself that was quite weak. In other words, I didn't enjoy it. So I thought to myself, if this is the path that they are headed - this type of musicality - I'm not sure if I'm still going to follow them devotedly. I miss the sick and dope BTS - the cool BTS - the fun BTS. That's what I want to hear. That’s what I’m expecting from the new album.
Well, it's too early to judge the album anyway. I guess I have to give them a chance.
credit: http://www.designntrend.com/articles/74464/20160421/bts-young-forever-album-will-have-23-songs-find-out-where-to-pre-order-btss-new-album.htm
