Oh BTS, you reassured me of any doubts and concerns that I had about you in regards to this ‘Love Yourself’ era.
The popular boy group (as well as my bias group) returned with another full-length album back in May called ‘Love Yourself:Tear’ and promotional title track ‘Fake Love.’ Their first comeback stage was at the BBMA’s which they attended this year and where they also won the ‘Top Social Artist’ two years in a row.
Just like all their other MV’s, ‘Fake Love’ was dramatic, visually aesthetically, and consisted of gorgeous close-up shots as well as shots of their choreography. There was a small break towards the end of the MV, cutting off the song as well as any momentum that the MV had built up and then resuming again a few seconds later. I’m not the biggest fans of breaks in MV’s unless they’re effective and successful. I’m not so sure how I feel about this stop in the MV in particular, but I also won’t complain because it consisted of a beautiful scene of Jungkook looking like an angel.. and the scene afterwards of Jimin surrounded by water was absolutely captivating. 10/10!
Moving onto the album, ‘Love Yourself:Tear’ consists of 11 songs. The intro was sung this time by V and unlike Jimin’s soft, intimate, and dreamy ‘Serendipity’, V’s ‘Singularity’ is rather slow, subtle, and mellow. ‘Singularity’ is a slow song that remains consistent the entire time, but it’s the type of song with subtle touches that you come to loving to appreciate. While it took me a few listens, I eventually couldn’t stop listening to the song after those first few listens. The song is pure magic.
As much as I love BTS, I have to admit that their title tracks are usually never my favorite tracks from their album and I think that’s okay. That’s something that I’ve come to accepting. I’ve also come to realizing and accepting that their more recent title tracks (‘DNA’ and ‘Fake Love’) pales in comparison to their earlier title tracks (‘BST’ or ‘Run’ or ‘Danger’), but that doesn’t make me love them or their title tracks any less. I think this shift could be a result of the influence that BTS’s activities in the United States have had on them and their music as well as a change in their songs considering this is a new era for the boys. Regardless, ‘Love Yourself:Tear’ was spectacular and ‘Fake Love’ remained consistent, strong, and stable throughout. Though not my favorite title track from the boys, they delivered this time (after failing to impress me with ‘DNA’) with ‘Fake Love’ and met my expectations with their album.
I have to admit: I was a little concerned, nervous, and doubtful about the direction that BTS was taking with their music after ‘Love Yourself:HER.’ While the album overall had a consistent sound and none of the tracks felt out of place, it was also one of their weaker albums. It felt rushed, it felt underwhelming, and it sounded disappointing, especially knowing that they had put out better albums and music before. I was a little skeptical about how ‘Love Yourself:Tear’ was going to sound, but upon listening to the album the first time around, I felt like BTS returned to making the kind of music that they were known for. ‘Love Yourself:Her’ was just simply a misstep in their career, but they came back around and solidified everything again with this newest album. They reassured me of the concerns and doubts that I had about them and I was so glad that ‘Love Yourself:Tear’ came through. My favorite tracks from the album would definitely have to be ‘Love Maze’, ‘Airplane pt. 2’, and ‘Anpanman’ although all the tracks deliver (‘So What’ is arguable but let’s not talk about that LOL). Listening to the outro was a revolutionary experience, because RM goes back to shouting rapping (which he’s great at) while we hear some vocals from Suga as well as a new style of rapping from him. Meanwhile, J-Hope continues to remain the intense and versatile rapper that he is with the outro. The rap line sounded so angry in this song you would have thought they were pulling another cypher, but instead the song was about love and break-ups and relationships. I’m not saying that this song would have been perfect as a cypher, but that’s also what I might be saying. Hehe.
Overall, BTS impresses with this latest comeback. While I had lost some confidence in them with ‘Love Yourself:Her’, they regain that confidence by delivering with ‘Love Yourself:Tear’ and pulling through with ‘Fake Love.’ I will admit that I’m not the biggest fan of the ‘Love Yourself’ era and probably won’t ever be, but that’s totally fine. Things change and the boys are still putting out great songs like they did with prior eras. It’ll be interesting to see where the boys goes from here and what their future plans are. Of course, I can’t wait to be included in those future activities as I will be seeing them live in concert in LA for their ‘Love Yourself’ world tour in September. Until then, repeatedly listening to this album and watching the ‘Fake Love’ MV will have to do 😉
Source: jaeguchi@youtube, ibighit@youtube
MaryMeKpop 