So… we all agree that VERIVERY should have just released Beautiful-x and called it a day, right? That song harnessed their signature funk appeal without feeling like a step back into more juvenile material. It stood out among all of the darker, more aggressive styles on Road to Kingdom, and felt perfectly suited to the summer season. Instead, the group has unleashed Thunder – a generic “hard” boy group track that learned all the wrong lessons from Kingdom.
To be fair, I’m sure this title track was in the works far before Road to Kingdom‘s finale had aired, but it stands as a serious misstep either way. Thus far, VERIVERY built goodwill around their retro sound – first with New Jack Swing and then with trendier funk elements on early-2020 standout Lay Back. With Thunder, they’ve cast that all aside. This doesn’t sound like the VERIVERY I know. Even the darker Photo from their last album managed to retain some of their rhythmic appeal. In contrast, Thunder just plods forward on tired boy group tropes.
To be fair, I have a particular bias against this kind of energy. Thunder’s tempo isn’t fast enough to dance to. Instead, its noisy trap beat clobbers you into submission with little invention or grace. It’s a joyless slog, which is something I never imagined writing about a VERIVERY track. On the plus side, there are a few nice vocal turns. I like what they’re attempting to do in the chorus, though in this case I don’t think it really works. To its discredit, Thunder is largely hookless. It just feels like the guys shouting melodically for three minutes, puffing up their chests in an attempt to hang with the big boys. I wish I could reassure them that their charm lies elsewhere. This is such a disappointment.
| Hooks | 6 |
| Production | 7 |
| Longevity | 7 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 6.75 |
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The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
The “up and high” hook in the chorus is suitably bombastic and… the only good thing I have to say about this track. “Such a disappointment,” indeed.
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idk man, I kinda dig this. It reminds me of Seventeen’s Getting Closer. I shouldn’t like this, but I do. It’s a perfect successor to Photo and I lllllike it more than Beautiful-X.
Rating: 8.75
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Now I think I get how Nick felt about the Astro song and their dark turn some time ago, with the caveat that Knock was actually a pretty good jam, unlike this dissonant… thing. All I can say is that this feels like it took a leaf from Puma’s book, and just like with TXT it also happens that the visual concept doesn’t suit the boys at all.
Oh well, their teasers inured me to disappointment already, so the song I was actually looking forward to is Skydive, and I can say I’m quite satisfied with that one. A funky(?) song with a lot of lines for my boy Gyehyeon makes a suitable birthday tune.
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It’s very deppressing how all their comebacks have been less good than the previous one. Their three title tracks last year were very good, Lay Back was disappointing at first but it grew on me and now I wouldn’t mind coming back to it.
This one ? That’s a big no. Everything is noisy, from the instrumental to the vocals. I hope the mini album will tend more towards beautiful-x sond than this one.
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I loved the concept of the MV. It was giving nods to It and Stranger Things and played off the creepy energy they built in Tag Tag Tag.
The song, though, just isn’t that memorable? I liked the plinking (music box? xylophone?) that felt in-theme… but not much else. All the instrumentals are things I’ve heard before, and the melody isn’t strong enough to make up for that.
Maybe Tag Tag Tag was so brilliant because it took a fun, catchy song and turned it into something more dissonant when paired with the creepy turn in the MV. It’s too bad Thunder didn’t dig into that. I would’ve loved to bounce along to a lively song as I watched them search for their missing bandmate on a dark and stormy night.
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I’ve been looping this in the background while working today and I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t hate it, and the chorus is almost fun, but it’s still sure as shit not what anyone wanted from them.
I’m sure Jellyfish had this in the works long before RTK, assuming VV would get attention with their newer darker concepts – and I’m even more sure that it is much to their chagrin that the only VV stages that garnered any praise were the two that leaned more into their bright and youthful side, Gogobebe and Beautiful-x.
I will not be surprised if we see the return of bright and funky VV after this comeback, or at least some combination of bright music and dark story a la Tag Tag Tag. But this comeback was meant to capitalize off RTK, so next comeback might be too late…
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I would have promote Skydive as a summer title track. It’s much better than Thunder, and than Beautiful-x as well.
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Did they take ranking 5th as a sign they shouldn’t do Beautiful-x?
What a shame
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No, I’m sure this was planned far before the finale. The video had probably been shot before that, as well.
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What a weird jump in concept! You’re totally right though now that I think on it more. I listened to the mini album and it’s kind of jarring. Especially when Spotify took it upon itself to play ‘Tag Tag Tag’ right afterwards. I think Skydive is worth your time.
After the way they talked during that ‘On’ performance I guess I should have expected a shift towards these sorts of title tracks.
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While this isn’t the musical direction most people wanted. I do think this is meant to captilalize off the hype of RtK and even Lay Back. This is what attracts ifans. Not bright upbeat songs tbh. I think Jellyfish is leaning into expanding their admittedly small fanbase and VRVR has grown a lot from being on the show. This comeback already had the highest first day sales yet and Lay Back for any of its faults was their best era in terms of sales and recognition. I think this one will see similar success. It’s about survival I suppose.
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I like how the song oddly makes me think how ATEEZ and Red Velvet would sound like when they collab.
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this should’ve been the road to kingdom finale song, and then Beautiful-x would be the comeback song. But alas, as you said they care more about concept (this FACE it series) than song these days
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