With Can’t Stop Shining, Tempest were well on their way toward becoming my favorite boy group of this new K-pop generation. Then, Dragon happened. I came around to that song eventually, but the lack of continuity between the group’s releases gave me pause. I tend to prefer acts with a clear vision and sound rather than those that move wherever current trends may take them.
With this in mind, new single Dangerous rights the Tempest ship. It’s not quite Can’t Stop Shining levels of fun, but it replaces the shoutier aspects of Dragon with an addictive funk pop beat. This groove hits right from verse one as the instrumental unveils a dense, satisfying sound. I wish these elements didn’t fade so much during the pre-chorus, but I’m delighted that verse two retains the energy rather than collapse into some ill-advised breakdown. This percussion is too exciting to waste, and it makes a fantastic support for the chorus.
Speaking of the chorus, I’m a bit torn. I appreciate the fact it’s melodically driven and pushes beyond an obvious, repetitive structure. However, there’s something missing that prevents it from scaling the heights it could. I’m not even sure what this is (maybe the vocal arrangement?), but it lacks the full punch a song like this deserves. Even so, Dangerous has plenty of room to grow and is already an easy highlight of 2023. This energy fits Tempest well and I hope they continue to build upon it for future releases.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Production | 9 |
| Longevity | 9 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.75 |
Grade: B+
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
this apology for Dragon sounds good
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ngl the instrumental feels a bit cluttered, theres too much going on and it almost drowns out the boys’ voices
but otherwise i love this and this is a return to form after that shitfest that was “dragon”
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I have thoughts on this one. My first thought is another one that declares it is “dangerous”, isn’t. And to me sounds like a watered down SHINee – EXO. Then I think when the hell are SHINee and Exo coming back, because there is an EXO-sized hole in the kpop these years world, and I do miss my SHINee.
That all said, yeah the song is pretty good. I might give it low to mid 8’s. On balance, the song delivers a solid pop song, solidly performed, without any obnoxious moments that give us pause.
That said, so much depends on that one turn right around 0:51 and when it repeats. Without that line, flat 8. Perhaps because its only one line, flat 8. I wish they leaned more on that sort of diversion, built it out in a break or subsequent lines or in a bonkers pan-key outro.
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You’re spot on with the SHINee/EXO moment. I see a lot of Atlantis here too
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I enjoy this a lot! Especially the chorus. It gives me the same feeling when I listen to Thrill by Elast. I really enjoy the mv as well! It’s very playful.
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It took me until the last chorus to decide whether or not I liked the song.
When the chorus first hit, it wasn’t clicking with me, I felt like the emphasized beat was misplaced so it didn’t feel impactful enough. I think these concerns will fade over time, but I simply do not think it is melodically strong enough to be more than a good release.
Ironically, I might end up liking Dragon more because despite the somewhat abysmal chorus, that pre chorus melody was top tier and I can still remember it until now. I cannot say the same for almost any melody in this song, it feels like nothing particularly standa out.
Objectively good but personally would not give it higher than an 8.
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Tempest are already at that point where they are performing waaaay better than the material. It really early in their career for them to have to do this. I like this song and the rest of the EP, but it’s not a must own (like 2 of their 2022 eps were.)
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The real difference between this and Bad News/Can’t Stop Shining for me is the chorus – both of those choruses were way stronger than this one for me, though I’d also say almost every other aspect of Can’t Stop Shining was just really good and much stronger than this anyway too.
That said, I really like how this one is still trying to be funky and fresh to some extent at least. I’ve seen people talk about how this is combining their earlier sound with Dragon and I don’t really see how this is still retaining any elements of Dragon at all – maybe I just can’t get past the shout-chanting to see if there are any other similarities – and I’m glad for it.
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This is a pretty solid effort, I really like the opening rap verses. It reminds me a bit of Cravity’s Adrenaline, although I don’t think it will have the same staying power.
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I can definitely hear the Cravity similarities in the rap sections of Dangerous, which isn’t a bad thing. Both songs allow the rappers to shine without sacrificing the overall groove of the tracks.
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I liked it! It’s definitely a step up from Dragon and I appreciate the funkiness present throughout the whole track. I also liked how the track provided more time for Taerae to stand out with his rap part in the 2nd verse as I don’t think he had a lot of singing or rapping parts on their earlier title tracks. I’m looking forward to the rest of the EP.
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