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Top K-Pop Albums of 2023 (So Far)

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Bias List Mid-Year Best OfTo be honest, there haven’t been many K-pop albums in 2023 that I’ve played more than a couple times through. Similar to my singles list yesterday, nearly all of these picks come with some qualifiers. However, there are a more than a few gems to uncover.

*As usual, albums must have at least four full songs to be eligible for this list

What are your thoughts, readers? Leave your own picks in the comments!

FULL LENGTH ALBUMS

B.I – To Die For

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B.I showcases his jack-of-all-trades charm on this diverse, charismatic album. From dance pop to dubstep to stadium rock, he comes out on top more often than not.

Best album tracks: The Island Misfit of Toys , Beautiful Life (ft. Crying Nut), Michelangelo

fromis_9 – Unlock My World

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fromis_9 blitz through many styles of slick pop on their first full album. It’s consistently stylish and occasionally surprising.

Best album tracks: Attitude, Don’t Care, Eye Contact

SHINee – Hard

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Even though I don’t consider Hard to be one of their stronger albums, an “okay” SHINee project is honestly better than most everything else released. You could cull a killer EP from its ten tracks.

Best album tracks: Like It, Identity, Sweet Misery

MINI ALBUMS

CRAVITY – Master:Piece

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CRAVITY have — unexpectedly? — become albums artists. Master:Piece‘s title is too lofty for the songs included here, but it’s a super solid set.

Best album tracks: Fly, A to Z

Lee Chaeyeon – Over The Moon

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This is a tight collection of eclectic pop songs with some interesting creative choices made throughout. WM Entertainment continue to push boundaries while maintaining their pop edge.

Best album tracks: Don’t Be A Jerk, I Don’t Wanna Know

The Wind – Beginning: The Wind Page

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Song for song, this is probably my favorite K-pop project released this year. What can I say? I’m a sucker for ultra-melodic, earnest pop music.

Best album tracks: Sirius, With You

WOODZ – OO-LI

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I didn’t give this nearly enough attention on the blog when it was first released, but OO-LI is yet another strong effort from WOODZ. His music has such an interesting point of view.

Best album tracks: Busted, Who Knows

16 thoughts on “Top K-Pop Albums of 2023 (So Far)”

  1. A mix of formats:
    Cravity – Masterpiece
    Key – Killer
    SHINee – Hard
    Purple Kiss – Cabin Fever
    The Wind – Beginning the Wind Page
    Jimin – Face
    Monsta X – Reason
    NCT Dream – Candy
    Kai – Rover
    TXT – Temptation

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  2. As a huge TXT fan, I have not stopped listening to Name Chapter Temptation since its release. Yes it’s not their best work but song for song it showcases the group in their element so well. That’s my album of the year so far.

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  3. I see what you mean about The Wind’s album! Island didn’t make much of an impression on me when it was released and it’s not exactly a standout album for me, but some of the songs really execute that specific melodic, almost nostalgic sometimes, kind of sound fairly well.

    Also glad to see Cravity on here – really enjoyed that one, too.

    I know they probably don’t count because it wasn’t a mini album, but BSS’ Second Wind has been pretty exceptional for me. I really love the concept of each of the tracks being spread out over the course of a (work) day, and they’re all just distinct enough but still intriguing. The features work really well and the way it winds down in intensity is also really good.

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  4. There’s still a pretty solid number of albums I’ve yet to check but as of right now:

    1. Fromis_9 – Unlock My World
    2. Billlie – TBOP: Chapter 3
    3. SHINee – HARD
    4. WOODZ – OO-LI
    5. TripleS – Assemble

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  6. I really do feel that B.I’s talent for song writing is what has been missing from IKON recent releases comebacks, though I’ve enjoyed them I can’t help but wish they’d had B.I contributing to their music even if it was just on the album tracks.

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  7. Oh man. I forget who all released stuff this year. Obviously Twice’s Ready To Be is my number one. As long as they exist they’re my number one. I really like Kep1er’s EP LOVESTRUCK too. Fromis_9 has my whole heart. Ditto for SHINee. VIVIZ did really well. I LOVE the b side Vanilla Sugar Killer off that one. IVE and CSR also did so well with their comebacks. TipleS, Billie, and Oneus are the last 3 I’ll mention. This has been a pretty good year. There’s a lot of projects I really really like.

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  10. I just stop by to add that, apart from all your mentions, I enjoyed Kep1er’s latest EP, being the standout “Back to the city” (obviously) and “Giddy” a huge grower. Aespa’s MY WORLD was pretty solid, too!

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  11. There weren’t many albums where I liked every single song on the tracklist and so the ones that were all passes made me appreciate them more and return to them more.

    My Top 3 albums of 2023 so far are:

    1. TXT – The Name Chapter: Temptation (‘Farewell Neverland’ is one of my favourite songs of all time)
    2. WOODZ – OO-LI (Another incredible album from WOODZ)
    3. SEVENTEEN – FML

    Honourable mentions would be:

    4. Cravity – Master : Piece
    5. ONEUS – PYGMALION
    6. PURPLE KISS – CABIN FEVER

    After placing 6 is
    7. THE BOYZ – BE AWAKE

    I liked the songs on the album but I didn’t return to it as often as I did for their previous albums, although ‘Roar’ was on repeat constantly.

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