To 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
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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Oh, and fromis_9 Unlock my World!
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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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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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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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How did I forget that the Billage of perception: chapter three was released earlier this year? Quite astonishing that none of their albums has ever disappointed me
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Tbh this has been a pretty good year for kpop on the album front so far
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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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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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Eye Contact by fromis might be my girl group song of the year along with Got the Thrills by Twice
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I’d add LE SSERAFIM’s Unforgiven, but other than that, mostly agree with your list. 2023 has been a bizarre year for music, but it does mean I get time to check out older highlights!
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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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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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I’m surprised it doesn’t have Onew’s Circle, Key’s Killer, and aespa’s MY WORLD. I consider those in Top 3 or 5 at least.
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I don’t consider Killer to be a 2023 album since the vast majority of it came out in 2022. It’s a bit of a weird one in that way.
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I love Ateez’ Outlaw. Why wasn’t that one mentioned?!
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