What to do when you’ve been in the industry for sixteen years? FTIsland are elder statesmen of K-pop, respected for their consistency and longevity. It’s been a good six or seven years since their music has excited me, but I respect their dedication. New single Sage sounds much like you’d expect it to — an emotive rock ballad fueled by Lee Hongki’s always-solid vocal.
Sage is neither here nor there for me. The band have recorded many ballads in this style, and if I’m in the mood to hear one there are much stronger choices. At the same time, those who can’t get enough of this sound will likely find themselves entranced. The track swells with a hearty chorus and chant-along refrain designed for the full stadium experience. The guitar chugs along nicely, building to a dramatic finale that feels like the aural equivalent of fireworks shot into the sky. It’s all very solid, but nothing we haven’t heard dozens of times before.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Production | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.5 |
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I feel about the same. Though I do appreciate all the old groups still around releasing new music, this is not quite a full retread, not quite a rehash, but not quite much of anything.
High water mark for me is this duet of Lee Hong Gi with labelmate Yoo Hwe Seung of NFlying
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You just giving the link to Take Me Now gave me shivers. It seriously may be one of the greatest pure rock songs of the century so far, and probably one of my favorite Korean rock songs of all time.
This new one, Sage, its actually pretty good! No where near peak FTIsland, but I guess your review lowered expectations, as I quite liked it.
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Doesn’t match up to their peak era, but it’s closer to their usual style than the last few title songs which gives me hope for future releases. Best song on the mini album is Broken, but the mini is overall much better than their 2018-2021 comebacks.
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