While 2024 has delivered quite a few standout singles so far, I haven’t been as blown over by the albums. Still, I was surprised how many I was able to cobble together. Unlike in the past, I’m not distinguishing between mini and full albums, though 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
BOYNEXTDOOR – How?
BOYNEXTDOOR’s indie rock meets idol pop approach has won me over slowly but steadily. The same can be said for this album, which balances its somewhat languid pace with heaps of personality.
Best album tracks: So Let’s Go See The Stars, Our
DAY6 – Fourever
DAY6’s older songs have been racing back up the charts this year, but their new work deserves attention too. Fourever is mostly business as usual, but they continue to display their prowess on a number of rock genres.
Best album tracks: Sad Ending, The Power Of Love
NMIXX – Fe3O4: Break
JYP Entertainment is killing it with albums this year. NMIXX don’t have a huge discography yet, but this early-2024 standout gives them plenty of sounds to play with and stands as their most confident work yet.
Best album tracks: Run For Roses, Break The Wall
RIIZE – RIIZING
RIIZING almost plays like a greatest hits, with many songs already promoted as singles. It’s a bit of a genre hodgepodge, but the track list is killer with one highlight stacked on top of another. I’ve even come around to the jarring Siren!
Best album tracks: 9 Days, One Kiss
Twice – With YOU-th
Twice have perfected their brand of glossy, stylish K-pop. With YOU-th doesn’t move the ball forward, but it’s a super solid collection of assured dance pop.
Best album tracks: New New, You Get Me
TWS – Sparkling Blue
TWS’s introduction is buoyed by three promoted tracks, but the bright energy and youthful vibes extend through the entire running time. It’s hit after hit.
Best album tracks: First Hooky, Unplugged Boy
TWS – Summer Beat!
Sparkling Blue‘s exciting “boyhood pop” gets a slight summer makeover without upending the elements that made their debut so successful. Its dual promoted tracks forge a killer one-two punch, but the b-sides don’t slouch either.
Best album tracks: Keep On, YOU+ME=7942
Vanner – Capture The Flag
Straightforward and comfortable, this sturdy collection of male idol pop recalls elements from multiple generations of stars.
Best album tracks: Circuit, After Party
The Wind – Our: YouthTeen
The Wind harness fizzy bubblegum hooks and sprightly arrangements to craft a set of irresistibly bright pop music. It’s short, but oh so sweet.
Best album tracks: Friendship, Heart Fluttering
YOUNITE – Another
YOUNITE finally embraced a consistent sound with Another‘s beat-heavy hip-hop. This isn’t always my favorite genre, but the production is fantastic and the songs are high quality.
Best album tracks: How We Do, Poco Loco
Xdinary Heroes – Troubleshooting
It took me awhile to warm up to Xdinary Heroes’ sound, but their first full album offered plenty of reasons to embrace their multifaceted take on idol rock.
Best album tracks: Night Of Fireworks, Money On My Mind
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Glad to see you like troubleshooter, Xdinary heros really shine on their full albums.
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my favorites:
RIIZE – RIIZING
TWS – Sparkling Blue, SUMMER BEAT!
Kep1er – Kep1going On
NCT DREAM – DREAM( )SCAPE
ILLIT – SUPER REAL ME
EVNNE – RIDE or DIE
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l love XO by EVNNE that’s really good
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same!! honestly the entire album surprised me on the first listen. I love U, XO and Boom Bari are very strong b-sides
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Dream()scape REALLY was a good mini album. It’s Bsides are top tier despite the controversial TT. BOX, Carat Cake, and UNKNOWN are my personal favorites. icantfeelanything was also something special.
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yep! it’s too bad the title track sucks because everything else was flawless.
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For full album I really liked P1Harmony’s Killin’ It (if only I could like their title tracks…).
Agree that TWS’ Sparkling Blue is one of the best mini albums so far, possibly one of the best debuts in general for me–establishes their sound right away, trendy but not imitative, unpretentious, just fun to listen to.
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Glad to see you come around to Siren. It’s best to enjoy it as a hype and fun song. Fe304 was certainly a highlight, it reminded of some of the experimentation of Red Velvet’s earlier work with a 4th gen spin. RIIZING has certainly been a favorite. TWS has I would say, objectively good albums, but k just don’t find myself coming back to their songs. The specific type of upbeat it’s not usually what I gravitate towards (if I’m being honest, I probably have less than 20 tracks in that subgenre on my k-pop playlist, and it’s mostly Gfriend)
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I agree with the Red Velvet references in NMIXX’s new album in a good way. In fact, much of NMIXX’s discography reminds me a lot of Red Velvet’s Red releases, especially their first album.
I would love to hear NMIXX cover Zimzalabim or any track from The Red album in the future (Huff n Puff would be a great choice to showcase how vocally capable they are)
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Some of my favorite albums so far:
NMIXX – Fe304: BREAK
RIIZE – RIIZING
Suho (EXO) – 1 to 3
IVE – IVE SWITCH
Twice – With YOU-th
TWS – Sparkling Blue
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BTW do you count Run For Roses as a b-side or a promoted track? Because afaik it doesn’t have an actual MV but you didn’t label it as a buried treasure in your post either.
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Counting it as a b-side now.
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(Same with the two RIIZE tracks, not that you asked 😁)
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I haven’t found a truly solid, love-it-from-top to-bottom album yet, but these are the next closest things.
In particular, I want to shout-out Xdinary Heroes. I knew I could see the potential since their very first release. I’m glad they’ve smoothed the edges out a bit though I do hope, going forward, they don’t smooth it out too much and retain some of that rowdy scrappiness lest they end up sounding like a younger iteration of Day6. I think the song Paint It perfectly encapsulates what I like about them.
Xdinary Heroes – Troubleshooting
P1Harmony – Killin’ It (minus the title track)
RIIZE – RIIZING
Hyunsik – The Young Man and the Deep Sea
Twice – With YOU-th (minus the title track)
D.O. – BLOSSOM
TWS – Summer Beat
The Wind – Our: YouthTeen
DAY6 – Fourever
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Ugh. Siren. I feel it coming for me.
Soon to join the lengthening list of obnoxious SM songs that I end up liking against my will. I knew it was over when I caught my head going, “pull it back that sirennnnnn AHH!” out of nowhere.
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To be honest, the thing that eventually got me around to Siren was this clip/cover from Hong Seokcheon’s Jewel Box. It’s so funny and charming and basically all I can hear when I listen to the song now 😂
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As an everyday listener of Warrior’s Descent, I loved the sample, and the whole record scratching gimmick and the heavy synths.
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I needed this in my life, thank you!
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Oh hey, 4 albums from JYPE on this list, and it’s only halfway through the year! Hopefully this points to the agency making a welcome return in quality 🤞 as a fan of a lot of groups from JYPE I’ve been happy with their output so far this year!
As for my own list, its almost identical to yours:
DAY6 – Fourever
NMIXX – Fe3O4: Break
RIIZE – RIIZING
tripleS – ASSEMBLE24
TWICE – With You-th
TWS – Sparkling Blue / Summer Beat
…though to be honest, on the album side of things, I’ve probably been more enamored with Western artists this year😅 Ariana Grande – eternal sunshine, Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft, and Charli XCX – BRAT have all been on repeat much more than any of these.
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TAEYONG – TAP (every track except TAP)
TWICE – With Youth (NEW NEW, Bloom, I Got You)
Red Velvet – Cosmic (Cosmic, Sunflower, Bubble)
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ITZY’S Born To Be album has been the only one to knock it out for me this year.
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omg you get me in best tracks for with you-th. does that mean that both tracks eclipsed “i got you”? i recall that song having a higher score than new new.
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This is a weird list…NMIXX didnt even chart in korea and only appeared on token charts. Don’t really know why theyre on here…
Koreans know good music and I think we should trust their taste and take into consideration when making lists such as these.
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Why on earth would I have chart data dictate my favorite albums of the year? Such a weird take.
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bro i’ve heard lots of amazing kpop songs that don’t chart in south korea, or barely at all. trust me, not most of knetz actually knows what ‘good music’ is. hell, charts in general are mostly just based on how popular an artist is and rarely because it’s a hit.
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Here’s mine:
tripleS – <ASSEMBLE24>
ARTMS – <Dall>
cignature – Sweetie but Saltie
TWICE – With YOU-th
YENA – GOOD MORNING
NMIXX – Fe3O4: Break
UNICODE – HELLO WORLD : CODE J EP.1
If we include singles as well, there’s also:
tripleS – Aria <Structure of Sadness>
TRI.BE – Diamond
ILY:1 – IMMM
CSR – L’heure Bleue : Prologue (and also the new Japanese EP from today)
Weeekly – Stranger
Taeha – Satellite
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Glad to see THE WIND here. Like bro they’re so underrated 5th gen group yet has so many good songs that give off old kpop concept and youth. Go check out their other albums for something good !
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cosmic and assemble24 outdo every album on this list
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