There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” features, I can average their ratings into one mega-score and place them in a pantheon alongside other acts.
As always, this feature has some rules of its own. I’m including any “Song Review” ratings as part of this graph, including Japanese releases and collaborations with one other artist. I’m not including Buried Treasures or solo/sub-unit releases. For the ratings themselves, I’m using the most current number on this blog, so if a song was part of a “Risers and Fallers” or “Legendary Songs Inauguration” post, that’s the rating you’ll see displayed here. That means there will still be a few ratings here and there I find slightly inaccurate, but it’ll mostly reflect my up-to-date feelings.
Finally, these scores are completely subjective. Feel free to agree, disagree and argue (that’s part of the fun!), but know that this chart reflects the opinion of only one person (me).
Check out TVXQ’s placement on the ULTIMATE ARTIST RANKING page!
*TVXQ are one of a very few acts whose career I am splitting into two different entities. Despite sharing the same name, their work as a five-piece and two-piece feels distinct.
TVXQ: A Career In Song Ratings
The Breakdown
Highest Rated Songs
Hug, Rising Sun, ‘O’ – Jung.Ban.Hap, Mirotic
Lowest Rated Songs
Imperial Phases
‘O’ – Jung.Ban.Hap -> Lovin’ You (2006-2007)
Doushite Kimi Wo Suki Ni Natte Shimattandarou? -> Share The World (2008-2009)
Slump Phases
My Destiny -> Always There… (2005-2006)
Rating Average: 8.24
Overall Trendline:
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Yeah, this is pretty controversial.
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I can’t press play on ‘O’ without singing that pre-chorus
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What would be controversial about TVXQ, the greatest kpop group to ever exist, to rank below groups like Drippin and 100%
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If anything they sure were prolific (a.k.a overworked). The sheer number of ballads is what really brings down their score, which is understandable. My only qualm is that I think Survivor deserves a higher ranking! It’s at least a 9 for me.
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diamonds in the rough?
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diamonds in the rough?
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??
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mb didn’t mean this
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https://youtu.be/FktrUAxHMn8?is=qybqwqEKAACAg9qq what do u think of the h2h preview?
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Parts I love and parts (the affected sing-talk) I’m not so sure about. We’ll see! Overall, I’d say the sound is promosing.
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My favorites are Tri-Angle, Rising Sun, O, Mirotic, and Wrong Number, plus the b-side Love in the Ice (don’t know any of their OT5 Japanese discography since it’s not on Spotify sadly…) I’m excited to see the two-piece song ratings since most of my favorites are from there!
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Yes, I have a feeling O2 will eclipse this rating. Perhaps not as high of highs, but definitely more consistent.
Love In The Ice is their best ballad and I wish it had an mv so I could have included it here!
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Yes definitely! I’m actually pretty biased against K-pop ballads in general (except for Younha’s, but she’s not really part of the K-pop industry anyway), and Love in the Ice is one of the very few I love.
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And I thought Super Junior would have the most entries for a graph, not only did TVXQ eclipse them (44 to 41, also just checked TWICE has 43, very close between these groups) but all within just 7-8 years of releasing as OT5, not even including OT2! Really shows how prolific they were in those few years, and shows why they are K-pop and J-pop legends, releasing that many songs it’s easy to see why they’re so well respected.
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I can’t press play on ‘O’ without singing that pre-chorus
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hmm could u list some of ur favorite b-sides from the group?
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From their five-member era?
Are You A Good Girl?
Clap!
Dead End
Force
Free Your Mind
Get Me Some
Hey, Don’t Bring Me Down
If…!?
Love In The Ice
Phantom
Take Your Hands
Trick
We Are!
Zion
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Maybe cheating slightly, but any excuse to mention my favourite TVXQ side excursion: the accidentally prophetically-titled Just The Two of Us off the Ravex project album Trax, which dropped in 2009 right before 5-member TVXQ imploded. Ravex was kind of a supergroup put together by Avex for their 20th anniversary – Taku from M-Flo was a member. I have a real fondness for the entire Trax album and wholeheartedly recommend it if you’re someone even remotely into Japanese or Korean electronic music of that period (capsule, Clazziquai etc) – BoA also has a single on it. https://youtu.be/9Geu5tDCcsc
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Haha what the fuck
Only 8.5 for Bolero?
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and a fun fact! mirotic was actually a double sale when it was composed, given to both sm entertainment for tvxq and german singer sarah connor at the same time under the title “under my skin,” connor’s version was released one month prior to mirotic actually
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