So I do a lot of album unboxings, but unless you wanted to go through every single post of my page to figure out what K-Pop albums you should and shouldn’t buy, Making a consolidated list of albums that you should buy would be faster for you to know which albums are worth your time and money. This post is not going to just be ranking the album’s packaging, but the actual content of the album. We all know there are some albums that I question why I pre-ordered them after the fact. Hence my list of 10 K-Pop albums worth buying.
Also, if you are just beginning a KPop album collection this is a great way for you to start by getting some top quality albums that you will 100% not regret purchasing. These albums are not going to be in any particular order, these are just 10 albums that I feel will either enrich your collection or be a great place to start it, as the Korean take “Go big or go home” to a new level when it comes to album packaging and music production.
If you are looking for places to buy some of these, I highly recommend that you check Ebay. There you can typically find a number of Korean sellers that will have copies of releases that are far harder to find in the US. Plus, with eBay, you can save a little bit of money by using the Rakuten extension on your browser, as it will save you 1% on all album purchases, which definitely adds up.
What is Rakuten?
Rakuten is a cashback site that gives you money for purchases you may have already made. They even have an extension for multiple browsers so when you go to a website that uses Rakuten, it will automatically pop up the cashback button to make sure you are saving money. I use this all the time, and I got over $80 back from them for purchases I was going to make anyway. That’s about 3 more albums I can buy!
If you’ve never used Rakuten before, you can use this link to get $10 when making a qualified purchase of $25 when using Rakuten. You will also get whatever percent cashback is being offered from the site you are purchasing from. Sephora, typically has 4% cashback, through here. Ulta typically has 3%. These are just some of the companies on the website, but there are other major retailers on there as well!
Rakuten also has a Google Chrome extension that will tell you as soon as you log onto a site that has cashback with a little pop-up in the corner so that you can ensure you are saving money!
EXO Power of Music:
This is one of those albums that I was binge listening to immediately after it was released by SM in September of 2017. Every single track flows from one into the next, and on top of that, the packaging is sicker than an incurable disease. If I had to describe the genre of this album it is a MUCH more grown-up sound for EXO than we have previously seen.
Since this album, is a repackage, you get a few extra songs that you won’t get on the original version. I will point out something about The War. In regards to album composition is just as good as the repackage. I personally prefer the packaging on the Power of Music to The War, mainly because I’m a huge nerd and think superheroes and comics are awesome. If you want to read all about the packaging on this album you can do it here.
Super Junior PLAY (Pause Version):
Another great release by SM that totally killed the end of 2017. This repackage not only has some AWESOME music on it, but the packaging is sweet. IT LOOKS LIKE A RECORD PLAYER, PEOPLE (she says with excitement)! All of the hipsters who want to buy an LP Player would pee your pants over this packaging. I personally will pass of the dad sweaters and beards that they have, but I can totally dig the packaging of this album as much as the contents.
The full album is extremely well done from start to finish, and more than half of the album made it into my massive daily K-Pop playlist. This album definitely has more of an adult feel to it, but that is what I would expect from an older artist. Good job SM and the beautiful men of SUJU for putting out such a bombing album. If you want to read more about this album, and the contents of the physical album, you can do it here.
Seventeen Teen,Age:
Another solid release from the second half of 2017. For being a younger group, with a lot less experience than some of the other artists that I will be mentioning here, Seventeen never fails to impress me with their musicality, album production, and their overall artistry. This entire album from start to finish is FANTASTIC. The songwriting for the entire album is amazing, and we can thank the Seventeen members for all of their hard work in being awesome.
On top of being a quality album from start to finish, the packaging itself is very well done. Personally, I’m all about the leather pants so the RS version is my personal favorite, but you can’t go wrong with any of them. If you want to read more about this album you can do it here. You can also read what I thought of the repackage, Director’s Cut here.
BTS Love Yourself: Her:
Although I’m about 98% positive that BTS is going to repackage this album so that we all get more of the good stuff this spring, this album does not have a bad song on it. Every single one of them gets your head bopping and the body rolls going. On top of that MIC Drop was my hype song before it got remixed.
This entire album also has a serious habit of finding its way into my head and not being able to get out, which is rude, but good job BTS for slaying the US of A. I’m proud of ARMYs because my big sister listened to K-Pop for the first time, and didn’t even realize it. If you want to read more about the physical album itself, you can do that here.
Bobby Love and Fall:
This is not an album that I expected to make into this list, but every time I’m writing for the blog or doing something that I really need to focus on, this album is played. Every time I play it, some serious body rolling in my chair occurs. It is a bit R&B and a bit Hip-hop. On top of that, every track on the album flows together so seamlessly that you don’t even notice when the whole thing starts over again.
I actually went back and bought both versions of the albums a few weeks back because it was that good. Sometimes it’s the albums that you least expect to like are the ones that end up in your collection. If you want to read more about this album, you can do it here.
I will also note that his second album, Bobby Lucky Man, is really good too.
Lee Hi Seoulite:
This album from start to finish is just a really great album to listen to. It is also one of those albums that I bought after it’s release just because it is so good. The album has more of an R&B and Jazz feel to it, but the ballads are what got to me. 한숨 is a prime example of a song that speaks to me on a new level. The lyrics are just so beautiful. Of course, it happens to be written by Jonghyun. That plus Lee Hi’s soulful sounds, and you cannot go wrong!
If you want to read more about what you get with the album itself, you can do that here.
Jonghyun Poet|Artist:
Jonghyun’s posthumous album is phenomenal from start to finish. I cried when I listened to it the first time because it was so well done. Every single song on this album, from start to finish is pure artistry. Each track plays with music in unique and interesting ways. He also avoids the stereotypical structure of pop songs in basically every single song. It’s his best work ever, and I love every single moment of it.
If you want to read about my review of the actual music, you can do that here. If you want to read about what comes with the album, that can be done here.
Day6 Moonrise:
I’m not going to lie. I am a huge fan of Day6. I think the group has extremely songwriting abilities, and I’m excited to see what that have for us in 2018. How can you get better than EveryDay 6? EveryHour 6?This album is honestly as on point as it gets. It obviously has a rock sound, but more of a soft rock. They write a lot of ballads, and I love every I listen to it a lot at work. It prevents me from crying over the lack of understanding that people have of computers.
On top of that, the packaging on this album is pretty awesome, and it lets me stare at Young K, who I don’t like at all if you can’t tell. If you want to read more about this album, you can here.
JJ Project Verse 2:
I LOVE IT WHEN IDOLS PRODUCE THEIR OWN ORIGINAL WORK! This album was my jam for all of last summer. Almost the entire album made its way into my playlist. In comparison to a lot of previous GOT7 music, this album is so chill. Plus, Jinyoung and JB have writing credits on every single song on the album, which is even better. Up until now, although we were getting the good stuff, it wasn’t them. Now, we can really see the true artistry of the members shine. I love it. This album, just like 7 for 7 has a more chill vibe than everything we have seen from GOT7 until this point. It’s a lot less upbeat and more relaxing. There is also an album-only bonus track.
If you want to read about this album, you can do that here. Also, if you want to see what other albums are in GOT7’s discography, click here.
BigBang MADE:
Rounding out our list is one of the best driving albums on the planet. BigBang Made is like a work of art. It is the perfect thing to put BigBang’s career on hiatus while they all go into the military. The entire album boasts really chill rap verses, with some awesome beats. This album contains an epic party jam that all of the K-Nuggets should know on it: 뺑뺑뺑 (Bang Bang Bang). This will probably go down in history as one of the best KPop albums ever created, despite the Seungri catastrophe. (We all know that you pretend to know all of the rap verses.) In reality though, we are just like Cheon Song Yi in My Love from Another Star:
On top of that, the packaging on this album is sweet, as it comes with a canvas. If you want to read about everything in it, you can do that here.
Final Thoughts?
Every single one of these albums would be an excellent addition to your collection. The music on all of them is excellent. They present a variety of different styles ranging from pop to R&B, as well as rap. Despite that, every single song on these albums is top-notch. As such, they all make it high in my list of albums I play frequently when listening to music.
If you want to see more K-Pop albums that are worth your time, you can see a list of all of my “best of” posts here, including the 2021 edition of this as well as my “K-Pop Albums with Goodies Galore“.
What are your top 10 K-Pop albums, K-Nuggets? Give me some new tunes!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
