This is a surprisingly thin category, with only six albums really making the cut, we’re all pretty strict with what we think makes an album great, it has to be good, every song, front to back, and most of these were nominees I had put up initially, as very few additions and removals needed to be made for everybody to be satisfied by our nominees.. Of course, check out our hub page to see all the other rewards, but for now, album of the year, let’s go!
6. Iz*one- One Reeler (Scores: 5,6,4 | Average: 5.0)
In general, we tend to be more apprehensive about putting newer things higher, because we don’t have a sense of their longevity yet. This may be a slight victim of that thought process, this is maybe the most balanced of the Iz*one albums, where usually I feel like there is a split between two styles on their albums, One Reeler is substantially more cohesive, and the whole production is better for it. The company did pick the correct songs to promote though, with Panorama as the title and Sequence as the lead b-side, which is the love Merry-Go-Round also deservedly got, their company figured out the b-side game this year.
5. Oneus- Lived (Scores: 6,2,6 | Average: 4.7)
This was an album that neither myself nor Celina was familiar with before the nomination phase, where we both sat down separately to listen through the whole thing. Besides Come Back Home, which got the title track position and is great, there are a number of really great highlights, my favorite song on the album is Dizzy, it’s so fun and light, it reminds me of Pentagon’s Humph! in terms of the mood. To Be or Not To Be is the other b-side that really stood out, but not as much as Dizzy. Chelsea’s least favorite song on the album is Dizzy as well, so clearly there’s enough here to suit anybody’s taste, so give this one a shot, you’ll find a few things to like regardless of your taste.
4. KARD- Way With Words (Scores: 3,3,5 | Average: 3.7)
Despite this being a single album, this is one of the best albums front-to-back all year. Ah Ee Yah is a really chill tropical house song with a light bouncy beat and no reason to dislike it unless you don’t like tropical house as a genre. Gunshot is one of KARD’s best title tracks ever, and they have a consistent output of absolute bangers, so that’s actually a massive statement, and is one of the more interesting title tracks this year for any group. Lastly, Hold On, my personal favorite track on the album is a super emotional song about, well, holding on, it’s got a sweet hopefulness, and maybe a bit of a bitter pain as well, in a way that I think anybody can connect to, in spite of any language barriers, the music connects.
3. Rocket Punch- Red Punch (Scores: 1,5,3 | Average: 3.0)
Rocket Punch isn’t making insane sales or view counts, but they are quietly one of the best rookie groups in this up-coming generation, with a great consistency in their releases, and Red Punch is no exception. I would go so far as to say the title track and promoted b-side, Bouncy and So Solo, despite being great songs, are the fourth and second worst songs on the album, ahead of the slightly-too-slow Paper Star and ahead of Girl Friend as well in the case of Bouncy. Girl Friend is a fun song, but it can’t keep up with the energy of Bouncy, or the vibes of the two best songs on the album. Fireworks is almost a KARD song, having just mentioned them, and I can almost picture how it would be arranged for them, and it’s that same level of quality too. Fireworks despite that quality still lost out to Lilac in the b-sides category for our Rocket Punch nominee slot, because Lilac is the kind of power ballad kpop needs more of as a genre.
2. Ateez- Treasure Epilogue: Action to Answer (Scores: 4,1,2 | Average: 2.3)
This is yet another category decided by a tiebreaker for the winner, which Ateez lost. That said, this album is absolute fire, opening with its title track, Answer, which gets you excited from the first second that you hit the play button. Then comes Horizon, a personal favorite of mine across Ateez’s whole discography, with some weird Danganronpa trial music vocal beat driving a high energy dynamic song you really can’t go wrong, the bouncy chorus just drives you to bounce along with it. They then really slow it down with Star 1117, a little too slow in my opinion, but not nearly as egregious as Rocket Punch’s Paper Star mentioned in the last entry. Precious ends the production off with by far the weirdest song, even with Horizon’s funky beat, Precious is odder still, but really engaging and interesting to listen to, as you’re always trying to decide what you expect to happen next, typically to be proven wrong.
1. Dreamcatcher- Dystopia: Tree of Language (Scores: 2,4,1 | Average: 2.3)
I think what puts this album apart from the others in this category is the fact that not only is it filled with only great songs, it is a whopping 9 songs long, not counting the intro, outro, scream instrumental version, or the packaged in Siyeon- Paradise, that we rated highly in the solo song category. That’s more than double the songs on the Ateez album that this won a tie against, that’s insane. I’m not going to go song-by-song to break this thing down, that could easily be its own article, but I’ll mention each in a grouped up fashion at least and for the first time, I need a paragraph break for a single Manely award winner due to how much this is a wall of praise.
Scream, fantastic title track, not their best this year by my estimation, but the panel’s opinion is divided on that, with at least one personal favoring each of Scream and Boca. Red Sun was on our B-side of the year category, coming in third, Sahara, could have also easily been there, although the biggest highlight there is maybe the special clip video, although that could be said for both of these songs. Black or White is the best Michael Jackson tribute this year, and please watch the first live stage for it, the editing is awesome. Full Moon and Tension get that optimistic upbeat rock vibe that Dreamcatcher is fantastic at executing, and are very reminiscent of the Fly High era. In The Frozen is a cool electronic chorus song that is probably the weakest on the album, at least for me. And last but not least, Jazz Bar and Daybreak are, unsurprisingly, top tier jazz songs that just softly groove, and who doesn’t want that mixed in with all the other stuff this album has to offer. So basically, if you can genre hop at the same level of consistency as Dreamcatcher does here, you too can get the Manely for Album of the Year. Congratulations Dreamcatcher, calling this well earned is almost not enough.