aespa's b-sides are kind of lacking

these are really the only ones I like but I havent heard all of their discography

are you sure about that? maybe you need to listen to their bsides again to make another judgement, do it.

Hard disagree. I overall prefer their B-sides.

I love AESPA but you're kinda right.

As far as I've seen only like 1-2 song(s) out of most of their albums become well-known (or rather well-liked) outside the fandom. The others I forgot 💀

Quote from bagelbaguette

i've been listening to their discography, i've listened up to my world

so far, only 1 or 2 songs per album apart from the title track have really caught my attention

but yeah, i'll keep listening to them and see if i change my mind

good good

different strokes for different folks my friend

maybe the B-sides aren't your preference

hell most of Aespa's bsides aren't mine but there are always a few that stand out

you can have a look to see what I liked (and not liked lol) and see if any of resonate with you

Thread

Selfmate's complete revisit of Aespa's Discography

let's go

selfmate

May 28th 2024

aespa's B sides are too diverse, so even some fans dont like all of them. But let's me list down some outstanding tracks:

Savage mini album: Lucid Dream, I'll Make You Cry, Iconic, Yeppi Yeppi

Girls mini album: Illusion

MY World mini album: thirsty, Salty & Sweet

Drama mini album: Trick or Trick

Armageddon album: Mine, Prologue, Live My Life

Hot mess jp album: Sun & Moon

Whiplash mini album: Kill It, Flowers

Non-album: Hold On Tight, We Go (pokemon OST)

Most of the songs above sound better when they are performed live

I agree. Not to be disrespectful but their albums are mid compared to f(x) and Red Velvet

Many people don’t like bsides because Aespa has very polarising songs!

Their bsides aren’t gp friendly at all also they have very different bsides!

Their weakest albums are Drama and Armageddon

Other albums are pretty good and I have more than 20 of their bsides in my playlist

Their best album is My World!

I really like every single song from that album!

But the thing is it might take time for many people to get the bsides! You should probably relisten to them 2-3 times to understand the song!

Like people didn’t like Savage and Next Level but after few listens they liked it! It is the same

But I agree that half of their bsides are mid as one of the biggest mys on this forum

But other 4th gen ggs don’t have stellar bsides either! IMO 4th gen by discographies are better(Txt and Enhypen)

Apart from the Savage and My World album, I lowkey agree with you. The other albums mostly have a few stand out bsides and that's about it. Red Velvet were clearly releasing stronger albums by this time, when they reached their forth year.

Agree. I only like 1-2 bsides from each albums, their strength is title tracks.

I listen to them at least once and I have to agree they don't leave an impact. You don't have to make all the songs bombastic because even ballads can leave an impact but just memorability a bit lost.

It kind of weakens their world tour impact because people don't want to listen to their b sides.

It was the same with SNSD. I think red velvet was the only SM GG that was praised for having great b sides

Quote from ISaidISaid

It was the same with SNSD. I think red velvet was the only SM GG that was praised for having great b sides

f(x) are regularly praised for having the best K-Pop album of all time

Their B-sides are good for me, except the ones from the latest Whiplash EP and a couple from Armageddon.

Quote from SooYoung

And Drama was just a mess as an album trick or treat took me some time

And the rest of the bsides were just too different from the concept of the album it was not cohesive at all

At least recently they seems to go back on the right track

Drama was a last minute compilation.

Most of those songs would be more cohesive if put on MY World as per the original plan for AE1. So, i always treat MY World+ Drama EP as one album

Whiplash is super solid. Even better than Armageddon (which imo they should have arranged the tracklist better)

I love Whiplash and my world but overall their albums make no sense, there’s no cohesion. Armageddon and Drama are really mid considering their titles were 10/10.

I see what you mean. If you disregard the b-sides that are promoted or pre-released (Illusion, Welcome to My World, etc.), their b-sides are very much... b-side-y, and lackluster compared to their (insanely good) title tracks. I personally love a few b-sides (Set the Tone, Thirsty, Yeppi Yeppi, I'll Make You Cry), but it's clear their A&R and production team is mostly focused on finding and crafting impactful titles.

Their discography is still incredible and one of my favorites in all of kpop, but that's mostly because of the phenomenal titles and promoted b-sides they have. Illusion, Next Level, Whiplash, Die Trying, Supernova, Hold on Tight, Drama, Spicy... insanity that all these where released in a span of only 3 years.

Quote from Yama-Chan

f(x) are regularly praised for having the best K-Pop album of all time

They barely existed as a group but sure cope

Agree. I’ve only ever listened to the other bsides once and never find myself having the urge to listen again. They don’t fit the style or vibe of a futuristic bjork inspired techy album. But let’s be real, most of the sales happened before anyone even knew what these songs sounded like.

Sadly agree! Savage was such a good album very solid imo a lot of their bsides seem random and oddly a little childish if that makes sense

Coming from SM who has a history with groups with great bsides I think aespa has the weakest bsides of their mainstream girl groups that’s not to say their bsides are bad but compared to their company standard they are pretty boring/ mostly a one time listen

Mine, Illusion, Thirsty, I'll Make You Cry, Lucid Dreams, Salty & Sweet, Kill It, Flowers, Live My Life.

Try them.

Depends on what kind of music you like I guess.

Quote from Yama-Chan

I agree. Not to be disrespectful but their albums are mid compared to f(x) and Red Velvet

I agree. I love Aespa, but I don't remember adding any of their album songs to my playlist when I want to listen to their music.

I know what you mean but I think it all depends on personal preference.

Up until this year, I only knew their title tracks and most of them I really like.

But this year I started to listen to all of their bsides and I found so many that I love and go back to! Even from the Girls and Drama ep, which I actually really like, contrary to popular opinion.

But one thing I noticed is that their albums are really not cohesive musically. Most of the time, the songs on their albums have different style, so it can feel a bit jarring when you listen to them one after another. Even Whiplash, which is one of the more cohesive minis, has two songs that stand out and don't fully fit with the rest (Pink Hoodie and Just Another Girl).

So yeah, it depends on what you like :)

Quote from Isastar

I know what you mean but I think it all depends on personal preference.

Up until this year, I only knew their title tracks and most of them I really like.

But this year I started to listen to all of their bsides and I found so many that I love and go back to! Even from the Girls and Drama ep, which I actually really like, contrary to popular opinion.

But one thing I noticed is that their albums are really not cohesive musically. Most of the time, the songs on their albums have different style, so it can feel a bit jarring when you listen to them one after another. Even Whiplash, which is one of the more cohesive minis, has two songs that stand out and don't fully fit with the rest (Pink Hoodie and Just Another Girl).

So yeah, it depends on what you like :)

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Which song you like from Girls and Drama EP? I seldom hear people like song(s) from these 2 albums except Illusion so im very curious

Quote from gerrard174

Which song you like from Girls and Drama EP? I seldom hear people like song(s) from these 2 albums except Illusion so im very curious

I think for me it was different, because I didn't know any songs beforehand, only Girls (and apparently some were promoted as singles).

So my favourite is Life's Too Short but I also truly enjoy Illusion and ICU (it's such a beautiful and soothing song to me). Lingo is my least favourite, but also not super bad, just okay. So out of all five songs (not counting Life's Too Short english ver.) I only feel indifferent to one. I suppose I'm in minority

I was surprised myself, because I honestly didn't like Girls (the song) when I listened to it after the release. I only warmed up to it this year and enjoyed the whole album.

Quote from gerrard174

Which song you like from Girls and Drama EP? I seldom hear people like song(s) from these 2 albums except Illusion so im very curious

Oh, sorry, I just saw now that you asked about Drama too.

Drama is my favourite tt from them, so it's my no. 1 from the album. But I also like Don't Blink and Trick or Trick. The other three songs are not bad but not super good. So it's 50/50 for me with this mini. I think that this mini is the most uncohesive one, though. Having Drama for the title and then following it with those bsides? Completely different vibes.

Quote from superyeah

I feel like aespa is polarizing in the sense that people either love their title tracks and dislike their B-sides or…

They love the B-sides and dislike the title tracks.

aespa’s B-sides tend to be way different from their title tracks.

I happen to prefer their B-sides nowadays.

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True.

I love Aespa and imo they have one of the best discographies in kpop easily, but yes they don't have the strongest albums overall. I don't find their b-sides overall lacking more than majority of GG's I've checked out, but they are indeed very hit or miss. And the albums are not cohesive at all, but this is common.

Whiplash is one of their better albums (not cohesive, but 4/6 songs are good imo). Drama is the worst.

Illusion is one of the best GG songs ever though. So sometimes their b-sides can REALLY hit.

I also love: Lucid Dream, Flowers, Salty & Sweet, Kill It, Mine, Sun and Moon, Just Another Girl.

I don't know if anyone else here notice/agree, but another thing I've noticed with some of their b-sides is that they have parts that are SO good, but everything else is subpar at best and at worst bad, which ruin the potential. The most extreme example of this to me is YEPPI YEPPI which has suuuch an amazing fun adrenaline-inducing chorus, but literally every other part of the song I hate and it also don't go together. I like the chorus so much so I want to listen, but I sometimes end up annoyed because of this and skip

Quote from foreveraespaaa

Sadly agree! Savage was such a good album very solid imo a lot of their bsides seem random and oddly a little childish if that makes sense

Coming from SM who has a history with groups with great bsides I think aespa has the weakest bsides of their mainstream girl groups that’s not to say their bsides are bad but compared to their company standard they are pretty boring/ mostly a one time listen

About this, it's especially noticable because Aespa's image and title tracks are the literal opposite of this, so going from a banger like Drama to Hot Air Balloon can kind of give you whiplash ( ) in a bad way. They sometimes do lighter fun songs great as well ofc, but often not and it can be a jarring change.