ITZY released their first studio album “Crazy In Love” almost two years ago on September 24, 2021. This is by far their most successful album and my favorite album from them.
I went to ITZY’s concert this past November, and they were absolutely amazing. A majority of their set-list consisted of songs from their “Checkmate” album, as the name of their tour was the “Checkmate Tour.” However, because “Crazy In Love” is their first and only full album so far, they performed some songs from that album too.
I think that “Loco,” the opening track for “Crazy In Love,” is their best opening track of all; “Not Shy” and “Cheshire” are close seconds. The choreography is absolutely iconic and so intense, and the vocals are so powerful. When I saw the music video for the first time I caved and immediately stanned them.
Something to note about K-Pop is that you can’t just like one band, you end up stanning and becoming a fan of so many different bands. I thought that Blackpink would be the only K-Pop group I liked when I discovered them and K-Pop in 2018. Then, I decided to listen to one song by TWICE, and from there I now am a fan of over 25 bands.
Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I get so much joy from listening to K-Pop and stanning all the bands that I do. My favorite bands are Seventeen, TWICE, NCT (All units of NCT), Red Velvet, Stray Kids and ITZY.
However, this isn’t about any other band, I’ll talk about them when I review them separately or in a full article. This is about ITZY and their ability to never let down their fans and make amazing music.
Anyway, all five members Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yuna made this album so iconic and so addicting. They are all so talented and the theme of this album was so cool. This album had a very strong Y2K vibe, which I love, and it suited all the members so well.
“Loco” is so good. I can’t say enough about it and I also don’t know enough words in any language to describe how awesome this song is. When Yeji and Lia sing the ending part in the chorus “You got me like cra-cra-crazy in love” is so addicting. Ryujin also killed it with the dance break after the second chorus and seeing it live was even better.
“Love Is” is my second favorite song from this album because of how sweet and cute it is. It has such a lovely message and all of them sounded so good in this song. Yuna’s singing voice is so amazing, and Ryujin was so awesome with her rap parts. Yeji, Lia and Chaeryeong’s vocals were angelic on this song, it was such a good vibey song.
“Swipe” and “#Twenty” both sounded so good and had intense 2000’s vibes. I know I keep repeating myself, but these two songs and this entire album just had that vibe and theme. “Swipe” had a cool techno beat to it and the dance routine makes the song and video even better. “#Twenty” was just perfect; Ryujin and Yuna barely took a breath when they did their raps, and of course the three vocalists sang like beautiful songbirds.
“B[OO]M-BOXX” and “Gas Me Up” were the heavier hip-hop songs on the album. Yeji and Lia’s vocals on “B[OO]M-BOXX” were so brilliant and strong, and Ryujin once again showed that breathing is not essential when you’re being iconic. “Gas Me Up” was good, but I didn’t really like the chorus for the song. The members singing the verses and pre-chorus was good, but the chorus was underwhelming. Yuna and Ryujin sounded awesome though, and I really liked their lines.
“Sooo Lucky” and “Chillin’ Chillin’” were the slower yet poppy songs from the album. They aren’t my favorites from the album, but I really enjoy listening to them because they do make me happy and give me a boost of serotonin. “Sooo Lucky” is a cute love song that is just very sweet and fun to listen to. It sounds like something that belongs in a good romantic-comedy, not a bad one. “Chillin’ Chillin’” is, as in the title, a really chill song. This song is the type of song that I would play when driving to the beach or just driving around. It has summer vibes and I really like it.
“Mirror” is the longest song on the album and the saddest. I have nothing bad to say about this song, nor do I have a favorite line or part sung by any member. All the members killed it with this song and they all sound so beautiful and ethereal. It’s all about loving and being yourself, and more importantly, making sure that you are okay and happy with who you are.
ITZY is so good, so iconic, so beautiful and so talented. They deserve all the love and support that they receive, and they are such a fun and sweet band to get into. I look forward to their future work, and I hope you too can give them a listen.