I don't like BTS, I've never liked BTS,
I've listened to BTS. And I think that they're incredibly overrated, just by my
own subjective standards. That standard being they're famous, and I don't like them.
Hi, and welcome back to me talking about whatever I want. Today, I want to talk about BTS's new
album. Because I don't like BTS, but I do know that if I talk about BTS's new album, I'm going to
get a lot of views. But that doesn't mean I have to ignore their existence completely or talk bad
about their music. I'm still going to give their album a chance. And if you're new to this channel,
you already know how I do album reviews. I'm fair, but I'm also honest. If I don't like it, I'm just
going to say I don't like it. And if I don't like it for no reason, I'm just going to admit that I
don't like it for no reason and move on. However, I do take music very seriously. I've listened to
their new albums several times. Which is insane, because there's over an hour and 10 minutes long.
And on top of that, I know all of the lyrics. I know what each song is about in English because I
looked it up from multiple different translations. And on top of that, I also know who's singing
each part in each song. I familiarized myself with the boy band members, found some of those
color coded videos. I may not be a BTS fan, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to be completely
ignorant about who they are. This is an informed, but honest review of BTS "Map of the Soul:7."
20 tracks, a couple of features, let's go. All right, track one " Intro: Persona." This
track is rapped by RM. And it's kind of a song about losing track of who you are. My issue with
the song though is that it's messy. And it's not RM's fault, his delivery is pretty amazing. But
the beat, what even is this beat? It has like this rock and roll sound. It almost sounds like a joke.
I don't like it. All right, of course a rap song is more than just the beat. The lyrics are
pretty amazing. He kind of talks a bit about getting everything you wanted, but it's still not
being enough to assuage the voices in your head. It's like imposter syndrome. He also
talks a bit about losing your roots, which actually made me a bit sad.
It's not a negative track because despite all these insecurities and uncertainties it ends
with the reassurance of who he is. I like it, I like the message. The whole song is
kind of summed up by they're afraid. Who is he?. He's RM. And that's basically
all you need to know about this song. Still though the beat was so not it. It's like
really deep lyrics on a wacky instrumental. And it's like, "What's up with that?"
"Boy with Luv" featuring Halsey. I don't like it. First of all, the instrumentalist
of the song is so commercial is like radio ready? It's unoriginal.
And then if that's enough, the autotune, the autotune, oh the auto tune,
It's so much. Also the delivery of the chorus is annoying. Anyway, Halsey shows up and she's
the first feature on this album. And why is she there? She's barely there. You can hear her,
but not really. The only place she is really prominent is just one part of the chorus.
Waited all my life for what? To get some actual lines on the BTS song because
it looks like you're going to have to keep waiting. As for the lyrics honestly,
it's just a commercial love song, there's not much to say about them. I wasn't even a fan
of the rap in this one. I didn't like it. Next. "Make it Right." Okay the song was actually
co-written by Ed Sheeran. And that's interesting to keep in mind, however, that wasn't enough to
make me like it. And honestly, with this being track three, I was starting to get very worried
because the auto tune was back with a vengeance. On top of that, the beat was very similar to "Boy
with Luv." I was highly concerned because I was like, "Is this what the whole album is going to
sound like?" It turns out the answer is yes and no. This one did have better lyrics though. It's
kind of still a love song, but it's about becoming a better person. It's really nice. Also J-Hope
sings in this song, which I didn't know that the rappers in BTS could also sing. That's crazy.
As you can hear, he actually has a pretty nice voice. I'm assuming, even though I wouldn't
really know because it's slathered in auto tune. 'Jamais Vu' This is a sub-unit song and it's
featuring J-Hope. Jin and Jungkook. Honestly, the three of them go really well
together. First of all, Jin and Jungkook vocals really compliment each other.
It's like a very soft, nice song. And then on top of that, we get sad J-hope.
I like it. The lyrics are pretty. They're about dealing with the pain of repeated
mistakes, but not giving up no matter how far back you get pushed. Overall it's pretty
cool song. I enjoyed listening to it. Track five. Awful, awful, awful. What is
happening? It sounds like bad rap from the 90s. It sounds like someone's WWE intro music, a
wrestler would just walk out while the song blares in the background. On top of that parts
of the song don't even sound like the same song. For example, towards the end Suga shows up and he
kills it. His flow is so good on the song but it literally does not sound like it's the same song.
I wish we could just get Suga by himself. Not that the other members are bad. It's just the
production on the rest of the song is awful. The lyrics on the other hand are incredible. They're
really deep. It's written on multiple levels. It's kind of mixing Korean folk songs with Greek
mythology, which is a crazy concept. The song is not really about getting drunk on alcohol. It's
about getting drunk on art and music. Overall, it's really neat, too bad it sounds bad.
"Interlude: Shadow." All right so my wish about getting Suga by himself came true and I couldn't
be happier. This song is incredible. Sonically, this song serves as a bridge to the next part
of the album and things are getting a little darker. See, it starts off with Suga listing
off his aspirations and it's pretty chill. But then it kind of changes. And all of a sudden
those aspirations are sounding a little scary. And then the song's just... Suga goes crazy
and he starts rap arguing with his shadows. It's legitimately terrifying,
but in the best way possible. This is the full potential of this album's concept
as an exploration of psychology. In this moment, I understood. I think is the most fully
realized song towards that concept and Suga's his shadow that he's rapping against is
actually part of his subconscious. It's just neat. It's more than I would expect from like
a boy band. Easily one of the best songs on the album basically is scary BTS is best BTS.
Track seven, "Black Swan." I would literally have to make a whole video just to tell
you how pretty this song is. First of all, the instrumental is gorgeous.
On top of that, the lyrics are intense. In fact, this is one part Jimin
sings about refusing to be swallowed up. It's some powerful stuff. This song, it's
about BTS falling out of love with music, but then not falling out of love with music
because music is all they really have. It fits the dark direction after the "Shadow:Interlude" really
well, which I was happy about. And on top of that, you don't find very much music about the love
of music and that's somebody who loves music. I just thought the song was incredible.
Track eight, "Filter." All right so Jimin's solo in the song and he
does an amazing job with the vocals. Actually, he still has a little twinge
of dark, not just in the music itself, but the lyrics they're not necessarily healthy.
They're still fun so honestly who cares? It's just a cool fun song.
All right, next we have "My Time." Which is a solo song from Jungkook and
it's basically just Jungkook flexing his vocals for four minutes straight, but he deserves it, if
y'all had told me this man can sing this well... Okay then he's my favorite vocalist from BTS
hands down. Besides being a stellar vocal performance. It also just doubles as very nice
R&B. Overall, this song is going in my playlist. All right. Track 10, "Louder than Bombs." The song
is actually co-written by Troye Sivan, which was cool. He has like this cool thing on the chorus.
I like it. The thing is it's a very standard BTS song. And I can say that confidently, having
just listened to nine BTS songs in a row. It's not a bad song, it's just not particularly out of
the box or interesting to me. The lyrics though, the lyrics are very interesting. First of all,
they are heavy and they're like extremely sad. In fact, this was the first song on this album
so far that didn't end on a positive note. But then we got a whole positive song. Sonically
at least, this track "On" has this real gospel vibe to it. It's a super fun instrumental.
I was really excited to hear the thinking and then I was instantly deflated because guess who's
back the auto tune and it's back with a vengeance. "I can't understand what people are saying."
We can't understand what you're saying because you sound like a robot my guy. This is track 11,
we're halfway through the album and at this point, the album was starting to blend together. Part
of it was how similar some of the songs were. The majority of it was literally just the
auto tune. Started kind of sounding like this electronic singular song. And honestly, these
people are talented enough to not need auto tune, was a little confused by that. However, in spite
of this, Jungkook delivers the most stunning performance, maybe on the album, he hits these
notes on this one part and it's just like... Okay, then. Track 12, "UGH" The only thing 'ugh'
about this song is the title. Everything else is phenomenal. This song features BTS rap line, which
is of course RM, Suga and J-Hope. And they kill this beat. There's this one part specifically
where J-Hope hits this flow and it's flawless. I like it, don't stop. On top of
that this track is just so angry, it's amazing. The lyrics are very pointed, but
they're angry at people for being angry over nothing. Even though the track is delivered
in an angry way, it's more so an exploration of anger and how negative it is and its effects
are. Also towards the end the beat just goes so hard it should literally be illegal. Perfection!
"00:OO(Zero o'clock)." This song features BTS' singers so that's Jimin, Jin, V and Jungkook and
honestly the song is boring. It's very mainstream, very commercial. It's similar to
a lot of songs I've heard before. But on top of that, it just sounds dated.
It has nice lyrics, but it's a weak song. Track 14, "Inner Child." This is V's first
solo track on this album and he got played. They did him dirty. This track is not... No.
We going change is such.... no. And what's with all the 'Oh', is that really necessary
in the background? It sounds like a church worship service, you know what I mean?
It sounds like music from a commercial targeting Gen Z. You know what I'm saying?
All Right. Track 15, "Friends." This song is performed by Jimin and V. And it's hilarious.
Basically just to grown men singing a love friendship song to each other. What I'm trying
to say here is, I love this song so much. It's really cheesy, but really soulful.
I did not know V belting out "You are my soulmate" at the top of his lungs
was something that I needed to hear... But I am so glad that I heard it.
All right. "Moon." Track 16, the album was almost over and I'm kind of glad because I don't
like this song. It sounds very similar to "Inner Child". Just take all the criticism I gave towards
the track "Inner Child" and apply it to this song. Track 17, "Respect." I was seriously
losing interest in the album at this point. This song is by RM and Suga. And
it sounds like another bad 90s rap song. There's a cool sample in the beginning
though. I don't know whether it sampled from, but it sounds nice.
I like that. That's about it. Track 18, "We are Bulletproof: the eternal." I
guess, since we're towards the end of the album, they just wanted to hit us in
the fields and that they did. That is the most heartfelt song on the album.
It's kind of like a BTS Anthem. It's very dramatic and powerful and good. I'd imagine if you were a
longtime fan of BTS, then the song would probably be really moving to you. But honestly I have to
say, even though somebody just casually listening to their album, because it's there, I can still
recognize that the song is pretty incredible. And the last original track for this album,
"Outro:Ego." This whole song is performed by J-Hope and it's a song. It's not a bad song, it's
simple. It's a nice, joyful finish to the album. It's like good vibes on ironically.
The final of the track on the album and is a remix of "ON." Featuring Sia,
but she's barely there. What was the point? Okay, so my closing thoughts, auto tune. That's
all I'm going to remember tomorrow. Why was there so much auto tune on this album? Now here's the
thing, I don't even always dislike auto tune. In fact, I like certain performers solely because
of their auto tune Travis Scott, Post Malone, Don Toliver but on this album, it just sounded bad.
It was excessive, it was robotic. And as I pointed out, it caused a lot of the songs to just blend
into each other. More over, it was unnecessary. These people can sing. Who did that? BTS, why did
you let somebody do that to you? Beyond that the album has too many tracks, far too many tracks.
If an album is going to be like one hour and 16 minutes or however long it is, it has to be really
engaging otherwise, it's going to feel long. And I think it was quite engaging in
the beginning, but towards the end, it definitely felt long. A lot of the tracks
on the second half of the album are lyrically redundant and it just dragged on and on. It was
not pleasant for me, honestly, towards the end there. Those are my main negatives of the album.
Overall though, the songwriting was a consistent win. The whole concept of the album was
incredible. They delivered an entire album focused around exploring psychology through
music. On top of that, their performances were flawless. All seven of them, Jimin's vocal style,
Jin's high notes, Jungkook's literal everything, V's deep notes, RM's power, Suga's versatility and
J-Hope's carefree delivery. They all came together on this album to create an amazing product.
And that product gets a B minus. Minus one that regrade for auto tune and redundant songs.
They were just too many. Why were they 20 songs? Anyway, do I still just like BTS after
all of this? Yeah. It was good music, but this was still very much in the vein
of all their other music, which I already didn't like before listening to this. They're
good artists and I definitely understand why they're so popular now, definitely more now
than I did before listening to the album. When I'm just minding my own business and going
to chill, I'm not going to put on BTS. Well, okay. I might put on "My Time" by Jungkook.
Other than that, I'm not going to be listening to BTS on my downtime. Their style isn't
for me and that's fine. That's allowed, it's for obviously a lot of people.
My final word is that the album felt like a 2000s boy band album that somebody sends
to the future and asked people from 2014 to mix and master, and that's not inherently
bad. And if you like that sort of thing, I think it's a really good album. It's just not
something that I really get anything out of. That's my review of BTS "Map of the Soul:7." I
remain fair and more importantly, I was honest. But I did my best to educate myself on the members
and everything. Though, I am aware I may have messed up some names or some pronunciations or
maybe certain things like that. But I promise, I didn't mean to. I really spent hours in
preparation, just getting all the lyrics together and putting the little pictures up on
screen. Really, I cared a lot about this video because I cared about listening to the album. You
know what I mean? I still wanted to do a good job. But it's still probably going to have a ton of
just like from BTS fans, who only listened to the first 30 seconds where I said, I didn't like BTS
and then clicked off. Anyway, honestly who cares.
