Hello! First of all "
some bgs who don't get even a quarter of the praise but are far more talented" I take issue with, I'd argue ATEEZ is pretty much on-par on the vocal/rapping/dance/whatever else front, and based on your other statements (incl. the video link earlier), it seems the concern lies more with their sound than their ability to execute. Which is fine! Just wanted to clarify.
The biggest thing that draws me to ATEEZ is the ambition of the project - back-to-back, their first five albums/minis (literally everything from 2018 until last January) play like a rock opera, with numerous musical callbacks to their previous releases. Meaning repeated instrumental motifs, melody lines, lyrical passages etc. It's an approach that rewards investing in them as a group beyond their current promotional cycle - a lot of other groups (bgs especially) try to do this with lore, which I agree is played out, but ATEEZ might be the only group I can think of that properly weaves it into the musical DNA. I love their new releases because it's always exciting to hear bits of their past work recontextualized.
This uniformity in sound is appealing in a climate where groups are often rewarded for jumping on trends and sounding like anyone
other than themselves. Obviously anyone's response to a group's sound will be individual and subjective, but if you like one ATEEZ release, you'll probably like them all. They've worked exclusively with EDENARY, the production/songwriting team behind DREAMCATCHER, which has meant they have similarly anthemic choruses and interesting use of instrumental textures. Again, I can understand their sound not being for everyone, but I think the suggestion that they "
look and sound like any other group" runs contrary to the very thing that makes them so beloved.
Anyways it's 3am and I work in a few hours but couldn't miss this opportunity to set the record straight! Let me know where I can send an invoice for any productivity lost. x
EDIT: Almost forgot - they have a pirate concept and a bunch of their tracks sound like sea shanties, which is just very cool.
