Ateez Album Crawl ZERO : FEVER EPILOGUE
This album feels like an end and a beginning. The Fever series is maximalist and punchy and funny and cool and dynamic and somehow criminally underrated in the ATEEZ discography.
I had so much fun going through these albums and considering the music/themes/lyrics as companions to real-life events unfolding in the lives and careers of the members. Fever Epilogue feels like such an archive of ATEEZ. Even if I wasn't an atiny in 2021, I cannot help but feel a kinship to the members when I listen to these songs. The Real and Turbulence, especially, are not only in my top 5 favorite title tracks, but they are perhaps the group's most indelible songs.
A song that brings me to my knees every time. Packed with emotion and longing, the song is a question and a plea:
Where should we be, in what form
What should we become, and I?
The final chorus into the outro, with Hongjoong begging "Embrace me in your warm arms" is among the most affecting pieces of music they've ever produced.
In an album packed with generational tracks, it's easy for Be With You to slip through the cracks. But this is one of the most beautiful songs they've ever made.
This song started life as a special clip, and it's a really lovely ode to the special bond between ATEEZ and Atiny.
Thankful for every moment by my side
'Cause you're always there
I know that even the moment I'm tired on a rough day
(You made me smile at that moment too)
You made me smile
This love you showed me to wake up
I'm skipping over the Korean versions of Better and Still Here to get to the main event...
As far as I'm concerned, this is the only true version of this song. I'll repeat what I've written elsewhere:
The Real is my favorite title track. Aside from the music, which sounds like nothing else in kpop, I love the song's message and what it symbolizes about their journey. All the hardship they endured and what they overcame without losing an ounce of their humility and kindness.
I love Hongjoong's big swooping kick to start the song, I love the satoori dialect punctuating the lyrics, I love dance break, I love how much fun they always have performing it.
I once watched a pair of youtube reactors say that in 10 years if you were to ask about Ateez's musical legacy in kpop, you'd point to The Real. I think that's true.
I hope they keep it on the setlist forever.
Wave (Overture); Wonderland (Symphony No.9); Answer (Ode To Joy)
I had such a good time rewatching these Kingdom stages. Despite the hardship the members and fandom endured during that era, it's undeniable that ATEEZ cemented their legacy as the best artists of their generation with a series of iconic remixes of their most popular title tracks, blending classical music and cinematic stylings into true works of theatrical performance art.
These stages are required viewing for all atiny.
Chills!! Maddox returns to narrate another ominous ending track, bidding us a fond farewell to Fever and all that it represented (adolescence, growing pains, hope, fear, determination...) and setting us up for a new adventure...
