As part of a super special series, I will be doing rewinding the clock and reflecting on the years that have passed by focusing on certain aspects that have defined KPOP. All will make sense once I reach the end of this series.

In today’s ‘Looking Back’ post, I turn my attention to albums in the KPOP industry. Albums offer a lot of insight into an artist, as it gives the artist more opportunities to express themselves. We (the listeners) find ourselves delving into the albums of artists we like, and finding that ‘hidden gem’ or an alternative track that should have been the title track of the album. Other times, we give an album of a less familiar group a go to discover their music and potentially becomes fans of them! This is the power of the album, and it has definitely been an effective tool in the industry.

Nowadays, album sales are a very indicative parameter of how successful a KPOP artist is. Selling the most albums to date is BTS (no surprises there), with their 2020 release being the most sold album in KPOP. And more artists are joining BTS on the upper end of the most sold list, including NCT, Seventeen, TXT, EXO and Stray Kids. It is very interesting to note that physical albums, for the most part, were on the downtrend in the ’00s, with digital charts being the new way to listen to music. But I guess posters, photocards, photobooks and other merchandise included in KPOP albums have given them new life.

Below, I have listed the best and most notable albums of the year. For years 2018 – 2020, the album in the bolded text is the album that you all voted as being the best album of the respective year. In 2014 – 2016, the album stated in the bolded header text is the album that I chose to be the best album of the respective year. In 2011 – 2013 and 2017, I have retrospectively chosen two albums for Best Album and most notable album as there was not Best Album categories in those years. For each ‘Best Album’, I have also provided the Spotify playlist (sorry to WordPress app users, I don’t think you can see the Spotify playlists).

2020: -77.82*-78.29 (2nd Mini Album) – EVERGLOW

2019: Love Poem (5th Mini Album) – IU

2018: The Story of Light (6th Studio Album) – SHINee

2017: Palette (4th Studio Album) – IU

2016: Wings (2nd Studio Album) -BTS

2015: 4Walls (4th Studio Album) – F(x)

2014: Red Light (3rd Studio Album) – F(x)

2013: Pink Tape (2nd Studio Album) – F(x)

2012: Alive/Still Alive (5th Studio Album/5th Studio Album Repackaged) – Big Bang

2011: Wonder World (2nd Studio Album) – Wonder Girls