Super Junior, or SuJu, for short, is sometimes known as the “King Of Hallyu Wave”, a bridge between the 1st and 2nd generations of k-pop. They’ve had thirteen members during their time as a group: current members Leeteuk, Heechul, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Yesung, Donghae, Siwon, Kyuhyun, and Ryeowook, and former members Hangeng, Kibum, and Kangin. They debuted on November 9th, 2005, and thus, here I am, nineteen years on, writing this review!

Here are my credentials: If you’ve read my Yesung review, you’ll know that my interest in Super Junior all started because my lovely mother in her infinite wisdom (can you tell who my special guest is yet) accidentally bought me Yesung’s album during her trip to Japan, when she meant to buy me Jonghyun’s. Thus began our shared journey into the insanity that is SuJu, and so, since their 19th anniversary is coming up, I decided that now would be a good time for us to go through their discography together. So, I went home from college, and on a rainy day, we sat down and made our way through two decades of content. (Her thoughts are written in quotes). So, let’s get into it!

(Going forward, please forgive the image quality; remember that I was a toddler in the early years of their career and thus these pictures are nearly two decades old)

Album #1: Super Junior ‘05

Twins begins with the fakest fire I’ve ever seen, and despite coming out in 2005, it felt twenty years ago. My mother and I looked at each other with twin (no pun intended) looks of bewilderment and amusement. “So much hair,” she bemoaned. “It’s like 1983 up in here. I say this with authority.” (She’s referring to the five pounds of gel and hairspray on all of their heads) 

“You can see the beginning of the triangle shape formation of dancing and the nice suits but the way this is edited is just…bad.” And when we say bad, we do mean bad. There’s potential, and clearly talent. But god is it buried deeply. Heechul’s haircut and his strange faces are the best part of this music video, hands down, but besides that…yikes. Twins may be only 3 minutes and 44 seconds, but it seems like it goes on forever, a bunch of disparate verses of hip-hop, R & B, and rock (?) that feel like three different songs were smashed together. 

Miracle is also from this first album, and goes a different route from Twins, a more down-to-earth, fresh-faced, boy-next-door appeal than the untouchable image they had before. Rest assured, the haircuts are still as bad as ever, but “at least there’s no fake fire”, my mother pointed out. In fact, this music video is honestly adorable; besides the painfully awkward dancing, there’s a lot of behind the scenes clips of the boys just fooling around and being allowed to be children, a rare thing for the kpop industry. Seeing them finally perform together on stage in front of so many fans was such a nice feeling. As for the song itself, there’s not much to say. It’s a pretty standard quasi-ballad with admittedly very nice vocals and filled to the brim with harmonizing (my one true love). There was much “awwww” ing from both of us.

From the album, I enjoyed the catchy hook and solid mix of rock and r & b in Rock This House, the fast-paced, Latin-pop influenced beat of Way For Love, and the layered choruses of Over. This album really does feel of its time, not necessarily in a bad way, but very reflective of k-pop’s transition period from the 1st generation to the 2nd generation. I can see reflections of 1st gen groups like SHINHWA and H.O.T in the harmony-heavy ballads and “cool” hip-hop, and hints of the kind of pop and R & B used by groups like SHINee and Exo in the 2nd and 3rd gen too. In this way, I confess it’s more interesting than it is enjoyable to me, but I can respect it for what it is.

Single #1: U

The first idol to appear in U isn’t a Super Junior member, but actually Yoona from SNSD, who’s playing the “girl” in the soon-to-be-inescapable “cause I can’t stop thinking about you, girl” hook. It’s miles ahead of their first song, and there’s little hints of who these people will become. As my mother put it, “This is Super Junior…but with less class.” She’s right that the SuJu we know and love is here, just a bit rough around the edges, maybe; the sharp dance moves, the diamond pattern in the choreo, the vintage sound, the touches of electro.

The rap is unnecessary, though; I’ll stand by that, and it’s a very obvious green screen, but at least there’s no fake fire, so I’ll take it. “I can actually recognize people this time, but there’s so much gel in the hair I can’t focus,” my mother, clearly having more unwelcome flashbacks to 1983, said. Overall, is it dumb? Sure. But when they lean into the humor and have some self-awareness, it’s great. Heechul’s kissing the card and wink during the “tarot” line is especially funny. We both screamed and laughed.

Album #2: Don’t Don

Despite having a PhD and a high school degree respectively, my mother and I were befuddled by the name Don’t Don. “They have a friend named Don and he just needs to not?” was our favorite suggestion. But it turns out that the title is a play on the Korean words don (money) and donda (to go insane), to say “don’t go insane over money”, which is a pretty strong message. It’s a much darker image, especially compared to U, which sounded like it’d be the soundtrack of a kdrama. It’s like if a SuJu song was crossed with hard rock, and it reminds me a lot of Yo by SHINHWA in its rage-against-the-machine lyrics and screamo tendencies (though, thankfully, minus the blatant racism, so that’s great.)

The best part is probably Henry Lau playing a fiddle while there’s actual fire in the background, and I’m happy to report that he is actually playing. The final minute sounds (and looks) most like the SuJu we know, but there’s so much preventing you from actually getting you there, like the song is determined to keep going on side quests, not the least of which the screamed “SUPER JUNIORRRRRR!” ending that caused us to both start cackling. I don’t know who called Thanos and told him to make a cameo, but wow. Alright guys. I’m backing away slowly.

Marry U, like Miracle in the first album, is a much softer image than the main single, and is also a pretty average ballad. Though the song itself is alright, I really liked the cleverness of the music video, with its combination of illustrations and real-life people to form a city that looks like it’s made out of folded paper. One of those people, by the way, is again, Yoona from SNSD! I’m glad she gets more to do this time around. Though she has very little patience for songs like this, my mom said, “I’ll rate it higher just because they’re in suits.”

There’s so much I liked about this album; the delightful pops of brass in Disco Drive, the freewheeling chorus and orchestral flourishes of I Am, and the hints of funk in Missin’ U.  (They really love spelling “you” with a u don’t they?) Also, shout out to the lovely harmonizing in both Our Love and Thank You. My hidden gem was definitely Sapphire Blue, from its incessantly catchy beat to its great mix of R & B and mid-2000’s pop to its scattered, casual vocal showcases throughout. This is how you do a fun pop song! My mother’s favorite was Disco Drive, because she’s a Saturday Night Fever girlie at heart. And, in general, this is how you do an exploratory album that still sounds cohesive. Hats off, boys.

Album #3: Sorry Sorry

Sorry Sorry has an admittedly strange start to its music video, but from the very beginning, even a casual viewer can tell that this is the sound of a group coming into their own. Between the streamlined choreography, the electro pop beat, and the sleek black suits on a monochrome background, it’s miles ahead of anything they’d done before. There’s still a fair share of iffy hairstyles, but at least they’re not that bad. “Not an SM Entertainment song without either BABAYYY or Girlll”, mom pointed out when we reached the chorus, though she was already bouncing along.

And speaking of which, the editing is much better too; cuts happen right on the beat, clearly inspiring many later kpop songs in their overuse of quick changes. “This is the kind of editing that you strive for,” my mom said, voice in teacher mode. “Every cut makes sense even though they’re constant” This one is also more even in how it features them, with each member getting a chance to shine, rather than having one or two always at the front and relegating the rest to backup dancers. Is it goofy? Oh, sure. But it owns it, with every overwrought dance move and every unnecessary close up on their vogueing faces, and you just can’t help but be swept along for the ride. You can totally see why this became a classic, and why it’s still considered one to this day.

It’s You, like Sorry Sorry, is also a shift in Super Junior’s discography. While it seems like it’ll turn into the same archetypal ballad that’s been relegated to afterthought single status for their first few albums, something’s different this time around. In the verses, the song is supported by this hand-clapped beat that clips along unobtrusively, but in the choruses, the clip blooms into a full-on electro smash, turning the track from just your average b-side into one that can hold its own among their hits. It also features the kind of sharp-angled choreo that would become a SuJu staple, while not sacrificing the songs’ more emotional moments. (My mother was less convinced; I admit I have a fondness for the over-dramatic, while she can’t help but compare every song like this to the hits that dominated the radio in 1989.)

With the Sorry, Sorry album put as SuJu’s “essential work” on Apple Music, I had high expectations, and I’m happy to say that it managed to live up to them. I enjoyed the driving beat and snappy percussion of Why I Like You, the smooth sound of Monster, and the melancholy instrumental of sweeping ballad Dead At Heart. I also liked the gentle sway of What If. But, my hidden gem was Angela, with that impeccable full-throated chorus, acoustic guitar back-up, and warmhearted delivery. (Mom agrees). It’s tracks like this that show that you don’t have to do anything crazy to make a great song; you just have to put your whole being into it.

Album #4: Bonamana

Bonamana aims for drama, and somewhat…doesn’t achieve it? It’s common after a big hit for a group to try to repeat what skyrocketed them to popularity, but this one is just a bit too similar, between the black and white palette, the sharp dance moves, and the overreliance on a nonsense word hook. There are some changes too, though, like the added choppiness. Its autotuning is also very overdone, but then again, it’s not trying to sound natural.

They’re also wearing sneakers, my mom pointed out, “except for no shirt [Leeteuk], he’s too cool for sneakers”. (It’s important to note that my mother didn’t know most of their names at the beginning of this deep dive, so she identified them by things like “no shirt”, “David Cassidy hair”, [Siwon] “pretty guy” [Heechul], etc). Mostly, it’s not for me. Also, why is it so long? We get it. “These guys are good dancers, so they can get away with the fact that this song should’ve ended a minute ago,” she laughed. Mostly, I don’t think that this is as good as their biggest hits, but I wouldn’t skip it if it came up on shuffle.

From the album, I enjoyed the brassy outro of Shake It Up and the forceful beat of Boom Boom, but my hidden gem was Here We Go, which bounds along with a noticeable spring in its step. I was surprised that there was a ballad (Coagulation, “which is such a bad name, by the way”, my mom noted) so early in the album, when they’re usually relegated to the end, but it prepared me for the fact that this is more ballad heavy album than was usual for the time, or was usual for SuJu. It’s not really for either of us, to be honest.

Next time, we’re on to Part 2. Tschüss!