Midyear Check-Up - Top 5 Albums

Sunmi - Full Moon 

For her first album ever, Sunmi brings out the big guns and shows everyone just what she's capable of as a solo artist. There's a variety of sounds and styles, yet it all blends perfectly together thanks to Sunmi's clear vocals which seem to have improved immensely since her Wonder Girls days. 

Favorite Songs: "If That Was You", "Who Am I"

BTS - Skool Luv Affair

One of the major strengths of this relatively new group lies within the brilliant composing. Their songs have interesting lyrics and talk about topics listeners feel familiar with, and therefore manages to reach out to that teenage demographic. It also helps that they have actual rappers that know what they're doing, because it helps giving the group a genuine hip-hop sound that other groups trying the same concept wish they had. 

Favorite Songs: "Boy In Luv", "Tomorrow", "Spinebreaker"

Taeyang - Rise

The main dancer, vocalist and ab-flasher of Big Bang made a majestic return as a solo artist after several years of hiatus this June. I'm generally not a fan of that typical "YG" sound, as is the reason why I don't really like any of their acts, but this album really won me over. Taeyang gets to showcase his vocal skills in both up- och down-tempo tracks and present catchy melodies and great lyrics.

Favorite Song: "1AM", "This Ain't It", "Love You To Death"

After School - Dress To Kill

This group's first full Japanese album sets the bar for K-Pop idols overseas releases really far up. Although I have enjoyed their Korean material too, this album is by far my favorite of theirs and by far my favorite on this list. Every single song on this album is worth listening to, and how often does that happen that you can listen to an entire album without skipping one or two songs? That's how good this album is. 

Favorite Songs: "Triangle", "Crazy Driver", "Heaven", "Spotlight"

Beast - Good Luck

Beast continues to be amazing in the music department with their 6th mini album, and proves once again that they're one of the more skilled groups in the industry. There are plenty of different sounds to choose from on this album, but all of them share that specific color that only Beast has. All of the members are put to good use, and member Junhyung sure has a bright future as a composer and producer, if not for Beast than for other acts too. 

Favorite Songs: "Good Luck", "Dance With U", "Sad Movie"

What are your favorite albums of the first half of 2014?