It doesn’t need to have anything to do with the quality of the albums, only with the impact on their career. Which comebacks do you think were crucial to their trajectory, and which ones could we probably delete from the timeline without it greatly impacting the outcome? For better or for worse, your pick.
(With minimal chaos theory in mind, since we could technically argue that any random moment could’ve had consequences we don’t realize. (Yes, I have watched time travel shows lately, why do you ask?))
I’m using Stray Kids as my example.
I think they probably could’ve skipped:
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I am YOU: A very early album and unfortunately pretty forgotten as it is.
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Levanter: Kind of cult classic and it was released at a crucial period of their career. But as long as they still had God’s Menu the next year, I think things would’ve panned out largely the same.
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CASE 143: As much as I like it, it felt like a comeback where the b-sides were the ones having the bigger moment. They probably could’ve re-sorted the songs from the album to go on other releases if they wanted. The riskiest part feels like the time gap it would’ve left behind without a Korean comeback right in the peak industry conditions of 2022-23.
But they needed to have:
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MIROH: The song that got them their first win, also probably their most popular one pre-God’s Menu. I think it played a big role in building the foundations for their breakout in the fanbase.
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God’s Menu: Duh
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Thunderous: First post-Kingdom comeback and first million selling album that was also riding on and furthering their post-2020 momentum.
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MANIAC: Similar to Thunderous in terms of being a great song coming at the right time and maintaining their big momentum.
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