Every SEVENTEEN Album and EP, Ranked
How each SEVENTEEN full-length album and mini-album stacks up!
#18: DIRECTOR’S CUT
No SEVENTEEN album is worth overlooking, but something has to take last place! That position goes to DIRECTOR’S CUT, which is perfectly fine but does what SEVENTEEN’s other albums do in more creative, versatile ways. This EP is a straightforward, crush-themed one with predictable pop material.
#17: BOYS BE
While not exactly derivative of the EP that came before it, BOYS BE is not much of a sonic or thematic departure either. Both 17 CARAT and BOYS BE are about crush-related nerves, and that shyness is explored in more charming ways - and just more ways, period - in later projects, and it was inherently explored in a way that felt fresher when it was SEVENTEEN’s debut 17 CARAT era.
#16: YOU MAKE MY DAY
This mini-album is one of SEVENTEEN’s bubbliest and brightest; it is by no means a bad release! But by comparison to their projects that cover more topics, moods, sonic experiments, and original ways with words, YOU MAKE MY DAY is not in the same league.
#15: 17 CARAT
17 CARAT is a very solid group introduction. The upbeat debut release made a clear case both that SEVENTEEN would be ones to watch and that they would reveal more of their skills in due time. Watching them grow as artists has indeed paid off; 17 CARAT was a stepping stone for far greater works.
#14: SPILL THE FEELS
From a promotional perspective, SPILL THE FEELS is in the top tier! SEVENTEEN pulled out all the stops, from releasing a cinematic trailer to posting stories online starring cartoon alter egos! The hype did prove to be worth it, but outside of marketing, other albums win in more - and more important - categories, like “Most Outstanding Subunit Songs” and “Most Meaningful Tracklist Order.”
#13: Love&Letter
When considering which songs best epitomize SEVENTEEN, Love&Letter offers plenty of contenders. The album is filled with sweet and youthful sentiments, while layers of melancholy are woven throughout it. It represents SEVENTEEN’s ability to convey nuanced emotional states in understated ways, and their confessions about loneliness and loss are admirably earnest. Like 17 CARAT, Love&Letter was a harbinger of bigger and better things to come.
#12: Al1
Al1 sends a loud and clear message that SEVENTEEN are always ready to change things up, while maintaining a shared vision (after all, the title means both “All” and “All 1”!). Their video choreography went to new heights, with a mesmerizing dance routine in the “Don’t Wanna Cry” music video. As they sing about an unfamiliar road and a vision blurred by tears, their dance moves channel that fear and confusion into collective, palpable energy. “MY I” deserves a similar milestone status in the timeline of SEVENTEEN, for its yin-and-yang-themed duo dance that shows their synchronization is still strong when split into subgroups. Compounding the music’s effective messaging is the way the sound travels from one’s left to right ear and vice versa during the chorus, presenting listeners with the same back-and-forth theme as the viewers. “Don’t Wanna Cry” and “MY I” represented a new extent to SEVENTEEN’s sounds-to-visuals alignment.
#11: Going Seventeen
Going Seventeen spans the emotional spectrum, from the low point “I Don’t Know” to the bursting-at-the-seams, anticipatory “BOOMBOOM.” It also impresses when compared to the albums released before it because of its greater number of thematic parallels; it shows increased self-awareness through its ever-authentic lyricism. There are many malleable metaphors, including an endless path: “You’re like an endless road, but I’ll run to you” (“BOOMBOOM”); “We’re walking in a long tunnel” (“Fast Pace”); “We’re getting farther apart / Then I just need to catch you / So you won’t get far” (“Don’t listen in secret”); “We’re on different streets” (“I Don’t Know”). Another repeated topic is connecting on a level beyond language: “Emptiness is filled by each other’s expressions / Making it meaningful,” they sing in “HIGHLIGHT.” And in “Don’t listen in secret,” they urge a loved one to heal through listening to a song made just for that person. The lyrics’ emotional maturity and insights are even more commendable when considering how young the members were at the time of making these songs - not to mention how fantastic their voices had already become!
#10: FML
FML starts and ends on expectedly bleak notes, given the title (which stands for three things: “F*ck My Life,” “Faded Mono Life,” and “Fallen, Misfit, Lost”). But between those songs are vibrant ones that are on-brand for SEVENTEEN topically and new-to-them sonically. “Super” is an invigorating and new kind of personal theme song, the hip-hop unit’s “Fire” is a noisy and distortion-filled romp, the performance team’s “I Don’t Understand But I Luv U” is both powerful and tender, and the vocal team’s “Dust” has both retro flavor and a more timeless, laid-back quality. The variety pack is bookended by steadier and slower songs, giving the listening experience a “surprise inside” effect!
#9: YOU MADE MY DAWN
From the electrifying “Getting Closer” to the ad-lib-filled “Chilli,” YOU MADE MY DAWN is quite the colorful collection! Its variety has multitudes, in terms of moods, tempos, instruments, vocals, and topics. There are broad commonalities, though, like how “Home” and “Getting Closer” tell the same story from different perspectives. Some songs have more indirect commonalities, like how “Hug” and “Shhh” both teach the lesson that little adjustments to a song make a big difference to the final listening experience (a piano quietly joins the guitar towards the end of “Hug,” and the jumble of noises in “Shhh” aid the attempt to stop outsiders from eavesdropping!). “Good to Me” represents how the little details when it comes to lyrics make a big difference, too: It is made more memorable due to likening softened resolve to the breakdown of a digital “firewall,” after a crush has guessed the “password”!
#8: An Ode
An Ode is an indirect sequel to Love&Letter, touching on similar themes and using the same writing metaphors with more sonic and lyrical texture. It proves a sequel can be better than the original, and songs like “HIT” reach a new level of exhilaration for SEVENTEEN. It is a rapidly-paced victory lap filled with funny ad libs (“Brrrrah!”), combining the sleekness of the song’s choreography with the silliness of circa-2015 SEVENTEEN! The B-sides also prove SEVENTEEN do well not starting from scratch, but instead building on top of pre-established musical foundations. Countless finishing touches bolster this argument: the wobbling and rattling in “Back it up,” the powering-down of instruments for a beat in “Lucky,” the church-choir atmosphere of “Snap Shoot”... the “more is more” approach is one they can pull off but not all artists can!
#7: TEEN, AGE
TEEN, AGE was an early example of SEVENTEEN finding meaning in even the smallest things. The title’s comma is intentional and symbolic of not growing up in a hurry. The pace at which they will grow up might even be a mystery to themselves, as indicated by naming the outro “Outro. Incompletion.” Furthering the “no set start and end dates on growing up” theme are the subunit tracks, which are case studies in identity exploration and the corresponding vulnerability. In “CHANGE UP,” different subunits’ leaders open up about their shared pressure to always be “on” as performers. In “Lilili Yabbay,” the performance team wishes for a thirteenth month of the year, because twelve months is not enough time to feel like they can experience everything they want! In “Pinwheel,” the vocal team sighs while impatiently awaiting for someone to come back. And in “TRAUMA,” the hip-hop team sings about using music as a tool for getting to know themselves better when all else seems to fail. SEVENTEEN take turns and take different routes to find themselves, acing the assignment of representing both key words: “TEEN” and “AGE.”
#6: Your Choice
Your Choice served as the centerpiece of the “Power of Love Project,” the umbrella under which all of SEVENTEEN’s 2021 releases resided. The project focused on love’s many forms, and Your Choice was no exception. The album features both songs that are more reasonably interpreted as being about romantic relationships than platonic ones and songs that are vice versa, and each song comes across as a carefully-crafted example of one type of affection. For example, “Ready to love” has an even tempo that matches the sense of certainty in its self-explanatory message. “Heaven’s Cloud” also has pacing that boosts its specific sentiment, one of being so lovestruck it feels like walking on air. “Wave” is a standout for lyrical reasons instead; it uses two wave-related metaphors at once to talk about ocean waves and waving to someone! Each song is a piece that contributes in its own thoughtful ways to the messy yet beautiful puzzle that makes up a love-filled life.
#5: Attacca
While Your Choice and Attacca both convey emotional depths in streamlined yet intricate ways, Attacca’s subunit tracks dig a little deeper than the subunit tracks on Your Choice, making Attacca worthy of a higher ranking. Plus, Your Choice assesses many types of love, while Attacca assesses many stages of it, a trickier topic to tackle in ways that stay original. The delivery of this album was also new and interesting. It came with a “bonus track” on which VERNON and JOSHUA teamed up for a dose of aughts-pop-rock nostalgia. Another surprise came from the highlight medley video’s format, akin to a series of sketches further differentiating each song.
#4: Heng:garæ
This album’s title refers to the act of tossing someone in the air, and the songs channel apt levity, at least in spirit when not in sound! Playfulness takes on many forms but stays a key ingredient in each track, whether it is a doorbell ringing mid-song or some ecstatic exclamations. Related to this “Come on, let’s have fun!” attitude is the interactive marketing approach: Heng:garæ’s physical album copies come as assembly-requiring books. Heng:garæ embodies a “DIY” approach to life, and the value it places on personalization is in addition to valuing universal relatability, rather than being at the expense of it. This relatability comes from the songs’ easy-listening quality and self-explanatory titles: “Together,” “I Wish,” “Fearless”... the through-lines are basic, while the toplines are creative! Heng:garæ strikes a balance befitting life’s simultaneous simplicity and complexity.
#3: SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN
SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN was an absolutely adorable era that can be summarized as “contagious good vibes”! Iconography for the album cover, promotional materials, and “God of Music” video includes a unicorn, smiley-face flowers, rainbows, and party supplies. The physical album copies have a festival theme, complete with wristbands, and the songs are suitably celebratory for a party to which everyone is invited! SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN avoids being enthusiastic to the point of being annoying, though! What makes this party one worth remembering are the lyrical layers and inter-song evolutions. The fun-on-its-face material is a conduit for more serious and introspective material, like the self-explanatory “SOS.” “Headliner” exudes authenticity in a very different way, showing warmth while confirming that “you,” the audience, can always count on them to be “your” cheerleaders. SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN proves that having wisdom and being the antithesis of cynicism are not mutually exclusive; maturity and sensitivity are not opposites, and one can stay in-tune with emotions while still having a blast!
#2: ; [Semicolon]
; [Semicolon] strikes a universal chord with a sympathetic message about slowing down and taking life at one’s own pace. The era was all about taking a break to rest and recharge before returning to daily struggles, and SEVENTEEN even gave people a way to do that by including a weaving kit in physical album copies! It was a refreshing break from society’s ubiquitous and un-nuanced “Keep going” and “Never give up” messages. ; [Semicolon] is about simply doing one’s best and not pushing oneself too far! As for the sound, it stays hopeful, proving that one does not need to wait for a struggle to be over - or even for the break from it to be over - to smile again! ; [Semicolon] further stands out for having some of the highest-quality and meaningful subunit songs. They sound mature and romantic on “Light a Flame,” young and adorable on “AH! LOVE,” and like old friends of the listener in “Do Re Mi” and “HEY BUDDY.” All the while, they pair new-to-them sounds with familiar-to-them metaphors, like bodies of water and constellations.
As much as the songs in the middle of ; [Semicolon] seem like the best part, one can easily argue the opposite! The beginning and end are exemplary: “HOME;RUN” embodies SEVENTEEN’s lively and theatrical tendencies, and “All My Love” ends the EP on a beautiful and group-wide note.
#1: Face the Sun / SECTOR 17
The era featuring Face the Sun and the SECTOR 17 repackage was SEVENTEEN’s storytelling at its best in every dimension. “Darl+ing” and “IF you leave me” are examples of their attention to detail; the plus sign in “Darl+ing” is meant to represent the ongoing nature of their relationship with fans, and the capitalization in “IF you leave me” emphasizes the topic of uncertainty. “HOT” shows off their ferocious and fearless side. “DON QUIXOTE” uses the eponymous novel to reiterate themes SEVENTEEN’s catalog has always involved. “March” is a soundtrack for, well, marching, as SEVENTEEN offer on-brand encouragement to stay the course and be grateful for doing so later. “Domino” speaks to SEVENTEEN’s ability to borrow elements of their past work without sounding derivative of it; it sounds similar but not too similar to early-era SEVENTEEN. “Shadow” is a testament to their ability to contrast relatively simple melodic structures with detailed messages. “‘bout you” is somewhat of a sequel to their debut song, “Adore U.” Lastly, “Ash” is an example of their refusal to choose between songs involving goofy noises (“Skrrt skrrt!”) and deep, existential topics! The new additions in the repackaged album also make fans think “That’s so SEVENTEEN!,” with examples of their braggadocious side (“CHEERS”), their insecure side (“Circles”), and their interest in letting the audience fill in blanks for them (made literal with “_WORLD”)!
There are countless other ways the Face the Sun / SECTOR 17 era shines the brightest - pun intended! The “13 Inner Shadows” pre-released mini-series gave the audience much to chew on; the era trailer (“SEVENTEEN NEW RINGS CEREMONY : The Sun Rises”) is filled with animated Easter eggs; Face the Sun (pre-repackage) was the group’s first time releasing an album with zero subunit tracks, showing their openness to trying new things; and the tracklist order is meaningful, starting with “Circles” (SECTOR 17) or the ode to an ongoing crush that is “Darl+ing” (Face the Sun pre-repackage). It is also symbolic that both album versions end with “Ash,” a song about embracing a rebirth.
Stay tuned for more SEVENTEEN-themed articles coming out over the next few weeks!
What was excluded from consideration: Solo and subunit projects, single albums (releases with fewer than three new songs on them), and albums that are largely compilations of older songs.