The first song of an album sets the tone for the whole listening experience, and these are some of my favorite K-Pop tracks that do just that.
D-Day by Agust D (D-Day)
D-Day is one of my favorite songs on the whole album actually, and it does a great job setting us up for the rest of the experience. With so many deep emotions and complex thoughts, it’s nice to start out hyped up.
Bad Dream by Cix (OK Prologue: Be OK)
This is my favorite song on the album and would have made a great title track as well as album opener. It really sets the tone well.
Intro: Illusion by Purple Kiss (memeM)
Purple Kiss’ intros are immaculate and definitely set the tone for the rest of the album. My personal favorite is Illusion from their album memeM. I love the overall mystical and witchy vibe it has.
HALA HALA by Ateez (Treasure Ep.2: Zero to One)
Ateez discography is all-around amazing, so of their album openers, there are many great choices. But one of my all-time favorite songs by them is Hala Hala. It has so much personality and perfectly represents their music style.
Love Killa by Monsta X (Fatal Love)
I’ve shared my love for this album before, so I had to choose the album opener which just so happens to also be the title track. It’s such a good song and accomplishes both a great title track and a perfect album opener.
Intro: Serendipity by BTS (Love Yourself ‘Her’)
I love this song whole-heartedly and the fact it is the album intro for Love Yourself ‘Her’ brings me joy because I get to talk about how much I love this song! It is a great album opener since this trilogy of albums progresses through what love and heartbreak are like, with Serendipity expressing being in love which is the whole theme of this particular album. It is a perfect choice for the intro song that I am glad they made.
Intro: Persona by BTS (Map of the Soul: 7)
An album themed around psychology had no right to be as good as MOTS:7 is. The rap line each have a solo song based on Carl Jung’s archetypes is so smart and having one set up the album is equally smart. Persona is a great choice with its upbeat energy that gets you invested in the rest of the album.
The Tortoise and the Hare by Stray Kids (IN LIFE)
The Tortoise and the Hare seems so odd and random, but it’s such a good album intro especially for a repackage. We already know what to expect to some extent since it is a repackage, but they gave us an unexpected opener and I applaud that.
Devil by the Window by TxT (The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION)
This album is amazing and Devil by the Window does a great job setting the tone for it all both tonally and thematically. I can’t think of a song on that album that would be a better intro song than this one.
Beautiful Liar by Monsta X (Reason)
Reason is a great album with a great title track that is also the album opener. I got deeply invested into listening to the rest of the album after listening to Beautiful Liar, so it succeeds at all of its purposes.
Do It Like This by P1Harmony (Disharmony: Find Out)
Do It Like This was a little bit of a departure for P1Harmony musically, but it is so undeniably catchy that it makes you want to see what else the album has in store.
What album openers are your favorite? Share them in the comments!