Since BTS announced that they were taking a break from group activities in 2022, they have been filling the void with their solo work. Now that we have at least one album from each member, I wanted to reflect back and rank them.
I’m going to be clear from the very start that I think all of these albums are fantastic and I enjoy each one. This ranking is solely based on my personal preferences and which albums I listen to more often. I also want to clarify that I am not including single albums, so Sweet Dreams, mona Lisa, and The Astronaut won’t be listed, for example. Lastly before we get to the ranking, I am going to list from lowest ranking to highest.
Happy
Unfortunately for the eldest member, Happy has not been an album I’ve replayed very much if at all. I listened to the pre-release I’ll Be There more than I did the album or the title track.
Hope World
The earlier released albums tend to be lower on the list for me, largely because I have a certain attachment to the ones that have released during my time as an ARMY. That is the case for this and the following two entries as they are all the first solo albums of a member that released as early as 2015. Hope World is the last of these three entries because I don’t go out of my way to listen to any of the songs from it, nor would I necessarily wax poetic about the production genius of the songs like I would the next entry.
RM
Do I listen to RM’s debut mixtape often? No, which is why it is low on the list. But we all have to agree that this man has always been a genius. He took familiar, even well-known samples, and created unique tracks that both show respect for the origins of rap and flaunt his own prowess.
Agust D
Agust D, the album, the song, and the person, are all iconic. Yoongi’s lyricism is truly the work of a genius, and the reason that this particular album is lower than his other two on the list is because he only go better with each new album. Admittedly, I only ever frequently listen to two sngs off this first mixtape (Agust D and Give It To Me) which is why Agust D is places where it is.
Right Place, Wrong Person
Right Place, Wrong Person is a conundrum of an album for me. I feel like I still haven’t really formulated a full opinion of it since it is quite different from RM’s other releases. I respect and appreciate the work, especially after watching the documentary about the making of RPWP, but I don’t listen to it as much as I do his other albums.
Muse
Smeraldo Garden Marching Band lives rent free in my head most of the time, and I generally like all of the other songs, but I don’t listen to them very often. If they come on I’ll vibe with it, but compared to Jimin’s other album, Muse isn’t up there for me.
Jack in the Box
Arson and More are iconic, truly. And Jack in The Box deserves its flowers for being the first of the Chapter 2 solos which is why this album is as high as it is. I don’t listen to this album very often myself in all honesty, and really don’t listen to the two most iconic tracks from it all that much either.
D-2
I’ve been pretty slow with listening to D-2, not having listened to it beyond Daechwita prior to seeing Agust D live. Now that I’ve heard more, I add more and more of the songs to my playlists. However, Daechwita is still the only song that is really on repeat from this album, which is why this album overall hasn’t risen higher than this.
Hope on the street
So, somehow, the song “i don’t know” from this album was my most listened to song of 2024. Was it on repeat for a while, for sure, and that album has many great songs I really enjoy which is why it is my favorite of j-hope’s albums. But compared to every members’ release, Hope On The Street, is middle of the pack for me.
Golden
Golden is full of very catchy, enjoyable songs that Jungkook performs incredibly well. Standing Next To You is such a fantastic song. However, I do wish we got a more personal album from Jungkook. He has said himself that at this moment most of his songs would just be about ARMY, and that he doesn’t have much to write for himself, but I can’t say that I wasn’t a little disappointed to learn that all of the songs were outsourced. Jungkook’s talent is what pushes this album up above some of the others, as well as the fact I was present during its release unlike some others.
Layover
The only thing I hate about Layover is the fact that Min Heejin was involved in making it. I won’t get into that though, since I still really enjoy the album’s music and overall style that feels so very fitting for V. The song style alone is just so perfect for his voice, an excellent moody lullaby that you just sink in to. And something that I think is unique to layover for me is the fact that this album makes me excited to see what Taehyung does next as a soloist.
Face
Jimin’s solo debut was one of my more anticipated ones as he is one of my favorite members. I enjoy and appreciate the vulnerability he expressed with Face, as well as how he was apart of the writing of his music. Also, if Smeraldo Garden Marching Band lives rent-free in my head, Like Crazy owns my mind entirely. I adore that song so much, I can’t really even express how much honestly.
Mono
Mono is the perfect predecessor to Indigo, and the first of these solo albums I listened to on a loop upon discovery. Every song is just so good, a blend of emotion and comfort much like how many perceive Namjoon to be.
Indigo & D-Day
Making me choose between Indigo and D-Day is like choosing a favorite child. These are both incredible, no-skip albums that I have listened to over and over and over again.
Indigo is such a comfort album for me. I feel very connected to it and relate to it, which makes sense since Namjoon and I are the same age. RM’s talent is on full display with this album as well, blending and mixing his multi-lingual background while collaborating with such a wide variety of artists.
D-Day is such a powerful album. It is also once of the very few albums that has a song that made me cry at first listen (Snooze). Yoongi’s genius is on full display with D-Day, and I have so much respect and admiration for him as an artist thanks to this album.
And that is my ranking! I am very interested to see what new music we get from BTS, both as a group and solo, since we have had such a wide variety of genres and styles over the last few years.
Which BTS solo album is your favorite? Let me know with a comment!