K-pop Contemporary band, SHINee, officially turns seven years old on May 25 and what better way to celebrate such a special occasion than spending it with its own fanbase SHINee World?
On May 24 8 PM Korea Standard Time just a few hours before it strikes 12, SHINee held a large scale event for fans with the theme "SHINee Debut 7th Anniversary Special Party! ☆ SHINee Day" taking place at Korea University's Hwajung Gymnasium.
SM Entertainment monster rookies comprised of five young enthusiastic boys debuted seven years ago with debut song "Replay" that talks about falling in love with an older girl.
Tonight marks the proof that Korea's biggest agency, known for its legendary groups in the Korean scene splitting before they reach the five year-mark, can also hold a solid band with gradual growth and expansion, its music multi-faceted and consistent with quality.
Members Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin were all present at the said event and performed their most memorable title tracks such as "Dream Girl" that earned them their first "Daesang Award Artist of the Year" in 2013 Melon Music Awards.
As they are currently promoting their newest album entitled "Odd," the group also sang the songs included in the latter such as "Love Sick" which is said to be the sequel of their debut song "Replay," now talking about the love story of seven years between a once young boy and an older girl.
Could it be that the cunning boys are coyly singing to their sweet and peaceful fans which were widely acknowledged in Korea as "Angel Shawols"?
Speaking of fans, SHINee's newest album although allegedly quoted by the agency themselves as "The Best Album in 2015" and "The Most Expensive Comeback," is noticed even by non-fans that it is not being properly promoted.
True enough, it received critical acclaim upon its release on the 18th on various music platforms and, as accounted by Allkpop, even topped iTunes "Albums Chart" worldwide, "Pop Albums Chart" in Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Malaysia, and also number one on the "K-pop Albums" chart in various Asian countries, not only in East and Southeast Asian countries, but also in South Asian countries where K-pop is relatively scarce like India and Sri Lanka.
SHINee World is frustrated at the agency for not promoting the album properly - which was not the first time such thing happened in actuality.
SM Entertainment released the music video a day later than announced, when it was supposed to come out with the album release to maintain synchrony and help in its wins on various Korean music shows. Other reasons the fans were mad was because the agency only publicized three teasers prior to the album release, did not upload the highlight medley to let listeners have a clue on what are the songs like, and ultimately did not do anything to hype the public about the group's comeback.
The fans, known for being reasonable and calm, took the matter at hand and started their own campaign for the album promotions, launching their own projects, giving away personalized merchandise with the album logo and name in them, making their own fan chants, to the point where one of the group's fansite flew a plastic balloon plane at the sky during the recently held "Dream Concert" where SHINee participated.
The fans' efforts did not go unnoticed, of course, as member Jonghyun even retweeted the picture and quoted on how cute it looks.
SHINee's groundbreaking album, introducing new concepts in K-pop with its most recent deep-house music in Jonghyun-penned title track "View" that is common in European countries like England, and overall solid b-side tracks deserve, in the fans' and the critics' perspective who had listened to the album, deserve so much more attention than what is SM Entertainment giving them.
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