If You Only Knew BANG BANG BANG: Hearing MADE from Start to Finish

The opening track of ‘MADE’, released on December 13, 2016; its Korean title, ‘Eora Moreugetda’, carries the English title ‘FXXK IT’. One of three new songs absent from the 2015 series, it sits in the position of announcing the studio album’s fresh start. Over about 3 minutes 51 seconds, let the attitude of letting go that the title conveys overlap with your own mood. On a day when you’re worn out by the thought that you have to do everything well, those words may land differently. For those who knew only the familiar chorus, it becomes a chance to meet it again as the album’s first track. Continue straight into ‘LAST DANCE’ to compare the different impressions of music added in the same period.

The second track of the third studio album runs about 4 minutes 39 seconds, the longest of the record’s eleven tracks. It’s one of the songs newly added when the album was released, and you can begin by following the image of a last dance that the title brings to mind. Stay with the song while thinking of someone you’ve remembered for a long time, or a moment you were sorry to see end. Even if you first learned it from the stage, the official track lets you follow the song at your own pace. If you like a long afterglow, it’s worth picking early on from the front half of the album.

‘GIRLFRIEND’ is the third track on ‘MADE’. Along with ‘FXXK IT’ and ‘LAST DANCE’, it was newly included on the 2016 studio album, setting it apart from the music first revealed in the 2015 single series. As you listen to the roughly 3-minute-48-second song, feel what impression a title that calls out to someone leaves on you. If you’re familiar with the two title tracks, hearing this one, added in the same period, lets you meet the album’s opening more fully. It’s also worth choosing when you want to think of the person beside you now rather than the big events of a relationship. Listen to it side by side with the older series songs that follow and compare the temperature of each.

The fourth track, ‘Uri Saranghaji Marayo’ in Korean, carries the English title ‘Let’s Not Fall in Love’. It was first released in August 2015 on ‘E’ and included on the studio album the following year. Over about 3 minutes 31 seconds, let the title bring to mind a relationship that grows more cautious the closer two hearts come. You can listen with the thought that saying you like someone and saying you want to stop aren’t always on opposite sides. This time you hear it within the flow of the studio album rather than as the original single. Even a song you already knew can be remembered differently when heard right after the new tracks before it. It’s a point where you come to understand what defines ‘MADE’: music from several periods gathered on one record.

‘LOSER’ was first released in May 2015 on ‘M’ and takes fifth place on the studio album. Listen to the roughly 3-minute-39-second song while paying attention to what emotion a title that belittles oneself leaves behind. If you’ve only ever remembered the group as confident, you may meet a different impression. You can also overlay it on your own experience, with the thought that everyone has feelings they rarely show. ‘BAE BAE’, released at the same time, follows right after, making this a good spot to hear the difference between the two songs again. Knowing that the series’ starting point lands in the middle of the studio album makes the flow of a full listen more interesting, too.

‘BAE BAE’ is the other song from ‘M’, first released on May 1, 2015, and the sixth track on ‘MADE’. At about 2 minutes 49 seconds, it’s the shortest song on this studio album. Think of the two songs released the same day as a pair, and listen for what stays with you differently from ‘LOSER’ before it. It’s also worth noticing what impression each voice creates within such a short song. If you first knew it through its distinctive music video, this time try following the song alone, without the scenes. It’s a good place to see that even within a single series, BIGBANG’s music never settled into one expression.

The English name of the studio album’s seventh track is ‘BANG BANG BANG’. It was first released in June 2015 as a song on ‘A’ and included on the 2016 studio album. In this roughly 3-minute-40-second track, find where the parts you learned from concerts or short clips sit within the whole song. It’s a pick for a commute that calls for high-energy music, or for a moment when you want to change your mood. That said, the sound you heard live and the impression of the official track may differ, so enjoy whatever difference stays with you. Continue through to ‘Sober’ to compare how the way energy is expressed shifts within the same series.

The international title of the song known in Korean as ‘Maenjeongsin’ is ‘Sober’. It was released in July 2015 on ‘D’ and then placed eighth on the studio album. The song runs about 3 minutes 57 seconds, and it’s worth remembering that ‘IF YOU’, released the same day, is the very next track. If you know it from lively concert scenes, you can compare the afterglow left when you hear the track alone. A choice that shows how different emotions sit next to each other within the album.

The ninth track of the third studio album runs about 4 minutes 24 seconds, a good choice when you want to linger slowly in a single song’s emotion. It first came out in July 2015 as a song on ‘D’ and follows ‘Sober’ from the same release. Listen while thinking about which person and which time the condition ‘if’ brings to mind for you. It also suits a day when you’d rather hear the voices at length than quickly sing along to a chorus. It’s a good piece to choose when you want to focus on the vocals rather than the visuals. If you want to know a different side of BIGBANG that was overshadowed by the strong impression of a few title tracks, this is a place to pause for a moment.

The tenth track, ‘Jjeoreo’ in Korean, carries the English title ‘Zutter’. Although it appears on ‘MADE’, the vocals are the work of the G-DRAGON and T.O.P unit, so it isn’t presented as a song in which all members took part in the same way. It was first released in August 2015 on ‘E’, later included on the studio album, and runs about 3 minutes 14 seconds. Listen with attention to how the two rappers’ voices and expressions contrast. It becomes the point where the album moves from the long song before it to a different, rap-centered listen. A fit for those who want to understand how a unit track placed within a group album broadens the whole impression.

The eleventh and final track of ‘MADE’. It was first released in June 2015 on ‘A’ together with ‘BANG BANG BANG’, but on the studio album it sits at the very end. If you’ve listened to the record from the start, compare the mood you were in when choosing the first track with the feeling left at the end. Knowing that the series’ release order and the studio album’s track order aren’t the same adds the fun of meeting familiar songs in a new flow. On a day when the whole album is too much, it also works as a final pick for easily refreshing your mood.