DIRECTOR'S CUT

The record

DIRECTOR’S CUT is a special album SEVENTEEN released on 5 February 2018. It puts four new songs alongside the thirteen tracks of the second full-length album TEEN, AGE for seventeen in all, and the title track is ‘Thanks’. The album introduction on Bugs calls it an extended edition of TEEN, AGE.

Reviews

The Korea Herald’s Hong Dam-young reviewed the record under the paper’s ‘[Album review]’ heading on 7 February 2018. She opened: “Whether they are crafted for special occasions or are part of the group’s regular album, Seventeen’s music has been improving with each new release.” Of the four new songs she wrote that “the new songs are off-cuts that were not released at the time, but each of them sparkles with Seventeen’s signature bubbly energy, flagging themselves as perfect single material”.

Idology (아이돌로지) carried the record in ‘1st Listen’, its round-up of new releases from early February 2018, as short pieces by five critics. Seodeu wrote of the title track that “the melodic link from verse to chorus is smooth, and the polish particular to SEVENTEEN, which never strains, comes through well”. Sim Eun-bo (GDB) wrote that “the boyishness and the dancing the group has are well dissolved into it too”, and closed: “given that the most important thing music can win is an expectation of what comes next, ‘Thanks’ is a very good project.”

Jo Seong-min called the record “an album in which you feel a measure of pride, confidence and self-respect at having kept trying to hold that place steadily, even if not every moment was perfect and shining”.

Among the tracks

‘Thanks’ is addressed to the group’s fans. Hong Dam-young wrote that although the song’s message is a simple thank you to the fans, “in terms of sheer sonic force, ‘Thank You’ is nothing short of a masterpiece”. Idology’s Mimyo wrote that the same song “puts the plaintiveness of Korean pop firmly forward and places it effectively in the context of a cool, sharp dance track”, adding that “it draws you in, dimensional and vivid”. The Korea Herald’s Kwon Yae-rim placed it fifth when she ranked SEVENTEEN’s thirty best songs in July 2020.

The track Hong Dam-young found most impressive is ‘Run to You’. She called it “Seventeen’s first attempt at rock-pop that is reminiscent of a scene from a Japanese anime”, and wrote that “while’s peppering the song with anime-like electronic guitar sounds is a rarity among K-pop idols, ‘Run to You’ surprisingly fits well with the group’s sprightly image. It may sound flamboyant, but it’s not overdone.” Seodeu wrote of the same song that “the airiness particular to SEVENTEEN is alive in it while the rock sound arrives as something fresh”, and Jo Seong-min called it “a kind of essence, holding the ‘romance comic’ tone particular to SEVENTEEN that has run since their debut”. The label ships English titles for the songs in its own distribution metadata: ‘고맙다’ is Thanks and ‘지금 널 찾아가고 있어’ is Run to You.