Album 14. Proliferation
Title: The First Day
Artist: Sedalbaekil
Track: 14
Track List:
- The First Day
- Colorful Struggle
- Freedom is not Free
- Resume
- Survival Tactics
- We made it
- State Of Mind
- Pin Point (Title)
- Holiday
- Summer Cream
- Apiary
- Back in Work
- On & On
Bonus Track: Colorful Struggle (Kpop Remix)
The rise of streaming services devalued albums, and the arrival of smartphones almost erased their very meaning.
People no longer cared about albums.
They cared about songs.
In the past, an artist’s music was defined by albums. Now, it’s defined by songs.
In this situation, there were only two kinds of people who listened to an entire album.
First: fans.
They tried to read the narratives within albums and understand the artist’s intent.
Sedalbaekil’s fans, who had been waiting even before midnight, instantly pressed play as soon as the album dropped.
Then came the cheers.
14 tracks.
68 minutes runtime.
A full-length album, rare in today’s K-pop scene.
And every single track was delicious.
Though Colorful Struggle, Resume, and State Of Mind were already released, hearing them in the full album context hit differently.
-This is insane. So good.
-I was a bit thrown when State Of Mind wasn’t the title, but after hearing Pin Point, I get it!
-Pin Point slaps. I feel like they’ll perform in military outfits.
-Summer Cream is absolutely crazy???
-2222222 best Moombahton in K-pop historyㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-This is what a nation should be!
-What’s with Lee Eon? I’m looping the Pin Point into Holiday transition endlessly.
-I looked it up, Apiary means beehiveㅠㅠㅠㅠ The lyrics hit hard!
-Are we the flowers?
-That’s probably the metaphor, right??
-Isn’t the intro insane already?
The real-time chat on Sedalbaekil’s official site was refreshing at breakneck speed.
Fans were sharing their thoughts on each track as they listened.
Fans listened to the full album because they loved and worshiped the artist.
As long as the result wasn’t extremely disappointing, they rarely criticized.
The second group that listened to full albums, however, were very different.
If the first were fans, the second were critics.
Worldwide, not just in Korea, the role of music critics was shrinking.
For them, Sedalbaekil’s The First Day was a welcome album.
In a market where albums are shrinking, releasing a full 14-track album including a bonus track was significant.
But whether it was simply big or truly high quality could only be determined by listening.
The critics listened and…
“What the hell?”
They marveled.
Or rather, were dumbfounded.
Everyone already knew Han Si-on was a genius composer.
In fact, critics rated his talent even higher than the general public.
Han Si-on showed no signature habits (“mannerisms”) in his writing and moved seamlessly across genres.
Not only that.
He composed at an astonishing pace.
Considering the number of songs he poured out after Coming Up Next, it was remarkable.
But producing good songs and producing a good album were two different things.
Even on Billboard, many artists fly high with singles but flop with albums.
Arranging tracks with narrative coherence, maintaining flow—it wasn’t easy.
Yet Sedalbaekil, and Han Si-on, pulled it off perfectly.
A beautiful album.
‘There’s… nothing to criticize.’
There was nothing to nitpick.
Perhaps the only minor downside was that the album’s message was somewhat predictable?
And maybe that it contained too many genres?
As suggested by the album title The First Day, this represented Sedalbaekil’s beginning.
Tracks 1–4 portrayed their emotions entering a new world.
Especially track 3, Freedom is not Free, flowing into track 4, Resume, beautifully continued the emotional thread.
Tracks 5–7 showcased their fighting spirit.
Fans of hard sounds would love this section.
Survival Tactics (track 5) presented their survival strategies, leading into tracks 6 and 7 to complete it.
Track 8, Pin Point — the title track — represented their success.
Tracks 9–11 shifted into easy-listening genres, reflecting brief rest after success.
Tracks 12 and 13 returned to their work, closing the album.
The bonus Kpop Remix of Colorful Struggle highlighted that their main career was idol music.
The message was predictable even before release.
That was a minor disappointment.
But not enough to criticize.
Because…
‘It’s a debut album!’
This was Sedalbaekil’s debut album.
Critics were bewildered.
No matter how they listened, it didn’t feel like a debut.
It felt more like a seasoned master composing a hymn for modern K-pop.
Taste varied, but Korea’s greatest albums were often considered to be Yoo Jae-ha’s Because I Love You and Deulgukhwa’s Deulgukhwa.
The vibe from The First Day was similar to those.
Like the beginning of a legend.
[Sedalbaekil’s The First Day: The Peak of K-pop Idol Discography]
…Such track arrangements could easily feel scattered.
But Sedalbaekil, with their skill, transformed that chaos into elegant diversity, achieving organic unity.
This is the apex of what’s possible in an idol discography.
Reminiscent of Deulgukhwa’s debut and N.E.X.T’s second album…
-Come on Woo-jin hyung, you’re comparing an idol to Deulgukhwa and N.EX.T? Disappointed.
-Got paid?
-No way. Song Woo-jin never compromises. He gave Drop Out’s third album two stars and smiled even after getting terrorized by Dreaming fans.
-I thought Drop Out 3 was good?
-No, only the title track. The rest was trash.
-This hyung doesn’t flatter anyone. He gave 5 stars? Song Woo-jin almost never gives 5 stars.
-I’m going to listen now.
-Regardless of album, Han Si-on has nothing left to prove in singles.
-Who’s Han Si-on?
-Where have you been living?
-Why are there so many co-writers though? Is it legit?
-No way he co-wrote with Lucid Bean and the rest. Just samples.
But these were critics without idol music prejudice, with sharp ears.
‘It’s just an idol album anyway.’
There were critics who listened with bias.
Modern critics weren’t necessarily formally recognized experts writing for magazines or papers.
Even someone posting on a personal blog could call themselves a critic.
The decrease in number didn’t mean quality improved.
These people focused on Sedalbaekil’s co-writing credits.
Looking at The First Day credits, many unfamiliar names appeared.
Chris Edwards, Lucid Bean, Yankos Greenwood — all renowned names listed.
This meant Han Si-on sampled their work.
Sampling wasn’t inherently bad.
As long as clearance was obtained, it’s legally fine.
But listing them as co-writers usually implied…
‘Full-sampling?’
Lifting major parts of originals without significant rearrangement.
They likely didn’t actually collaborate.
[The First Day: Still Stuck in Idol Formula, Parasitic in Musical Context]
…The sound quality is undeniably high. But the easy-listening track sequence in the second half undermines the album’s discourse.
Also, reviewing the listed co-writers…
-But Woo-jin gave 5 stars. This one’s giving 2.5??
-He probably didn’t even listen. This isn’t a 2.5 star album.
-All idol albums are the same. Just made for dancing.
-2.5 stars feels fair honestly.
-No way. This album’s incredibly well-made.
-But if it’s full-sampled, that’s a letdown.
-Yeah, if it’s full-sampled, I’m disappointed. Thought Han Si-on was a genius.
-Wasn’t he always sampling anyway?
At this point, reviews for Sedalbaekil’s album were ‘profitable criticism.’
The entire nation had heard the name Sedalbaekil nonstop all week.
The issue around Han Si-on’s parents had led to music shows, The Masked Singer, and Stage Number Zero.
Naturally, journalists found contrasting reviews entertaining and reported them.
People plastered the articles with comments, but few actually listened to the full album.
-Pin Point’s so damn good.
-Yeah, the back sound is insane. Feels like a game BGM.
-Right? Totally has that vibe.
-Look at these kids who haven’t even served in the military using gun sound effects lol
-Is your only flex military service?
Most only listened to the title track.
Still, Sedalbaekil was better off.
People already knew non-title tracks like Resume, Colorful Struggle, and State Of Mind.
Within 24 hours of release, Sedalbaekil dominated the charts.
-Guess they’re still an idol group after all. Full chart domination.
-Yep. Some sample controversy in reviews though.
-But the music’s good.
-The chart structure is so broken. Streaming platforms need reform.
-Have you even listened? This is fire.
-Stop pretending to be a normie lol
Eventually, chart systems would reform, but for now, idol chart domination was the norm.
But the idol community users noticed something.
‘This…’
‘The fandom didn’t do this.’
When fandoms mass stream, tracks rank in order.
They stream albums sequentially.
If the songs are good, public listeners add power, pushing the title track to the top.
But the current chart looked like this:
1- Summer Cream (new)(hot)
2- Pin Point (new)(hot)
3- Holiday (new)(hot)
4- State Of Mind (hot)
The order was mixed.
Forget criticism or sampling debate — the songs themselves were monsters.
Two easy-listening tracks placed at 1st and 3rd despite being buried deep in the album.
Then, an overseas review went viral and got translated into Korean.
The reviewer was Donald Magus, whom Han Si-on met during Seaside Heights.
Little Pink Starfish 
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