EXO with six members is a sub-unit. There, I said it.

Aside from being literally half of the supergroup that they used to be (and the reason why they have the X-EXO Sasha Fierce gig), they have lost an important component of their comeback aka Kyungsoo’s vocals. Their albums are predominantly RnB and without D.Overlord’s honey-coated, smooth-as-silk, yummy-as-chocolate voice, the void is obviously gaping. No offense to Chen and Baekhyun but #teamkyungsoo

Well, it seems like they were able to paper over the cracks with their sixth LP “Obsession”. Let’s start with the title track. In the great tradition of their polarizing title tracks (with the exception of a few), one can say that Obsession fits right in with their previous efforts. It’s over-the-top, repetitive, grating, and may even alienate listeners at times. This one kinda touches great Wolf era and remember how y’all broke down when the early leak became the real thing?! Those who are new to EXO will get that kind of feeling with Obsession.

Ugh, EXO drunk recording songs a year after debut, legendary!

That’s not to say it’s bad because Wolf remains to be one of EXO’s peak moments as it marries the group’s commercial appeal with SM’s creative vision at that time. Ugh, SM’s 2013 era will be one for the history books, tbh. Obsession is a bit watered down with the crazy as it descends to that gorgeous chorus so everybody’s happy. As someone who followed them since debut, I’m just happy to see them not submit to commercial trends again even though half of them are absent this comeback. Good for them, really.

Visually is where they try to compensate the lack of members which is actually quite unnecessary. Again, this Sasha Fierce moment of the group with the EXO and X-EXO alteregos isn’t doing anything because their title track is still on brand. They’ve already done what they can to cover half of them up so there’s no need to replicate themselves. Stop making OT12 happen, Gretchen! Just kidding.

This album though is certainly not up there with my favorites but it is still decent. They just can’t make their RnB tracks work without Kyungsoo and my opinion will remain the same up until he comes back. Browsing through it, I can say that Groove, Baby You Are, and Non Stop are some of my faves from this album. Exodus, and the Miracles in December and Overdose EPs will always be the best EXO albums for me.

Here’s an EXO b-side to exhibit why I lead the #teamkyungsoo movement!

Overall, it’s still a pretty solid effort from EXO though but I think they should consider promoting the remaining members as a sub-unit until they can reform as the mega group that they are. Girls’ Generation did it with Oh! GG and it worked for them and EXO can definitely pull it off. How does that sound? Let me know in the comments below. Oh, and another Kyungsoo gif just because!

#