It feels like ages since we last heard from GHOST9. After a very promising 2020 debut, the group has swerved from sound to sound — some more successful than others. But after an appearance on this spring’s Peak Time, the guys are back with a new album.
Title track Ruckus is yet another transformation for them, transposing their usual energy into a sleeker package. The song is quite generic by K-pop standards, centering around a funky anti-drop chorus. Its verses also play with familiar rhythms and the song builds to a requisite chant-along finale. If you’re tired of this particular boy group template, you may just want to move on.
I’m pretty jaded over songs and melodies going exactly where I expect them to, so there’s not much here to excite me. I’ve always considered GHOST9’s vocalists very underrated, but Ruckus doesn’t give them a chance to showcase that. I’d love to see the group move back to the towering choruses of their debut year. This is fine, but given its title I expected something a bit more madcap. It’s a very polite ruckus, if such a thing exists!
Hooks
7
Production
8
Longevity
8
Bias
8
RATING
7.75