[Review] Seventeen - Fear

Seventeen have primarily enlightened me through dance, so I have never reviewed any of their songs. Even when I was in school and my crew covered many a Seventeen song, it wasn't until I personally started learning their dances through covers that I took notice. Outside of "Thanks," which ranked as my #3 song in 2018, they've mainly been average on a good day. None of their other title tracks appeal to me and that includes "Getting Closer." Sure they have some decent tracks here and there and almost always deliver with their choreography but the songs by themselves leave much to be desired from a group with so many members. Let's see how their inaugural review appearance with "Fear" goes.

Here we have another instance of titles clashing (which I will affectionately call "title trouble" from now on) since the Korean title translates to "Poison" but the English somehow gets "Fear." Considering all the usage of the English word "poison" itself, I'm not sure why they didn't just go ahead and call it "Poison." Surely there was no competition from that old Secret classic. Weirdly, I find the vocals to be the most consistent and alluring part of the song. Nothing is worth talking about fromthe chorus, but Joshua and Seungkwan do admirable work throughout - especially during the bridge. The rapping was subpar for me and I think it was due to the short amount of time each rapper got, but that's a problem they constantly face with such large member numbers. That and Vernon and his friends have always been average at best.

The way the second verse starts is really awkward. Jeonghan does some whispering bullshit while the instrumental goes quiet and I have no idea why they did those things. It reminded me of Infinite's
The Eye," where the second verse is led by the pretty boy of the group doing an uncomfortable sequence before going back the stronger part of the song. It's even creepier in the music video where they zoom in hella close on his face. The music video is whatever, but the choreography is always cool. Seventeen continue to strut their stuff and include plenty of intricacies in their choreography, along with the occasional fanservice moments. After watching a few live performances though, I would place it on the lower end of their catalog of dances. Whether that's due to the slower pace or my general dislike of the song remains to be seen.

At the end of the day, "Fear" is a decent song with a mix of good and bad points. The vocals are really clean and the choreography lives up to the Seventeen standard, while all the rapping and awkward transitions ruin any momentum the song was trying to maintain. It appears "Fear" is very hit-or-miss in its composition, which resulted it being hit-or-miss overall. Oh well, better luck next time Seventeen. Maybe I'll get pulled in for a cover of this song and my opinions will do a 180.