Zerobaseone: Blue Paradise (Korea, WakeOne, CD, 16:55). This the fifth Korean-language mini-album and sixth overall by the South Korean boy band that was formed through the survival competition show “Boys Planet.” The nine-member group also includes Chinese members and one Canadian. The album acts as the second part of the band's two-part "Paradise" series, following 2024's “Cinema Paradise.”

An American release of the album happened this month and it debuted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200 chart. The album also entered Billboard’s World Albums chart at No. 1, in addition to debuting at No. 2 on the Top Current Album Sales chart, No. 3 on the Top Album Sales chart (meaning it was the third best-selling album of the week in the United States) and No. 5 on the Independent Albums chart.

The EP contains six tracks, including their first unit tracks, three tracks that are each performed by separate units of the band. They are "Out of Love," performed by Kim Ji-woong, Zhang Hao and Kim Gyu-vin; "Step Back," performed by Ricky, Park Gun-wook and Han Yu-jin; and "Cruel," performed by Sung Han-bin, Seok Matthew and Kim Tae-rae. The single “Blue” was released the same day as the album, while the pre-release single “Doctor! Doctor!” was released a month earlier.

On the day of its release, “Blue Paradise” sold more than 1.01 million copies in South Korea. The EP debuted at number-one on the Circle Album Chart with total first week sales of 1,236,983 copies. It became the band's fifth consecutive release to sell over one million copies in the first week in South Korea, with four of the albums reaching that mark on their first day. In Japan, the EP debuted at number-one on the Oricon Albums Chart dated March 10, 2025, with sales of 57,272.

As evidenced by the previously-reviewed “Doctor! Doctor!” music video, the whole album highlights the members’ outstanding vocal abilities, in songs with impeccable arrangements and thrilling instrumentation.

“Doctor! Doctor! Is more rhythm-and-blues than anything they have done before. The song starts with some synth and then the sweetest melody: “Doctor, Doctor, help me.” Throughout the song, which ends criminally short, recur the lines “L-O-V-Emergency” and “L-O-V-Eternally.” Matthew does the sweet pre-chorus lines, which are later repeated by Ricky, but sung in a different way. Matthew also unexpectedly does a swoon-worthy rap. The song changes up the style for a final, more chanting chorus.

“Blue” is another wonderful song, with the video this time depicting the boys in a glitchy – check out the car that is on the side of a building and the crosswalk that raises up – virtual reality world that includes a bit of a safari motif, as well as in real life, with the final brief choreography taking place on a beach. Filming took place over three days in Thailand. As is usual, “Blue” has a catchy chorus that urges one to “touch the clouds,” and outstanding vocal bits by Matthew, Ji-woong, Han-bin, Ricky and Tae-rae.

The other group song is the wickedly seductive “Devil Game,” which is more sensual in its slinky Michael Jackson music style. It features some nice whispering. There also is a bit of Michael Jackson influence in the unit song “Step Back,” with its funky rhythm.

The strongest of the three unit songs is “Out of Love,” an upbeat rocker with bounce that has a catchy chorus featuring echoing and a floating ending. “Cruel” took the longest for me to like, but it opens with a fine Matthew vocal. The drums dominate and there is some nice rock guitar.

The mini-album was released in many formats, including nine differently packaged album jackets and booklets, each centered around a different member. There also were “Hide” and “Seek” versions that could be bought as a set or individually. Both contain a different 100-page photo book that is very well executed. The “Hide” version, which I got, features a more elaborate book cover, a foldout game board, a random photo stand, and the beautiful photos feature the group members in stunning white or light blue clothing. The “Seek” version has them dressed in dark outfits. Each also has a foldout group photo as well as a random individual photo card and a random unit photo card.

On March 12, WakeOne released a movie about Zerobaseone’s journey, including some performances from their “Timeless World” tour of last fall. During the tour, they performed in eight cities to 140,000 fans. Grade: CD A+

The rest of the column repeats my earlier look at Zerobaseone.

Zerobaseone: Prezent (Japan, ariola/Sony Music Labels, CD, 19:52, + DVD, 68 min.). Released Jan. 29, the mini-album was preceded by lead single “Now or Never,” which instantly became my favorite ZB1 song, with exceptional singing by all nine members. It is a drum and bass track with piano and guitar melodies and just beautiful singing, as well as a catchy chorus. The exceptional video for the song has the band members off to college, having to leave behind their special loved ones, whom they communicate with through cellphone videos. The prominent blue roses also indicate the love is aimed at their fanbase, called Zerose, as well. The boys play baseball as well in smart ZB1 designated uniforms.

This first Japanese mini-album was preceded by the Japanese single “Yura Yura,” which also had an attractive, fun music video. While “Yura Yura” is not included here, their October release of “Only One Story” is. The bright song, with its nice melody and strings, was used as the opening song for “Pokémon Horizons: The Series.” Interestingly, the video for “Only One Story” has some fireworks, but not the brilliant excess of live fireworks that dominates the ending of the “Now or Never” video.’

In fact, the fireworks theme extends to a third song, which is called “Firework” and is just about as good as “Now or Never.” The song has another winning chorus: “beautiful so beautiful … wonderful so wonderful.” In fact, the chorus explodes like a firework and has strong guitar. The song also has a rap section.

The other new song is “Hana,” which is a winner with its sweet chorus. The mini-album concludes with Japanese versions of their two 2024 Korean singles, the irrepressible “Feel the Pop” and the addictive “Good So Bad.” That’s six excellent tracks in all.

Of the four available versions of this album, the one I bought has a limited-edition DVD (68 min.). The Region 2 DVD (non-USA) opens with photo shoots for the covers, showing individual members posing with present boxes – Ricky, pink-haired Han Bin, Yu-jin with big heart glasses – then Gun Wook (very handsome) with a shopping cart and Gyu Vin in a phonebooth. They are followed by Ji Woong, Hao, Tae Rae and, with balloons, Matthew. Next come group photo shoots, leading to this edition’s cover (see above).

The second video segment is cute stuff shot during the making of the “Only One Story” video, including sitting in an indoor field of small balls. Going from fluff to serious, the final half hour shows the individual members recording their parts of “Only One Story” in the Japanese recording studio. A bonus is the final complete version of the song, with the video made up of recording bits at the microphone. Grade: mini-album A+; DVD B+

The rest of the column will look at Zerobaseone’s first four Korean mini-albums.

Zerobaseone: Youth in the Shade (Korea, WakeOne, CD, 17:42). Released July 10, 2023, this was the debut release by the nine-member group, which was formed the preceding March by the Mnet survival competition show “Boys Planet.” The show pitted 49 Korean would-be idols against 49 from the rest of the world. They were whittled down to the nine who debuted by performance competitions and viewer voting.

The resulting nine, who became Zerobaseone, were Kim Ji-woong of South Korea, Zhang Hao of China, Sung Han-bin of South Korea, Seok Matthew of Canada, Kim Tae-rae of South Korea, Ricky of China (also lived in California), Kim Gyu-vin of South Korea, Park Gun-wook of South Korea and Han Yu-jin of South Korea. (More traditional spelling here.)

This album was a success, selling more than two million units. It peaked at number one on South Korean Circle Album Chart and was among the best-selling albums worldwide, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In addition, the lead single, “In Bloom,” charted on the Billboard Global 200. In fact, all four of their previous mini-albums have sold more than a million copies on the day of release, an unprecedented feat in Korea. The group also swept all 10 of the debut categories at awards time.

“Youth in the Shade” begins with the soft “Back to Zerobase,” a drum and bass track, with the line “tell me is it real.” It has nice, layered vocals. The lead single was “In Bloom,” which has a nice pulsating synth and is so uplifting. It has superb production, as does the following “New Kidz on the Block,” a bouncy number that is so catchy, one wants to instantly sing along. Another solid song is “And I,” which leans R&B and has the lead vocals and chorus mix well. After the pop song “Our Season,” the disc ends with a solo by Zang Hao on “Always,” his award for being the highest vote getter in the show’s finale. “Always” is an alternate R&B song, with another catchy chorus.

The release came in two artbook versions and nine digipack versions. Grade: mini-album A

Zerobaseone: Melting Point (Korea, WakeOne, CD, 14:45). Released Nov. 6, 2023, the group’s second mini-album features five tracks, all but one less than three minutes long and all excellent. The title track has a bouncy post-chorus, with repetition: “Touch, touch … blush, blush … rush rush … Touch, touch … hush, hush … rush, rush (Yeah yeah yeah).” The softer “Take My Hand” has a wonderful chorus that includes “dancing in the moonlight.”

The lead track was “Crush,” released as the single. It is a powerful number with metallic percussion on the chorus. The bouncy “Kidz Zone” features a backing choir on yet another wonderful chorus. The disc ends with the ballad “Good Night,” featuring piano and strings. Their voices are beautiful here, with Matthew’s “Good night” standing out.

The release came in three photobook versions and nine digipack versions. Grade: mini-album A+

Zerobaseone: You Had Me at Hello (Korea, WakeOne, CD, 20:43). Released May 13, 2024, the mini-album had a summer theme, highlighted by the opening “Solar Power,” which is almost metal, as both heat and power rises, and the pre-release single “Sweat,” which had another classic music video. The latter is a house-infused dance track, with another killer chorus, as they sing, “Baby, I’ll make you sweat, sweat. Burn it up.”

The album’s second single was “Feel the Pop,” which opens with contrasting light keyboard sounds, before a melodic journey with lovely vocals and a repetitive “popping” chorus.

“Dear Eclipse” is slower, while the very nice “Sunday Ride” is lighter, mid-tempo fun, with yet another catchy chorus. Another winner is the ballad “Hello,” with acoustic guitar and sweet vocals, especially by Tae Rae. The disc concludes with a speeded-up version of “Feel the Pop,” which is 32 seconds faster. Again, there are various versions, including one with a photo book. (The photobooks, by the way, are very nice.) Grade: mini-album A+

Zerobaseone: Cinema Paradise (Korea, WakeOne, CD, 20:18). Released Aug. 26, 2024, the first single was another great one, “Good So Bad,” which opens with a brief radio announcement, before launching into the vocals. It is a very cinematic song – with a fitting video release – and a nice, soft Matthew verse. The drama continues with “Kill the Romeo,” which is very percussive and has some distortion to the vocals at times.

Turning to the summer theme is a remake of Jang Yong-jin’s “The Sea,” an upbeat number that opens and closes with seaside sounds, including seagulls and people playing. As if I have not written it enough already, but there is another catchy chorus to “Insomnia,” which turns out to be sweet. “Road Movie” opens with strings, but is a rap track, while “Eternity” is more sweetness.

The mini-album ends with a Korean version of the uber-bouncy “Yura Yura,” which originally was a Japanese single release. Grade: mini-album A-