[Review] MAESTRO – SEVENTEEN

The second Monday comeback that I want to focus on today is SEVENTEEN’s grand return with their 2nd compilation album 17 Is Right Here and the title track MAESTRO. It is SEVENTEEN’s first release since October’s SEVENTEENTH HEAVEN and GOD OF MUSIC.

MAESTRO leans the group back into their darker sound profile, which has always been a positive experience for me. And MAESTRO lives up to that expectation. The title MAESTRO instantly makes you think of classical music, and the song begins with a brief appearance (and sees a recurrence in the choruses) of piano. But we see the song quickly revert into its true form – a R&B dance track. A touch of funky guitar work, fast-paced rapping from S.COUPS and VERNON, and sleek vocals from MINGYU and JOSHUA gets MAESTRO moving along before we hear a stunning WOOZI and DK vocal-focused pre-chorus that builds the anticipation towards the chorus. The chorus that follows, and that we return to throughout MAESTRO, felt logical and charming to an extent. But I was disappointed with the reliance on the ‘La La La‘ as the hook. It definitely has potential to catch on, but it also feels empty and doesn’t really have as strong of a command as did latter parts of MAESTRO had. We do get a second half of the chorus, but that doesn’t ping me as memorable. MAESTRO then changes gears slightly with a techno beat feels unexpecting, yet so charismatic and pummels the song forward. It is paired with WONWOO’s rapping and JUN’s vocals – the former creates a perfect sense of intensity with said beat, while the latter felt a little lost in the beat. We return to another amazing pre-chorus (brought to you by DK and SEUNGKWAN this time around) and another run at the chorus. Then comes the bridge, which I think is one of the best moments of MAESTRO. THE8’s delicate vocals was supreme, as well as the follow-up rapping from S.COUPS and DINO. In the final moments of MAESTRO, the techno beat returns as a mini instrumental break and WONWOO’s deep and gripping vocals closes out the song nicely. Overall, a few minor flaws, but MAESTRO still comes off as an epic song for SEVENTEEN.

MAESTRO‘s music video has officially become the first contender for Best Music Video for 2024. You heard it first here! The editing, the concepts and even just the amazing closeup of the members just captivates me from the get-go and takes my breath away. The video sees SEVENTEEN have total command just like how a maestro would have control of an orchestra, and the intensity that comes off SEVENTEEN’s portrayal of this has me spellbound. More specifically, we see them control the narrative of events in the video, such as the car crashes and WONWOO’s fight scene (which has been engraved into my memory bank). We see them also control the AI bots, who mimic the members. Even the massive metronome building in the end alludes to the idea of commanding the citizens of the city around them.

No surprises here, but the choreography overall showcases the song’s intensity quite well. If I had to name an example moment of that intensity, my vote is for the instrumental break, which translates into a dance break in the performance. The presence of the baton in the performance makes sense and is a great way of bringing the concept of the comeback into the performance, as well. And as usual SEVENTEEN’s synchronisation always has me in awe.

Song – 8/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 9/10