17 Is Right Here is the second Korean-language compilation album by the South Korean group Seventeen, released on April 29, 2024. Touted as a greatest hits album, it features all of the band's Korean-language singles from their debut until 2024, alongside Korean versions of all the band's Japanese-language singles, four new unreleased songs including the lead single "Maestro", and the previously unreleased instrumental for their debut single "Adore U".[1]
Background
The album was initially announced during a performance in Incheon during Seventeen's Follow Again to concert on March 31, 2024,[2] where the group mentioned they would be releasing two albums in 2024.[3] Directly following the concert, Pledis Entertainment released a teaser for the album, sharing that it would be a compilation.[1] The teaser featured animation work by Max Dalton, best known for his work with Wes Anderson on The French Dispatch and The Grand Budapest Hotel.[3][4]
It is the group's third compilation album, following the 2016 release of 17 Hits and the 2023 release of Always Yours, the latter of which being an equivalent compilation of the band's Japanese-language releases to date.[5] It features the band's greatest hits and includes the four new tracks: "Spell", "Cheers to Youth", "Lalali", and lead single "Maestro".[6]
Promotion
On April 7, 2024, Seventeen shared the link for 17is-right-here.com, a website with various links to content that would be "unzipped" throughout the leadup to the album's release.[7] Throughout the following weeks in the lead up to the album's release, previously unreleased photos from previous album promotions were released via the website.
On April 17, 2024, Seventeen began sharing concept photos for the compilation album, with visual references to the concept photos for the previous albums. Further photos were released on April 18 and April 20, 2024.[8]
The full track list was released on X (formerly Twitter) on April 19, revealing the lead single "Maestro" and collaborations with Andreas Öberg, Gabriel Brandes, William Segerdahl, among others, including Yeom Dong-geon, a previous collaborator on Seventeen's debut song Adore U.[9] On April 24, it was revealed that all four new songs would have supporting music videos, to be released weekly, starting with "Maestro" on April 29.[10]
The weekend before the album's Monday release, at an encore concert at Seoul World Cup Stadium, the group performed the songs from the album for the first time.[11]
Commercial performance
On the first day of its release, 17 is Right Here sold more than 2.26 million copies, setting the sales record for compilation albums released by a K-pop act.[12][13] In Japan, the album recorded sales of over 333,000 units and ranked first in the Oricon Albums Chart for the weekly chart recorded on April 29 to May 5, 2024, breaking the highest weekly album sales record for foreign artists in 2024; this achievement has also marked Seventeen as the foreign artist with the most recorded chart-toppers on Oricon.[14]
Critical reception
Commenting on the album's encapsulation of Seventeen's career, Cristina Jaleru of the Associated Press identified 17 Is Right Here to be "a study of the band's impressive evolution" and noted the new tracks as "a charming offering with less agitative notes and more catchy hooks".[15]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Woozi and Bumzu, with any additional writers listed below; all music is composed by Woozi and Bumzu, unless noted, with any additional composers listed below.
^Lee, Min-ji (May 7, 2024). "세븐틴, 日 오리콘 주간 앨범 1위…해외 아티스트 신기록" [SEVENTEEN, No. 1 in Japanese Oricon weekly album… New record for foreign artists] (in Korean). Newsen. Archived from the original on May 9, 2024. Retrieved May 9, 2024.