The towering
5-Star
is
Stray Kids
at an aggressive peak, playing out like a hit to the head with a dozen anthems that only briefly allow for a breather. Their third full-length starts strong with the muscular, chest-puffing "Hall of Fame," which blends bravado and a hard-won confidence, while the pounding single "S-Class" pairs a boom-bap beat with A-class rapped bars. "Super Bowl" and "TOPLINE" with
Tiger JK
attack in similar fashion. The high-speed dance anthem "FNF," the riff-packed pop-punk "Mixtape: Time Out," and the smoothed-out R&B of "Collision" offer some stylistic variations, while the tender "Youtiful" provides the sole ballad.
is a wild ride through genres and emotions, one that carried the octet to the top of the charts in Korea, the U.S., and across Europe upon release. ~ Neil Z. Yeung