NCT 2023 | GOLDEN AGE 4TH ALBUM REVIEW

This is what I want from a reactor, enjoying the song and honest. Thankyou Caitlin 🫰

정딘니

Very late to this, but I'm a fan of Prettymuch too, I actually discovered NCT Dream through them, even though I really started my official kpop journey only in early 2020. I was really happy to see Brandon go to Seoul to work on music for kpop groups. He is part of the team for Perfume and Blue Wave too.

Jess 1993

Nct is so fun especially when they make songs like, 2baddies, baggy jeans & sticker. And I love Parade, I thought I would hate it but it’s all I listen to these days🥹 I love it all honestly, it’s personal for me, I just enjoy it all 21:48 Hendery’s part reminded me of, Exo - Regret it when chántelo says “I’m on your side”, I can’t be the only one🥹🥸 Also I loved your reaction for The Bat😂 so good, I couldn’t help but vibe with you

Diana

I know I'm incredibly late to the party, but that lyric video for That's Not Fair had absolutely terrible distribution, it was constantly wrong 😅 Such a killer album though, it was PACKED with hits!

Artemisian

I think this album felt weird because they released it to freaking early. It should’ve been released in November or December. It felt rushed with the concert. It such a good album it deserved more promo and recognition for sure.

Julian

also that’s not fair samples Bach’s Fugue in G minor BWV 578!! It sounds very haunting and cultish, totally my favourite genre of K-pop. And yes the Penelope part was ten’s!

Elizabeth Bethania

a couple of fun facts, one of the producers of The Bat Said they made this song in less than an hour because they were in a tight deadline while simultaneously producing another song but it’s crazy how well made and amazing it sounds!!!! andddd the ‘rude boy’ in Call D is actually the name of the producer&writer (@1800rude on instagram) which wasn’t necessarily his producer tag or anything bcs he himself was also surprised they kept the line in

Elizabeth Bethania

Next to the album Perfume this is my 2nd fav album from Nct this year...love every song the Bat Pado alley opp Its not fair and not your fault are being played one after the other. Golden age actually made me cry...the message behind it...they went through a lot as a group...cannot wait to see wat is in store for us Nctzen the rest of the year!

Ani Umar

I was also initially skeptical about this album because it felt like sm planned this comeback half assedly, but man... for me this is like the first nct project album that i thoroughly enjoyed from beginning to end. the tracklisting is very solid.

말랑갱쥐 태일이

Kangaroo is so freakin cute i love it

Lele 25

That’s not fair is like a cult song😭

Lele 25

imo call d is so good but baby don’t stop is too iconic, it’s hard to replace bds image from taeten

Lele 25

Oh you should watch all of Ten baggy jeans music show fancam, he ate🔥🔥

Lele 25

This album is masterpiece not bc i'm a fan but fr they did really well to not let us choose our fav song 😭 like each song is something 🔥

Fozan Exo

This is likely my favorite NCT collab album. I love almost all the songs and appreciated everything. The variety is amazing, the productions are awesome, and the raps/vocals are top tier. I heard and enjoyed more of the NCT boys and I appreciate how much more balanced it is. Doyoung and 127 will always be my IT men, but having them play with the others was pure joy. Those who don’t get that, are missing what NCT is all about, IMO.

Gail

Hi, Caitlin! Been a fan ever since your 1st nct reaction. GOLDEN AGE REALLY SLAPS!! Actually, Golden Age is such a genius song, using a classic song as a base! It actually reminded me of the last perf in the 1st Step Up movie where a classic song and hiphop merged in one of the dance perf. TRULY AMAZING! And Pado, The Bat, golden age, baggy jeans are IT for me. 🙌💚

Pamela Cruz

Just so you know the lyric video you were doing for the bat the english lyrics were the middle line not the bottom like most. Not that it really matters. This album was insane. Sad Haechan was only on 2 songs, but glad a lot of the members were in a lot of songs.

Harley Lynn Shewell

It’s okay!

Caitlin Benson

whereis10shirt

Your happiness and enjoyment is contagious! I think the first three songs: Baggy Jeans, Call D, and PADO are probably my favorite on this album, but you're right that there is so much variety, and it makes for a fun and interesting album!

• JustJen •

I've always thought NCTzens are a bunch of Karens in a PTA and they treat NCT like their teenage adult sons 🤐 I haven't been in the fandom long but lawrd it's like this fandom's #1 when it comes to making themselves frothing mad over nothing.

rbygee

Call D, PADO and The Bat are just so good. The beat in call d just does something to me 😭 you should deffo check out the archiving vids, you’re gonna dieeee at the bat😵‍💫

Megan

Thank you for being our safe space to Enjoy NCT. I always come back to you cause it really does feel like i’m jamming and support my ult group with a friend. Ive been keeping off twitter to ignore the negativity. ….and girl, THE BAT IS LIFE CHANGING 😮‍💨 I have never heard anything like that and only NCT can deliver.

Atikah

THIS ALBUM IS MASTERPIECE. For real.......... I'm serious. I really love it !!!!!!!!!!!! Btw, 'Call D' lyrics are about a doppelganger. According to the song description, >'Storytelling that you are instinctively attracted to a doppelganger who looks like you even though you know it's a dangerous situation.'< So cool🥹 It's very interesting and very good that they put Doppelganger stories in TenTaeyong unit song omg i can't...😭 I will listen to this album forever, cherish it, and love it.🥺💚 Looking forward to your reaction to the Archiving Videos.🔥

Xx X

Yes Caitlin!! 🙌 🙌 ALL👏 OF👏 THIS👏 The boys need us the most right now and supporting them and cheering them on is pretty much the only way we can show our love for them. Boycotting this album definitely won't change SM.

Valerie Ubias

might be recency bias but idgaf, this album is so far my favorite out of the nct 20xx series! empathy, resonance, and universe will always be special and have bops on them as always, but i think golden age takes the cake as the album that'll age the most like fine wine (for me personally)! my favorite song on the album is probably still golden age, i'm a sucker for all of their songs where they come together and everyone has more or less a part to take, plus it's experimental as HECK and i truly genuinely love when nct does what they do best and that is NEO! other than golden age, pado, the bat, and actually interlude: oasis are my other top songs. truly just crazy songs coupled with the very dreamy soundscape of interlude. exactly the kinds of vibes i go for when i listen to nct. <3 thanks for your reaction, caitlin! hope you don't let the fandom get to you too much <3

Matt Vesliño

Correction for That's not fair 1st Chorus: YY (high), Mark (low) 2nd Chorus: Johnny(high), Jeno(low) 3rd chorus: Ten(high), TY (low) "I don't like fools in April"- YY (mark double 'April') "Um, did I make em sad?" - Ten Adlibs in last post chorus- Ten There's a better lyric video to this but I guess it's not available in your place 🙏 Thanks for checking the comment.

johnbanana

Call D song description: about instinctively led by a doppelgänger who resembles him even though he knows it is a dangerous situation. (Not sure who exactly is this 'D', and the song gets even weirder at the end "some rumours saying you're gonna die", seems like they're the 'D' after all) We won't really understand unless they make an MV 🫣🙏🙏🧎‍♀️🧎‍♀️

johnbanana

I don’t know if you know about this website, you probably do, but I love using Lyricstranslate.com. The Golden Age album is here: https://lyricstranslate.com/en/nct-2023-lyrics.html Captainuwu also translated some of the songs as well, you should be able to see the posts even without Twitter. I’m adding links here just in case you’d like to compare to get a hopefully fuller idea of what the lyrics are conveying or just want to read her translations, in general. - Interlude: Oasis: https://twitter.com/captainuwu/status/1696117497827823692?s=61&t=TycNOZqJvmZQIAkHhxEMjQ - Kangaroo: https://twitter.com/captainuwu/status/1696113170228854854?s=61&t=TycNOZqJvmZQIAkHhxEMjQ - Pado: https://twitter.com/captainuwu/status/1696107180314026218?s=61&t=TycNOZqJvmZQIAkHhxEMjQ - The Bat: https://twitter.com/captainuwu/status/1696097629179134416?s=61&t=TycNOZqJvmZQIAkHhxEMjQ - Not Your Fault: https://twitter.com/captainuwu/status/1696090599315939467?s=61&t=TycNOZqJvmZQIAkHhxEMjQ There’s also this clip of the bridge and outro of Call D: https://twitter.com/nct_bridges/status/1696268039946219865?s=61&t=TycNOZqJvmZQIAkHhxEMjQ I wish it was a whole song translation account because I’d love to see how they would have translated the rest of the song as it feels like the most natural translation that I’ve seen so far, in certain ways.

Maryam

you should watch the archiving videos

cindy

My favorite songs off of the album are Alley Oop, Call D, That’s Not Fair, Kangaroo, and The Bat, but really, I love them all. Definitely a no-skip album like you said.

Maryam

Me too!

Maryam

Oh didn’t think about that. Thanks for letting me know!

Caitlin Benson

The lack of lyric videos might not be due to the boycott. It’s actually cause most of the lyric videos have been blocked in some countries, specifically the US. I live outside of the US and if I search up lyric videos, there’s a bunch of them. In fact, a channel posted lyric videos for the entire album, but if I turn on my VPN and change it to the States, the videos are unavailable. So it’s a copyright thing. Not necessarily the boycott

Éomer Marrero

If one looks at a spreadsheet that shows the distribution of songs per member for this album, imo, they actually did a great job distributing members to songs! Only one person was in one song other than Golden Age, Haechan, and that is understandable considering his health issues this year. Everyone else other than Ten and Taeyong (who had 4 other songs, also understandable since they had their duet) were in 2 or 3 other songs and I think it worked out super well for this album. The units that were put together suit their songs so well. Now the distribution for the parts in the songs? Idk about that since I mostly just care about how things sound, not so much even distribution of lines, which I think would hinder the producers’ ability to make the most aurally pleasing or interesting songs. But I do, of course, love when members that don’t usually get many lines are utilized more within songs and get their time to shine! 🥳

Maryam

I need Call D MV ^____^

Wonderland

The bat is insane I always thought they could’ve done like a double promotion like they did for resonance with from home and work it because the song, the unit, the production, the concept, the lyrics, the outfits everything deserves it and it is kind of fitting even in terms of concept because imo we already had a big song with t7s unit, so showcasing both of them would’ve been great in terms of the “rotation and different units” concept in nct(and I want to see the live stages, this unit works so well together damn). Overall fire album, it could’ve been managed better like t7s was ahead of its times100% but rushing the album like this kind of divided the fandom and didn’t give it the hype it deserved because it could’ve been a very big deal I’m terms of numbers and popularity (of course it’s still popular but you get what I mean). Management, timing and promotions could’ve been done way better but the songs are A M A Z I N G nonetheless. Also love that you’re a “I got it on first listen” girl with that’s not fair I love that song🫶🏻 thanks for the reaction ❤️

Valentina

In second chorus of Not Your Fault sung by Taeil your face is literary me. I don't know why but it hits different. Also this part's lyrics are ''Not your fault, please know that the pain is gone soon''. Knowing that what happened to Taeil recently and Chenle came out that someone who ran the red light caused the traffic collision, I felt so sad. I hope he gets well soon and I hope we will watch his performance of Kangaroo and The BAT someday🥲🌙

nya

Hi caity! Thanks for the reaction I’m about to sit down and watch the whole thing🕺🏼. Regarding the lyrics issues, maybe looking for “*song name*”color coded” will help, usually it’s easier to find them like this (don’t know if you already did this but maybe it can help). Have a nice day 🫶🏻

Valentina

I dunno what might be wrong with other people, but this album SLAPS. There is not a single song on the album that I don't like, and even though I've learned to love just about every NCT song out there, this one is like.. a no brainer. They did SO freaking well. Thank you for loving and supporting our precious NCT boys so much! I know it's pretty effortless, but among the 'noise music haters' it is so appreciated. Love your reactions as always! It's like hanging out with a friend!

FatCatSupreme

I m loving this album...the Bat is d song for me.

Ani Umar

I agree about staying in your own bubble to enjoy NCT because for some reason the fandom online is *so* negative. It's a huge bummer. It's ok to not like the music, as you said, but idk the fan space just gets so mean and angry and it's really unpleasant. I love that your channel is a space for being positive and supportive of the hard work that they do, and personally I agree that this is far and away my favorite full NCT album! They absolutely killed it. Thank you for the reaction!

Isabel

I know the reason why this comeback is being cancelled and I’ve already talked about my feelings on that. I think we can all agree that they’re are being overworked. It’s been happening for years and will continue to unfortunately. They’re not the only group either. SM doesn’t care no Matter how much we complained about it. I personally can’t sit back after they’ve worked their asses off, blood sweat and tears ,for this comeback and not support them. I don’t feel right about that. If I remember correctly after fans were telling haechan to rest and we’re worried about his schedule he told them that he wants to see us cheering him on instead of telling him that he looks tired or needs to rest. I’m sure he is tired! I’m sure he is overworked! The fans have a right to worry, but we do not have authority over his schedule or how often he is worked. The best thing we can do I support the hell out of EVERYTHING they do so that it doesn’t go in vain. I honestly get wanting to cancel this comeback I honestly do and In a perfect world this would definitely change the way SM treats their groups but I do not see SM doing anything by us canceling it. If anything it hurts the boys more. I won’t tell anyone what to do because I can’t think for others but if my cheering and encouragement helps them during this time and they see it and go “okay I can keep going” then so be it. I’ll be the biggest cheerleader. Hopefully one day they leave the company and get the management that they deserve but until then I’ll be making sure their hard work is noticed and celebrated.

Caitlin Benson

The reasons of why alot of cezenies are boycotting this comeback is because of poor management! Your right in the fact majority of these songs are vv good, but due to the timing of the whole 2023 golden era was just straight after Dreams world tour concert, plus their comeback which was in-between their tour! And now we have been given the announcement of 127's comeback is next month, many are concerned with the treatment of Mark and Haechan in particular! SM has been showing a lot of poor management and marketing skills, as they have a full group who has not been promoted for nearly a year (Wayv) and have been practically using Mark & Haechan as slaves for the amount of work they have achieved in the passed years! And only now! Has the two been vv vocal on how tired they are! We are concerned and due to this, cezenies are not actively streaming or bulk buying the album to this era! We didn't ask for this comeback! We asked them to finally start treating Wayv as an actual group and for them to give the boys proper rest! I would also like to state this is just informing anyone of the current situation with NCT and SM (if was unaware), of course you can enjoy the music! No one is saying you can't but due to the unfortunate reasons alot of fans have decided not to care for comeback!

Hannah Stevens

I really like Ten's part and voice in this album 😩🤍

Kiko

call d might be my favorite, there’s just something about this song that makes me go crazy lol the bat, alley oop, pado… 10/10 for me 🤭

Anna

This album is AMAZING!! Every song is AMAZING!! I was dying along with you watching the concert 🤭 I can't pick a favorite because half the album is truly tied as my favorite lol Although I think Pado kinda inches out a bit as my top. Caitlin, as always, you never disappoint. I'm usually dying along with you when it comes to these boys. Stay in your bubble and ignore the people who feel the need to be negative. 💚💚🫶🫰

Valerie Ubias

This album is not even bad but yes the way it was received was weird becoz of the overworking issues, nonetheless cannot deny the songs are fantastic, I love Pado and the Bat as well, and Kangaroo because Chenle is esp cute in that song 😊

mel liz

Don’t have TikTok or twitter , so I am very out of loop on what the public thinks of the album. I absolutely loved most of the songs. Some songs don’t stick to me. But love The Bat and even the title tracks . NCT Nation was a set up. The 2 days that I had to wait till the album dropped was torture . Thank you for taking the time. And I love how you are very respectful even when you don’t like a song. That is one of the main reasons you are only person I support on Patreon. Please keep finding joy in music

Neha S Rajan

I love this album and every song in it, definitely a no skip for me! But I have to say, I don't think I can call it my fave full NCT album 'cause I just felt like the distribution of parts was a little uneven. We had members that were in 5/10 songs and then a few that were only in 1 song other than Golden Age. I for sure didn't get enough Haechan 'cause he's my ult so that makes me kinda sad. Winwin and Jaemin weren't very present either. So that has probably contributed to the fact that I still prefer the 2020 Resonance album. Overall though, I do still love this album a lot. I don't understand all the hate but thankfully that hasn't affected me 'cause I'm always gonna support my neo boys <3 Anyways, thank you for the reaction Caitlin!

stayzennie_sf

Having just 2mins and 50sec for a song like The Bat should be a crime

pup_kay43

Luckily I'm not privy to what's happening fandom-wise with this comeback but I do feel like it came out of nowhere and pretty quickly. And then to have Il-I-Chil comeback next month is MADNESS but I'm here for them always. It's a lot as a fan much less as a performer! I'm not sure what people are after other than good music but this album delivers! With the exception of the rebirth theme of Golden Age and That's Not Fair being a smidge out of place with it's existential and philosophical references to the tedium of life (Web of Penelope from the Odyssey etc), the rest of the album is just a really thumping good time. I mean, The Bat makes absolutely no sense and seems to be about a car but it slaps. I'm not sure there's a much better line up than Call D through Alley Oop. I love Not Your Fault as well and am sad we didn't see it performed at NCT Nation. Anyway, as always a fun time watching!

B.

yess this album is amazing!! idk why people not liking this tho🥹 thank you for always loving nct and their musics when a lot of people and reactors slowly downgrading them like wtf i really don't understand..😭 i love them so much too these sounds from them makes me proud to be nctzen cuz i only hearing these from them. my top song is PADO but recently im in Not your fault mood lol.. once again thank you for this reaction!!🫶

nia94hyune

Okay I commented this while watching now dyou just said you already saw it so yay!

Payton Gentry

I looooove The Bat and Pado! Also, NCT Lastart Ep. 6 is out. Can't wait for your reaction🤩

annsavreh26

Padooooo, whenever you have your own personal free time, if you haven’t already, you gotta watch haechans fancam for PADO, because he was living and breathing the song. Like his musicality was so visible while he was performing and it makes the song 10 times better for me. He was viiiibiiinnngggg

Payton Gentry

will the boyz album be posted soon? hope everything is well and thank you for all you do! <3

nelli 💌

That’s Not Fair is diabolical greatness.

C.Lyse