BTS and the “Blood Sweat & Tears” Comeback
On October 10, 2016, BTS released their second full-length album WINGS and the music video for “Blood Sweat & Tears.” With a concept heavily influenced by Hermann Hesse’s Demian, WINGS centered around themes of temptation and growth. The album has 15 tracks, including seven solo tracks written by each of the members, marking the first time BTS included solos for each member on an album. On February 13, 2017, the album was repackaged as You Never Walk Alone and featured three new songs, including “Spring Day” and “Not Today” which both received music videos, and a remake of “Interlude: Wings” titled “Outro: Wings.”
The Music Videos
Leading up to the release of the album, seven short films were released as teasers for the members’ solo tracks. The short films are all connected to each other in subtle ways and range in length from just over two-and-a-half minutes to over five minutes long. The first short film was for Jungkook’s “Begin” and was released on September 5, 2016, with Jin’s “Awake” released as the final short film on September 14, 2016.
Before the album dropped, BTS also released a comeback trailer on September 26, 2016 featuring j-hope’s first intro with the opening track “Intro: Boy Meets Evil.” The video opens with leader RM (at the time performing under the stage name Rap Monster) giving a monologue over a black screen. When his monologue ends, an opening screen with the track title appears before then shifting to a brick wall in what appears to be a bridge or tunnel, panning towards j-hope kneeling on the ground. The rest of the video focuses on j-hope’s incredible dancing. As the video progresses, he cracks the cement beneath him and the video then begins to alternate between him in the tunnel versus him in a neon paint-splattered version of the same tunnel, with paint on the walls, ground, and his pants.
The six-minute-long music video for “Blood Sweat & Tears” begins with the BTS members goofing off in a museum-like setting, with Jin entranced by the painting The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. The video then shifts to the boys sitting in an empty ballroom. Suga places a hand over Jimin’s eyes and the video then introduces the song. This music video features some of the most well-known and loved choreography by BTS (including Jimin’s big shoulder reveal “accident”), but also features incredibly enchanting aesthetic scenes of the boys, like V under the billowing white sheet, Jungkook hanging from the swing, and Jin’s face cracking at the end of the video.
The Comeback Performances
The WINGS comeback performances were aired on M!COUNTDOWN on October 13, 2016, which was also Jimin’s birthday. For this comeback, BTS promoted three tracks—“Blood Sweat & Tears,” “21st Century Girl,” and “Am I Wrong.”
The set for “Blood Sweat & Tears” had a similar aesthetic as the main set for the music video, with beautiful archways, chandeliers, statues, and artwork as the backdrop for the performance. Their outfits were also very similar to those worn in the music video, with the boys going for a regal look in fitted black pants and black shoes while each member wore different button-ups under patterned suit jackets.
The performances for “21st Century Girls” and “Am I Wrong” were a lot more lowkey. For the “21st Century Girls” performance, the boys wore various jackets and loose shirts with black jeans, with V and Suga also sporting baseball hats. The “Am I Wrong” performance was kind of a stylistic middle ground between “Blood Sweat & Tears” and “21st Century Girls”—the suit jackets they wore were not as formal as those seen for the main comeback song but were still nicer in comparison to the “21st Century Girls” jackets. RM’s pants even matched his jacket for this performance. Both tracks were performed in front of large screens with changing backgrounds and featured more playful choreography than the sensual choreography seen in “Blood Sweat & Tears.”
The Legacy
The Wings Tour, also known as 2017 BTS Live Trilogy Episode III: The Wings Tour, began on February 18, 2017 and ended December 10, 2017, with the first and last shows performed in Seoul at the Gocheok Sky Dome. This was their second worldwide tour, with the group traveling to 12 different countries. A DVD featuring one of the Seoul concerts and a photobook of the tour was released on December 1, 2017.
“Blood Sweat & Tears” earned six music show wins, their first win coming on October 19, 2016 on Show Champion. They would then go on to receive a win at M!COUNTDOWN on October 20, two wins from Music Bank on October 21 and October 28, a win from Inkigayo on October 23, and a win on The Show on October 25. At the end-of-year awards, “Blood Sweat & Tears” took home trophies at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards and the 2017 Seoul Music Awards, winning “Best Dance Performance - Male Group” and “Best Music Video Award” respectively.
WINGS peaked at No. 1 on the Gaon Album Chart, No. 6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart, and landed at No. 26 on the Billboard 200, their highest ranking at the time and a huge jump from Young Forever, which ranked at No. 107. WINGS was also the best selling album of 2016 in South Korea. The album won the “Album Award” at the 2016 Hanteo Awards, “Album Of The Year (4th Quarter)” at the 6th Gaon Chart Music Awards, and “Album Bonsang” at the 31st Golden Disc Awards.
And in an incredibly emotional display, BTS took home the “Artist Of The Year” award at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards, thanks in part to the legacy of the WINGS era. It was their first time winning the prestigious award but certainly not their last.