ATEEZ and the “WONDERLAND” Comeback
On October 8, 2019, ATEEZ released their first full-length album. Titled TREASURE EP.FIN: All To Action, the release was the group’s fourth since their debut just under a year prior. The album features 11 tracks, including the title track “WONDERLAND” and “Precious (Overture),” which got a full-length version on ATEEZ’s subsequent release TREASURE EPILOGUE : Action To Answer. Members Hongjoong and Mingi helped with writing all but “End of The Beginning” and “Beginning of The End,” and Hongjoong even co-composed “Sunrise.” Leading up to the release of the album, KQ Entertainment released teaser videos for each of the members.
The Music Video
The music video for “WONDERLAND” opens with a shot of a flag waving in front of the camera, revealing Hongjoong sitting on a red-draped chair, white curtains behind him. Hongjoong screams power here; there’s no denying that he’s the leader, there’s just an aura he has that demands respect and attention in the first seconds of the music video, which is fitting as his first line is, “All eyes on me now.” Similar to other ATEEZ music videos, there is an overarching story here that connects to the TREASURE lore, but it isn’t shoved in your face. It’s nice in a sense, because it made the music video more easily digestible for new fans, while old fans knew and connected to those moments and continued to piece together the TREASURE story. While the video included those references, it also played straight on the lyrics of the music video. The chorus says, “On my, my way, we set ourselves to run”* and “Let’s hurry and get going / To the start where the end awaits,”* and in the music video, we see the members as they ascend massive staircases and take elevators up as they make their way to the beginning of a new ending, at the end of a long bridge and behind a massive door with their compass rose logo.
The choreography shots are truly astounding, but the solo scenes showing the members in their own kind of dystopian hells where they’re trapped and trying to escape are also glorious in their own ways. Mingi is trapped on a platform above a circular fire, Wooyoung is wrapped in chains, and San is on an isolated fake utopia. It’s with these isolated shots that we get the connection to San’s lines before the chorus: “Are you going to stop here? / What you longed for in front of your eyes, oh.”* Why settle for the situation you’re in now, when what you want is truly right in front of you? Go on, take it. Gaja. Let’s go.
ATEEZ later released a dance practice for “WONDERLAND” on their YouTube Channel, filmed the same day they filmed the dance practice for their Mnet Asian Music Awards performance (more on that later).
*Lyric translations from music video captioning
The Comeback Performances
ATEEZ had their comeback performance on M!COUNTDOWN on October 10, 2019, where the group performed “Sunrise” and “WONDERLAND.” Thankfully for these performances, Mingi was still with the group, however he would take a brief hiatus during this comeback as he dealt with a back injury. The group wore lots of light wash denim with some members in flowy white tops for their performance of “Sunrise.” The set design was simple, with smoke along the stage for the beginning of the performance. Rather than featuring a screen design of a sunny scene, the screen displayed a beautiful pink, purple, and blue aurora. Something interesting to note is that Hongjoong did not appear on stage with the others until after the first chorus. The end of the performance featured the members standing in front of the crowd, performing with their whole hearts, as they told ATINY to “just keep it up.”
The “WONDERLAND” performance opened with a video package, the members walking towards a raised platform surrounded by faceless mannequins. ATEEZ wore outfits seen in the concept photos and the music video, including the jeweled-mesh masks. The shots of Hongjoong, Yeosang, and San standing among the mannequins and facing the camera while it glitches feel like a callback to the opening scenes of the “HALA HALA (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive)” music video. The video package ends with the members standing atop the platform, blending into a view of the members standing on a white and black compass rose, though they have now removed the masks. From there, it was nearly four minutes of ATEEZ giving the performance their all. The stage design was reminiscent of the large staircases seen in the music video, but with how ATEEZ bodied the choreography, it’s hard to focus on anything but them dancing. As a personal aside, this performance is when I realized that San was my ult, because this fancam is powerful.
In 2018, ATEEZ did a Halloween performance for their debut song “Pirate King.” They have since followed that up with a Halloween performance in 2019 for “WONDERLAND” and in 2020 with “THE BLACK CAT NERO,” their cover of Turbo’s 1995 classic. For their Halloween “WONDERLAND” stage on M!COUNTDOWN, ATEEZ wore white military-inspired outfits, but if you look closely, you’ll notice the spiderwebs stretching between the medals on their chests. And, oh yeah, the ghoulish face paint they all sport, with Seonghwa taking the title of creepiest member. The spot where Yunho eats an “eyeball” is also a highlight of the performance, the perfect reminder of the member’s fun and goofy personality. The performance also features two dance breaks, where the track embraces a retro spooky vibe.
Not to be left out, ATEEZ performed “WIN” on an episode of Music Bank during “Answer” promotions in 2020, leading up to their THE FELLOWSHIP : MAP THE TREASURE concert dates in Seoul. Unfortunately, the group didn’t get to visit the remaining tour stops in 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but it’s only a matter of time before international ATINYs get to see their eight favorite boys in concert.
The Legacy
The same month that ATEEZ released TREASURE EP.FIN: All To Action, the group also released a first anniversary edition of the album on October 24, 2019. The anniversary edition features the same tracklist as the full-length album, but uses the black and orange packaging with the cut-out window from their debut mini-album TREASURE EP.1: All to Zero. This special release also includes a photobook and photocards of the members growing up, as well as alternate images from TREASURE EP.FIN: All To Action and self-taken portraits.
Photo: Meighan Peters
They also held MOON RIVER, an anniversary concert on V LIVE, on October 24, 2019. It was at this concert that ATEEZ performed “Star 1117” for the first time. The track is special to ATEEZ and their fans, ATINY, as the group wrote it in honor of ATINY, with the track getting the “1117” from the date that ATEEZ named their fans—November 17, 2018. This performance is also special as Mingi was with the other members on stage. While there is no official upload for the MOON RIVER concert and “Star 1117” on YouTube, you can find screen recordings of the emotional first performance.
TREASURE EP.FIN: All To Action debuted and peaked at No. 1 on the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart, their first album to do so. In comparison, TREASURE EP.1: All to Zero peaked at No. 7, TREASURE EP.2: Zero To One peaked at No. 6, and TREASURE EP.3: One To All peaked at No. 2. For the entirety of 2019, ATEEZ had at least one album on the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart, an amazing feat for a rookie boy group. On the Gaon Monthly Albums Chart for the month of October, TREASURE EP.FIN: All To Action peaked at No. 8 while the first three TREASURE releases also appeared at No. 54, No. 56, and No. 58 in release order.
The album also appeared on the Billboard charts, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard World Albums Chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart, while “WONDERLAND” peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart. “WONDERLAND” marked the group’s highest peaking song to appear on the chart, with tracks “Answer,” “불놀이야 (I'm The One),” and “The Real” also peaking at No. 6 afterwards. The track did not appear on any of the Gaon charts.
ATEEZ didn’t take home any music show wins for this comeback, but the group did take home a few of the awards they were nominated for during the end-of-the-year award season. At the Golden Disc Awards, ATEEZ won “Next Generation Award.” They were also nominated for “Disc Bonsang” for TREASURE EP.FIN: All To Action, “Most Popular Artist,” and “Rookie of the Year” at the same award show.
ATEEZ had their first Mnet Asian Music Awards appearance in 2019 as well, with the group performing “Say My Name” and “HALA HALA (Hearts Awakened, Live Alive)” on the red carpet, and then later taking the stage for the second “BEST PERFORMANCE MASH UP” of the night (the first group being ONEUS). During their mash up, ATEEZ blended BTS’s “Blood Sweat & Tears,” SHINee’s “View,” and miss A’s “Good-bye Baby” with their title track “WONDERLAND.” This was also the group’s first major appearance with Mingi performing with them again. Jongho’s powerful vocal performance during the “Good-bye Baby” portion has left a lasting impression on the K-Pop world, and even impressed TWICE during the show. ATEEZ were one of the groups to win the “Worldwide Fans’ Choice Top 10,” but they did not win “Artist of the Year” or “Best New Male Artist.” A few days after their performance, they uploaded a dance practice of the mash up on their YouTube channel.
While the group didn’t win any of the awards they were nominated for at the Seoul Music Awards or the Genie Music Awards, they did take home “Best Korean Act” at the MTV Europe Music Awards and “Performance Award” at the Soribada Best K-Music Awards.
The following year, ATEEZ released TREASURE EP. Map To Answer, their second Japanese release, featuring the Japanese version of “Answer,” their original Japanese song “Better,” and remixed versions of “WONDERLAND,” “Sunrise,” and “Star 1117.” The remix of “WONDERLAND” was later included during ATEEZ’s “Symphony No.9 ‘From The Wonderland’” performance during Kingdom: Legendary War. Dripping with Pirates of the Caribbean vibes and loads of ATEEZ lore, the stage saw the group aboard their own pirate ship and doing standard pirate things: getting the deck ready, navigating, singing, dancing, and fighting a kraken—you know, the usual. You can watch the behind-the-scenes preparation for “Symphony No.9 ‘From The Wonderland’” here.
Since their debut on October 24, 2018, ATEEZ have accomplished a lot. While their growth in 2019 was substantial, the group really soared to new heights in 2020, and it’s not difficult to believe that they’ll accomplish even more during 2021. Dubbed by the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism as the “4th Generation Leaders” and referred to as “Global Performance Idols,” there’s no telling what ATEEZ will accomplish next except that it will be done according to their own style and their own rules.
If you’d like to read more about ATEEZ, please check out the previous Artist Highlights for “Say My Name” and “WAVE.” The Kraze sends their love to ATEEZ as we await the return of Mingi and celebrate San’s birthday.