BTS return with “Fire”, which is “Dope” with less fire and a Michael Bay-esque MV

Following “Young Forever“, BTS have returned with “Fire“, an upbeat dance track that should remind many of a repackaged “Dope“.

“Fire” is the upbeat dance track most expected them to come out with, and it’s only appropriate that “Dope” was playing at the beginning because “Fire” is similar in a lot of ways.

Most obviously, the hook is instrumental in nature. While that worked out swimmingly in “Dope”, I thought the instrumental break in “Fire” simply wasn’t on the same level and thus the hook wasn’t nearly as effective. However, the “la la la la la” and “bow wow wow” parts of the song were quite catchy, and the instrumental was fun and had enough quirks to keep things fresh throughout.

That said, not a lot else stood out. Especially disappointing for me were the rap efforts from BTS, which is a rare complaint about them, as this time it really felt like they just sorta mailed it in. In a lot of ways, the song was just there to be there and seemed to exist for the purpose of showcasing the choreography.

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Speaking of the choreography, while it too was inferior to “Dope” (probably an all-timer, honestly), it at least managed to deliver. I’m not one to evaluate the technical aspects of dance, but I can tell you that it looked fluid and cool as hell.

That sorta goes for the music video, in general, which was … wild? It’s confusing in the sense that it was like a Michael Bay directed mess of explosions and fire and attention-grabbing everything … but it also started off with stuff like making references to Pink Floyd‘s ‘Wish You Were Here‘ album cover.

It was just crazy as hell, in general, honestly.

Unlike the last video, though, I’m actually sorta glad this one isn’t even subtle.

No analysis needed there, really.

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Overall, “Fire” is an adequate enough upbeat dance track with an exciting little music video. But let’s be honest, the real point of this song always seems to have been to use this as a track to get the crowd hype at one of their concerts more than anything else, and while the instrumental and choreo are exciting, “Fire” is somewhat of a musical letdown for them.