Golden Child: Without You 1st Repackage Album Review

The second day of Golden Child's first solo concert Future And Past was even more special as they first shared their upcoming comeback teaser at the concert! They gave us 10 days to prepare (and I can't imagine just how tight Golden Child's schedule has been for "Wannabe" and "Compass" promotions, followed by concert preparations, and now "Without You" promotions!) for the release of their first repackage album "Without You" on January 29th, 2020. The 29th is also special as it's the second anniversary of "It's U"! I blogged about ordering my albums and my pulls here.

Here is the front cover of the album. There's an overall paisley theme for this concept that's even on their outfits.

Here you can see that the back cover is smaller than the front, and that the sides are slanted. I really like this design not only because it looks sleek, but because the corners arrived in almost perfect condition whereas many other albums arrived with dented corners.

To give a reference of how big Without You is, here it is against Golden Child's other albums. It's about the same size as Wish. Also this is the first time there is no wording on the spine; on the shelf non-Goldenness would have no idea what that paisley thing is.

Following Infinite's and Lovelyz' footsteps in regards to repackage album packaging (excluding Lovelyz' Now, We album), Golden Child's repackage album also has an envelop style packaging. The flap is sealed with a clear circle sticker. Once removed, you can hold the album together by putting the flap through the slit.

After removing the sticker, the flaps slowly open to reveal the contents inside.

The tracklist is printed on the top flap.

On the top is the photobook, followed by the group poster, then the random member poster neatly staggered underneath.

The backside of both the group poster and random member poster have the same design. I really like how Woollim put so much detail into everything, even having a design on the backside of these posters.

Here is the group poster. To my surprise these posters are quite large, just about one inch smaller than Golden Child's 2018 Season's Greetings and their Golden Day posters.

Each album comes with one random member poster out of 10. With my five copies, I pulled Y, Jaehyun, and Donghyun x3. These posters are so beautiful and high quality! I am in love with Jaehyun's and am so happy I pulled his^^

Each album also comes with one random member photocard out of 10, as well as one random member special film out of 10. They are usually placed together within the photobook. Here is my pull from my first copy. I was so excited seeing Jaehyun!

I fortunately pulled all different photocards: Daeyeol, Seungmin, Jaehyun, Donghyun, and Bomin. The photocards have a glossy finish which is nice as it doesn't scratch as easily as their matte photocards.

The backside has the matching paisley pattern along with the member's printed sign and message.

I was also lucky enough to pull all different special films: Y, Tag, Donghyun, Joochan, and Bomin.

I like the details printed on the special film. As expected, this is a weird size where it's bigger than a photocard but not as big as a postcard, so it's a bit hard to store.

Here are Donghyun's and Bomin's special films and photocards for size reference.

Here is the backside; as you can see it's translucent like a film strip, but it isn't prone to fingerprints like a real film strip.

And now onto the photobook! I really like the material of the cover and how the paisley pattern is a clear layer; it just looks and feels really elegant along with the bronze text.

The same bronze text is on the spine of the photobook.

Here is the back cover. There are 80 pages.

Within the first few pages is the track list, which is printed almost like a guest registry book; this packaging does feel a bit like a wedding invitation!

The photobook is split into two photoshoots, with the first from the blue suit photoshoot and the second from the brown suit photoshoot. It begins with a group photo from the blue shoot.

Following are all individual photos from the blue shoot.

There are a lot of overlapping photos as the layout for many of these 2-page spreads. There's so much wasted space, I wish they could maximize the photos.

I really like this photoshoot - the backdrop, the outfits, the boys' overall appearance, everything about it is on point!

Each song has its own page for its credits and lyrics. I absolutely love this spread, how Daeyeol's photo carries onto the other page.

The section ends with a blank page.

I'm not fond of the brown shoot, but I am grateful that the photos are generally larger than the previous shoot, with only one photo per page. All photos from this section are individual member shots.

That photo of Jaehyun, I love how artsy it is so frame him like that.

The composition of Tag's as well with the mirror! Love it.

Donghyun slays this look so much. It's impressive seeing his growth from debut days to this! His duality is really something.

The section ends with a gorgeous solo shot of Jaehyun, followed by a blank page indicating a new section. Why the wasted page though...

The next six pages contain the Special Thanks to and individual member thank you messages.

The last page contains the album credits, and the CD is slipped into the inside of the back cover.

Here is the CD design, matching the front cover.

This era also has 2 exterior posters for first press, one from each photoshoot. The posters are high quality with a thick matte finish; I'm so glad it's not grainy like Gol-Cha!...

This repackage album contains all tracks from Re-boot along with new title "Without You" and B-side "I Love U Crazy!"

• Without You: another masterpiece created by BLSSD, this title is a continuation and second installation of Golden Child's current trilogy. "Wannabe" was about wanting to find the "wannabe" or ideal within oneself, whereas "Without You" is about losing hope while trying to find that ideal. I'm really happy that this is a trilogy, meaning maybe Golden Child can finish this mature concept and revisit their youthful, energetic concept later on...often it takes me a few takes before falling in love with a song, but I fell in love with "Without You" instantly! It's much slower than I expected for a title, but I love how it showcases the members' vocal, the line distribution and center distribution are much more fair, the choreography is so intricate (that foot tapping! Bomin dragging Joochan! The intro! The members creating a wave-like motion during Jibeom's part!). And I absolutely love falsetto, and the members nailed it throughout the song. Lastly, I love how Jibeom's been rising as a lead vocal; he really does feel like a main vocal. Also I'm happy that Woollim's not forcing Bomin and Jaehyun to always be the center; as much as I love them (they're two of my three biases^^), it's great that this era is really showing off all members!
• I Love U Crazy!: this is one of my absolute favorite B-sides; every second is so energetic and fun and upbeat and is exactly what I've been waiting for from Golden Child to release again! I absolutely love Jaehyun's parts here; his voice suits this song so well; also Daeyeol's lines are so adorable and I am in love with his voice! 

I fell in love with Golden Child's youthful and bright concept, but I'm glad they're able to promote a trilogy with such mature vibes and really deep and meaningful messages. But honestly I just really miss the members' bright smiles on stage...but overall I do love this album, the two new songs are definitely great songs to add to Golden Child's discography, the packaging is cute (though I was a bit off-put by the paisley collage and brown suits), the boys look great, the choreography is stellar...the list goes on!

Overall, it's been a crazy few months for Golden Child and Goldenness! From Re-boot to Future And Past to Without You, Golden Child has had such a hectic schedule. With only 2-3 weeks of promotions for this album I hope they get their much deserved rest afterwards, but who knows what else is in store!