Golden Child: AURA 6th Mini Album (Limited / Photobook Version and Compact Version) Review

Golden Child has finally made their long awaited Korean comeback on August 8th, 2022 with their sixth mini album AURA! Despite having a relatively long hiatus since their last comeback DDARA, the time felt so short with Golden Child's jam packed international schedules and releases with their Japanese debut single and second single, kpop festivals in Dubai and London, and their first US tour. This is Golden Child's first Korean release as OT9 with Daeyeol currently in the military. I blogged about preordering my AURA albums here, and below I'll blog about both versions of the album.

Preorder / First Press Benefits

Similar to the preorder benefit during DDARA, each preordered AURA album comes with a mini poster set; there is only one version of this set. Each set comes in its own clear resealable bag.

This mini poster set comes with 2 posters, which are made of cardstock so they're quite durable. These images are not included in either album photobooks, though that second image is the same as the front cover of the AURA MD collect book.

The backside of both mini posters have the album title and this era's logo. These mini posters have a glossy front and matte back. The dimensions are about 11.75" by 8.25".

This era also includes 2 first press exterior posters, one from each photoshoot. These images are not included in either album photobooks. These posters have a glossy finish and are the same size as Take A Leap, Pump It Up, YES., and DDARA. Unfortunately Woollim is back to having grainy quality posters again this era.

Album Packaging

Woollim is back with a limited edition and a regular edition, however the album packaging is a bit questionable...the limited edition, also known as the Photobook Version, could pass for something similar to Pump It Up or the regular edition of Game Changer. And if that is considered limited, then the normal is much less impressive. Known as the Compact Version, this regular edition is even smaller than a jewel case. Both albums come in a clear plastic wrap.

I have my albums in chronological order from right to left, and we have the ever so large DDARA albums towering over both AURA albums. The compact version of AURA doesn't even have any text on the spine >.<

Limited Edition / Photobook Version

The photobook version has glossy, softback covers with a continuous image of liquid metal. This album is about 5.9375" by 8.25" by 0.25".

The photobook contains 80 pages. It starts with a page dedicated to the tracklist with an image of liquid metal matching the covers. Next is a group photo.

The next 18 pages contain 2 back-to-back pages per member, with 1 photo per page. There is generally 1 photo per shoot.

The page layouts are all different, but it is a bit frustrating when there is so much wasted space >.<

The next set of 18 pages is another round of 2 back-to-back pages per member.

There are some photo sets where the photos are from the same shoot, like Seungmin's here.

Next is a group photo over a 2-page spread.

The next 18 pages contain more individual member photos, with 2 photos per member.

These photos are mixed across both photoshoots.

The last photo is another group photo cover 2 pages.

Next are the song lyrics and song credits, with 1 song per page.

Following that is a 2-page spread, again with this liquid metal.

The next pages contain each member's thanks to message, with 2 members per page. The photo card holder and bookmark inclusions were generally placed together somewhere within the photobook. The random photocard inclusion was generally placed separately from the other inclusions, but still within the photobook.

The last page is dedicated to the album credits, then the other side of the back cover has a glossy cardstock lidless envelope to house the CD.

The photobook version comes with 1 random bookmark out of 9. The bookmarks all have a glossy finish and a white backside. The bottom half has a U-shaped slit so that you can slip it between pages of a book. The bookmark is about 4.75" by 1.5625".

The photobook version also includes 1 random photocard out of an insane 36, meaning there are 4 photocards per member. It's crazy that Woollim would make so many variations for the limited version inclusion and then only 18 for the regular version...

Here are the backsides of the limited photocards. They're all white (whereas the regular version photocards have a black back) with that member's printed message and autograph. All the photocards have a glossy finish.

The limited version also comes with a photo card stand, made of matte black card stock. It comes 2-D, with the front displaying the album title and the back displaying this era's logo. In flat form, the dimensions are 3.5625" by 2.375".

To assemble the stand, there are 3 indented lines that need to be pushed in to create a triangle.

On the front side you can see 2 vertical lines to the left and right of "AURA"; those are like walls and then the space in between is where you slip in the photocard that you want to display.

Here is Bomin on display^^ I really like how durable and sturdy this stand is; I am using this stand on my display now.

Regular Edition / Compact Version

The compact version is Golden Child's smallest album to date (which is crazy when their albums have been quite large). It has a cardstock outer packaging and is sealed with a clear circle sticker on the side. This album is about 5.5" by 5" by 0.1875".

Here are the front and back covers, which have a matte finish making it prone to scratches. The group photo, text on the front cover, and album title on the back cover are all glossy and embossed. The backside has the tracklist and KOMCA sticker.

I used a pair of scissors to slice open the clear sticker seal. Opening up the album reveals the entire packaging, which is like a matte cardstock folder with two flaps, also prone to scratches. The album doesn't even close properly since it's just two flaps...I was definitely disappointed to say the least, because this is the exact type of packaging that you'd find at conventions where booths are handing out free CDs...but in all honesty, I would say Rocket Punch's Ring Ring had the worst packaging as the external packaging was flimsier than AURA, followed by this.

The left flap contains the photobooklet, while the right flap contains the CD.

Here are the front and back covers of the photobooklet. They have a glossy finish. And as expected based on the size of the album itself, this photobook is absolutely tiny, with dimensions 4.5625" by 4.5625".

The photobooklet contains 22 pages excluding the covers but including 3 blank pages, and is bound together by 2 staples at the spine. The pages are definitely prone to fingerprints.

The following 10 pages contain 1 photo per page, starting with a group photo. After that, there is 1 photo per member. The compact version also includes 1 random photocard, which I'll blog about a littler later.

All photos within this photobooklet are from this same shoot of Golcha in leather pants. The page layouts are different from page to page, and thankfully all the photos generally take up most, if not all, of the page.

Next there are 6 pages for the song credits and lyrics, with 1 page per song.

The following 2 pages contain the album credits. Oddly enough there is no Thanks To section.

The compact version album comes with 1 random photocard out of 18, with 2 photocards per member. With the immense number of photocards Woollim has had ever since Take A Leap, I was surprised at the relatively small amount this time.

The backsides of the compact version photocards are all black, with the members' printed signs and messages. These photocards also have a glossy finish.

Tracklist

This mini album contains the following 6 tracks:

1. AURA - It's interesting how sometimes the intro track and title track are created by different teams, including this time. The intro is co-created by one of the members of the team who worked on "KNOCKING ON MY DOOR".
2. REPLAY - The lyrics to this title track are written by a co-lyrist of "Ra Pam Pam". This era is another dark concept with many elements that aren't my style, but yet Golden Child always wins me over, and this song is no different! Just within the first few seconds Joochan's voice sets the song so strongly.
3. KNOCKING ON MY DOOR - Co-creators of B-sides "Don't Run Away" and "Spell" also created this track. It took a bit for this song to grow on me, but now it's one of the songs I put on repeat! 
4. 3! 6! 5! - This is such a fun, upbeat song, and  is created by the same team that brought us "DamDaDi", "Let Me", "All Day"! The harmonization is really beautiful too.
5. PURPOSE - Tag's self-composed song! He wrote the lyrics and co-composed and co-arranged it. It's the slowest song on the album, and is absolutely beautiful and definitely my favorite track on the list. He is seriously so talented and it was even more meaningful seeing the behind-the-scenes of the members recording the song with Tag's input.
6. 완벽해 (MIRACLE) - This song was co-created by 1Take and TAK, who created many of Golden Child's songs including "What Happened", "If", "Lately", "No Matter What", "Moment", and "Round N Round". I really love this team's bright songs, but this track falls much closer to "Round N Round", and generally Infinite's Infinite Only album style (my least favorite Infinite album...).

Overall, I'm just really happy that Golden Child has come back, and that they are still thriving with a variety of schedules despite being as 9 (and sadly occasionally 7-8 with the various injuries and health conditions of the members >.<). As for the music itself, each track gets better and better (until we hit "Miracle"...) and I absolutely love how overall it has such bright, happy feels to it, and even when the title doesn't, I'm in love with Joochan's strong opening of the song. And of course for the physical albums, this is where it's lacking, but the one positive is that the small size takes up minimal space on the shelf^^ And with the announcement of Golden Child's upcoming Grand America tour, it'll be really exciting seeing these new tracks live! (Trying not to think of how painful it'll be without Bomin though...)