Infinite: Top Seed 3rd Full Album Review

Infinite is back! Infinite made their comeback on January 8th, 2018, over a year since their last Korean comeback and the first release as OT6. Sadly 2017 was a relatively stagnant year for Infinite, but hopefully this year will be different. This release, titled Top Seed, is Infinite's third full album. With the release of a full album, it breaks Infinite's chain of releasing mini - mini - single - full - repackage. Furthermore, the packaging of this album greatly differs from Infinite's previous regular Korean releases.

I preordered 2 copies of this album with folded posters from Ktown4u for $37.82 USD for both copies plus $21.48 shipping for a total of $59.30. This is my first time preordering multiple copies of the same version, and all for good reason as this album comes with many randomized goods. My package shipped on January 9th and arrived on the 23rd, in exactly 2 weeks. My package came in a cardboard box with the albums and posters bundled together in bubblewrap.

This album comes with the following:

• 1 3D special card (random out of 2)
• 1 booklet & CD-R set (random out of 6 member versions and 1 group version)
• Metallic postcard set (14 cards total)
• 1 photocard (random out of 12)

Sadly like many people have experienced with this album, my 2 copies contained the same exact contents (3D special card, booklet / CD-R, photocard are all the same). However I don't regret purchasing both copies together, so that I can guarantee receiving both poster versions.

The packaging for this album is really upgraded compared to Infinite's usual album releases. The box dimensions are 9" by 6.3125" by 1.25".

First off, I like the lid design because it reminds me of the design for the History of Infinite postcards.

The top and bottom of the lid have the album name printed.

The bottom of the box reveals the tracklist.

The lid has a clear plastic lining and has a cardboard insert on the sides with a height of 0.375" so that the lid can rest on top of the contents inside. This is really nice because it gives the illusion like the album is a shadowbox to display what's inside.

Lifting up the lid reveals the gold sheet, which is highly prone to fingerprints. This sheet is meant to hold the 3D special card.

Here is the gold sheet without the 3D special card. You can see just how reflective it is.

Here is the backside of the gold sheet with the 3D special card in place.

Here is the backside of the gold sheet.

This is the 3D special card, with dimensions 7.125" by 4.75".

The backside of the 3D special card is simplistic, with this era's logo in the corner.

I like how you can choose to display the 3D special card inside the album, and the lid perfectly outlines the card.

This album contains photos from 3 sets of outfits / photoshoots. I'll refer to the photoshoot used in my 3D special card as the casual outfits. The outfits used in the first poster I show (at the bottom of this post), I refer to as the Burberry outfits. And the outfits used in the second poster I show, I refer to as the black-and-white outfits.

Underneath the 3D special card and gold sheet is the random photobook. I got Sungjong's~ The photobook cover is from the Burberry photoshoot.

I really like the quality of the photobook; the finish is really smooth without being prone to fingerprints. The photobook has 64 pages, excluding both sides of the covers.

I like how the image on the front cover extends onto the spine and even a bit to the back cover. The details of the design of the photobook is really nice and intricate; I really like the photobook overall for the aesthetic that the details create.

The first page contains the Thanks To from Sungjong.

The next page contains the tracklist, along with the song credits for the first track.

Up to page 26 are photos from the Burberry photoshoot.

The lyrics and song credits are spread throughout the photobook.

Pages 27 through 51 are from the casual photoshoot.

I really like the layout of each page; it shows they really put the time into designing the photobook.

The remaining pages are from the black-and-white photoshoot. I like how each photoshoot gives off a different feel, like how this one shows Sungjong's bright smile.

The last page contains the album credits and social media information. I just realized some of Infinite's social media uses "IFNT7"...

Each album comes with 1 random photocard out of 12, with 2 versions per member. These cards are fun shots from the music video making with the members making either a heart sign or a fighting pose in their Burberry outfits. In my first album the photocard was slipped in between pages 10 and 11.

For my second album, the photocard was in between pages 26 and 27.

I got Woohyun for my photocard^^ Looking at all the photocards online, I was disappointed that both Woohyun versions look almost identical. The photocards are roughly the same size as the photocards from Season 2, Reality, and Infinite Only.

The backside is gray and has a printed message and autograph. Woohyun's is wishing us a happy new year^^

Underneath the photobook is the metallic postcard set, which is the same set included in every album. Though it's hard to tell in my photos, these postcards are highly reflective due to their metallic finish. The cards are held together with a paper strip. In my other album, the strip was covering Sungyeol. These postcards have dimensions 5.5" by 3.75".

Sadly there wasn't sufficient quality control as the top of the paper strip was a bit crunched, probably when the postcards were initially being packaged.

There are a total of 14 postcards, 7 from the Burberry photoshoot and 7 from the casual photoshoot. The order of the postcards, from top to bottom, is group from the Burberry shoot, then group from the casual photoshoot, then oldest to youngest.

Here are the postcards from the maknae line. The images of the 2 Sungjong postcards aren't in his photobook.

The backside of the postcard is simplistic.

And lastly is the CD. The CD version matches the booklet version, hence I got Sungjong's. The disc image is from the Burberry shoot as well. The disc is secured on a hard cardboard bed with a plastic center.

First press albums also come with 1 random poster out of 2, both of which are the same size as Infinite's usual posters. For this poster, the members are in their Burberry outfits. I personally love this group photo poster; Sungkyu looks like such a boss.

The other poster is a collage of individual images of the members wearing the black-and-white outfits.

This full album contains 12 tracks:

1. Begin - intro track composed by BLSSD (aka BEE of Rphabet who also composed Infinite's titles "Destiny", "Back", "Bad", "Typhoon").
2. Tell Me - title track composed by BLSSD of Rphabet. I really like that Infinite has continued working with Rphabet, as this duo creates songs that branches Infinite's musical style.
3. Synchronise 
4. No More
5. TGIF (Dong Woo Solo) - I'm so proud of Dongwoo for having a solo track, and participating in the lyrics! This is actually his second solo studio track that I know of, with the first being "마음에 묻다 (Asking the Heart)", part of the OST for webtoon Lookism.
6. 기도 (메텔의 슬픔) - (Prayer) is composed by SWEETUNE, my most favorite composer as this team has created so many masterpieces not only for Infinite, but also Kara, Snuper, Boyfriend, and many more artists.
7. 왜 날 - (Why Me)
8. 분다 
9. I Hate
10. 지난 날 (L Solo) - I'm so happy Myungsoo has a solo track, and for him to participate in the lyrics as well. Ballads suit him so well.
11. 고백 (Sung Jong Solo) - (Confession) is Sungjong's first solo studio track! I'm so proud of Sungjong and his growth as a singer. This song really fits his voice well and I can definitely see this type of song in a drama OST - I hope Sungjong would have the opportunity to participate in an OST in the future!
12. Begin Again - I really love this song, but the lyrics are so fitting to Infinite's situation at the moment, that I feel sad every time I listen to it.

My favorite tracks are definitely "Tell Me", "Synchronise", "기도", and "분다"! But of course all of the tracks are very beautiful and I do love them all. They all fit Infinite's style very well.

Infinite held a year-end showcase series, Begin Again, during the last 3 days of 2017 where they performed "Begin Again" and each member performed a new solo track, with Dongwoo's, Myungsoo's, and Sungjong's tracks landing on this album. I am sad that not all members have a solo track in this album, but that just leaves the possibility for their solo tracks to be released later on^^

I'm so proud of Infinite for winning 5 awards on music shows for "Tell Me" for the first 5 nominations they received. Despite being inactive for 1 year 4 months and losing 1 member, they came back as strong as ever. I hope we will have a repackaged album of this in the near future!

I have made several trades from the contents of my 2 albums, and will provide an updated post about those in the future.