Greatest Hits:: A.C.E: SAVAGE
Did I review two A.C.E songs in the same period? Yes. But this one was a request against some Savage slander my Choice friend saw online, and there's absolutely no way I'm going to turn down a chance for an A.C.E song. Their voices are beyond incredible. I need them to come back here so I can go see them and get more time listening to those gorgeous, gorgeous voices. In the meantime, I've got their discography and the plethora of covers they've done over the last seven years.
They still don't have a win, and that feels criminal. Anyway, this was the second track on the mini album, and its lyricist (VED) basically only wrote this song and another A.C.E song. The composer (MADFRESH) has a few more songs under their belt, but again, those songs are almost entirely A.C.E songs.
- Group: A.C.E (Adventure Calling Emotions)
- Debut Date: 2017 May 23
- Company: BEAT Interactive
- Status: Active
- Album: UNDER COVER : THE MAD SQUAD
- Song: SAVAGE
- Release Date: 2019 October 29
The comments on that music video are absolutely hilarious. Not even joking. Apparently the release of this song caused the entire fandom to go a little catawampus with the styling and the lyrics and the choreography. And honestly? Yeah. Yeah, I can believe that. I particularly agree with the comments asking for a collab stage with them, ATEEZ, and ONEUS. First of all, it would be a group fully of capitals, which is a little funny. Second of all, that would break the stage and the fans. It's my dream for idols to just be able to collaborate with other idols, if only just for a one-off performance or song that never gets released on streaming platforms other than YouTube (much like the Seventeen x NU'EST collaboration for MAMA 2019 Heaven). I think there are a lot of groups that A.C.E would do well with, and, like those comments that made me laugh, I really wish I could see them.
The song starts off rather simply, but very quickly the drive in the song kicks in, held temporarily at bay by the rather languid rapping. Then the vocal power steps in, the instrumental immediately swivels to match in punches, and the song is off to the races. Wow's vocal fry during his rap section of the second verse is a little shiver-inducing because of the growl it produces, echoed a little later with Donghun and his. Appropriate for a song called "Savage".
Considering how few credits the songwriters have, this is a genuinely impressive song, very tightly written and thematically appropriate across both lyrics and instrumental with the title. The build and flow of this song is so deliberate and carefully done to appear to be wild and unhinged, but much like deliberately messy hair, it's the presentation that's the point, not the reality.
I'll likely continue to shout into the void about how amazing this group is, and that's fine, but let's prove it with some performances, shall we?
Their Halloween comeback stage is simply incredible, and shout out to the stylists for giving the backup dancers Halloween costumes. There's one element, I didn't know which one he was because I can currently only identify Wow on sight and was too distracted to look to the left and see what his name was, that I knew I'd find mentioned in the comments, and that's Chan's crop top. My brain short-circuited a little seeing it. What is it about a crop top with a longer coat? I don't know. Also, his coat says "Don't touch me." That's glorious. Moving on to the voices because here is impressive, and apparently they mentioned that they go running every night while singing to build their stamina, which contributes to their very, very impressive stable vocals. Which I've heard in person with my own two ears. And yes. They're alarmingly stable live. They put in the hard work for it, and it pays off.
This performance from The Show was very close to my birthday that year, so obviously, I have to include it. But the languidity of their bodies to open this song on top of the intense eye contact gives the song a very predatory air, which is adorably undercut a little by the stage costumes.
There's one thing I feel like I'm legally required to point out and that's right after the first chorus, when the fans scream. Chan (AKA the adorable maknae) breaks out of performance mode to smile almost shyly while he's singing before he flips that switch again. Why did they scream? Because when he hopped forward, his tie almost got caught on his face.
Also, Donghun looks really good in the beret. That is all.
Focusing on just the choreography leads me to the performance version of Savage. No muss. No fuss. No extras. Just the members and some very intense eye contact. My favorite part of the choreography is, easily, when they're in the line. First of all, the smoothness with which they move into position is pretty glorious. It's literally only about three seconds long, but my word. Also, can we just appreciate the amount of thigh strength they have to have to be able to do some of those moves without even a stumble, and make it look effortless? Also, someone didn't get the memo about wearing long pants. So, essentially, Chan forwent a full length shirt for the MCountdown stage, and long pants for this version of the performance. Speaking of the clothing, they all look so good in the dark red and black.
And because I make the rules for the Greatest Hits segments, I get to include however many different versions of this performance as I want. Because the group is awesome, and I'll always deeply appreciate how many different versions they release of a song and apparently have for years. The first two minutes of this are them being absolute dorks. It's precious. Also, I'm so glad that they did a part change version of Savage. I already have forgotten which one is which, except for Wow, but he's also easily identifiable because he's so lost the entire thing and has purple hair. Where is he supposed to be? He doesn't know. He can only laugh his way through Ah, bless. They fall over. They push each other. It's an endearing, absolute hot mess.
And here. Have yet another version of A.C.E being complete and utter dorks. They're so intense in the normal choreography. And I think they try to start that way, give up partway through, and Wow is once again completely lost. When he goes back for his shoe, it's heartwarming and sweet and delightfully hilarious. This song has such an intense concept, and then they did this to it. What did they do to their poor song? I genuinely don't know. But it has given me life and everyone should know and love this group.
Which is where I get to my first actual introduction to them. I knew Donghun from Build Up and spent the entire time cheering on "A.C.E Boy" because I couldn't remember his name but I was half in love with his voice. I never remember names. They get nicknames. And so with my Choice friend's infectious excitement over KCon and me getting to hear them live, I was genuinely looking forward to them even though I had only heard like two of their songs before, and one of them was only because they were on After School Club.
Look at the improvements they've made over the last five years to this song! The intensity is higher! Their expressions! Their vocals! I was so flabbergasted that a feather could have knocked me over. Recordings do not do them justice at all. They are so incredible live, and it doesn't translate as well, even with the studio recordings. They are so absolutely stunning. Also, I'm a real big fan of the way they've bulked up over the years, and those outfits? Yes, please. Very nice.
Legitimately, if you EVER get the chance to see them live, go. Don't hesitate. Their stage energy doesn't translate either. There were so many people in the audience that were asking about them after their performances on this stage. And the thumbnail for this video is rude. I appreciate it. But it's also rude. They were so sweaty so quickly, but their vocals were so incredibly, unbelievably stable. And the vocal quality! This was not the song that made my jaw almost hit the floor, but the intensity nearly knocked me over anyway. I wish I were exaggerating. That would make it easier on me.
In short, the group needs more attention and more opportunities to perform live for people. This song has some fantastic intensity that fans of other groups would like. The Venn Diagram theoretically has a very large overlap section with other very intense groups. And they have absolutely no problem with being goofy dorks, even during a very intense song.
Amazing.
Thanks to my Stay friend for that urge to defend the group and trusting me to do it! I enjoy defending things, which is a lot of what these posts do. Some songs and groups obviously need more defense than others, but it's fine, you know? I'm happy to be advocate for them.
Thanks everyone for reading! I hope you enjoy them and that maybe you'll take a look into some of their group discography and their solo stuff! And any covers that they may or may not do...
If you've got a song you'd like me to cover, you can always tell me. It may take me a minute to get to it (because the stars need to be aligned sometimes and I need to feel it's in a good spot), but I will get to them all. Leave a comment with your request, send me a message if you found this on some social media site, or you can use The Form for completely anonymous submissions.
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