As you surely know, the guys of Ateez have been very busy this year. The boy group finished one world tour, started a new one, released two Japanese albums and one Korean one, recorded soundtracks and more. And still, Ateez isn't letting the last weeks of 2022 simply pass by, but is announcing a new Korean album:
ATEEZ - SPIN OFF: FROM THE WITNESS
This time the boy group has prepared a Limited Edition and not one but two Poca Albums for us! All three will be released on January 2, 2023 and will be shipped around mid/late January.
Let's first take a look at the Limited Edition.
It consists of a rectangular black box with a slightly narrower sleeve around it. The title of the album is on the sleeve, the box seems to be only minimally printed, apart from the “ATEEZ” lettering on the side.
Inside you will find a CD, a 76-page photo book and several extras: a bookmark, stickers and of course photocards! Every album contains three of 24 possible photocards. If you order the album before January 2, you will also get a folded poster!
Fans of digital albums get their money's worth this time, because there are actually two different Poca Albums - A and Z - to choose from!
Both consist of a flat package that you can unfold and stand up. It contains one of eight possible QR card albums. This is a photocard with a QR code on the back. In addition, there is one of eight possible Fave cards, two of 16 photocards, a two-piece sticker set and a Mini Disc.
The latter is a miniature CD without music. The Mini Disc is visible when you unfold the packaging, so you can display it on your shelf as a stylish collector's item.
The two versions differ in the color of the packaging, and the photocard designs are different too.
To access the digital content of the QR card album and the Fave card, you need the Poca Album app.
What are Poca Albums?
Poca Albums are digital albums. Buyers get a few physical extras, mostly photocards and a QR card. With the QR code on the card and the matching Poca Album app, they can access digital content: the songs from the album and exclusive photos or videos. Digital albums like these Poca versions are especially suitable for those who mainly want to collect photocards and are perhaps less interested in photo books.
It is also a good idea to buy the Poca Albums and the Limited version as a set, since the photocards are different in every version!
Find out more about the different album versions here.
It wasn't long ago that ATEEZ subsequently released new Platform versions of several albums. So the boy group will probably offer more digital albums in the future too.
The success of ATEEZ's previous album will be hard to top!
As you may remember, the boy group most recently released a Korean album on July 24: The World Ep.1: Movement including the title track Guerilla.
Even before the release, Ateez broke a personal record, because fans pre-ordered more than 1 million copies of the album. Until then, their personal best was 810,000 pre-orders for Zero: Fever Part.3 in September 2021.
And that wasn't all. In the first week after the release, 936,055 copies were sold according to the Korean Hanteo Chart. That is also a new record for the boy group! By the way, this makes The World Ep. 1 one of only 13 albums this year that sold more than one million copies.
Find out which albums also made it onto this list here.
In addition, The World Ep.1 stayed at the top of the Korean Circle Charts for two weeks and reached the top 10 of the American Billboard 200 charts for the first time. In fact, the album even reached number 3!
So it's no wonder that Ateez took home several awards this year as well. On October 8, they were given two prizes at the “The Fact Music Awards 2022”: “Artist of the Year” and “Best Performer”. At the Seoul Music Awards they even received the main prize, the so-called “Bonsang”! Completely deserved!
Will Ateez be able to outdo themselves once again next year? We will find out very soon!
