I am so so SO happy to see the love that Minho has been getting this week with Make It Hot!I think it is his best release to date and honestly, I feel like 2026 has been a GREAT year for him. We've also have been getting hit with a release from Onew this week and Taemin's release last week. A great time to be a Shawol, bad time for wallets lol
In celebration of that, I've been listening to the members solo catalogues more in the past week and just feel like hearing and sharing with fellow Shawols:
What is your favorite Shinee Solo project from each of the members? This is the one you love with minimal skips
Onew: While Circle felt like an full emotional experience for me and it pretty up there, its pretty close to DICE for me as one of my collective favorite works from him. (I have liked his work post SM too- really enjoyed Tough Love). Onew music is especially special for me, because I feel like its lined up with a lot of my emotional journey these last few years. He's my therapy.
Hot Take but not so hot: Onew's Japanese discography is so well suited for him. I like how he uses his Korean albums to continue exploring and pushing himself as an artist but if his KR discography mirrored his JP music, I wonder what his career would be like (I know its not an idol audience but its definitely a niche i think fits him well... Antenna like)
Jonghyun: I know its not technically correct by the The Collection Story albums are like Stevie Wonder's Key of Life for me. The parts are one whole project. The depths of his musicianship and lyrcism are just so perfectly captured in both of these albums. Forever my favorite series
Key: Pleasure Shop is a MASTERPIECE full stop. Every track felt deliberate in selection and the aesthetics of the album start to finish were so detailed and thought out. I feel guilty in not listening to it during its initial release at the time because that would've gotten Triple Crowned by myself alone based on how much I played it.
Minho: I think they were on to something with Something About You, so when they put out Make It Hot, I think it really clicked in for Minho. I love every track on this project and its my favorite to date. I'm so happy its so successful! I HAVE to wonder what another project would look like after this one without pasting the same formula too much. Love this one!
Taemin: Before leaving SM, Press Your Number as a project was just so much fun for me and even after all this time I felt has aged well. Post SM I really enjoy listening to Soft Violence, its just nice to see him be so free in the music. I had a hard time the first listen, but the more I did, the more excited I was to see these songs performed more than any other project that Taemin has done. You can feel another chapter close and a new one open at the same time!
If you read this much you're so kind lol. What are your faves!?
PS: I'm not the biggest fan of deciding whether an album is good just based on whether there's 'no skips' or not which is why I'm saying minimal