Girls' Generation made their much-anticipated debut back in 2007 with their hit single "Into the New World." Since then, the nine-member pop group has conquered Asia with their signature sugary sweet pop songs ("Girls' Generation," "Kissing You," "Gee," and "Oh!," just to name a few) and cute, innocent look. This image bode them well early on in their career simply because the girls were, well, girls. When the group debuted, Taeyeon, the leader, was only 18 years old. Seohyun, the youngest, was just 16.

It wasn't until 2011 that we finally saw an older, sexier, more mature Girls' Generation with "The Boys," the lead single from their third album with the same name. In this pop-urban dance number, the girls show off an edgier, fiercer look, which was noticeably absent in their previous tracks. The album seemed to announce that the girls were all grown up and ready to shed the childish image that helped propel them to success. As one fan wisely pointed out, Girls' Generation members "are all over 20 now, they CAN'T always hold LOLIPOPS and sing 'OPPA, SARANGHE [I love you]!' forever."

This year, Girls' Generation are back with their fourth full-length album titled I Got a Boy, and it seems like they're continuing their transition from teen pop stars to adult singers. This is not surprising, given the fact that many young artists try to make this transformation. Some succeed (N'SYNC's Justin Timberlake and Canadian heartthrob Justin Bieber) but most largely fail (Hanson, Backstreet Boy's Nick Carter, and the Jonas Brothers' Joe Jonas).

For Girls' Generation, it seems like the jury is still out. In their native South Korea, the group's title track, "I Got a Boy," has been getting mostly mixed reactions from fans and music critics since its release on New Year's Day. "The song sucks," wrote one fan on Nate. "I really can't sit through the song." Another wrote, "If another B level group and not [Girls' Generation] came out with this song, it could not have even dreamed of ranking in the top 30."

In a recent press conference in Seoul, group member Seohyun, to her credit, acknowledged the harsh comments and said, "We expected this. When we first heard the songs, we wondered whether we could sing and dance to this." But she also defended "I Got a Boy" by saying, "We know people prefer songs with easily recognizable, repeating hooks, but we can't remain the same. This is the result of us trying to present something new with a broad perspective musically."

However, other media outlets have been quick to praise Girls' Generation's latest effort. In Billboard's rave review of "I Got a Boy," the article said that the track "is one of the most-forward thinking lead pop singles heard in any country. The girl band "set the bar truly high for pop in 2013." Billboard also added that the album "should more than satisfy not only K-Pop fans but also listeners of all types of music."

The Korea Times seemed to agree. In their review, they said "I Got a Boy" is an "evolved form of K-Pop, beginning with a hip-hop style rap and developing into electronic dance and dubstep with the girls' harmonies." The article also commented on the girls' changing style and wrote, "The girly girls are gone and the group has become much funkier," which added "more dynamism to their costume and dance performance."

We'll just have to wait and see. However, things seem to be going very well for the album: it ranked number 1 on the U.S. Billboard World Album chart. "I Got a Boy" is also number 1 on the K-Pop Hot 100 chart, and the music video became the first among K-Pop videos to reach 10 million and 20 million views the fastest, at 55 hours and 125 hours, respectively. So maybe people are warming up to it.

What do you think about Girls' Generation's latest effort?

Written by Jessica K. (KpopStarz)

Edited by KpopStarz, Soshified