[2] Heavily influenced by Hermann Hesse's coming of age novel, Demian, the concept album thematically deals with temptation and growth.

They sold a combined 1.8 million physical copies worldwide,[4] the group's highest record sales at the time.

[7] On August 31, 2016 Big Hit Entertainment released a statement announcing BTS's third global official fan club concert where they would perform new material for the first time.

[8][9] From September 4 to 13 Big Hit Entertainment released a series of short films for each member to promote the upcoming album.

[10][11] The short films started with Jungkook's "Begin",[12][13] followed by Jimin's "Lie",[14] V's "Stigma",[15] Suga's "First Love",[16] RM's "Reflection",[17][18] J-Hope's "Mama",[19][20] and ended with Jin's "Awake".

[10][30] A music video teaser[31] was also released on October 7 on YouTube, indicating "Blood Sweat & Tears" would be the lead single.

Big Hit Entertainment lastly revealed the design and details of the physical album which would include a photobook, polaroid, mini standee and poster.

[32] During the press conference for the release of the album, leader RM explained, "The harder a temptation is to resist, the more you think about it and vacillate.

"[33] Symbolism such as the 'wings' were representations of growth, with Suga adding, "The song relays an optimistic determination to use our wings to go far, even if we are met with temptations in life.

"[33] Jungkook explained during the group's preview show on V Live, that his solo track, "Begin", was about his journey to Seoul and meeting the BTS members.

On February 2 and 3 concept photos[42][43] were released on the group's official Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter accounts, indicating that the physical album would be available in two versions, designated 'Left' and 'Right'.

They also released the design and details of the physical album, accompanied by a photobook, photocard, mini standee, and poster.

The music video tied in heavily with literary, philosophical, and artistic allusions of Hermann Hesse's coming of age novel, Demian.

[75] Wings pre-orders reached 500,000[76] copies on its first week, 200,000 more than BTS' previous album, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 2.

"Blood Sweat & Tears" then broke the record for fastest K-pop music video to reach 10 million views.

[93] It spent more than one week on the chart[94] making BTS the first K-pop act to achieve the feat with a single album.

[96] BTS made their debut in the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart on the week of October 29, 2016 with a peak position at No. 20.

Together with "Not Today", "Outro: Wings" and "A Supplementary Story: You Never Walk Alone", the four new tracks held the top four slots on the World Digital Songs chart[111] making BTS the first K-pop act to do so.

[117] "With Wings, the 2016 follow-up to BTS’ spectacular breakthrough The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, the group channeled their ambitions for global domination, proving that they could remain true to their hip-hop roots while exploring new soundscapes.

Wings received mostly positive reviews from critics, for tackling social issues such as mental health and female empowerment.

Jeff Benjamin of Fuse wrote, "The rising K-pop phenoms' new album is doing it right by letting their seven members spread their artistic wings and solidifying their individual identities—all while keeping the band identity strong as ever.

Billboard branded the album an "accomplishment all its own", praising BTS' involvement in co-writing and producing and the compositional choice to allow each member a solo song reflecting individual musical styles, showing that "they can compete with top pop acts."

[122] Rolling Stone's Nick Murray named Wings "one of the most conceptually and sonically ambitious pop albums of 2016.

"[123]Billboard's Tamar Herman wrote an article on the repackaged album You Never Walk Alone, in which she described the single "Spring Day" as an "alt hip hop song infused with rock instrumentals and EDM synths" combining the rap elements for which BTS has become known with "dreamy vocals and yearning lyrics."

Herman called "Not Today" the dual single counterpart to "Spring Day", a power anthem for "all the underdogs in the world.