jacket making-of footage; a Loppi/HMV CD+DVD limited edition that included music video making-of footage and an exclusive photo gallery; and a special Pony Canyon BTS SHOP CD-only edition that included one of eight special limited production photocards with a Christmas message on it. Two official remixes of the track were later released on May 2, 2016 on The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever compilation album. Critical reception "I Need U" was met with positive reviews from critics, several of whom noted BTS' partial auditory shift away from their classically hip-hop oriented singles and exploration of other genres "towards a more diverse, pop sound" as a turning point in the band's career that laid the groundwork for their future rise to international superstardom and propelled their "momentum further than ever before, with both local and international audiences taking note". Writing for Billboard, Tamar Herman felt the track was "less of a song and more of a revolution", calling it a "milestone of sonic development", and praised the tonal shift in the band's musicality towards a more "ambient electronic-pop sound" as a "representation of their stylistic maturing". Tassia Assis of Clash labelled it a "vital BTS track" that "thrives on a wistful atmosphere of electronic synths and emotional hooks" and "take[s] the listener on a journey that is both exhilarating and moving". NME's Rhian Daly highlighted BTS' ability to pour emotion into everything as one of the band's "greatest strengths", commenting that listeners can hear the "desperation", "ambivalence" and "vulnerability" ripe in the band's voices "as they call out: "I need you, girl / Why do I love alone and say goodbye alone" and "try to cling onto a relationship that has already died". She ranked it as the fifth greatest BTS song released. In a joint review for Vulture, Youngdae Kim and T.K. Park wrote that the "romantic chords in the intro" create a "fierce and tragic atmosphere" when they meet the "desperation-laden refrain" but, "despite the intense trap beat" and the "tense development in the rap and chord progression of the verse", it "leaves the listener with tender softness"—they called it "one of the defining tracks of BTS' career". Accolades BTS received the Best Male Dance award for "I Need U" at the 2015 Melon Music Awards. In 2019, Billboard ranked "I Need U" as the 80th greatest K-pop song of the 2010s, writing that it "shot BTS