Monday, 28 May 2012

BigBang's Fifth Album : ALIVE - Road to the Top

Alive
EP by Big Bang
Released February 29, 2012
Recorded 2011 - 2012
Genre K-pop, pop, dance-pop, electro-pop, electronic
Length 23:41
Label YG Entertainment
Producer G-Dragon, Teddy
Big Bang chronology
The Best of Big Bang
(2011)		 Alive
(2012)		 BIGBANG The Non Stop Mix
(2012)

Singles from Alive
  1. "Blue"
    Released: February 22, 2012
  2. "Bad Boy"
    Released: February 29, 2012
  3. "Fantastic Baby"
    Released: March 7, 2012


Alive is the fifth extended play by South Korean boy band Big Bang. It was released on February 29, 2012 by the group's record label, YG Entertainment. G-Dragon, the leader of Big Bang, was credited with writing the lyrics and composing all songs. Furthermore, T.O.P penned additional rap for all songs, excluding the intro and Daesung's solo, Wings.[1] The title of the EP refers to the period in which many of the members were on hiatus throughout the latter of 2011, due to Daesung's car accident and G-Dragon's accused marijuana scandal, and have come back to the stage showing that they had never gone.
The lead single, Blue was released a week prior to the release of the full EP, on February 21, 2012. It garnered an extremely positive response, acquiring a "perfect all-kill" among domestic music charts such as MelOn, Naver and Nate in less than an hour of its release.[2] Blue also charted internationally, topping the US Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 charts during the week. [3]
Two of the three mini-album's singles, Blue and Fantastic Baby, became a chart topper in many music charts both in South Korea and internationally, including Gaon and Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100 charts. All tracks, including the intro, Alive, charted onto online charts such as MelOn, Bugs, Mnet and more, whilst lead single, Blue, retained its number one position on many charts.[4] Internationally, Alive took out five positions of the top ten in the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 charts, once again proving their unwavering popularity.[5] Furthermore, it was also the very first Korean album to be charted on the Billboard 200.[6]



Background

Starting from January 20, 2012, YG Entertainment released information regarding Big Bang's comeback and new mini-album through various teasers posted on YG-Life's official blog.[7] It was later announced that the album would be titled Alive.[1] On February 1, 2012, YG-Life revealed the album's full tracklist and release date, which was scheduled to be February 29, 2012.[1]
The mini-album has six different versions and includes seven tracks, including a solo song performed by Daesung, titled Wings.[1]

Promotion and release

The group has also announced on their official Facebook fanpage that they would be promoting up to six of the tracks from the album by performing them live on music programs on separate cycles.[8]
On February 5, the first teaser featuring T.O.P was unveiled for the track Fantastic Baby.[9] He was dressed in steampunk styled, spiked leather clothes, while using an oxygen mask to cover part of his face. On February 13, the second teaser photo for another track, Wings, was released, featuring Daesung.[10] In the teaser photo, Daesung revealed his newly dyed blonde hair, sported a smart, printed suit with a long, platinum fringe and oxygen mask covering part of his face. On the following day, the third teaser photo was revealed for Love Dust, featuring Taeyang.[11] Here, Taeyang showed off a bold tattoo on his chest, while his face was yet again covered by an oxygen mask. On the 15th, another teaser photo was released for Bad Boy, featuring Seungri,[12] however the oxygen mask was not included in this photo. In contrast, a gurney could be seen in the background where Seungri was exposing his abs. Finally, on the 16th it featured G-Dragon promoting Blue.[13] The leader of Big Bang enclosed the dramatic theme which has already been established by the other members by posing with snow on his hair and face and donning a dramatic, classical-styled coat. G-Dragon's appearance suggested that the boys were recently resuscitated back to the main stage after a long, cold death spell.
Blue was released on February 22, 2012 as the album's first lead single.[14] In less than an hour of its release, it achieved an "perfect all-kill" on all music charts, coming in #1 on charts like MelOn, Naver and Nate.[15] On Youtube, its music video achieved over 2 million views within 24 hours. Promotions for the album began on March 11, 2012, on SBS's Inkigayo.[16]
Big Bang released previews of their upcoming title tracks on YouTube every day at 12:00AM KST from the 23rd to the 28th. On February 23, Love Dust preview was released.[17] The following day, Big Bang released their preview for "Bad Boy".[18]
When Alive was released in iTunes, it went up to hit the iTunes Top Albums Chart at no. 3 in the US and no. 7 in Canada. In an unprecedented move, Big Bang began promoting six title tracks and after their first stage at Inkigayo, they performed two new songs every week, each week with a different stage for three weeks straight.[19]
Big Bang announced their first world tour, Big Bang Alive World Tour, which will be organized by Live Nation, and will be held in 25 commercial cities in 16 different countries.[20] It kicked off on March 2 in Seoul's Olympic Park Gymnastic Stadium.[21]
On March 6, 2012, Bigbang released two Japanese promotional videos for their singles Blue and Bad Boy together with the Japanese version of their fifth mini-album.[22] The release of the Japanese version marks the second studio album of the group to be released in Japan.
On March 9, 2012, it was revealed that Big Bang obtained 5 spots out of top 10 spots in Billboard K-Pop's Hot 100 with Blue, Bad Boy, Fantastic Baby, Ain't No Fun, and Love Dust. Furthermore, their album made it to the standard Billboard 200, coming in at the 150th spot, making them the very first Korean Artist with a Korean album to do so. They also charted no. 4 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, no. 22 on Independent Albums chart, and no. 4 on the World Albums chart.[23]

Composition

Leader G-Dragon wrote the majority of the songs as well as with the help of T.O.P and Teddy Park. Teddy Park and G-Dragon produced the album with the help of other producers such as DJ Murf and Peejay. The genres of songs on this album have a wide range consisting of everything from electropop (Fantastic Baby) to urban hip hop (Bad Boy) and trot(Wings), which fully showcased the talent of Big Bang as a group with "various elements."

Track listing

No. Title Lyrics Music Arrangement Length
1. "Alive" (Intro) G-Dragon, Teddy Dee.P, G-Dragon, Teddy Dee.P 0:48
2. "Blue"   G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P Teddy, G-Dragon Teddy 3:53
3. "Love Dust" (사랑먼지; Sarangmeonji) G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P G-Dragon, Teddy Teddy 3:52
4. "Bad Boy"   G-Dragon, T.O.P G-Dragon, Choice 37 Choice 37 3:57
5. "Ain't No Fun" (재미없어; Jaemieobseo) G-Dragon, T.O.P G-Dragon, DJ Murf, Peejay DJ Murf, Peejay 3:42
6. "Fantastic Baby"   G-Dragon, T.O.P Teddy, G-Dragon Teddy 3:51
7. "Wings" (날개; Nalgae) (Daesung solo) G-Dragon, Daesung G-Dragon, Choi Pil Kang Choi Pil Kang 3:43
Total length:
 23:41
 
Still Alive – Special Edition tracklist[24]
No. Title Lyrics Music Arrangement Length
1. "Still Alive"   G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P Dee.P, G-Dragon, Teddy Dee.P  
2. "Monster"   G-Dragon, T.O.P G-Dragon, Choi Pil Kang Choi Pil Kang, Dee.P  
3. "Feeling"   G-Dragon, T.O.P Boys Noize, G-Dragon, T.O.P Boys Noize  
4. "Fantastic Baby"   G-Dragon, T.O.P Teddy, G-Dragon Teddy 3:51
5. "Bad Boy"   G-Dragon, T.O.P G-Dragon, Choice 37 Choice 37 3:57
6. "Blue"   G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P Teddy, G-Dragon Teddy 3:53
7. "Round and Round" (빙글빙글; Bingeul Bingeul) G-Dragon, T.O.P Teddy, G-Dragon, Seo Won Jin Teddy, Seo Won Jin  
8. "Ego"   G-Dragon, T.O.P G-Dragon, Ham Seung Cheon, Kang Wook Jin Ham Seung Cheon, Kang Wook Jin  
9. "Love Dust" (사랑먼지; Sarangmeonji) G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P G-Dragon, Teddy Teddy 3:52



Album chart (Korean Edition)

Chart[25][26][27] Peak
position
Japan Oricon Weekly album chart[28] 6
Japan Oricon Monthly album chart[29] 33
South Korea Gaon Weekly album chart[30] 1
South Korea Gaon Monthly album chart - February[30] 1
South Korea Gaon Monthly album chart - March[30] 3
United States Billboard 200[31] 150
United States Billboard Heatseekers Albums[32] 4
United States Billboard Independent Albums[33] 22
United States Billboard World Albums[34] 4

Sales (Korean Edition)

Chart Sales
Oricon sales 26,130
Gaon physical sales[35] 265,475

Single chart

Song Peak position
KOR US
Gaon Chart[30] K-Pop Billboard[36]
"Blue" 1 1
"Love Dust" 3 2
"Bad Boy" 2 3
"Ain't No Fun" 6 8
"Fantastic Baby" 3 2
"Wings" 8 13

Other songs charted

Song Peak position
KOR US
Gaon Chart[30] K-Pop Billboard[36]
"Alive" 18 19



Japanese version

 

Alive

Regular edition cover
Studio album by Big Bang
Released March 28, 2012
Recorded YG Studio, Seoul, South Korea
2012
Genre J-pop, pop, dance-pop, electro-pop, electronic
Length 30:43
Label YGEX
Avex Trax
Producer G-Dragon
Big Bang Japanese albums chronology
Big Bang 2
(2011)		 Alive
(2012)

Alternative Cover
Alive -Monster Edition- CD only cover


The EP was also released in Japan on March 28, 2012 as the group's fourth studio album, including 10 songs: 4 Japanese versions, 2 new songs and 4 songs already released in Korean. The album is the first release of the group under the label YGEX. It was released in five different editions: 2 CD+2DVD+Photobook (Type A comes with the Japanese version of the song "Haru Haru" as a bonus track and Type E comes with Goods and a exclusive video on DVD Disc 2. This version is only available at HMV Japan.), 2 CD+DVD (Type B comes with the DVD Disc 2 and Type C with the DVD Disc 3) and a Regular edition.[37] The album will be re-released in June 20 under the name "Alive -Monster Edition-". The album will include 9 songs of the Alive original album and 3 new songs. It will be released in 3 versions: CD+DVD+T-Shirt, CD+DVD and CD only.[38]

Promotions

To promote the album, it was released all music videos through music TV channels, such as MTV Japan, Space Shower TV and M-ON! (Music On! TV).

Live performances

The group performed the Japanese version of the song "Fantastic Baby" on NTV's show Happy Music in March 30. They are also scheduled to perform on NHK's show Music Japan and on NTV's show Music Lovers in April 1.

Track listing

No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Alive" (Intro) G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P Dee.P, G-Dragon, Teddy 0:48
2. "Fantastic Baby" (Japanese version) G-Dragon G-Dragon, Teddy 3:52
3. "Blue" (Japanese version) G-Dragon G-Dragon, Choice 37 3:54
4. "Love Dust" (사랑먼지; Sarangmeonji) G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P G-Dragon, Teddy 3:52
5. "Feeling"   G-Dragon Boys Noize, G-Dragon 3:34
6. "Ain't No Fun" (재미없어; Jaemieobseo) G-Dragon, T.O.P G-Dragon, DJ Murf, Peejay 3:42
7. "Bad Boy" (Japanese version) G-Dragon G-Dragon, Choice 37 3:58
8. "Ego"   G-Dragon Seung Chun Ham, Wook Jin Kang, G-Dragon 3:25
9. "Wings" (날개; Nalgae) (D-Lite solo) G-Dragon, Daesung G-Dragon, Choi Pil Kang 3:43
Total length:
 30:43
 
Monster Edition tracklist
No. Title Length
1. "Still Alive"    
2. "Monster"    
3. "Fantastic Baby" (Japanese version)  
4. "Blue" (Japanese version)  
5. "Love Dust" (사랑먼지; Sarangmeonji)  
6. "Feeling"    
7. "Ain't No Fun" (재미없어; Jaemieobseo)  
8. "Bad Boy" (Japanese version)  
9. "Ego"    
10. "Wings" (날개; Nalgae) (D-Lite solo)  
11. "Bingle Bingle"    
12. "Haru Haru" (Japanese version) (Bonus track)  

Charts

Oricon Sales (Japan)

Release Chart Peak position Debut sales Sales total Chart run
March 28, 2012 Daily Charts 2 23,430 92,969 8 weeks
Weekly Chart 3 52,987
Monthly Chart 7 66,043
Yearly Chart

Sales and certifications

Chart Amount
RIAJ physical shipping certification[39] Gold (100,000+)

Release history

Country Date Format Label
South Korea February 29, 2012 Digital download, CD YG Entertainment
June 3, 2012 (Still Alive)
Japan March 28, 2012 Digital download, CD YGEX
Avex Trax
June 20, 2012 (Alive -Monster Edition-)


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