Seo Taiji and Boys (album)
| Seo Taiji and Boys | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by Seo Taiji and Boys | ||||
| Released | March 23, 1992 | |||
| Recorded | 1992 at Techno Mix Studio in Seoul | |||
| Genre | Pop, new jack swing, dance, R&B, hip hop | |||
| Length | 33:18 | |||
| Language | Korean, English | |||
| Label | Bando Records | |||
| Producer | Yudae Yeong | |||
| Seo Taiji and Boys chronology | ||||
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Seo Taiji and Boys is the debut studio album by Korean musical trio Seo Taiji and Boys. The album brought the group major success, which would continue through the band's next three albums and even frontman Seo Taiji's solo career.[1][2][3]
Overview
The first track, "Yo! Taiji," begins the album. Songs of the same name would later appear at the beginning of the trio's other three albums. The song is less than a minute long and consists of beatboxing and synthesized rhythms. It serves as sort of a segue for the album's second track. "Nan Arayo" was the album's lead single. It was a massive hit in South Korea and was often performed on various talk shows throughout 1992. In 2004, a heavy metal version was performed by Seo Taiji during his Zero Tour, in promotion of 7th Issue.
The third track, "You, In the Fantasy", is a dance song reminiscent of American dance music. A remix version was featured on the 2007 anniversary edition of the album. The fourth track, "In the Time Spent With You," is a soft song that features female backing vocals and a synthesized saxophone. "Through Tonight Growing Late" is another soft song. It features a piano. A remix of this song is featured on the 2007 anniversary edition of the album. "My Everything" is a love song and is the sixth track. "Now" is the seventh track and is arguably the slowest and most emotional song. Following this is "Blind Love", which is an English-language version of "Nan Arayo." It details Seo Taiji finding a girl and then losing her.
The ninth track is one of the more popular songs from the album. "Rock'n Roll Dance" utilizes AC/DC's classic guitar riff from "Back in Black". Harder rock elements like this would occur throughout the group's career and would be the primary element in Seo Taiji's first three studio albums, Seo Tai Ji, Ultramania, and 7th Issue, respectively. The final track, "Missing," is just over a minute long. It is an instrumental that has a police siren playing over a synthesized rhythm.
Reception
In April 1996, Billboard reported that the album had sold over 1.6 million copies.[4]
Kyunghyang Shinmun ranked the album number 24 on its 2007 list of the Top 100 Pop Albums.[5]
Spin named "Nan Arayo" number 4 on their 2012 list of the 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time.[6]
Mnet chose "Nan Arayo" as the number 1 song on their 2014 countdown Legend 100 Songs, a list of the most influential songs in Korean pop music history.[7]
In 2015, Rolling Stone named the same song number 36 on its list of the 50 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time.[8]
Track listing
All songs written and composed by Seo Taiji, except track 5 written by Yang Hyun-suk, track 8 written by William. B, and track 9 composed by Angus Young.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Yo! Taiji!" | 0:38 |
| 2. | "Nan Arayo (Club Mix)" (난 알아요 (Club Mix)) | 3:48 |
| 3. | "You, In the Fantasy" (환상 속의 그대) | 3:26 |
| 4. | "In the Time Spent With You" (너와 함께한 시간 속에서) | 4:21 |
| 5. | "Through Tonight Growing Late" (이밤이 깊어가지만) | 3:55 |
| 6. | "My Everything (Live Mix)" (내 모든 것 (Live Mix)) | 4:46 |
| 7. | "Now" (이제는) | 4:14 |
| 8. | "Blind Love (English Version)" | 3:57 |
| 9. | "Rock'n Roll Dance ('92 Heavy Mix)" | 3:11 |
| 10. | "Missing" | 1:08 |
| Total length: | 33:18 | |
| 15th Anniversary Edition (2007) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Track listing | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
| 11. | "You, In the Fantasy (Live & Techno Mix)" (환상속의 그대 Part 3 (Live & Techno Mix)) | 3:43 |
| 12. | "Through Tonight Growing Late (Live & Techno Mix)" (이 밤이 깊어가지만 (Live & Techno Mix)) | 5:14 |
| 13. | "Rock'n Roll Dance (Live & Techno Mix)" | 5:16 |
| 14. | "Nan Arayo ('04 Zero Live)" (난 알아요 ('04 Zero Live)) | 4:26 |
| 15. | "Nan Arayo (TV Edit)" (92 난 알아요 (TV Edit)) | 3:24 |
| Total length: | 55:19 | |
Personnel
- Seo Taiji − vocals, arrangement, computer programming, synthesizer, guitar on tracks 2, 3 & 8
- Yang Hyun-suk − vocals
- Lee Juno − vocals
- Son Mu-hyeon − guitar on track 6
- Shin Daechul − guitar on track 9
- Kim Jong-seo − chorus
- Jang Hye-jin − chorus
- Lee Jung Sik − saxophone
References
- ↑ True, Chris. "Seo Tai-Ji". allmusic.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ↑ "Seo Taiji And Boys – Goodbye Best Album". discogs.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ↑ "K-pop still feels impact of Seo Taiji & Boys". koreaherald.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
- ↑ Seoul Music: Rockin' in Korea; April 20, 1996. Billboard. p. 18.
- ↑ "[대중음악 100대 명반]24위 서태지와 아이들 '서태지와 아이들'". Kyunghyang Shinmun (in Korean). 2007-11-15. Retrieved 2016-06-29.
- ↑ "The 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time". Spin. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
- ↑ "[난 알아요, 엠넷 선정 최고 의 노래 선정]". Busan Ilbo (in Korean). 2014-06-03. Retrieved 2016-07-04.
- ↑ "50 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2016-06-29.