''Alive'' is the fourth Japanese studio album (sixth overall) by

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

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. It was released on March 28, 2012 including 10 songs: 4 Japanese versions, 2 new songs and 4 songs already released in Korean from the EP of same name. The album is the first release of the group under the label YGEX, a partnership between the Korean agency

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production compa ...

with the Japanese label Avex Trax. The album was re-released on June 20 under the name "''Alive -Monster Edition-''". It included 9 songs of the ''Alive'' original album, 1 Japanese version and 2 songs released in Korean.

Release

The album was released in five different editions: 2 CD+2DVD+Photobook (Type E comes with Goods and an exclusive video on DVD Disc 2. This version is only available at

HMV Japan Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom. The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company ...

.), 2 CD+DVD (Type B comes with the DVD Disc 2 and Type C with the DVD Disc 3) and a Regular edition.

Monster edition

A re-released edition, titled "''Alive -Monster Edition-''", was released in 3 versions: CD+DVD+T-shirt, CD+DVD and CD only.

Composition

All songs from the album were written and produced by

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), also known by his stage name G-Dragon (지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer, known as the " King of K-pop". G-Dragon is the recipi ...

. On the Korean songs, additional rap lyrics were written by

T.O.P Choi Seung-hyun (; born November 4, 1987), better known by his stage name T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and ...

. The song "Wings" was written and sung by

Daesung Kang Dae-sung (Hangul: 강대성; born April 26, 1989), better known mononymously as Daesung and his Japanese stage name D-Lite, is a South Korean singer, actor and television personality who made his musical debut in 2006 as a member of the Sou ...

. The album includes 2 original Japanese songs, such as "Ego" and "Feeling"; Japanese versions of the songs "Blue", "Fantastic Baby", "Bad Boy" and "Haru Haru", previously released in Korean and 4 originally Korean songs, "Intro (Alive)", "Love Dust", "Ain't No Fun" and "Wings",

's solo song. The Japanese version of the song "Haru Haru" was previously released on the

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

The Best of Big Bang ''The Best of Big Bang'' is the third greatest hits album by South Korean boy band Big Bang. The album was stated to release on November 23, 2011 but due to G-Dragon's scandal, it was postponed to December 14, 2011. Background The ''Japanese Bes ...

''. "Feeling" is produced and arranged by the

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and

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producer and DJ Alexander Ridha A.K.A

Boys Noize Alexander Ridha (born 22 August 1982), better known by his stage name Boys Noize, is a Berlin-based German-Iraqi electronic music record producer, songwriter, and DJ. It is similar to the name of Ridha's label, Boysnoize Records, which he estab ...

Promotions

Since the album does not have singles, all music videos from the album ("Fantastic Baby", "Blue" and "Bad Boy") were released through music TV channels, such as

MTV Japan MTV Japan (Music Television Japan) is the Japanese version of the cable television network based in Japan. It is a subsidiary of Paramount Networks Japan K.K., and was launched on November 15, 1993. It can be viewed on cable television, SKY Perfe ...

, Space Shower TV and M-ON! (

Music On! TV , also known as , is a Japanese music cable television network operated by , a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, Inc. (SMEJ). Its motto is We Believe in Music.

Live performances

The group performed the Japanese version of the song "Fantastic Baby" on

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's show ''Happy Music'' on March 30, on

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestr ...

's show ''Music Japan'' and on NTV's show ''Music Lovers'' on April 1.

Track listings

Charts

Album

''Alive'' ''Alive Monster Edition''

Sales

Certifications

Accolades

Release history

References

External links

Big Bang Official SiteBig Bang Japanese Official Site
{{Authority control Big Bang (South Korean band) albums 2012 albums YG Entertainment albums Avex Group albums Japanese-language albums Albums produced by G-Dragon Albums produced by Teddy Park