''Always'' is the first Korean
EP by
South Korean
boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...
Big Bang
The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...
, released under
YG Entertainment on August 16, 2007. Commercially, the album recorded pre-orders of 30,000 copies
and sold over 55,000 copies by the end of October 2007.
Legacy
''Always'' (2007) marked a change of BigBang's musical styles from their previous efforts, with the group experimenting with electronic dance music and setting it as the new music trend in Korea.
It was also the first release in Korean's music industry to be promoted as a "mini-album".
The lead single "
Lies" (Korean: 거짓말; Revised Romanization: Geojitmal), composed by
G-Dragon, was a no.1 hit, topping
Cyworld
Cyworld () is a South Korean social network service. Cyworld was originally part of SK communication, and became an independent company in 2014. Members cultivate relationships by forming ''Ilchon'' (, Hanja: ) or "friendships" with each other ...
charts for two months in a row,
[ ] eventually becoming their break-out hit and
Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to:
* Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year
* Dove Award for Song of the Year
* Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year
* Grammis Song of the Year
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year
* Latin Grammy Awa ...
in the 2007
Mnet Asian Music Awards
The MAMA Awards (formerly Mnet Asian Music Awards) is a major music awards ceremony presented annually by entertainment company CJ E&M. First held in South Korea, the majority of prizes has been won by K-pop artists, although there are other As ...
.
"Lies" was named the "Song of the Decade" by
Mnet's
M! Countdown. On 2016, it was labeled the "Top Male Idol Song in The Best 20 Years" by music experts. The song was revealed to be the second most downloaded in the past nine years in South Korea.
''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' stated that "Lies" placed BigBang "down the path into the realm of avant-garde experimentalism that they’ve become known for over the past few years" and called one of South Korea's "most memorable songs." The impact of the song was described by Kang Myung Suk - a music critic and former editor-in-chief of ''10Asia'' magazine. Suk wrote "in that time, the one song ‘Lies’ satisfied all the music consumers in Korea. The ‘sound’ of this song was better than the normal kpop, and the melody development was easy for anyone to enjoy. Before ‘Lies’ came out, the music charts were dominated by medium tempo ballad songs." The composition was also praised, noting that "G-Dragon made this song with memorable rap and melody pieces" and admired the song for having "no useless parts". The critic concluded "‘Lies’ has the generation's code who wants to be a step forward in the trend but comfortable at the same time, and that wants to stand out but also somewhat mix in at the same time. This was a market that not exist before Bigbang's ‘Lies, and this was the moment where the idols met this generation’s emotions."
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
References
External links
Big Bang Official Site
{{Authority control
BigBang (South Korean band) EPs
2007 debut EPs
YG Entertainment EPs
Korean-language EPs
Albums produced by G-Dragon
Albums produced by Teddy Park