''Always'' is the first Korean EP 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 ...

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 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 ...

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 Big Bang'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 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 ...

, 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 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 M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

M! Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

. 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 Big Bang "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 Big Bang (South Korean band) EPs 2007 debut EPs YG Entertainment EPs Korean-language EPs Albums produced by G-Dragon Albums produced by Teddy Park