''Lion Heart'' is the fifth

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

studio album and the eighth overall by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. Produced by

Lee Soo-man Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...

, ''Lion Heart'' musically encompasses styles of electropop and bubblegum pop. It was released in two parts throughout August 18 and August 19, 2015, by

S.M. Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

; another version with a different cover titled ''You Think'' was distributed on August 26, 2015. This is the group's first Korean studio album without former member Jessica who was removed from the group on September 30, 2014. The album spawned three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

. Its lead single, "

Party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often featur ...

", was released on July 7, 2015, and peaked atop the Gaon Digital Chart, further reaching number ten on the Japan Hot 100. It was followed up by " Lion Heart" and " You Think" in August 2015, charting at number four and thirty on the Gaon Digital Chart, respectively. In order to promote the record, Girls' Generation appeared on several South Korean music programs, such as ''

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...

'', '' Show! Music Core'', and '' Inkigayo'', where they performed material from the album. The group additionally embarked on a concert tour named

Girls' Generation's Phantasia Girls' Generation's Phantasia was the fourth concert tour headlined by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation, in support of their fifth studio album '' Lion Heart'' (2015). The tour was officially announced in October 2015, began on November ...

, which commenced on November 21, 2015, in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

and visited

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

Background and composition

According to Slant Magazine's Anzhe Zhang, ''Lion Heart'' consists of primarily bubblegum pop songs. Echoing Zhang's viewpoint, Chester Chin from Malaysian newspaper '' The Star'' wrote that the album was a collection of bubblegum pop tracks. The record's opening track, " Lion Heart", is a soul pop-influenced bubblegum pop song which embraces a retro-styled sound while being instrumented by basslines and

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

. "

" was detailed as an electropop song that is backed up by

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, synthesizers and

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

. Aside from the signature sound, ''Lion Heart'' also encompasses several other genres; " You Think" was characterized as an electropop and hip hop recording featuring

trap A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research. Trap or TRAP may also refer to: Art and entertainment Films and television * ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...

beats and

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

in its composition. "One Afternoon" draws influence from bossa nova and incorporates Spanish guitars, while "Show Girls" portrays an electropop song originally recorded in

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

for the group's 2014 greatest hits album, ''

The Best Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

''. "Check" is a mild R&B track, and "Sign" was described as a dark synthpop song. "Bump It" is a hybrid of various genres that incorporates hi-hat beats.

Release and promotion

Girls' Generation at DMC Festival 2015 MBC Radio DJ Concert 02

On June 30, 2015, the group released music video previews of three then-forthcoming singles "

", " Lion Heart" and " You Think", serving as a promotional tool for their first

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

studio album as an eight-member group. Details on album, including its title, release date, cover artwork and track list, were announced on August 12, 2015. The group's label,

, revealed that the record would be released in the span of two days. The first six songs—including the single "Lion Heart"—would be made available on August 18, while the remaining tracks—including the single "You Think"—would be distributed on the following day; '' Billboard'' described the release strategy as "atypical." An alternative edition of the album featuring a different artwork was additionally released on August 26, 2015, under the title ''You Think''. Following the release of the record, Girls' Generation appeared on several South Korean music programs, including KBS's ''

'', MBC's '' Show! Music Core'', and SBS' '' Inkigayo'', in order to promote the record, with them performing "Lion Heart" and "You Think". Throughout August 18–25, the group also participated and interacted with viewers through a series of mobile video live stream on Naver's mobile application "V". Subsequently, the group additionally embarked on a concert tour titled

, which kicked off on November 21, 2015, at the

Olympic Gymnastics Arena The Olympic Gymnastics Arena (), also known as the KSPO Dome since 2018, is an indoor arena located within the Olympic Park in Seoul, South Korea. It has a capacity of 15,000 and can be extended upto 20,000. It was constructed between 31 Aug ...

, and continued in visiting Japan,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. "Party" was made available as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from ''Lion Heart'' for digital purchase by

on July 7, 2015. The physical

CD single A CD single (sometimes abbreviated to CDS) is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term ''CD single'' is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD (or Mini CD). It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any si ...

was made available for purchase on July 8, 2015. An accompanying music video for the recording was released in conjunction with the release of the single. Commercially, "Party" debuted atop the Gaon Digital Chart on the chart issue dated July 11, 2015, selling 256,390 digital units within its first week of availability, bringing total sales to over 843,843 digital units in South Korea as of December 2015, thus becoming the 58th best-selling single of 2015. "Party" additionally peaked at number ten on the Japan Hot 100 and number four on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Songs. The title track was serviced as the album's second single, and its music video premiered on August 18, 2015. Subsequently, "You Think" served as the third and final single, being accompanied by a visual which was released the day following "Lion Heart"'s availability. The title track was added to Korean Broadcasting System's "K-Pop Connection" radio playlist on August 21, while "You Think" impacted KBS radio on August 23. Both songs charted on the Gaon Digital Chart, peaking at numbers four and 30, respectively.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''Lion Heart'' garnered mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. '' Slant Magazine''s Anzhe Zhang wrote that the album was released to "quash" the suspicions that Girls' Generation was declining after the departure of member Jessica in September 2014. However, she added, "while

he album He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

s great for omnivorous die-hard fans, it ultimately feels a little more than scatter-brained." Chester Chin, penning for Malaysian newspaper ''The Star'', praised the release of singles "Party", "Lion Heart" and "You Think" as "a promising start." Nevertheless, he disapproved of the rest of the album, dubbing it a "relatively tame offering" for " raversingway too quickly into filler territory" and criticizing the songs "Green Light" and "Paradise" for being too "generic." Kim Do-heon from South Korean online magazine '' IZM'' was slightly more positive towards the album, calling it "elegant", and appreciating the record's musical styles even though he felt that it was a decline compared to the group's previous albums as a nine-piece group. ''Lion Heart'' experienced commercial acclaim in South Korea. It debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart on the chart issue dated August 22, 2015, and remained on the top spot for a further week. Two weeks after its debut chart appearance, it dropped 35 positions, charting at number 36. ''Lion Heart'' was the best-selling album of August 2015 in South Korea, selling 131,228 physical copies, while overall being the 13th most-sold album of 2015 in that country with total sales of 145,044 units. ''Lion Heart'' additionally charted at number 11 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart on the chart issue dated August 31, 2015, while peaking atop the '' Billboard'' World Albums chart and becoming the group's second number one following their 2013 album, ''

I Got a Boy ''I Got a Boy'' (stylized in all caps) is the fourth Korean studio album (sixth overall) by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. It was released for digital download on January 1, 2013, by S.M. Entertainment, and was made available for ...

''.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Lion Heart''.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Lion Heart''. *S.M. Entertainment Co., Ltd. executive producer *

producer *Nam So-young director of management *Jeong Chang-hwan director of media planning *Lee Seong-soo A&R director and coordinator *Yoo Je-niA&R director and coordinator *Park Hae-inA&R director and coordinator *Jo Min-kyeonginternational A&R *Lee Seo-kyeonginternational A&R *Jeong Hyo-won publishing and copyright clearance *Kim Min-kyeongpublishing and copyright clearance *Oh Jeong-eunpublishing and copyright clearance *Park Mi-jipublishing and copyright clearance *Kim Cheol-soon recording engineer *Jeong Ui-seokrecording engineer *Jeong Eun-kyeongrecording engineer *Kim Eun-cheolrecording engineer *Lee Ji-hongrecording engineer *Oh Seong-keunrecording engineer *Baek Kyeong-hoonrecording engineer assistant *Nam Koong-jin (SM Concert Hall Studio)

mixing engineer A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...

*Koo Jong-pil (Beat Burger) (SM Yellow Tail Studio)mixing engineer *Kim Cheol-soon (SM Blue Ocean Studio)mixing engineer *Jeong Ui-seok (SM Blue Cup Studio)mixing engineer *Miles Walker (Silent Sound Studios, Atlanta)mixing engineer *Tom Coyne (Sterling Sound) master engineer *Tak Young-joon artist management and promotions *Choi Seong-wooartist management and promotions *Kim Ho-jinartist management and promotions *Kim Yong-deokartist management and promotions *Park Seong-joonartist management and promotions *Park Ki-mokartist management and promotions *Son Seung-wooartist management and promotions *Kim Yong-haartist management and promotions *Kang Mi-jooartist management and promotions *Lee Seong-sooartist planning and development *Yoon Hee-joonartist planning and development *Jo Yoo-eunartist planning and development *Kim Eun-a

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

and publicity *Jeong Sang-heepublic relations and publicity *Lee Ji-seonpublic relations and publicity *Kwon Jeong-hwapublic relations and publicity *Lee Ji-hyeonpublic relations and publicity *Kim Min-seongmedia planner *Bok Min-kwonmedia planner *Jeong Kyeong-shikmedia planner *Tak Young-joon choreography director *Hong Seong-yongchoreography director *Jae Sim (Beat Burger)choreography director *Greg Hwang (Beat Burger)choreography director *Tony Testachoreographer *Kyle Hanagamichoreographer *Jae Sim (Beat Burger)choreographer *Kevin Maherchoreographer *J.eunchoreographer *Jeong Jin-seok (Nana School)choreographer *Choi Jeong-min

international marketing Global marketing is defined as “marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in order to reach global objectives". Global marketing is also a field of study in general busin ...

*Eom Hye-young

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study big data, large amounts of information. CRM systems data collectio ...

*Park Joon-youngmusic video direction *Son Youngmusic video direction *Jeon Seong-jinmusic video direction *Hong Won-ki music video director *Ian Henrymusic video director *Lee Gi-baekmusic video director *Jo Woo-cheol art direction and

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...

*Ji-young

hair stylist A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be ref ...

*Woo-joohair stylist *Seo Soo-kyeong stylist *Seo Soo-myeongstylist *Lee Bo-rastylist *Park Soo-kyeongstylist *Ryu Ji-hyestylist *Kim Soo-binstylist *Seo Ok make-up artist *Jo Joo-youngmake-up artist *Han Jong-cheol

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

*Lee Young-hakphotographer *Kim Yong-minexecutive supervisor * Girls' Generationvocals **

Taeyeon Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and on ...

vocals ** Sunnyvocals ** Tiffanyvocals **

Hyoyeon Kim Hyo-yeon (born September 22, 1989), referred to as Hyoyeon or DJ Hyo, is a South Korean singer, dancer, DJ, and television personality. She debuted as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one ...

vocals **

Yuri Yuri may refer to: People and fictional characters Given name *Yuri (Slavic name), the Slavic masculine form of the given name George, including a list of people with the given name Yuri, Yury, etc. *Yuri (Japanese name), also Yūri, feminine Jap ...

vocals **

Sooyoung Choi Soo-young (; born February 10, 1990), professionally known as Sooyoung, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter. She was a member of the short-lived Korean-Japanese singing duo Route 0 during 2002 in Japan. After returning to Sou ...

vocals **

Yoona Im Yoon-ah (; born May 30, 1990), known mononymously as Yoona, is a South Korean singer and actress. After training for five years, she debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-Oh!GG) in Aug ...

vocals **

Seohyun Seo Ju-hyun (; born June 28, 1991), known professionally as Seohyun, is a South Korean singer, actress and songwriter. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-TTS) in August 2007, which ...

vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly chart

Year-end chart

Release history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lion Heart 2015 albums Girls' Generation albums SM Entertainment albums Korean-language albums