''Phenomenon'' is the second Japanese-language

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

of the South Korean boy group Monsta X. It was released and distributed by

Universal Music Japan , often referred to as just Universal Music Japan or UMJ, is a Japanese subsidiary of the Universal Music Group founded in 1990. It is the largest subsidiary for a foreign company in the country regarding music distribution. The company is resp ...

on August 21, 2019. It is also the last Japanese album to feature

Wonho Won-ho is a Korean masculine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 35 hanja with the reading "won" and 49 hanja with the reading " ho" on the South Korean government's official list o ...

, who left the group in October 2019.

Background and release

The album was announced on June 18, 2019 as a surprise announcement, following a live performance. The album contains nine main tracks, with special tracks varying by versions. The album included two previously released Japanese versions of the Korean title tracks "Alligator" and "Shoot Out". The title track "X-Phenomenon" was pre-released on July 15, 2019 ahead of the album's full release. A music video was simultaneously released for the song. Like their previous Japanese album, the album was released in three versions for the physical release; the regular version, and limited editions A and B. The regular version has the special track "Thriller", and limited editions A and B have the special tracks "Champagne" and "Polaroid", respectively. In August and September 2019, following the release of the album, Monsta X held a Japanese tour.

Critical reception

Chris Gillett of ''

SCMP The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...

'' wrote that ''Phenomenon'', with the exception of the Japanese versions of "Alligator" and "Shoot Out", presented "a different sound from their previous album ''

Take.2 We Are Here ''Take.2 We Are Here'' is the second part of the second Korean-language studio album by the South Korean boy group Monsta X. It was released by Starship Entertainment and distributed by Kakao M on February 18, 2019. It consists of ten songs, incl ...

''", with "a less of the EDM focused style" and "a more aggressive tone".

Commercial performance

"Livin' It Up" and the Japanese versions of "Alligator" and "Shoot Out" were all certified gold singles by

RIAJ The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include p ...

. The album sold more than 56,000 copies in Japan, and debuted at number two on both

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

and ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine ''Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence from ''Bi ...

'' Hot Albums chart.

Track listing

Charts

Album

Weekly charts

Songs

Weekly charts

Certification and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phenomenon 2019 albums Japanese-language albums Universal Music Japan albums Monsta X albums