''Rock U'' (also known as ''Kara 1st Mini Album'') is the first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

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 ...

girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense in the United States to denote the wave of American female pop music singing groups, many of who ...

Kara Kara or KARA may refer to: Geography Localities * Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture * Kára, Hungary, a village * Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township * Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province * Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...

. It was released on July 25, 2008. ''Rock U'' was released as the lead single. This was also the first album to feature the two new members of the group;

Kang Jiyoung Kang Ji-young (born January 18, 1994), also known as Jiyoung or JY, is a South Korean singer and actress based in Japan. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Kara. Life and career Kang Ji-young was born on January 18, 1994, in Paj ...

and

Goo Hara Goo Hara (; January 3, 1991 – November 24, 2019), also known mononymously as Hara, was a South Korean pop singer and actress. She was a member of the girl group Kara, and had also appeared in television dramas including ''City Hunter'' (201 ...

, following the departure of former member Kim Sunghee. The release also showed a big transition from the group's original "strong female" image to a "cute and natural" appeal, shifting from the R&B sound of their debut to bubblegum pop.

History

After a 10-month hiatus, Kara returned with 2 new members: 17-year-old Goo Hara and 14-year-old Kang Jiyoung. They replaced Kim Sunghee, who left for educational purposes. The song was promoted in the music shows KBS's ''

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 ...

'', MBC's ''Show! Music Core'', SBS's ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...

'' and Mnet's ''M! Countdown''. A new version of the song "Good Day" called " Good Day: Season 2" was released on October 13, 2008 as a digital single. A

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

version of the song "What's This" entered in the

special edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, or collector's edition, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints, r ...

of the group's second EP " Pretty Girl".

Chart performance

The

Gaon Music Chart The Circle Chart (), previously known as the Gaon Music Chart or the Gaon Chart (), tabulates the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in South Korea. It is produced by the Korea Music Content Association and sponsored by South Korea's ...

was launched in February 2010 as the official chart for South Korea. The album entered at number 81 for the second week of 2010 on the

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...

and peaked at number 8 for the week ending July 3, 2010. The album spent four non-consecutive weeks in the Top 10 in 2010 and became the group's second Top 10 album on the chart.

History

Chart performance

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Release history

References