''Tonight'' is the fourth extended play of

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 ...

n boy band

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 ...

. It was their first new material released in South Korea after two-year hiatus as a group. Upon its release, the album and its lead single of the same name became a chart-topper in various South Korean and international music charts. It was released on February 24, 2011, 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 ...

. A repackaged edition titled ''Big Bang Special Edition'' was released on April 8, 2011, and featured a new track "Love Song" as the lead single.

Background

While writing the songs for the then-untitled album, leader

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 ...

and lead rapper

T.O.P Choi Seung-hyun (; born November 4, 1987), better known by his stage name T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and ...

began to break away to collaborate on their GD & T.O.P project. According to G-Dragon, the group was trying a "new combination" with their music, in which the vocalists

Taeyang Dong Young-bae (; born May 18, 1988), better known by his stage names Taeyang (meaning "sun" in Korean) and SOL (when performing in Japan), is a South Korean singer, songwriter and dancer. After appearing in Jinusean's music video "A-yo", Taey ...

Daesung Kang Dae-sung (Hangul: 강대성; born April 26, 1989), better known mononymously as Daesung and his Japanese stage name D-Lite, is a South Korean singer, actor and television personality who made his musical debut in 2006 as a member of the Sou ...

, and

Seungri Lee Seung-hyun (; born December 12, 1990), better known by his stage names Seungri (Hangul: ) and V.I (when performing in Japan), is a former South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, businessman and sex offender convicted of facilitating prosti ...

were to record their own music as a trio while the remaining two were to branch off as a duo since they had not been with their fans for the past two years. Although the division of the group was initially for Big Bang's materials only, G-Dragon and T.O.P saw positive response to their materials from the fans and went to Yang Hyunsuk, CEO of

, to allow the duo to release an album.

Composition

After the promotions for GD & T.OP. collaboration ended, the group reunited to record the tracks to be included for ''Tonight''. Songs from the album have been reportedly recorded variously over the two years span that the group was on hiatus. G-Dragon describes the music from the extended play as "very cheerful" in hopes of cheering up their listeners. Though the group's previous extended plays contained songs that were heavily influenced by

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

, the group decided to concentrate more on "warm rock music."

Promotion and release

After nearly two-year hiatus, Big Bang made their comeback in South Korea in February 2011 which kicked off with their annual concert, ''Big Show 2011''. There, they also showcased songs from ''Tonight'', performing before an audience of 40,000 fans. The show was aired online by SBS and

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, ...

. The performance has been hailed as "sensual and stylish" as well as "luxurious" by Lee Soo-yeon of Newsen while it was called "fresh and bold" by Yonhap News, which also went on to state that "Big Bang has come back brilliantly." Park Young-gun of the Star News also applauded the group for their use of lavish props, calling the performance "compelling" and "explosive" and declaring that "Big Bang has come back stronger than ever." The show was watched by a nationwide audience of 5.7%, higher than the 4.9% expected. Revenues from the concert were reported to be

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the cen ...

43 billion ( $38 million). Teaser photos of the group's music video for their lead single ''Tonight'', which was written solely by G-Dragon with the rap parts written by T.O.P, were also released online. The group also acknowledged their return to the music industry by posting it as their status on Taeyang's

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account.

Reception

Critical reception

The EP has received mostly positive praises, with Expo Flat News complimenting it for its "impressive, sophisticated sound textures." The lead single "

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

" was also praised for its "sophisticated electronic sound" paired with acoustic guitar. Lee Jeon-hyuk of Sports Chosun hailed the group's comeback as "brilliant" while Choi Jun of Asiae complimented the group's new direction in their music, acknowledging that during the two years of hiatus, the group's "style and musical sensibility addeepened." Despite this, the group have been criticized for their over-use of electronic sound.

Commercial performance

''Tonight'' peaked at number one on the weekly Gaon Album Chart in addition to the monthly chart for February 2011. The album has sold 100,000 copies in South Korea. Internationally, it charted at number 3 on the ''Billboard'' World Albums chart, also number 3 on the

Heatseekers chart The Heatseekers charts are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by ...

, and number 29 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

chart. After the release of ''Big Bang Special Edition'', it topped the weekly and monthly album charts in April 2011.

Track listing

Charts

Album

''Tonight'' ''Big Bang Special Edition''

Sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control Big Bang (South Korean band) EPs 2011 EPs YG Entertainment EPs Korean-language EPs Albums produced by G-Dragon