Maps of Music

Forever 1 (2022)

Where the lyrics of Forever 1 take you, and where it was really made.

Forever 1 came out after a five-year hiatus, yet it debuted at number two on South Korea's Circle Album Chart.

Key places

Recording at SM Lvyin Studio (2022)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — Credits list SM Lvyin Studio for recording tracks 1 and 9, mixing track 6, and digital editing of tracks 1 and 9. The map point is set at Seoul city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Private company studio, not open to visitors.

Album story

Overview

• Forever 1: seventh Korean studio album and tenth overall by Girls' Generation
• Released digitally on 5 August 2022 and physically on 8 August 2022 by SM Entertainment
• Released to mark the group's fifteenth anniversary since their 2007 debut
• Ten tracks, including the lead single of the same name
• First music release in five years, following the hiatus after the sixth Korean studio album Holiday Night (2017)

Background

• 17 May 2022: SM Entertainment announced a new album in August, ending the five-year hiatus
• 4 July: member Sooyoung teased on tvN's Take Care of Me This Week that a seventh studio album was coming
• 24 July: SM Entertainment announced the title Forever 1 and the 8 August physical release date
• 25 July: promotional schedule released, moving the digital version to 5 August, three days before the physical release
• 27 July: track count of ten and the lead single were confirmed
• Songwriter Kenzie, who previously helped write the group's singles Into The New World (2007), Oh! (2010), and All Night (2017), took part in the production
• Teasers for the lead single's music video were released on 4 and 5 July

Recording

• Credits list recording across several SM studios, including SM Lvyin Studio, SM Yellow Tail Studio, SM Ssam Studio, and SM Big Shot Studio, plus MonoTree Studio
• Mixing and digital editing were handled by multiple SM studios, with mastering by 821 Sound Mastering on all tracks

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed by SM Entertainment; known as SNSD and SoShi
• Originally a nine-member group; Jessica departed in September 2014, leaving eight members
• Members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, Seohyun
• Debuted August 5, 2007 with "Into the New World"

Career

• 2009 breakthrough with "Gee", a record nine consecutive weeks at No. 1 on KBS Music Bank
• Oh! (2010) won the Disk Daesang at the Golden Disc Awards, the first and only female act to win the Album Daesang
• Japanese debut in 2011; first non-Japanese girl group to have three number-one albums on the Oricon Albums Chart
• Called "The Nation's Girl Group" in South Korea
• First Asian girl group to reach five YouTube music videos with over 100 million views
• Subgroups TTS, Girls' Generation-Oh!GG, and Girls' Generation-HRS; members have pursued solo careers since 2017
• Reunited for the 15th anniversary in 2022 with Forever 1

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• NME: Tanu I. Raj gave the album a four-star review and described it as a revisit of the group's classic sounds and songs recast into a more modern, mature image
• Pitchfork: Joshua Minsoo Kim praised the album as a concise record and named it among Girls' Generation's best, citing the group's lack of musical identity compared to their juniors, which made them as versatile as ever
• Nylon and Idology ranked the album among the best K-pop albums of 2022
• Critics gave the album generally positive reviews

Reappraisal

• Recent critical reception is limited to the release-period reviews and year-end lists listed above

Records

• South Korea Circle Album Chart: debuted at number two (chart issue dated 7-13 August 2022)
• South Korea monthly chart: debuted at number five (August 2022)
• Japan Billboard Japan Hot Albums: debuted at number 18 (chart issue dated 10 August 2022)
• Japan Oricon Albums Chart: debuted at number 14 (chart issue dated 29 August 2022); later rose to number nine (chart issue dated 12 September 2022)
• Oricon Digital Albums Chart: debuted at number four (chart issue dated 15 August 2022)
• Oricon Combined Albums Chart: debuted at number 48 (chart issue dated 22 August 2022); later rose to number eight (chart issue dated 12 September 2022)
• United States Billboard Heatseekers Album: debuted at number 16
• United States Billboard Top Current Album Sales: debuted at number 88 (chart issue dated 20 August 2022)
• United Kingdom OCC UK Digital Albums: debuted at number 28 (chart issue dated 12-18 August 2022)
• Australia ARIA Top 50 Digital Albums: debuted at number ten
• Australia ARIA Top 20 Hitseekers Albums: debuted at number one (chart issue dated 15 August 2022)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ahead of the release, on 5 August 2022, the group held a live event on YouTube and TikTok to introduce the album and celebrate the anniversary with fans.
• Sooyoung's July 2022 teaser on a TV variety show was the first public hint that a seventh studio album was coming.
• Songwriter Kenzie's earlier work on the group's singles Into The New World, Oh!, and All Night links this album to the group's past hits.
• The digital release was set three days earlier than the physical release, a schedule chosen to mark the fifteenth anniversary.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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