Maps of Music

Grace (2006)

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

Lee Soo-young calls this her "first album" even though it is her seventh full-length, because it was the first one made entirely on her own terms.

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Grace is the seventh full-length studio album by Lee Soo-young
It was the first album released after she moved to a new agency
Originally scheduled for October 2005, it was released on 21 January 2006 after the former agency, Phantom, issued a special album
Lee Soo-young herself calls it her "first album" because of how much she cares about it

Like her sixth full-length, it includes CCM songs
It includes the CCM song "Woori" and renames the outro "Amen", adding prayer to it to make the Protestant tone official
The title Grace refers to the grace received from Jesus Christ
The album was made without instructions from the agency and was worked on in a prayerful atmosphere

Lee Soo-young wrote the lyrics herself for all songs except two, based on her real experiences
The album was first made with lyrics from other lyricists, but that plan was dropped after the release was postponed, and she began writing lyrics herself
Apart from the jazz track "Hwahaehae", most songs have a gloomy and sad mood

Lee Soo-young (Korean: 이수영; born Lee Ji-yeon, 이지연 on April 12, 1979) is a South Korean ballad singer.
She debuted in 1999 with the hit album I Believe and quickly gained popularity due to her strong singing skills.
During the mid-2000s, she was one of South Korea's best-selling singers, selling more than 700,000 albums in 2004 alone despite a recession in the music industry at the time.
In 2001, she sang the official Korean version of the Final Fantasy X song "Suteki Da Ne", titled "얼마나 좋을까" ("Eolmana Joheulkka").
She released her seventh album, Grace, on January 21, 2006; it performed very well and shot straight to the top of the charts.
The album's popularity led to a limited edition repackage of Grace, of which only 30,000 copies were produced.

She married her boyfriend of one year in October 2010 and has one son, born in July 2011.

Many reviews said the album's overall quality was very high
Some reviews called it tedious, because many songs suddenly surge after calm passages
The first single "Grace" sounds bright, but its lyrics are sad, and it is marked by ornate arrangement and a fast tempo
The single became hugely popular right after its release

Critics evaluated the second single "Sirin" as a song that shows development
Lee Soo-young said "Sirin" is the song she is most attached to
Lee ended the promotion of the second single early for several reasons, so its run was very short and it did not gain much public popularity

Lee did not submit the album to the 2006 Golden Disc Awards, so it did not win a main award
The album was caught up in a dispute with the agency during the year of its release

The music video for the title track "Grace" starred Lee Jun-ki, who had just become a star with the film The King and the Clown
The agency denied that it cast Lee Jun-ki only to use his popularity, saying it cast him at the press screening of The King and the Clown
The music video was split into two parts, and the second part was made for the album track "Secret"
The track "Ggeut" is a remake of a song by Kōji Tamaki, a member of the Japanese band Anzenchitai, and Lee Soo-young said it shows the "future Lee Soo-young"
The track "Sarang-do Galeum-eun Swieoyaji" stands out for its strong violin session near the end, and it received strong support as the second single