Maps of Music

Mirotic (2008)

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

Mirotic was TVXQ's last Korean album with Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu, yet it became the best-selling album of 2008 in South Korea.

Key places

Recording location listed as Avex Azabu, Tokyo (2008)

Recording site Tiny Voice Production — The source lists Avex Azabu in Tokyo as a recording studio for this album. The point sits at the city centre and does not mark the building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Mirotic: fourth Korean studio album (seventh overall) by TVXQ
• Released 26 September 2008 by SM Entertainment
• Last Korean album featuring members Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu
• Described as the best-selling album of 2008 among Korean second-generation idol albums
• Title single became a staple song of K-pop according to critics

Background

• Production began in 2007; the title was not decided until January 2008
• Junsu wrote the lyrics for "Picture of You" and Changmin wrote the lyrics for "Love in the Ice"
• Jaejoong and Yoochun composed and wrote lyrics for two tracks on Version C
• The word "Mirotic" was coined by Jaejoong, combining miro (maze) and the suffix -tic
• Title song composed by Danish producers Remee, Lucas Secon and Thomas Troelsen
• Choreography made by Korean choreographers together with Kenny Wormald
• Wormald had also worked with Justin Timberlake, Chris Brown and Christina Aguilera
• Title song uses a reverse beat track
• German singer Sarah Connor later bought the copyright to the song
• November 2008: Korean Commission of Youth Protection ruled the lyrics provocative and overly sexual
• Album was labeled unsuitable for people under 19; performances had to be broadcast after 10pm

Recording

• Album in production from 2007
• Recording location listed as Avex Azabu in Tokyo (point placed at city centre)

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 2003 by SM Entertainment as a five-member boy band; debuted December 26, 2003 with the single "Hug" (2004).
• Yunho was appointed the band's leader; the name Dong Bang Shin Ki was finalized after several alternatives.
• Tohoshinki (東方神起) was the Japanese-market name adopted after signing with Avex Group in late 2004.

Members

• Current members: U-Know Yunho (leader) and Max Changmin.
• Former members Hero Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun and Xiah Junsu left in 2010 and formed JYJ.

Career

• Early Korean albums Tri-Angle (2004), Rising Sun (2005), "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. (2006) and Mirotic (2008) topped domestic charts; "O"-Jung.Ban.Hap. won Album of the Year at the 21st Golden Disk Awards.
• In Japan, the band became mainstream stars after The Secret Code (2009); their Best Selection 2010 was the first album to top the Oricon Albums Chart.
• After a 2010 split, Yunho and Changmin returned as a duo with Keep Your Head Down (2011); later albums include Tone (2011), Time (2013), Tense (2014), Tree (2014), New Chapter #1 (2018) and XV (2019).
• The duo held a three-day performance at Tokyo Dome on April 27, 2025 for their 20th anniversary.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• IZM editor Hwang Seon-eop gave the album 3.5 out of 5 stars
• He praised the record's production and the group members' performance
• Music critics gave the album positive reviews overall

Reappraisal

• Described as TVXQ's most critically successful album to date
• Title single won nine number-one trophies on Korean music programs
• Follow-up single "Wrong Number" did not match the title single's success but was an acclaimed K-pop hit
• Album later earned the name "Album of the Decade" among second-generation idol albums

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Hanteo charts
• Sold 110,000 albums in one week, a one-week sales record on that chart
• Version A sold over 208,000 copies in a month
• Cumulative sales passed 500,000 copies 109 days after release
• First Korean album in four years, since Seo Taiji's 7th Issue, to break 500,000 sales
• Sold over 594,000 copies in South Korea by 2022
• Won the Disk Daesang at the 23rd Golden Disk Awards
• Won Album of the Year at the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · ko.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Jaejoong coined the word "Mirotic" from the Korean miro (maze) and the English suffix -tic
• Sarah Connor bought the copyright to the title song and released her own version
• The title single won nine number-one trophies across three Korean music programs
• Version B left out tracks 11 and 12, so the three versions have different track lists
• In November 2008 the Youth Protection Commission's ruling led to 19+ stickers and a broadcast limit after 10pm

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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