Maps of Music

Seo Taiji and Boys IV (1995)

Where the lyrics of Seo Taiji and Boys IV take you, and where it was really made.

The leader decided to disband the group while recording this album, and the album went on to become the group's best-seller.

Key places

Recorded at Bay Studio, Seoul (1995)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — Bay Studio in Seoul is listed as a recording location for this album. The point is set at the city centre, not at the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

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

Recorded at Ocean Way Studios, Los Angeles (1995)

Recording site Ocean Way Recording — Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles is listed as a recording location for this album. The point marks the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Seo Taiji and Boys IV: fourth and final studio album by the Korean trio Seo Taiji and Boys
• Released October 5, 1995
• Sold over 2.4 million copies, one of the best-selling albums in South Korea
• The group's best-selling album
• Singles: 'Come Back Home' and 'Regret of the Times'
• 'Come Back Home' was voted the year's most popular K-pop song by netizens in 2005

Background

• 'Come Back Home' was a foray into gangsta rap
• Seo Taiji wrote the song about his own experiences running away from home
• The third track, 'Pilseung' (필승, lit. Must Triumph), was a hit with its alternative rock sound
• 'Goodbye' on this album is instrumental
• A vocal version was later released on the 1996 compilation Goodbye Best Album
• 'Free Style' was written and composed by Seo and his former Sinawe bandmate Kim Jong-seo
• Kim provides vocals on the track, appears in its music video, and included it on his own 1995 album Thermal Island

Recording

• According to Lee Juno, group leader Seo decided to disband Seo Taiji and Boys himself while recording the fourth album
• The decision came as a surprise to Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno himself
• Recording locations listed for the album: Bay Studio in Seoul and Ocean Way Studios in Los Angeles

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Seo Taiji and Boys was a South Korean music group active from 1992 to 1996.
• After the heavy metal band Sinawe broke up in 1991, Seo Taiji formed the group with dancers and backing vocalists Yang Hyun-suk and Lee Juno.
• Seo Taiji began experimenting with MIDI sounds in South Korea in the early 1990s to create a new kind of music.
• The trio debuted on MBC's talent show on April 11, 1992, with "Nan Arayo" ("I Know").

Members

• Seo Taiji: lead vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, main songwriter, leader.
• Yang Hyun-suk: backing vocals, rapper, choreography.
• Lee Juno: backing vocals, choreography.

Career

• The band won the Grand Prize at the Seoul Music Awards in 1992 and 1993.
• Their first three albums each sold over 1.6 million copies, and the fourth neared two million.
• Their second album became the first 'double million sellers' album in Korean history.
• The band pioneered rap in Korean popular music and used social critique, facing ethics and censorship pressure.
• They retired in January 1996 at the height of their popularity.
• Yang Hyun-suk later founded YG Entertainment, and Seo Taiji returned to music in 1998 with a successful solo career.
• The band was credited with providing the basis for modern K-pop and was pioneering in making dance a dominant feature of performance.

Reception

At release

• Billboard reported in April 1996 that the album was nearing the 2 million copies sold mark
• Spin critic Chuck Eddy wrote that on the fourth album the group ranged across genres, from nasal frat-hop and ska-punk to metal, blues-rock, flutes and smooth-jazz interludes

Reappraisal

• Kyunghyang Shinmun ranked the album number 36 on its 2007 list of the Top 100 Korean Albums of All Time

Records

• Sales: over 2.4 million copies, the group's best-selling album
• Billboard (April 1996): nearing 2 million copies sold
• Kyunghyang Shinmun (2007): number 36 on the Top 100 Korean Albums of All Time list

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• 'Come Back Home' was criticized for resembling Cypress Hill's 1993 hit 'Insane in the Brain'
• Cypress Hill member B-Real later said the band knew of the controversy
• 'Sidae Yugam' (Regret of the Times) was rejected by the Public Performance Ethics Committee for lyrics that criticized the government
• Seo Taiji declined to alter the lyrics, so the album includes only an instrumental version of the song
• Fan backlash contributed to the abolition of pre-censorship in June 1996, and an EP with the original vocal version followed a month later

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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