Maps of Music
The Boys (2011)
Where the lyrics of The Boys take you, and where it was really made.
The title track came out of trying new producers, one of them Grammy-winning Teddy Riley, and the album went on to be the best-selling album of 2011 in South Korea.
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Overview
- The Boys: third Korean-language studio album and fourth overall by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation
- Released 19 October 2011 by SM Entertainment; distributed in South Korea by KMP Holdings
- Mostly uptempo dance tracks, with occasional empowerment ballads
- Previous collaborator Hitchhiker produced the tracks "Telepathy" and "Sunflower"
- Title track came from experimenting with new producers, including Grammy-winning producer Teddy Riley
- Alternate version Mr. Taxi added a Korean-language version of the 2011 Japanese single "Mr. Taxi"
Background
- August 2011: SM confirmed a September comeback with a third full-length album
- Release moved to October after Sooyoung was injured in an unexpected car accident
- Teaser photos of the members in fairytale roles began on 26 September 2011
- 30 September 2011: SM postponed the album indefinitely over talks about a US release
- International version released in January 2012 by Interscope in the US and Polydor in France/Europe
Recording
- Recording of the English and Korean versions of the title track took about a week, per Jessica and Tiffany
- Tiffany wrote the English rap and final chorus of the title track
- The song was the first single written by a Girls' Generation member for the group
Cover
- The US edition used the Korean single cover of the title track as its album cover
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org
Tracklist
| 1 | The Boys | 3:47 |
| 2 | Telepathy | 3:44 |
| 3 | Say Yes | 3:45 |
| 4 | TRICK | 3:14 |
| 5 | How Great Is Your Love | 3:53 |
| 6 | My J | 3:51 |
| 7 | OSCAR | 3:21 |
| 8 | TOP SECRET | 2:57 |
| 9 | Lazy Girl (Dolce Far Niente) | 3:04 |
| 10 | Sunflower | 3:48 |
| 11 | VITAMIN | 3:07 |
| 12 | MR. TAXI | 3:33 |
| 13 | The Boys | 3:47 |
| 14 | The Boys (Clinton Sparks & Disco Fries remix) | 4:17 |
| 15 | The Boys *Bring Dem Boys* | 3:37 |
| 16 | The Boys *Bring the Boys Out* (David Anthony remix) | 4:24 |
| 17 | The Boys *Bring the Boys* (Teddy Riley remix) | 4:01 |
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
- Upon release, critics gave The Boys generally positive reviews
- The title track won the Digital Daesang at the 26th Golden Disc Awards
Records
- South Korea: debuted at number 1 on the Gaon Weekly Albums chart
- South Korea: sold over 460,000 copies, the best-selling girl group album of the 2010s in the country
- South Korea: best-selling album of 2011 in the country
- South Korea: ten songs charted in the top ten of the Gaon Chart, including "Telepathy", "Top Secret", "Vitamin", "How Great Is Your Love", and "Mr. Taxi"
- Japan: number 2 on the Oricon Weekly Albums Chart, with sales of more than 100,000 copies
- Taiwan: number 3 on the G-Music chart, 26,000 copies sold
- Spain: number 64; France: number 130, each for one week
- United States: failed to enter the Billboard 200; number 2 on Billboard World Albums; number 17 on the Heatseekers Album Chart
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org
Trivia
- The song was the first single written by a Girls' Generation member for the group, with Tiffany writing the English rap and final chorus
- Jessica and Tiffany said in an MTV K interview that the English and Korean versions took a week to record
- The Korean version of "Mr. Taxi" was promoted as the album's second single and the main promotional single of the alternate version
- The alternate version was released on 8 December 2011, after the 19 October original
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org