Maps of Music

The Red (2015)

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

Red Velvet's first full album debuted at number one on Gaon, yet its total US sales were only about 3,000 copies.

Key places

Recorded at SM Studios, Seoul (2015)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — The album is listed as recorded at SM Studios in Seoul. The map point sits at the city centre, not at the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

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

Album story

Overview

• The Red: debut studio album by South Korean girl group Red Velvet
• Released September 9, 2015 by SM Entertainment, distributed by Dreamus
• Ten songs, mainly dance-pop and R&B
• Lead single 'Dumb Dumb'
• Two physical versions: a 'Red' version and a 'Blue' version
• Focuses on the group's 'Red' image with a 'fun, peppy' pop-oriented side

Background

• Followed the first major release Ice Cream Cake in March 2015
• SM Entertainment announced the first full album in early September 2015
• Image teasers and tracklist revealed on September 3
• Album released at midnight on September 9
• Continues the group's dual 'Red' and 'Velvet' promotion concept
• Later succeeded by the summer extended plays The Red Summer (2017) and Summer Magic (2018)

Recording

• Producers include LDN Noise, Ryan S. Jhun, Denzil 'DR' Remedios, Dsign Music, Kenzie, Deekay, Charli Taft, Jinbo and Dem Jointz
• SM founder Lee Soo-man served as executive producer
• 'Dumb Dumb' was composed by Ryan S. Jhun and the British team LDN Noise
• Daniel 'Obi' Klein produced three tracks, including 'Time Slip'
• 'Time Slip' marked Jinbo's first collaboration with the group

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed and managed by SM Entertainment in South Korea.
• Debuted on August 1, 2014 with the single "Happiness" as a four-member group: Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy.
• Yeri joined as the fifth member on March 11, 2015, with the release of the EP Ice Cream Cake.
• Their sound reflects the group name: a pop-centered "red" side with electronic and funk experiments, and a "velvet" side built on 90s-influenced R&B with ballad and hip hop elements.

Members

• Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, and Yeri.
• Solo debuts: Wendy (Like Water, 2021), Joy (Hello, 2021), Seulgi (28 Reasons, 2022), Irene (Like a Flower, 2024).

Career

• Korean discography includes three studio albums, one reissue, one compilation, and thirteen EPs; several topped the Circle Album Chart.
• Singles "Red Flavor" and "Power Up" reached number one on the Gaon Digital Chart.
• Japanese releases include the EPs #Cookie Jar and Sappy, and the studio album Bloom (2022).
• Won the Golden Disc New Artist Award (2015), Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Female Group (2017), and Asia Artist Award for Song of the Year (2019).
• Performed in Pyongyang, North Korea in 2018 as part of an inter-Korean concert.
• Continue as a five-member group with Wendy and Yeri's exclusive contracts ended in 2025 but staying in group activities.

Overseas

• Named among the most popular K-pop groups by Time and Billboard.
• Featured in the animated film Trolls World Tour (2020).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Billboard's Jeff Benjamin called it 'an impressive, solid debut album'
• Noisey called it 'perhaps the strongest top-to-bottom K-pop album to date'
• IZM's Kim Do-hyun gave a mixed review of two and a half stars, saying it 'should have been accompanied with more careful judgments'
• Billboard included it in its 10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015, calling it 'one of the year's most enjoyable and experimental pop LPs'

Reappraisal

• Billboard ranked 'Dumb Dumb' at number 70 on its list of the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time
• Billboard's top 25 Red Velvet songs included four tracks from this album: 'Dumb Dumb' at 4, 'Cool World' at 13, 'Time Slip' at 15 and 'Red Dress' at 21

Records

• Debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart in the week of September 6, 2015, the group's second chart-topper
• All ten tracks charted on the Gaon Digital Chart in the same week
• 46,571 copies sold, 53rd best-selling album of 2015 on the year-end Gaon Album Chart
• Almost 80,000 cumulative copies as of August 2018
• Topped the Billboard World Albums Chart, the group's first release to do so
• Peaked at number 24 on the Heatseekers Albums chart, with 3,000 copies sold as of March 30, 2018
• Debuted at number 47 on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, with almost 4,500 copies sold

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The group's first comeback stage was on M! Countdown on September 10, followed by Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo.
• A five-episode V Live broadcast called 'Satisfying Five Senses! Red vs Velvet' discussed the album's concepts; the second episode was hosted by Key of SHINee.
• The music video for 'Dumb Dumb' was released on September 8, one day before the full album.
• The album's promotion continued on the Red Room Tour of Asia in 2017.
• The album came in a 'Red' version and a 'Blue' version.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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