The Red | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | September 9, 2015 | |||
Recorded | 2015 | |||
Studio | SM Studios (Seoul, South Korea) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 33:05 | |||
Language | Korean | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Red Velvet chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Red | ||||
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The Red is the debut studio album by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on September 9, 2015, by SM Entertainment and distributed by Dreamus. [2] LDN Noise, Ryan S. Jhun, Denzil "DR" Remedios, Dsign Music, Kenzie, Deekay, Charli Taft, Jinbo, Dem Jointz, as well as others, handled production of the album, with SM founder Lee Soo-man serving as the executive producer. The record primarily showcases the group's "red" image with "fun, peppy" pop-oriented musical styles.
Upon its release, The Red received positive reviews from music critics who complimented its musical diversity. Commercially, the album became Red Velvet's second chart-topper on the Gaon Album Chart in South Korea. Internationally, it became the group's first number one album on the Billboard World Album Chart, while peaking at number twenty-four on Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart. It was later included as Billboard's 10 Best K-pop Albums of 2015.
The lead single "Dumb Dumb" was released alongside The Red, with live performances on weekly music shows for both "Dumb Dumb" and album track "Huff 'n' Puff" commencing shortly afterwards. The lead single peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart and number three on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart while becoming one of the group's signature "red" singles.
Following the group's first major release Ice Cream Cake in March 2015, S.M. Entertainment announced that Red Velvet would be returning with their first full album in early September. On September 3, a series of image teasers were revealed on the group's official Instagram account, along with the album's tracklist. On September 4, the company announced that the full album would be released at midnight on September 9, with "Dumb Dumb" serving as the lead single (aka title track). [3] [4] A series of video teasers was released since September 4, including song previews for "Huff 'n' Puff", "Don't U Wait No More", "Time Slip", "Dumb Dumb" and "Red Dress". The music video for the song was released on September 8 while the full album was released on September 9. [5] There are two physical versions for the album, a ’’Red’’ version and a ’’Blue’’ version.
Following the group's concept of promoting with both "Red" and "Velvet" images (preceded by their first EP in March 2015), The Red focuses solely on their vivid and strong "Red" image, while seeing the girl group embraces their "fun, peppy" pop-oriented side. [6] While talking about the album at a press conference on September 8, the members and the company also hinted at a similar conceptual promotion that will follow suit after The Red, although an S.M. Entertainment representative explained that nothing has been scheduled in particular yet. [7] [8] The album was later proceeded by The Red Summer (2017) and Summer Magic (2018), Red Velvet's summer special extended plays which portray a brighter, more vibrant "Red" sound of the group.
The album consists of ten songs with main incorporation from dance-pop and R&B. The opening track and lead single "Dumb Dumb" is described as "an uptempo dance track" with "infectious hook" and "groovy beat". Heavily influenced by funk and hip-hop elements, the song is composed by producer Ryan S. Jhun and British production team LDN Noise, the latter whom have previously written and produced songs for fellow S.M. Entertainment labelmate SHINee and TVXQ. The lyrics describes a girl's awkwardness in front of the person of her affection, comparing herself to that of a mannequin. [9] The rap section of "Dumb Dumb" includes several references to Michael Jackson's song discography, such as "Beat It", "Bad", "Billie Jean" and "Thriller". It is followed by "Huff 'n' Puff", an electro-pop song that features a dubstep-like breakdown that sings about waking up from a dream and coming back to reality, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. [10] The third track "Campfire" is described as an R&B pop song that has an ear-catching rhythmical guitar intro. The fourth track "Red Dress" is a dominant dance-pop track with much synth running through the song, clapping-like snare and marching-influenced drumline which tells a story in which a girl wears a red dress and clumsily but slyly tempts a man who treats her only as a child. The soulful, R&B-flavored "Oh Boy" showcases the singing ability and highlights harmonization of the girlgroup, while being the next three songs which are produced by LDN Noise. Ryan S. Jhun co-produced the former two tracks, with additional production by Denzil "DR" Remedios on "Campfire" and Dsign Music on "Red Dress".
The latter half of The Red starts with the sixth track "Lady's Room", an uptempo R&B, synth-pop song that sings about the sisterhood between girls and the happy moments they share. It was one of three tracks produced by Daniel "Obi" Klein along with the next track "Time Slip", which is a 90s-influenced hip hop-based R&B song with lyrics that describes the laziness and listlessness that one feels while going back and forth between dream and reality in the morning. "Time Slip" also sees the participation of British songwriter Charli Taft, whom had previously co-written and produced "Automatic" along with Daniel Klein, while marking the first collaboration from South Korean music producer Jinbo for the girl group. The eighth track "Don't U Wait No More" highlights the group's harmonization over a heavy synth production with a harmonized "Don't you wait no more" hook, with the lyrics revolve around a girl trying to get closer to her hesitant boyfriend, followed by the bossa nova-influenced midtempo pop-rock track "Day 1", which describes the feeling of new love by combining the electric, funky guitar sound and the melodic piano with the vocals of the members. The album ends with "Cool World", a synth-pop uptempo song with hopeful lyrics about embracing and living as themselves.
Promoting activities for the album started with a "comeback showcase" by Red Velvet where they performed "Dumb Dumb." [11] They also appeared on a 5-episode live broadcast through the Naver V-Live app called 오방만족! (Satisfying five senses!) Red vs Velvet where they discussed the various concepts of their new album. The first episode was broadcast on September 7. The 2nd episode was broadcast on September 8, with SHINee's Key as the MC. [12] The group made their first comeback stage on M! Countdown on September 10, followed by performances on Music Bank , Show! Music Core and Inkigayo . The group also performed a shortened version "Huff 'n' Puff" on the shows during their first promoting week. [13] The Red was further promoted by Red Velvet on their Red Room Asia tour in 2017, alongside their other releases from 2014 to their latest release The Red Summer at the time.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
IZM [14] |
Upon its release, The Red received positive reviews from critics for the group embracing their "quirky" side. Billboard 's Jeff Benjamin called The Red "an impressive, solid debut album" and stated that it "indicates big things for the act that needs to follow in the footsteps of their beloved female label mates Girls' Generation and f(x)." [15] while Noisey stated that it's "perhaps the strongest top-to-bottom K-pop album to date," praising its "daredevil song forms, harmonies richer and smarter than anything on western dials in a quarter-century, and nonstop virtuoso songsmith hooks—without so much as a single English inflection out of place." [16]
In a mixed review from IZM , writer Kim Do-hyun commented that the album "should have been accompanied with more careful judgments", giving the album two and a half stars, though highlighting tracks like "Campfire", "Oh Boy", "Day 1" and "Cool World". [17] Billboard also included it in their '10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015' and called it "one of the year's most enjoyable and experimental pop LPs." [18] The single "Dumb Dumb" was later included at #70 on Billboard's list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time, praising its hooks and being one of "the most addictive singles in pop". [19] Four songs from The Red were named among the top 25 Red Velvet songs by Billboard: "Dumb Dumb" at number 4, "Cool World" at number 13, "Time Slip" at number 15, and lastly "Red Dress" at number 21. [20]
On the week of September 6, 2015, The Red debuted and topped the weekly Gaon Album Chart for one week, becoming the group's second chart-topper in 2015 after their debut extended play in March 2015. [21] The entire ten tracks also charted on the Gaon Digital Chart in the same week. With 46,571 copies sold, The Red was the 53rd best-selling album in 2015 on the year-end Gaon Album Chart, and has since achieved a cumulative sales of almost 80,000 copies as of August 2018. [22] It also attained success in the United States, becoming their first release to top the Billboard's World Albums Chart, and peaked at number twenty-four on its Heatseekers Albums chart, having achieved a total sales of 3,000 copies as of March 30, 2018. [23] Elsewhere, the album also debuted and peaked at No. 47 on the Japanese Oricon Albums Chart, earning a total sales of almost 4,500 copies. [24]
The music video for "Dumb Dumb" debuted at number one on YinYueTai's V-Chart Korea. It is also the most viewed K-pop video in America and worldwide for the month of September. Dazed Digital named "Dumb Dumb" their top K-pop track of 2015. In December, "Dumb Dumb" was included on Rolling Stone 's list of the "10 Best Music Videos of 2015".
Year | Award show | Category | Result | Ref. |
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2016 | Golden Disc Awards | Album Bonsang | Nominated | [25] |
No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Dumb Dumb" |
|
| 3:22 | |
2. | "Huff n Puff" | Kenzie |
|
| 3:01 |
3. | "Campfire" | Jo Yoon-kyung |
|
| 3:16 |
4. | "Red Dress" | Jo Yoon-kyung |
|
| 3:02 |
5. | "Oh Boy" | Ku Tae-woo |
| 3:08 | |
6. | "Lady's Room" | Kenzie |
|
| 3:15 |
7. | "Time Slip" | Misfit |
|
| 3:39 |
8. | "Don't U Wait No More" | 100% Lyricism |
| Dem Jointz | 2:51 |
9. | "Day 1" | Hyun Hwang (MonoTree) | Hyun Hwang (MonoTree) | MonoTree | 3:26 |
10. | "Cool World" | Im Seo-hyun |
|
| 4:05 |
Total length: | 33:13 |
Weekly charts
| Monthly charts
Year-end chart
|
Chart | Sales |
---|---|
South Korea (Gaon) [32] | 109,573 |
Japan (Oricon) [33] | 4,478 |
United States (Billboard) [34] | 3,000 |
Region | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Various [35] | September 9, 2015 | Digital download | SM Entertainment |
South Korea | CD, digital download | SM Entertainment, KT Music |
Red Velvet is a South Korean girl group formed and managed by SM Entertainment. They originally debuted on August 1, 2014, with the single "Happiness" with the four-member line-up of Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, and Joy. A fifth member, Yeri, joined in March 2015, following the release of their first extended play, the chart-topping Ice Cream Cake. Sonically, the music of Red Velvet reflects their group name: their predominantly-pop "red" side experiments occasionally with electronic and funk, while their "velvet" side focuses on '90s-influenced R&B with elements of ballad and hip hop.
Ice Cream Cake is the debut Korean extended play by the South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released digitally on March 17, 2015, and physically on March 18 by SM Entertainment and distributed by Dreamus, marking the group's first proper release since their initial debut in August 2014 and their first release as a quintet since the addition of the group's fifth member Yeri. The extended play was released in two physical versions, named after the two singles and contained six tracks which introduced both the group's "Red" and "Velvet" sonic concept. The duality was further demonstrated by its two singles, "Automatic" and "Ice Cream Cake", with the latter becoming the group's breakthrough commercial success. S.M. founder Lee Soo-man served as the EP's executive producer, with Hayley Aitken, Trinity Music, Daniel "Obi" Klein, Charli Taft, Jam Factory, Kenzie, Teddy Riley, Cha Cha Malone, MonoTree and others contributed lyrics and production.
The Velvet is the second Korean extended play by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Released on March 17, 2016, by SM Entertainment and distributed by Dreamus, the extended play is the spiritual successor of their first full-length album The Red, which was released in September 2015. In contrast to their vivid and bright "red" image on The Red, The Velvet finds the group embracing their smooth and softer "velvet" image, incorporating mainly the R&B genre. S.M. founder Lee Soo-man continued to act as the executive producer of the extended play, with Andreas Öberg, Daniel "Obi" Klein, Charli Taft, Deez, Maria Marcus, Kenzie, as well as others contributed both lyrics and production.
Russian Roulette is the third Korean extended play by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on September 7, 2016, by SM Entertainment.
Rookie is the fourth Korean extended play by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on February 1, 2017, by SM Entertainment. The album contains six tracks, including its lead single of the same name.
The Red Summer is the first special extended play and the fifth overall by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Marketed as the group's first "special summer" release, the five-track EP was released digitally on July 9, 2017, and physically the following day by SM Entertainment. Primarily a dance-pop and EDM record, it is the second major release from Red Velvet to focus solely on their "red" concept, following their debut studio album The Red (2015). It was later proceeded by Summer Magic as both the second "special summer" extended play and the third major "red" release.
Perfect Velvet is the second studio album by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Released by SM Entertainment on November 17, 2017, the record incorporates R&B, soul and hip-hop with influences from future bass, trap and synth-pop, and saw contributions from various songwriters and production teams. The album is a portrayal of the group's "velvet" concept, making it their second major release to follow this sonic direction since their second extended play, The Velvet (2016). The album reissued as The Perfect Red Velvet on January 29, 2018.
"Red Flavor" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their first Korean special extended play, The Red Summer (2017). It was released as the lead single from the EP on July 9, 2017, through SM Entertainment and was distributed by Genie Music, along with the accompanying fruit-infused music video. Written by SM collaborator Kenzie and composed by Daniel Caesar and Ludwig Lindell, it is primarily a dance-pop song with synths and percussion. The song reflects the summer funky vibe, while the lyrics hint towards a young relationship with summer references. A Japanese version of the song, adapted by songwriter Kami Kaoru, was later included on the group's first Japanese EP, #Cookie Jar, on July 4, 2018.
"Automatic" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their debut extended play (EP), Ice Cream Cake (2015). Composed and produced by Daniel "Obi" Klein and Charlotte Taft with Korean lyrics adapted by Choi So-young, the R&B and urban song was released as the group's first single from the EP on March 14, 2015, by SM Entertainment. It marked their first release as a quintet since the addition of member Yeri. The song's lyrics tells about unraveling the feeling of attraction to the other person.
"Ice Cream Cake" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their debut extended play Ice Cream Cake (2015). Primarily a dance-rock track with influences from drum and bass, the song was written by lyricist Jo Yoon-kyung, Kim Dong-hyun, Fredrik Häggstam, Hayley Aitken, Johan Gustafsson and Sebastian Lundberg, while production and arrangement were handled by Hayley Aitken and Trinity Music. Following the release of "Automatic", it was released as the group's second single from the extended play on March 16, 2015, by SM Entertainment, along with an accompanying music video. With its parental release, the group showcased their dual sonic concept in one album for the first time as "Ice Cream Cake" was promoted as the "Red" single, in contrast to "Automatic" which was promoted as its "Velvet" single.
"Dumb Dumb" is a song by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their first studio album The Red (2015). It was written by Seo Ji-eum of Jam Factory and Kim Dong-hyun, while production and arrangement was handled by LDN Noise, Deanna Dellacioppa, Tayla Parx, and Ryan S. Jhun. An uptempo dance-pop track, its lyrics conveys a girl expressing her awkwardness regarding her feelings towards the object of her affections. It was released as the lead single of The Red on September 8, 2015 by SM Entertainment, along with an accompanying music video.
"Russian Roulette" is a song by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their third extended play of the same name. Written by Jo Yoon-kyung and produced by Albi Albertsson, Belle Humble and Markus Lindell, it is primarily an 8-bit influenced synth-pop and dance-pop song which lyrically compares the process of winning someone's heart to a game of Russian roulette. The song was released as the lead single on September 7, 2016, by SM Entertainment along with an accompanying cartoon-themed music video which saw the group mimicking cartoon tricks to pull a prank and harm each other as the video progressed.
"One of These Nights" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Composed by Hwang Chan-hee, Andreas Öberg, Maria Marcus and penned by Seo Ji-eum of Jam Factory, it was released as the lead single from their second extended play, The Velvet, which is also the group's first major release to focus on the 'Velvet' half of their unique dual concept, as a follow-up to their last album, The Red. "One of These Nights" is an R&B mid-tempo song with lyrics inspired by the story of Jingnyeo and Gyeonu, a folk tale conceived from the Korean festival Chilseok which originates from the Chinese Qixi Festival which falls on the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunisolar calendar. Originally intended to be released a day earlier, SM Entertainment delayed the song and album's release to March 17, 2016, to ensure its quality.
Summer Magic is the second special extended play and the seventh overall by South Korean girl group Red Velvet, marketed as their special "summer" EP following The Red Summer, which was released in July 2017. The EP is also the group's third major release to focus on their "Red" concept, following The Red Summer and the group's debut studio album The Red (2015). Released on August 6, 2018, the EP contains seven tracks, including the lead single "Power Up" and the English version of "Bad Boy" as a bonus track, making it their first song to be released in English.
RBB is the fifth Korean extended play and the eighth overall by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. The six-track EP was released on November 30, 2018, by SM Entertainment with iriver and Dreamus as the domestic distributor. Musically, the EP consists of five new original tracks which varied in different genres, mostly R&B and dance-pop, which became the group's third major release to focus on their "Velvet" sonic concept, following their second EP The Velvet (2016), their second studio album Perfect Velvet (2017) and its repackage The Perfect Red Velvet (2018).
The ReVe Festival: Day 1 is the third special extended play and the tenth overall by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. Released on June 19, 2019, through SM Entertainment, the extended play served as the first installation of the group's The ReVe Festival trilogy, which was later followed by Day 2 and Finale. An electro-pop and dance-pop record, the EP contains six tracks that sees the group exploring new genres. Its production was handled by various songwriters and production teams, including Caesar & Loui, Ollipop, Moonshine, Trinity Music, Ylva Dimberg, Cazzi Opeia, Ryan S. Jhun, amongst others.
The ReVe Festival: Finale is the first Korean-language compilation album by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. The album was announced and became available to pre-order on December 12, 2019, before being released by SM Entertainment on December 23, 2019, with Dreamus serving as the South Korea distributor. As the third and final release of the group's trilogy The ReVe Festival, the set contains all twelve tracks taken from two previous extended plays The ReVe Festival: Day 1 and The ReVe Festival: Day 2. With SM founder Lee Soo-man serving as the executive producer, Finale includes four new songs—"Psycho", "In & Out", "Remember Forever", and a previously unreleased "La Rouge", with the first being the lead single for the album. The album was released in two versions with different packaging artwork, while a digital EP including only the four new tracks was also released on the same date.
"Umpah Umpah" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their seventh Korean extended play (EP) The ReVe Festival: Day 2, which serves as the second installment of the group's The ReVe Festival album trilogy. The song, alongside its vacation-themed music video, was released on August 20, 2019, as the lead single from Day 2. Written by Jeon Gan-di and composed by Christoffer Lauridsen, Andreas Öberg and Allison Kaplan, "Umpah Umpah" is described as "an uptempo dance song with disco house rhythms", with the group's "lovely and cool vocals doubling the freshness". The songwriting, which includes swimming motifs, portrays somebody falling in love with the eyes and charms of the girls, using the phrase "umpah umpah" as if their love interest was learning how to control their breathing while swimming.
"Pose" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their sixth Korean extended play (EP), Queendom. It was released as part of the EP on August 16, 2021, by SM Entertainment. The up-tempo dance-pop song is written by Lee Seu-ran and composed by Fabian Torsson, Harry Sommerdahl, Ylva Dimberg, and Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker.
The ReVe Festival 2022 – Feel My Rhythm is the fifth special extended play and thirteenth overall by South Korean girl group Red Velvet, released by SM Entertainment on March 21, 2022, to commemorate the birthday of German Baroque music composer J.S. Bach. It consists of six tracks, including the lead single "Feel My Rhythm", in three physical versions, two "ReVe" versions with different covers and the "Orgel" version.