The Red (album)

The Red
Studio album by Red Velvet
Released September 9, 2015
Recorded 2015
Genre
Length 33:05
Language Korean
Label
Producer
Red Velvet chronology
Ice Cream Cake
(2015)		 The Red
(2015)		 The Velvet
(2016)
Singles from The Red
  1. "Dumb Dumb"
    Released: September 9, 2015
Music video
"Dumb Dumb" on YouTube

The Red is the first full-length studio album by South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on September 9, 2015 by S.M. Entertainment and distributed by KT Music.

The album concept focuses solely on the group's "Red" image stemming from the group's name and concept, where "Red" shows their vivid and bold image.

Background and release

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 ten-song track list. On September 4, the company announced that the full album would be released at midnight on September 9, with "Dumb Dumb" as the title track.[1][2]

Following the group's concept of promoting with both "Red" and "Velvet" images, The Red will focus on their vivid and strong "Red" image. While talking about the album at a press conference on September 8, the members and the company also hinted at the The Velvet album that will follow The Red, although an S.M. Entertainment representative explained that nothing has been scheduled in particular yet.[3][4] However, it means that SM has something in mind for the near future when they say "nothing is scheduled yet" or "nothing is scheduled in particular." Moreover, Wendy later confirmed on an interview that the album is "coming after" The Red.[5]

The title track "Dumb Dumb" is an uptempo pop dance track with a groovy beat and addictive hook. The lyrics describe the feelings of a girl who feels like she can't help but act awkwardly around the person she likes. The music video for "Dumb Dumb" was released on September 8 while the full album was released on September 9.[6]

Promotions

The group held a "comeback showcase" where they performed "Dumb Dumb."[7] 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.[8]

The group made their 'comeback stage' on M! Countdown on September 10, followed by performances on Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo. Besides "Dumb Dumb," they also performed "Huff 'n' Puff" on the shows.[9]

Composition

"Dumb Dumb" is described as an uptempo dance track with an infectious hook and groovy beat. It is composed by British producers LDN Noise, who have previously written songs for fellow S.M. Entertainment artists SHINee and TVXQ.The lyrics describes a girl's awkwardness in front of the object of her affection, comparing herself to a mannequin.[10] "Huff 'n' Puff" is described as a pop dance song that sings about waking up from a dream and coming back to reality, like Alice falling down the rabbit hole.[11] "Campfire" is described as an R&B pop song that has an ear-catching rhythmical guitar intro.

"Red Dress" where a girl wears a red dress and clumsily but slyly tempts a man who treats her only as a child, "Oh Boy" which is a soulful R&B pop song genuinely presenting the singing ability of the members, and "Lady's Room," which is an R&B based pop song rendering the sisterhood between girls and the happy moments they share.

The album also presents "Time Slip" which is a hip-hop based R&B song with the lyric that describes the tightness and listlessness that one feels while going back and forth between dream and reality in the lazy morning; "Don't U Wait No More" which tells an interesting story where a girl hits on a clever idea to get closer to her boyfriend; "Day 1" which describes the feeling of love that has just begun by combining bass and piano with the sweet vocals of the members; and "Cool World" which is the synth-pop song with the hopeful lyric that tells listeners to love their uniqueness as it is rendered in members’ refreshing vocals, and all 10 songs covering various genres represent the Red”-ness of the group.

Music video

Set in a doll factory in which they are being "manufactured," the girls are dressed in various bright outfits, dancing to a unique choreography that features a mannequin dance which allude to the lyrics of the song in which a girl becomes awkward in front of the person she likes.[12][13]

Reception and commercial performance

The Red topped Billboard's World Albums Chart, their highest to date, and peaked at number twenty-four on its Heatseekers Albums chart. "Dumb Dumb" also peaked at number three on Billboard's World Digital Songs chart, making it the best-selling K-pop song in America of the week.[14] The album debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, with "Dumb Dumb" at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. The other nine tracks from the album also charted.[15] As of January 2016, the album has sold 46,571 copies in South Korea and 1,364 copies in Japan.[16][17]

The music video for "Dumb Dumb" debuted at #1 on YinYueTai's V-Chart Korea.[18] It is also the most viewed k-pop video in America and worldwide for the month of September.[19] Dazed Digital named "Dumb Dumb" their top K-pop track of 2015.[20] In December, "Dumb Dumb" was included in Rolling Stone's '10 Best Music Videos of 2015'.[21]

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)."[22] 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."[23] 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."[24]

Dumb Dumb had already sold 1,2 million digital copies, becoming the first Red Velvet single to achieve that brand and the group's best-seller so far.

Track listing

The Red
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Dumb Dumb"  Seo Ji-eum (Jam Factory), Kim Dong-hyunLDN Noise, Deanna Dellacioppa, Taylor Parks, Ryan S. Jhun3:22
2."Huff n Puff"  KenzieAlex G, Anne Preven, Will Gray, Jaden Michaels3:01
3."Campfire"  Jo Yun-kyeongLDN Noise, Taylor Parks, iDR, Ryan S. Jhun3:16
4."Red Dress"  Jo Yoon-kyeongLDN Noise, Rodnae "Chikk" Bell, Nermin Harambasic, Jin Suk Choi, Charite Viken, Ryan S. Jhun3:02
5."Oh Boy"  Goo Tae-wooHerbie Crichlow, Lauren Dyson, Jin Choi, LDN Noise3:08
6."Lady's Room"  KenzieKenzie, Daniel "Obi" Klein, Oliver McEwan, Ylva Dimberg3:15
7."Time Slip"  Moon Du-riDaniel "Obi" Klein, Johannes "Josh" Jørgensen, Charli Taft, Jinbo3:39
8."Don't U Wait No More"  100%Seo-jeong (Jam Factory)Dwayne Abernathy Jr., Taylor Parks, Ryan S. Jhun2:51
9."Day 1"  Hwang-hyun (MonoTree)Hwang-hyun (MonoTree)3:26
10."Cool World"  Im Seo-hyunDaniel "Obi" Klein, Marcus Winther-John, Andy Love4:05

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[25] 47
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[26] 1
US Billboard Heatseekers Albums[27] 24
US Billboard World Albums[28] 1

Monthly charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[29] 3

Year-end chart

Chart (2015) Position
South Korean Albums (Gaon)[30] 53

Awards and nominations

Awards Ceremonies

Year Award Award Category Result
2016 Golden Disk Awards Digital Bonsang Won

Music program awards

Song Program Date
"Dumb Dumb" The Show (SBS MTV) September 15, 2015
Show Champion (MBC Music) September 16, 2015
M! Countdown (Mnet) September 17, 2015
September 24, 2015
Inkigayo (SBS) September 20, 2015

Release history

Region Date Format Label
Worldwide[31] September 9, 2015 Digital download S.M. Entertainment
South Korea CD, digital download S.M. Entertainment, KT Music

References

  1. ↑ "Red Velvet Reveals Track List for Their First Album "Red" Through Fun Instagram Surprise". Soompi. September 3, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  2. ↑ Lee So-dam (September 4, 2015). "레드벨벳 9월9일 컴백 확정…SM 하반기 첫주자 [스포츠투데이]". Sports Today (in Korean). Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  3. ↑ Lee Seung-rok (September 8, 2015). "레드벨벳 "첫 정규앨범 '더 레드' 발표, 떨리고 설렌다" 소감". My Daily (in Korean). Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  4. ↑ Park Sojung (September 8, 2015). "Red Velvet wants to define color red for you". Yonhap News. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  5. ↑ "[스타캐스트] "덤도 말고 한가위"…웬디, 풍성한 추석인사". Naver (in Korean). September 27, 2015. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  6. ↑ Lee Nancy (September 9, 2015). "Red Velvet to Return with Full-Length Album ′The Red′ on September 9". enewsWorld. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kim Ye-na (September 4, 2015). "레드벨벳 이번 컴백으로 첫 시도하는 것들". TV Report (in Korean). Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  8. ↑ Jeong Si-woo (September 5, 2015). "레드벨벳, 'V' 통해 매력 끝판왕 등극 예고…'오방만족! Red VS Velvet' 진행". 10asia (in Korean). Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  9. ↑ Jeon Su-mi (September 5, 2015). "레드벨벳,10일 '엠카' 통해 첫 방송…특급 매력 발산 예고". enews24 (in Korean). Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  10. ↑ Lee Ji Young (September 4, 2015). "Red Velvet to Return with Full-Length Album 'The Red' on September 9". enewsWorld. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  11. ↑ Kim Chang-ryul (September 24, 2015). Gayo Plaza (in Korean). Seoul. SBS. SBS Power FM.
  12. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (September 9, 2015). "Red Velvet Drop Brassy 'Dumb Dumb' Single, Quirky 'Red' Album". Billboard. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  13. ↑ Arsenio, Romallaine (September 8, 2015). "Kpop: Red Velvet Goes Out Of This World in 'Dumb, Dumb' (VIDEO)". Headlines & Global News. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  14. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (September 15, 2015). "Red Velvet Earn First No. 1 on World Albums Chart With 'The Red'". Billboard. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  15. ↑ South Korea's Gaon Singles Chart from September 6–12, 2015 (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2015). Archived on September 18, 2015. Retrieved on September 18, 2015.
  16. ↑ South Korea's Monthly Gaon Albums Chart (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2015). Archived on October 14, 2015. Retrieved on October 14, 2015.
  17. ↑ "週間　CDアルバムランキング 2015年09月21日付" [CD albums weekly ranking - September 21, 2015] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on September 16, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  18. ↑ "音悦V榜". YinYueTai. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  19. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (October 13, 2015). "Most Viewed K-Pop Videos in America & Around the World: September 2015". Billboard. Retrieved October 16, 2015.
  20. ↑ Glasby, Taylor (December 1, 2015). "The top 20 K-Pop tracks of 2015". Dazed Digital. Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  21. ↑ Ducker, Erick (December 22, 2015). "10 Best Music Videos of 2015". Dazed Digital. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  22. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (September 9, 2015). "Red Velvet Drop Brassy 'Dumb Dumb' Single, Quirky 'Red' Album". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  23. ↑ Dorof, Jakob (December 16, 2015). "2015 WAS THE YEAR K-POP NAILED THE FULL-LENGTH ALBUM". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2015.
  24. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica (December 30, 2015). "The 10 Best K-Pop Albums of 2015". Billboard. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  25. ↑ Japan's Oricon Chart from September 7–13, 2015 (in Korean) Originally from Oricon (September 2015). Archived on September 18, 2015. Retrieved on September 18, 2015.
  26. ↑ South Korea's Gaon Album Chart from September 6–12, 2015 (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2015). Archived on September 18, 2015. Retrieved on September 18, 2015.
  27. ↑ Billboard's Heatseekers Albums chart Originally from Billboard (September 2015). Archived on September 16, 2015. Retrieved on September 16, 2015.
  28. ↑ Billboard's World Albums chart Originally from Billboard (September 2015). Archived on September 16, 2015. Retrieved on September 16, 2015.
  29. ↑ South Korea's Monthly Gaon Albums Chart (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (September 2015). Archived on October 14, 2015. Retrieved in October, 2015.
  30. ↑ South Korea's Year-end Gaon Albums Chart (in Korean) Originally from Gaon Music Chart (2015). Retrieved on April 25, 2015.
  31. ↑ "The Red - The 1st Album by Red Velvet on Apple Music". iTunes Store. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
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