The Face (album)
The Face is the sixth Japanese studio album (eleventh overall) by South Korean recording artist BoA. It was released through Avex Trax on February 27, 2008. The full album contains a total of fifteen tracks and was released in three versions; a regular CD, CD and DVD bundle, and a limited first press edition. Recorded in Japanese with minor phrases in English, The Face is a pop album containing influences from electropop.[1] BoA assumed greater creative control over the record in comparison to her previous releases.
| The Face | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 27, 2008 | |||
| Recorded | 2007–2008 | |||
| Genre | J-pop | |||
| Length | 1:05:06 | |||
| Language | Japanese | |||
| Label | Avex Trax | |||
| BoA chronology | ||||
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| Singles from The Face | ||||
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Commercially, The Face marked BoA's sixth consecutive number-one album on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, making her the solo artist with the second-most number-one albums in the country's history at the time, with the first being Ayumi Hamasaki with eight number-one albums.[2] It sold over 185,000 copies in Japan according to Oricon, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).
Four singles were released from The Face. The first single, "Sweet Impact", peaked at number five on the Oricon Singles Chart and received two gold certifications from the RIAJ. The album's second single, "Love Letter", peaked at number three on the Oricon Singles Chart and was certified gold in downloads by the RIAJ. "Lose Your Mind" was released as the third single and peaked at number six, while the final single, "Be with You", was released a week prior to the album. BoA embarked on her The Face Live Tour in support of the record, which spanned 20 concerts across Japan.
Background and release edit
"For this album, I was more particular about selecting and arranging the songs, therefore I feel that I got closer to the type of music I was looking for."
—BoA commenting on assuming greater creative control on The Face.[1]
The production of The Face started with her "Sweet Impact" single, released in mid-2007. Three months after the release of her fifth studio album, Made in Twenty (20). "Sweet Impact" was first featured in a Fasico CM in January 2007. "Sweet Impact" also features a B-side "Bad Drive" and it sold 42,789 in Japan and 5,000 in South Korea.
Approximately five months later, she released another single, entitled "Love Letter". It became her second single to be featured on her sixth studio album. The release of "Love Letter" contained the B-sides "Diamond Heart" and "Beautiful Flowers." "Beautiful Flowers" was chosen by the Yokohama BayStars (a baseball team in Japan's Central League), as the team's official theme song during their 2007 season. "Diamond Heart" was used to promote Toshiba's W53T camera, which featured BoA herself.
Three months after the release of "Love Letter", BoA once again released another single entitled: "Lose Your Mind", which was released on December 12, 2007. It hit its peak position at number six and sold total of 22,961 copies as of December 26, 2007. Shortly afterwards, BoA announced another single, "Be with You", which was planned to be released along with her sixth Japanese studio album. But due to competition on February 20, 2008, with other major artists, the album was pushed backwards a week to February 27, 2008, to avoid conflicts.
Reception edit
In a review of the album, Adam Greenberg from AllMusic wrote, "BoA put together a safe set. The sounds are well within the realm of contemporary J-pop, and the vocal demands never become too great. The songs here are nice, they're largely sugary little ballads making full use of a sweet and slightly warbling vocal, and they tend to show off components of a lot of American R&B circa 1996 or so."[3]
Music videos edit
Four music videos (or PVs) were released in support of the album: "Sweet Impact", "Love Letter", "Lose Your Mind" (featuring Yutaka Furukawa from Doping Panda), and "Be with You." The "Sweet Impact" PV was inspired by Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, wheareas the "Love Letter" PV officially aired on early September before the single's release.
The PV for "Lose Your Mind" features BoA as a supermodel on the catwalk. She and two other female backup dancers start dancing on the catwalk and are joined by three male dancers. The music video also shows BoA in a short black wig. Yutaka Furukawa from rock group Doping Panda also makes an appearance in the music video playing the electric guitar. BoA's three outfits in the music video are a huge contrast to each other. She and her backup dancers are featured wearing black clothes. Later in the music video they are all wearing more casual Japanese style clothes.
"Be with You" was featured in the Japanese film, 10 Promises to My Dog. The PV shows scenes of BoA in a canoe, on a couch, and spending time with a Golden Retriever. Also expressing how much she remembers being with you or in her case her lover. Also that she wants to live the promises that she made with him and to forget all the troubles so long as they are together.
Track listing edit
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Aggressive" | Natsumi Watanabe |
| H-Wonder | 3:41 |
| 2. | "Sweet Impact" | Ryoji Sonoda | Kazuhiro Hara | Kazuhiro Hara | 4:58 |
| 3. | "My Way, Your Way" (featuring Wise) |
| Daisuke Imai | Daisuke Imai | 4:21 |
| 4. | "Be with You." | Satomi | H-Wonder | H-Wonder | 5:12 |
| 5. | "Lose Your Mind" (featuring Yutaka Furukawa from Doping Panda) | Shoko Fujibayashi |
| H-Wonder | 3:13 |
| 6. | "Girl in the Mirror" | Shoko Fujibayashi |
| Akira | 3:08 |
| 7. | "Happy Birthday" | Chokkyu Murano | Tomomi Narimoto | Naoki-T | 4:09 |
| 8. | "Diamond Heart" | Emi Nishida | ArmySlick | ArmySlick | 4:10 |
| 9. | "Love Letter" |
| Yoko Kuzuya | Yanagiman | 5:04 |
| 10. | "Brave" | Emi K. Lynn | Sun Suyama | Shoichiro Hirata | 3:57 |
| 11. | "Gyappu ni Yarareta! (Hit by the Gap!)" (ギャップにやられた!) | BoA | Akira | Akira | 3:40 |
| 12. | "Style" | HUB | Nao Tanaka | Nao Tanaka | 3:09 |
| 13. | "Smile Again" | BoA | Nao Tanaka | Nao Tanaka | 5:39 |
| 14. | "Beautiful Flowers" | Shoko Fujibayashi | H-Wonder | H-Wonder | 3:30 |
| 15. | "Best Friend" | Hiro | Hiro | Hiro | 4:08 |
| Total length: | 61:59 | ||||
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16. | "Hey Boy, Hey Girl" (Seamo featuring BoA) | Naoki Takada |
|
| 3:47 |
| Total length: | 3:47 | ||||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sweet Impact" (music video) | |
| 2. | "Love Letter" (music video) | |
| 3. | "Lose Your Mind" (music video) | |
| 4. | "Be with You." (music video) | |
| 5. | "BoA TV -The Face of BoA- Be with You." (Limited edition only) | |
| 6. | "Special Live Performance – 65 minutes worth of clips" (Limited edition only) |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "BoA the Live "X'mas" – (8 performances)" | |
| 2. | "BoA Arena Tour 2007 Made in Twenty (20) (4 performances)" | |
| 3. | "M-Flo Tour 2007 Cosmicolor @ Yokohama Arena-the Love Bug Performance" | |
| 4. | "Be with You." (music video) | |
| 5. | "Rhythm Nation 2007 (3 performances)" |
Charts edit
Weekly charts edit | Monthly charts edit
Year-end charts edit
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Sales and certifications edit
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ)[12] | Platinum | 185,388[11] |
| South Korea | — | 11,145[13] |
Release history edit
| Region | Date | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan[14] | February 27, 2008 | ||
| CD & DVD | |||
| South Korea[13] |
|
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References edit
- ^ a b (in Japanese). Oricon. February 27, 2008. Archived from the original on September 28, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ "BoA Takes Sole Possession of 2nd Place of All Time. Brother and Sister of the Jackson Family Reach the Top 10 Together" (in Japanese). Oricon. March 4, 2008. from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
- ^ a b Allmusic review
- ^ "BoAのリリース一覧" [List of BoA's Releases]. Oricon. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- ^ "Top Albums Sales – 2008/03/05". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). March 5, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ . G-Music. March 14, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ^ (in Chinese). March 21, 2008. Archived from the original on April 3, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
- ^ [February 2008 International Album Sales]. Recording Industry Association of Korea. 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ^ "Oricon Top 100 2008: Albums". JaME. December 31, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
- ^ "Billboard Japan Top Albums Sales – 2008". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 23, 2023.
- ^ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- ^ "Japanese album certifications" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2008年02月 on the drop-down menu
- ^ a b [2008 Half Year End International Music Sales]. Recording Industry Association of Korea. 2008. Archived from the original on November 12, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
- ^ CD Japan 7dream.com AVCD-23497 AVCD-23499
External links edit
- BoA's official site