Neverland (U-KISS album)
Encyclopedia
Neverland is the second studio album by South Korean boy band
U-KISS
released on September 1, 2011. It is the first full-length album to feature new members, Hoon and AJ. The album's first buzz single, "Someday", was released digitally August 26, 2011. The first official single off the album, "Neverland", was released on September 1, 2011, on M-Net
along with the rest of the album. The album debuted at number one on the Hanteo Chart overcoming Super Junior
and Leesang, while the song, "Neverland" peaked at number three on Bugs Music Chart. The second single "Someday" is being promoted starting on October 16, 2011 in SBS Inkigayo, however, a music video for this track will not be released. The album will be released in the Philippines
on December 17, 2011 under Universal Records (Philippines)
.
' promotions in Jupiter for their official Japanese debut, they planned to work-out with their upcoming album. On July 11, 2011 they announced that they will come back in Saturn in September to surprise their fans with a full-length album. It has been reported that the boys worked with the best sound engineers in both Korea and Japan, while they also worked under an American producer, using top-notch facilities in Osaka, Japan. It has also been revealed that U-KISS will be working with co-label, Paran to produce a collaboration
track. On August 10, members of U-KISS posted some selcas from the set of their new music video
with a note, “In the middle of filming[...]! It’s only just the beginning! Everyone, get nervous~”. Each of the members also began sharing updates from the set via Twitter
. The boys are seen with unique style changes and dramatic smoky eye make up. On August 25, 2011, an album teaser was released on U-KISS' official YouTube
Channel, while the full-track for Someday was revealed on August 26, 2011, on M-Net. The music video for "Neverland" was revealed on September 1, 2011, along with the official release of the album and a live performance on-screen.
, preceded by Soribada
and other Korean MP3
sites. "Someday" was composed by Denzil "DR" Remedios, who composed hits for Super Junior, and Ryan Jhun, who composed most of the hits from SHINee
, f(x) and the like. Just after the release, U-KISS became the second most-searched topic on Korean sites, Naver and Nate.
The second single, "Neverland", was released on September 1 along with the other tracks from the album. "Neverland", in contrast to the autotune trend, the vocals were recorded one by one to show off the member's singing ability. It was written by JD Relic , produced by conductor Ryan Jhun as well as Adam Kapit, and Korean lyrics by Misfit.
" (2010). Songs encompassed with synthpop elements include "Baby Don't Cry", "Obsession", "Tell Me Y", "On the Floor" and "Top That". However, the album is dominated mostly by ballad
s. One of these is "Someday" which shows how vast the vocal ability that U-KISS
possesses. Another ballad track included in the album is "Take Me Away" which is a duet of lead singers, Kevin
and Hoon. Other tracks present are "Love of a Friend" and "Story of April" which is a duet between leader Soohyun and Brave Girl's Eunyoung. Aside from that, one country song
is also attached in the album--- a U-KISS-Paran duet entitled "We'll Meet Again". It is the longest track from the album and features the boys conversing at the first three minutes of the tracks , which is very unusual for an album track.
flipping a red disc. As he plays the disc, a silhouette
image of U-KISS
is shown along with the snow
that falls into them. The beat starts with Kevin's
singing his part accompanied by a heavily-choreographed routine. Kiseop
comes singing next changing his clothes from all-black suit to a suit with snowy-white fur. Eli
sings next as the group appears dancing in a white-furred suit. Hoon and AJ come next singing their parts as the dance steps are being emphasized. The maknae, Dongho
buzzes his lines next as he runs his hands into his face as he ends his part with a line, "...and we stay forever young". Soohyun then supplements the video singing as diminutive snows fall into him. Kevin then come stretching his arm while singing, whereas Kiseop opens for the chorus
. The chorus of the song offers an intense choreography
ranging from dark to lighter video shots, which then ends to the members falling into the ground while AJ raps another stanza. The members then standing one-by-one as Kevin lift-offs his second stanza. Kiseop appears next singing with a black-violet colored hair as choreography shots continues with Kevin. Hoon starts his line with "Hey" as the members jump in a slow-motion shot. Eli, Kiseop and Dongho sings respectively while they dance to the beat. Hoon and Kevin sing the second refrain while Soohyun opens the second chorus with,"...kkeuteun eobseo neverland". On the bridge of the song, a U-KISS
shaped ice becomes rapidly thicker while Dongho is shown first rapping in an area with ice-stalactites, followed by AJ and Eli. U-KISS then wearing an all-white suits dancing a heavily-choreograph routine with complex hand and feet gestures in a dance floor filled with water. Leader Soohyun then gives the highest note in the song, then the bridge of the song continues. It then goes on to the chorus showing a powerful and concentrated dance moves. The video ends with U-KISS forming a trianglular position with Eli on the front, while "U-KISS Neverland" appears on the top and the NH Media Logo on the right-most bottom while the TwelveRounds logo appears on the other side.
studio albums an idol group has put out in 2011. He futher stated, "...Far better than the last album I reviewed — and that came from SM Entertainment. U-KISS’s ‘Neverland’ is an album that manages to draw the listener in from the start and you won’t find yourself skipping past many of the songs. A testament to how well paced the album is with good songs."He also praised other songs from the album such as "Someday" where he stated that the song is perfect for their American debut. He gave a rating of 5/5 to the title track, "Neverland", while a 4/5 for "Take Me Away" and "Someday". However, he also pointed-out that the lamest tracks from the album are "Obsession", which he gave it a rating of 2/5, and "Top That", which got a 2.5/5. SEOULBeats praised the title track as "mindblowing and effective" and wrote that, "The verses themselves are almost abrupt, but the pre-chorus gets it absolutely right. And we need to hand it to the chorus as well, it has a simple kind of intensity." However, they criticized the pre-chorus and the rap part where they stated, "...pre-chorus seems almost detached from the rest of the verses,[...] kind of gets lost in the song, something which could be fixed with a cleaner transition. The rap as well is questionably placed, and that awkward instrumental portion that follows it[...] but still, generally a good job".
has been reported performing their title track on September 8, 2011, through M-Countdown. The teaser of the music video is now U-KISS's most-viewed teaser on YouTube
, garnering about 360,000 views in a week and increased another 48,000 views 24 hours later. The music video was released on September 1, along with the album. The video for "Neverland" reached a total of 730,000 views just within 72 hours of release and reached a total of 1,000,000 views within the next two days. This has been U-KISS's most-viewed video to date in a short span of time. On September 3, 2011 it has been reported that member, Eli
sustained a knee injury while rehearsing for their first comeback stage. An associate of NH Media stated, “Eli has been ordered to stay in bed and rest for at least 10 days. We’re planning on going forward with just six members instead. The choreography [...] requires power and technique, so it could have resulted in Eli’s injury. As a result, we’re planning on changing the choreography". However, Eli was reported taking painkillers during their performance at the Open Music Festival to lessen his strain while on-stage.
U-KISS
buzzes their first promotion on-air. On September 5, 2011, U-KISS performed "Someday", "0330" and "Neverland" on MBC's Younha Starry Night. On September 7, 2011, they appeared on KBS's Kiss the Radio where they sang most of their songs from the album. They also started their TV promotions on M!Countdown on September 8, 2011, performing "Someday" and "Neverland", while they made their comeback on Music Core on the following day.
had stolen the spotlight away from U-KISS with their comeback track, "Step" on all of the music programs. The producer, Ryan Jhun of Marcan Entertainment burst his sentiments on Twitter
, dissing KARA because the song he produced for U-KISS
was unable to take the number-one spot on various music programs. Aside from that, he also described KARA's performance as "...corny, and bitch." Negative comments from KARA's fans started an outrage, which caused a sudden fanwar between U-KISS's Kissmes and KARA's Kamillas. In response to the incident, U-KISS leader,' Soohyun, decided to take responsibility for the said incident and apologized profusely to KARA and their fans. While KARA fans felt relieved by his apology, some U-KISS fans felt upset, as they thought that Soohyun should not have apologized since he was not directly involved with the controversial tweets. Through Twitter, Soohyun posted, "... it's all my fault. In truth, I've just found out about all this now. I apologize to our seniors, KARA, and our seniors' fans… I'm so sorry[...] this won't happen again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Also, KISS ME's [U-KISS's fan club], please stop fighting..." The producer also reacted after the leader's tweet, and apologized saying, "It's all my fault. Please don't accuse the boys of anything. This won't happen again."
On September 17, 2011, Ryan Jhun sent his letter of apology to a K-pop blog, allkpop to post his letter on the website. He felt that the character limits on Twitter is not enough for him to express his apology. The letter goes as this,
on August 21 after selling 1,629,879 digital download sales from August 21 to August 28. It climbed six spots in its second week on the chart from its debut at Top 140. Meanwhile, "Neverland" entered the chart landing at Top 50 for garnering a total of 6,151,934 digital downloads and streams from August 28 to September 3, 2011. On September 12, "Someday" entered the Billboard
Korea K-Pop Hot 100
at number 100 while "Neverland" occupied the number 58 position, the latter also placing as the tenth Biggest Jumper in the chart on the said week. Meanwhile, "Neverland" dropped out of Hanteo Charts four days after its release, but zoomed back to number one on September 15, 2011.
Recording
Producers and composers
Guitar
Choreography
Make-up
Head personnel
Recording studio
Recording engineer
Stylist
Boy band
A boy band is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of only male singers. The members are expected to dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances. More often than not, boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on...
U-KISS
U-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
released on September 1, 2011. It is the first full-length album to feature new members, Hoon and AJ. The album's first buzz single, "Someday", was released digitally August 26, 2011. The first official single off the album, "Neverland", was released on September 1, 2011, on M-Net
Mnet Media
Mnet Media is a South Korean entertainment company under the label CJ Group, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It produces, broadcasts, distributes and provides variety of music and entertainment. Once the home to top-selling groups such as Lee Hyori and SG Wannabe...
along with the rest of the album. The album debuted at number one on the Hanteo Chart overcoming Super Junior
Super Junior
Super Junior is a South Korean boy band. Formed in 2005 by producer Lee Soo-man of SM Entertainment, the group comprised a total of thirteen members at its peak, and was once claimed to be the world's largest boy band...
and Leesang, while the song, "Neverland" peaked at number three on Bugs Music Chart. The second single "Someday" is being promoted starting on October 16, 2011 in SBS Inkigayo, however, a music video for this track will not be released. The album will be released in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
on December 17, 2011 under Universal Records (Philippines)
Universal Records (Philippines)
Universal Records Philippines Inc. is a Filipino record label founded in 1977 as a part of Warner Music Group. Since 1992, it became independent.-History:URPI was founded in 1977 as WEA Records Philippines Inc...
.
Background and development
During U-KISSU-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
' promotions in Jupiter for their official Japanese debut, they planned to work-out with their upcoming album. On July 11, 2011 they announced that they will come back in Saturn in September to surprise their fans with a full-length album. It has been reported that the boys worked with the best sound engineers in both Korea and Japan, while they also worked under an American producer, using top-notch facilities in Osaka, Japan. It has also been revealed that U-KISS will be working with co-label, Paran to produce a collaboration
Collaboration
Collaboration is working together to achieve a goal. It is a recursive process where two or more people or organizations work together to realize shared goals, — for example, an intriguing endeavor that is creative in nature—by sharing...
track. On August 10, members of U-KISS posted some selcas from the set of their new music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
with a note, “In the middle of filming[...]! It’s only just the beginning! Everyone, get nervous~”. Each of the members also began sharing updates from the set via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. The boys are seen with unique style changes and dramatic smoky eye make up. On August 25, 2011, an album teaser was released on U-KISS' official YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
Channel, while the full-track for Someday was revealed on August 26, 2011, on M-Net. The music video for "Neverland" was revealed on September 1, 2011, along with the official release of the album and a live performance on-screen.
Singles
The album has a total of thirteen tracks which were mostly composed and recorded in South Korea and Japan. The first official single, "Someday", was released on August 26, 2011, via M-NetMnet Media
Mnet Media is a South Korean entertainment company under the label CJ Group, headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. It produces, broadcasts, distributes and provides variety of music and entertainment. Once the home to top-selling groups such as Lee Hyori and SG Wannabe...
, preceded by Soribada
Soribada
Soribada is the first Korean peer-to-peer system. It started service in 2000. Soribada has been referred to as "the Korean Napster" and means "Ocean of Sound" or "Receiving Sound"Soribada was closed in 2002 by court order of Judge Kim Sun-Hye...
and other Korean MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
sites. "Someday" was composed by Denzil "DR" Remedios, who composed hits for Super Junior, and Ryan Jhun, who composed most of the hits from SHINee
SHINee
Shinee is a contemporary R&B South Korean boy band. Formed by SM Entertainment in 2008, they made their debut on May 25, 2008 on SBS's Inkigayo with their promotional single, "Noona Neomu Yeppeo "...
, f(x) and the like. Just after the release, U-KISS became the second most-searched topic on Korean sites, Naver and Nate.
The second single, "Neverland", was released on September 1 along with the other tracks from the album. "Neverland", in contrast to the autotune trend, the vocals were recorded one by one to show off the member's singing ability. It was written by JD Relic , produced by conductor Ryan Jhun as well as Adam Kapit, and Korean lyrics by Misfit.
Music
The title track, "Neverland", is an electropop song and another installation of the "U-KISS Power Dance" genre in which the group has been consistently pursuing since "Man Man Ha Ni" (2009) and "Bingeul BingeulBingeul Bingeul
Bingeul Bingeul is a song performed by South Korean boyband, U-KISS from the group's first full length album, Only One...
" (2010). Songs encompassed with synthpop elements include "Baby Don't Cry", "Obsession", "Tell Me Y", "On the Floor" and "Top That". However, the album is dominated mostly by ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s. One of these is "Someday" which shows how vast the vocal ability that U-KISS
U-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
possesses. Another ballad track included in the album is "Take Me Away" which is a duet of lead singers, Kevin
Kevin Woo
Kevin Woo , is a Korean-American singer, currently a member and lead vocal of a seven-member South Korean boy band, U-KISS, formed by NH Media in 2008. Bandmates include Shin Soohyun, Lee Kiseop, Ellison Kim, AJ, Hoon and Shin Dongho. Previous Members Include Alexander Lee Eusebio and Kim Kibum...
and Hoon. Other tracks present are "Love of a Friend" and "Story of April" which is a duet between leader Soohyun and Brave Girl's Eunyoung. Aside from that, one country song
Country Song
"Country Song" is a song by Pink Floyd. David Gilmour provides the lead vocals . It was originally meant to be on the soundtrack to the film Zabriskie Point, but Michelangelo Antonioni didn't want it in the film...
is also attached in the album--- a U-KISS-Paran duet entitled "We'll Meet Again". It is the longest track from the album and features the boys conversing at the first three minutes of the tracks , which is very unusual for an album track.
Music Video
The "Neverland" teaser was released on August 24, 2011 on U-KISS's official YouTube page. The official music video for "Neverland" was released days later on August 31st and the dance version was subsequently released September 25th.Synopsis
The video starts with an unknown disc jockeyDisc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
flipping a red disc. As he plays the disc, a silhouette
Silhouette
A silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
image of U-KISS
U-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
is shown along with the snow
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation within the Earth's atmosphere in the form of crystalline water ice, consisting of a multitude of snowflakes that fall from clouds. Since snow is composed of small ice particles, it is a granular material. It has an open and therefore soft structure, unless packed by...
that falls into them. The beat starts with Kevin's
Kevin Woo
Kevin Woo , is a Korean-American singer, currently a member and lead vocal of a seven-member South Korean boy band, U-KISS, formed by NH Media in 2008. Bandmates include Shin Soohyun, Lee Kiseop, Ellison Kim, AJ, Hoon and Shin Dongho. Previous Members Include Alexander Lee Eusebio and Kim Kibum...
singing his part accompanied by a heavily-choreographed routine. Kiseop
Lee Kiseop
Lee Kiseop is a South Korean idol singer and is currently one of the seven-member South Korean boy band , idol group U-KISS, under NH Media Entertainment. Other members include Kevin Woo, Shin Soohyun, Ellison Kim, Shin Dongho, Kim JaeSeop & Yeo Hoon Min.Kiseop is the seventh member to the former...
comes singing next changing his clothes from all-black suit to a suit with snowy-white fur. Eli
Kim Eli
Kim Kyoung-Jae or Ellison Kim , popularly known as Kim Eli, is an American-born South Korean idol singer and one of the seven-member Korean boyband, U-KISS under NH Media Entertainment. Eli is very well known as a trainee for Taekwondo and Kung Fu...
sings next as the group appears dancing in a white-furred suit. Hoon and AJ come next singing their parts as the dance steps are being emphasized. The maknae, Dongho
Shin Dongho
Shin Dongho is a South Korean idol singer and member of the Korean boyband, U-KISS under NH Media Entertainment. Dongho is the youngest of the members which include Kevin Woo, Lee Kiseop, Shin Soohyun, Kim Eli, Kim Jaesop and Yeo Hoon Min. Dongho can communicate in Mandarin because he studied in...
buzzes his lines next as he runs his hands into his face as he ends his part with a line, "...and we stay forever young". Soohyun then supplements the video singing as diminutive snows fall into him. Kevin then come stretching his arm while singing, whereas Kiseop opens for the chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
. The chorus of the song offers an intense choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
ranging from dark to lighter video shots, which then ends to the members falling into the ground while AJ raps another stanza. The members then standing one-by-one as Kevin lift-offs his second stanza. Kiseop appears next singing with a black-violet colored hair as choreography shots continues with Kevin. Hoon starts his line with "Hey" as the members jump in a slow-motion shot. Eli, Kiseop and Dongho sings respectively while they dance to the beat. Hoon and Kevin sing the second refrain while Soohyun opens the second chorus with,"...kkeuteun eobseo neverland". On the bridge of the song, a U-KISS
U-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
shaped ice becomes rapidly thicker while Dongho is shown first rapping in an area with ice-stalactites, followed by AJ and Eli. U-KISS then wearing an all-white suits dancing a heavily-choreograph routine with complex hand and feet gestures in a dance floor filled with water. Leader Soohyun then gives the highest note in the song, then the bridge of the song continues. It then goes on to the chorus showing a powerful and concentrated dance moves. The video ends with U-KISS forming a trianglular position with Eli on the front, while "U-KISS Neverland" appears on the top and the NH Media Logo on the right-most bottom while the TwelveRounds logo appears on the other side.
Critical reception
The album has received a lot of positive critical reviews. One writer, Emily Wu from Ningin, complimented the album as a stunning transformation from what they saw in the first half of the year and that the music video does not disappoint fans after seeing the teaser previously. She stated that she was impressed with the video and how it was shot. She further stated, "this dance and choreography seems to be their most complicated one yet. There is a lot of movement[...] If the choreography already looks amazing in the MV, imagine just superb it will look live on stage! [...] looks pretty synchronized, which makes the dancing more aesthetic to look at. Meanwhile, Mithun Divakaran from Mithunonthe praised it as easily one of the best K-popK-pop
K-pop is a musical genre consisting of electropop, hip hop, pop, rock, and R&B music originating in South Korea...
studio albums an idol group has put out in 2011. He futher stated, "...Far better than the last album I reviewed — and that came from SM Entertainment. U-KISS’s ‘Neverland’ is an album that manages to draw the listener in from the start and you won’t find yourself skipping past many of the songs. A testament to how well paced the album is with good songs."He also praised other songs from the album such as "Someday" where he stated that the song is perfect for their American debut. He gave a rating of 5/5 to the title track, "Neverland", while a 4/5 for "Take Me Away" and "Someday". However, he also pointed-out that the lamest tracks from the album are "Obsession", which he gave it a rating of 2/5, and "Top That", which got a 2.5/5. SEOULBeats praised the title track as "mindblowing and effective" and wrote that, "The verses themselves are almost abrupt, but the pre-chorus gets it absolutely right. And we need to hand it to the chorus as well, it has a simple kind of intensity." However, they criticized the pre-chorus and the rap part where they stated, "...pre-chorus seems almost detached from the rest of the verses,[...] kind of gets lost in the song, something which could be fixed with a cleaner transition. The rap as well is questionably placed, and that awkward instrumental portion that follows it[...] but still, generally a good job".
Promotion
The full album became available physically on September 1, 2011, at all music stores in South Korea. U-KISSU-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
has been reported performing their title track on September 8, 2011, through M-Countdown. The teaser of the music video is now U-KISS's most-viewed teaser on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, garnering about 360,000 views in a week and increased another 48,000 views 24 hours later. The music video was released on September 1, along with the album. The video for "Neverland" reached a total of 730,000 views just within 72 hours of release and reached a total of 1,000,000 views within the next two days. This has been U-KISS's most-viewed video to date in a short span of time. On September 3, 2011 it has been reported that member, Eli
Kim Eli
Kim Kyoung-Jae or Ellison Kim , popularly known as Kim Eli, is an American-born South Korean idol singer and one of the seven-member Korean boyband, U-KISS under NH Media Entertainment. Eli is very well known as a trainee for Taekwondo and Kung Fu...
sustained a knee injury while rehearsing for their first comeback stage. An associate of NH Media stated, “Eli has been ordered to stay in bed and rest for at least 10 days. We’re planning on going forward with just six members instead. The choreography [...] requires power and technique, so it could have resulted in Eli’s injury. As a result, we’re planning on changing the choreography". However, Eli was reported taking painkillers during their performance at the Open Music Festival to lessen his strain while on-stage.
U-KISS
U-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
buzzes their first promotion on-air. On September 5, 2011, U-KISS performed "Someday", "0330" and "Neverland" on MBC's Younha Starry Night. On September 7, 2011, they appeared on KBS's Kiss the Radio where they sang most of their songs from the album. They also started their TV promotions on M!Countdown on September 8, 2011, performing "Someday" and "Neverland", while they made their comeback on Music Core on the following day.
Incident against KARA
On September 16, 2011, U-KISS’s producer Ryan Jhung for their title track, "Neverland" felt distraught as KARAKara (band)
Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media . The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara (Hangul: 카라, Japanese: カラ, often stylized as KARA) is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara...
had stolen the spotlight away from U-KISS with their comeback track, "Step" on all of the music programs. The producer, Ryan Jhun of Marcan Entertainment burst his sentiments on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, dissing KARA because the song he produced for U-KISS
U-Kiss
U-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
was unable to take the number-one spot on various music programs. Aside from that, he also described KARA's performance as "...corny, and bitch." Negative comments from KARA's fans started an outrage, which caused a sudden fanwar between U-KISS's Kissmes and KARA's Kamillas. In response to the incident, U-KISS leader,' Soohyun, decided to take responsibility for the said incident and apologized profusely to KARA and their fans. While KARA fans felt relieved by his apology, some U-KISS fans felt upset, as they thought that Soohyun should not have apologized since he was not directly involved with the controversial tweets. Through Twitter, Soohyun posted, "... it's all my fault. In truth, I've just found out about all this now. I apologize to our seniors, KARA, and our seniors' fans… I'm so sorry[...] this won't happen again. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Also, KISS ME's [U-KISS's fan club], please stop fighting..." The producer also reacted after the leader's tweet, and apologized saying, "It's all my fault. Please don't accuse the boys of anything. This won't happen again."
On September 17, 2011, Ryan Jhun sent his letter of apology to a K-pop blog, allkpop to post his letter on the website. He felt that the character limits on Twitter is not enough for him to express his apology. The letter goes as this,
"I would like to respond for the incident that occurred yesterday on Twitter. With the deepest regret, I would like to apologize for my behavior and remarks towards the Twitter members involved. I would like to also sincerely apologize to not only KARA and their fans, but also to U-KISS, their management and their fans. My behavior was extremely inappropriate, immature, and lacked the respect that everyone deserved. After reflecting on my actions, I realized that I let my emotions get the best of me. I allowed myself to become emotionally involved in conversations of an anti-fan nature, and subsequently got improperly defensive. In the future, I have every intention of curbing my thoughtless actions and learn to adjust my behavior befitting of the environment and situation. Again, I am sorry for my actions and I hope that we can put this matter behind us. I look forward to all that KARA and U-KISS have in store for the future, and will support them with my whole heart in the future."
Neverland Asia Tour
U-KISS announced that they'll be taking Neverland to six different countries in the coming month which grants Kissmes request from all over Asia. The group recently received 15 invitations from different countries all over the world as a part of their promotions for Neverland. U-KISS has decided to set out on a 15,000 kilmeter journey across Asia, right in the middle of their promotions. Starting with Malaysia on September 24, China on September 27, and Taiwan on October 3. They will still be attending music programs in Korea as well as several concert events in Changwon, Mokpo, and Gumi. The tour then continues as they will also visit Thailand, while Philippines on the latter date of October will serve as the last stop for the tour.Track listing
Chart performance
Unofficial single, "Someday" entered the Gaon ChartGaon Chart
The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
on August 21 after selling 1,629,879 digital download sales from August 21 to August 28. It climbed six spots in its second week on the chart from its debut at Top 140. Meanwhile, "Neverland" entered the chart landing at Top 50 for garnering a total of 6,151,934 digital downloads and streams from August 28 to September 3, 2011. On September 12, "Someday" entered the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Korea K-Pop Hot 100
Korea K-Pop Hot 100
The Korea K-Pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in the United States and South Korea. It is launched in conjunction with Billboard and Billboard Korea on August 25, 2011 and is based on digital sales via leading websites as well as downloads from mobile service sites using an industry-standard...
at number 100 while "Neverland" occupied the number 58 position, the latter also placing as the tenth Biggest Jumper in the chart on the said week. Meanwhile, "Neverland" dropped out of Hanteo Charts four days after its release, but zoomed back to number one on September 15, 2011.
Single chart
| Song | Peak chart position | |
|---|---|---|
| KOR | US | |
| Gaon Chart Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts... |
K-Pop Korea K-Pop Hot 100 The Korea K-Pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in the United States and South Korea. It is launched in conjunction with Billboard and Billboard Korea on August 25, 2011 and is based on digital sales via leading websites as well as downloads from mobile service sites using an industry-standard... Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... |
|
| "Someday" | 107 | 100 |
| "Neverland" | 37 | 51 |
Album chart
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Hanteo Daily Album chart | 1 |
Release history
| Standard | |
|---|---|
| Country | Date |
| South Korea | |
| Philippines Philippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
|
Album personnel
Credits to the album are as follows:Recording
- U-KISSU-KissU-KISS is a South Korean boy band formed by NH Media in 2008. The members of the group are Soohyun, Eli, Kevin, Dongho, Kiseop, Hoon and AJ . Alexander and Kibum became former members, when their contracts were terminated in early 2011,The group has released two full-length albums, five extended...
- artist, chorus - Kevin WooKevin WooKevin Woo , is a Korean-American singer, currently a member and lead vocal of a seven-member South Korean boy band, U-KISS, formed by NH Media in 2008. Bandmates include Shin Soohyun, Lee Kiseop, Ellison Kim, AJ, Hoon and Shin Dongho. Previous Members Include Alexander Lee Eusebio and Kim Kibum...
- lead vocals, vocals - Shin Soohyun - main vocals, vocals
- Shin DonghoShin DonghoShin Dongho is a South Korean idol singer and member of the Korean boyband, U-KISS under NH Media Entertainment. Dongho is the youngest of the members which include Kevin Woo, Lee Kiseop, Shin Soohyun, Kim Eli, Kim Jaesop and Yeo Hoon Min. Dongho can communicate in Mandarin because he studied in...
- vocals, rap - Lee KiseopLee KiseopLee Kiseop is a South Korean idol singer and is currently one of the seven-member South Korean boy band , idol group U-KISS, under NH Media Entertainment. Other members include Kevin Woo, Shin Soohyun, Ellison Kim, Shin Dongho, Kim JaeSeop & Yeo Hoon Min.Kiseop is the seventh member to the former...
- vocals, rap, composer - Yeo Hoon Min - lead vocals, vocals, composer
- Kim Jaeseop - vocals, rap, composer, lyric producer
- Kim EliKim EliKim Kyoung-Jae or Ellison Kim , popularly known as Kim Eli, is an American-born South Korean idol singer and one of the seven-member Korean boyband, U-KISS under NH Media Entertainment. Eli is very well known as a trainee for Taekwondo and Kung Fu...
- vocals, rap - Paran - chorus
Producers and composers
- Ryan Jhun - composer, producer, arranger
- Adam Kapit - composer, producer, arranger
- Misfit - lyric producer
- JD Relic - arranger, chorus
- Antwann Frost - arranger
- Denzil "DR" Remedios - composer, producer, arranger, chorus
- Ryan Jhun - mastering (mastering done at Marcan Entertainment)
- Jay Deasel - producer, arranger
- C-LUV (Groove Network) - Lyric producer, chorus
- Gim Chi Hyang (김지향) - Lyric producer
- JUNE - Lyric producer
- GR8MOON - Lyric producer
- &E - Lyric producer, composer
- Bag Seong Cheo (S2 Revolution) - Music producer
- SWIN - Music producer, Composer, chorus
- Stay Tuned - composer, arranger
- Min Syeong So - chorus
Guitar
- Tommy Kim
- Ham Jeon Ho
- VanD - Creative director
- Ee Yeong Hin - Art director and design
- BBOWOO - Photo
- Choi Bo Yoon - Photographer
Choreography
- A TO Z
- Sin Hyeong Chon
Make-up
- J. Chiyeon - Hair designer
- Hyoyeon, Namcho - Make-up artist
Head personnel
- NH Entertainment Media Group Co.,LTD - Executive producer, A&R Management
- Gim Nam Hee (김남희) - Chief producer
- Gim Cheong Tae (김종태) - Adviser
- Gim Myeong Hoon (김명훈) - Director
- Ee Cheong Ha (이종하) - Vice president
- Goo Te San (구태산) - General manager
- Sim Heu Seog (심흐석) - International repertoire manager
- Gim Taeyeon (김태언) - Publishing and coordination
- Win Taeyeon (윈태연) - Chief manager
- Sin Moon Seong (신문성) - Department manager
- Min Chi Yeong (민지영) - Public relations publicity
- Gim Ropino (김루피노) - Assistant manager
Recording studio
- Brungh Studio in Osaka, Japan
- WSOUND
- Velvet Studio
- Mojo Studio
Recording engineer
- Cho Chun Seong - mixer
- HAPPEN - engineer, mixer
- Gang Hae Go (Creative Studio) - engineer, mixer
- Gyin Hae Un (W Sound) - engineer
- Sin Yong Sig (Velvet Studion) - engineer, mixer
- Gim Han Byeol (Mojo Studio) - engineer, mixer
- Man Cheong Beom (TD Sound) - mixer
- Gim Gee Yuan (Masterkey) - mixer
- Sonic Korea - Mastery
- Big Boom - Master engineer
Stylist
- NAPI STYLE - Dress design
- Sin Yo Sin - Style director, designer
- Lee Seoyeong - Chief stylist
- Gim Gang Heu - Chief Stylist
- Lee Yeun Yeong - General stylist
- Chang Yuri, Lee Hyoseon, Gang Yeun Bi - Assistant stylist
External links
- "Neverland" music video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Official website
- Official website