''Forever 1'' is the seventh

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

and by South Korean girl group

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piec ...

. It was released digitally on August 5 and physically on August 8, 2022, by

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

to commemorate the group's fifteenth anniversary since their debut in 2007. ''Forever 1'' is Girls' Generation first music release in five years, following their hiatus after the release of their sixth Korean studio album '' Holiday Night'' (2017). The album contains ten tracks, including the lead single of the same name.

Background and release

On May 17, 2022, SM Entertainment announced that Girls' Generation would be returning for their fifteenth anniversary with a new album in August, ending their five-year hiatus. On July 4, member

Sooyoung Choi Soo-young (; born February 10, 1990), known mononymously as Sooyoung, is a South Korean singer, actress, and songwriter. She was a member of the short-lived Korean-Japanese singing duo Route 0 (group), Route 0 during 2002 in Japan. After ...

teased on tvN's ''Take Care of Me This Week'' that the group would be releasing their seventh studio album. On July 24, SM Entertainment announced that the group would be releasing their seventh studio album, titled ''Forever 1'', on August 8. One day later, the promotional schedule was released, with the digital version of the album to be released on August 5, three days earlier than the physical release, to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary. On July 27, it was announced that ''Forever 1'' would contain ten tracks, including lead single "Forever 1". Songwriter Kenzie, who previously helped write the group's singles "

Into The New World "Into the New World" () is the debut single by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. Originally written in 2002, it was composed by Kenzie while the lyrics were penned by Kim Jeong-bae. It was first released to digital outlets by SM Entert ...

" (2007), " Oh!" (2010), and " All Night" (2017), announced to be participating in the album's production. Two days later, the album's mood sampler was released. Music video teasers for "Forever 1" were released on July 4 and 5. The album was released digitally alongside the music video for "Forever 1" on August 5.

Composition

''Forever 1'' consists of ten tracks. The lead single "Forever 1" was described as

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song with "energetic melody" and "exciting festival-like atmosphere" with lyrics about "eternal love for precious people who give strength anytime and anywhere". The second track, "Lucky Like That", is a

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song characterized by "strong guitar performance and powerful drum beats". The third track, "Seventeen", is an R&B

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

song with a "synth sound, heavy drum beats, and light piano melody"; members Tiffany and

participating write lyrics for the song. The fourth track "Villain" was described as a dance song with "heavy bass and drum beat", with lyrics written by Tiffany and Sooyoung and the former also participating the composition. The fifth track, "You Better Run", is an

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

song with "sharp sound and strong vocals" and lyrics about "a main character who returns and making the opponent fall into fear after foretelling revenge earlier", labeled a continuation from the group's 2010 single " Run Devil Run". "Closer" was described as a pop song with "light piano riff and sensual disco rhythm" and "an exciting vibe". "Mood Lamp," the seventh track, is an R&B song with a "soft guitar melody that creates a warm atmosphere" and lyrics that "compare the desire to protect a loved one from darkness to a scene where a mood lamp softly illuminates the bedside". The eighth track, "Summer Night", was described as medium-tempo pop song characterized by "bouncing synth and beautiful melody". The ninth track, "Freedom", is a "dreamy"

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

song with "rich harmony" and lyrics "about discovering who you really are and feeling free when you are with the person you love". The last track, "Paper Plane", was described as a medium-tempo pop song with "heavy bass and a cheerful flux synth" and lyrics containing "warm messages of supports for those who endlessly pursue their dreams with paper airplanes".

Commercial performance

''Forever 1'' debuted at number two on South Korea's

Circle Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

in the chart issue dated August 7–13, 2022; on the monthly chart, the album debuted at number five in the chart issue dated August 2022. In Japan, the album debuted at number 18 on the ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'' Hot Albums in the chart issue dated August 10, 2022. On the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

's chart, the album debuted at number 14 on the Albums Chart in the chart issue dated August 29, 2022; on the monthly chart, the album debuted at number 48 in the chart issue dated August 2022. The album also debuted at number four on the Digital Albums Chart in the chart issue dated August 15, 2022, and number 48 on the Combined Albums Chart in the chart issue dated August 22, 2022. It ascended to number nine on the Oricon Albums Chart, and number eight on the Combined Albums Chart in the chart issue dated September 12, 2022. In United States, ''Forever 1'' debuted at number 16 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Heatseekers Album The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...

, and number 88 on the ''Billboard''

Top Current Album Sales The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ' ...

in the chart issue dated August 20, 2022. In United Kingdom, the album debuted at position 28 on the OCC's UK Digital Albums in the chart issue dated August 12–18, 2022. In Australia, the album debuted at number ten on the

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

Top 50 Digital Albums Chart, and number one on the ARIA Top 20 Hitseekers Albums Chart in the chart issue dated August 15, 2022.

Critical reception

''Forever 1'' received generally positive reviews by critics. In a four-star review, Tanu I. Raj of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' described ''Forever 1'' as "a revisit of their classic sounds and songs that were recast into a more modern, mature image, creating a charming medley of the past and the present". Joshua Minsoo Kim of ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' praised the album for being a "concise record" and named it among Girls' Generation's best due to the group's "lack of musical identity compared to their juniors, making them as versatile as ever". ''

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

'' and ''

Idology ''Idology'' () is a South Korean music webzine specializing in idol criticism, founded by music expert Mimyo in 2014, and consists of about 10 writers. Mimyo, whose Korean name translates to "Subtlety", serves as the webzine's editor-in-chief. ...

'' ranked it amongst the best K-pop albums of 2022.

Promotion

Prior to the release of ''Forever 1'', on August 5, 2022, the group held a live event called "Girls' Generation 'Forever 1' Countdown Live" on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

to introduce the album and to commemorate their fifteenth anniversary with their fans.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. Studio * SM Lvyin Studio –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, mixing ,

digital editing In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic d ...

* SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording , digital editing * SM Ssam Studio – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix * SM Big Shot Studio – recording , mixing * MonoTree Studio – recording * SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing * SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing * SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing * SM Starlight Studio – mixing , digital editing * 821 Sound Mastering – mastering * Sound Pool Studios – digital editing * Doobdoob Studio – digital editing Personnel *

–

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

Lee Soo-man Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred to as the "p ...

– producer * Kenzie – producer , director , lyrics ,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, vocal directing * Lee Sung-soo – production director, executive supervisor * Tak Young-joon – executive supervisor *

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer formerly under SM Entertainment. He has produced and written songs for H.O.T., S.E.S, BoA, Shinhwa, TVXQ, CSJH The Grace, Super Junior, Girls' Generatio ...

– music and sound supervisor *

– vocals , background vocals **

Taeyeon Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...

– background vocals **

– background vocals , lyrics ** Tiffany – background vocals , lyrics , composition , vocal directing **

Seohyun Seo Ju-hyun (; born June 28, 1991), known professionally as Seohyun, is a South Korean singer, actress, and songwriter. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation (and later its subgroup Girls' Generation-TTS) in August 2007, which ...

– background vocals ** Yuri – background vocals * Ylva Dimberg – background vocals, composition * Lee Yu-ra – background vocals *

Josh Cumbee Joshua Kissiah Cumbee is an American musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his artist collaborations with Armin van Buuren and as a songwriter for other artists. Early life After high ...

– background vocals, composition, arrangement * Grace Tither – background vocals, composition * Kyle MacKenzie – background vocals, composition, arrangement * Keir MacCulloch – background vocals, composition, arrangement * Kwon Ye-jin – background vocals * Choi Hae-jin – background vocals * Gabriella Bishop – background vocals, composition * St. Louis – background vocals, arrangement * Jeon Ae-jin – background vocals * Moa "Cazzi Opeia" Carlebecker – background vocals, composition * Hwang Yu-bin (Verygoods) – lyrics * Lee On-eul – lyrics * Moon Hye-min – lyrics *

Jo Yoon-kyung Jo Yoon-kyung () is a South Korean lyricist and writer. She has written primarily for SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa. In 2017, she won Lyricist of the Year at the Gaon Chart ...

– lyrics * Yun (153/Joombas) – lyrics * Jeong Ha-ri (153/Joombas) – lyrics * Charlie (153/Joombas) – lyrics * – composition, arrangement *

Linnea Deb Linnéa Mary Hansdotter Deb (; born 23 July 1977), known professionally as Linnea Deb, is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and record producer. She has worked with artists such as Fifth Harmony, JoJo, MiC Lowry and Akon. Deb is signed to Northboun ...

– composition * David Strääf – composition * Daniel "Obi" Klein – composition, arrangement *

Charli Taft Charlotte Taft (born 3 September 1991), professionally known as Charli Taft, is a British singer and songwriter. She released her debut single "Pieces" in 2015 and has since been writing music for various Western artists and South Korean artist ...

– composition *

Andreas Öberg Andreas Öberg (born 6 August 1978) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, and music producer. Music career Öberg was born in Stockholm on 6 August 1978. At the age of seven, he began taking classical guitar lessons at school. By He twelve, he s ...

– composition * Emily Kim – composition * Katya Edwards – composition * Peter Wallevik – composition *

Daniel Davidsen Daniel Heløy Davidsen (born 30 December 1978 in Copenhagen) is a Danish-Norwegian guitarist. He is known for his participation in bands like Czesław Śpiewa and JazzKamikaze and many record appearances as a studio musician, with artists like S ...

– composition * Katy Tizzard – composition * Joe Killington – composition * Jamie Jones – composition, arrangement * Jack Kugell – composition, arrangement * Lamont Neuble – composition, arrangement * Tim Stewart – composition, arrangement * Treasure Davis – composition * Royal Dive – composition, arrangement * Sofia Kay – composition * Camden Cox – composition * Cameron Warren – composition * Fredrik "Figge" Hakan Boström – composition, arrangement * Moonshine – arrangement * Imlay – arrangement * PhD – arrangement * Lee Ji-hong – recording, digital editing , mixing * Noh Min-ji – recording , digital editing * Kang Eun-ji – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix * Lee Min-kyu – recording , mixing * Lee Joo-hyung – recording, vocal directing,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

* Choo Dae-gwan – recording , vocal directing , Pro Tools * G-high – recording , vocal directing , Pro Tools * Kim Chul-soon – mixing * Jeong Ui-seok – mixing * Nam Gung-jin – mixing * Lee Ji-heung – mixing * Jeong Yu-ra – mixing , digital editing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering * Kriz – vocal directing * Kim Yeo-seo – vocal directing * Jeong Ho-jin – digital editing * Kwon Yoo-jin – digital editing * Kang Sun-young – digital editing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

References

{{Girls' Generation Girls' Generation albums 2022 albums 2020s Korean-language albums SM Entertainment albums