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''Mirotic'' is the fourth Korean studio album (seventh overall) by South Korean pop group
TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!; , ), known as Tohoshinki in Japan, is a South Korean pop duo formed by SM Entertainment, composed of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. Originally a five-member boy band which also consisted of members Kim Jae-joong, Hero ...
, released on September 26, 2008, 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 ...
. This is the group's last Korean album to feature members Jaejoong,
Yoochun Park Yoo-chun (born June 4, 1986), formerly known as Micky Yoochun and better known by the mononym Yoochun, is a Korean-American singer-songwriter and actor. He is a former member of the South Korean boy bands JYJ and TVXQ. He has starred in d ...
and
Junsu Kim Jun-su (; born December 15, 1986), known mononymously as Junsu or known under the stage name XIA ( ; ) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, dancer and musical actor. He is a member of JYJ, and was one of the original members of boy band TVX ...
. The album was a major commercial breakthrough and is TVXQ's most critically successful album to date. The best-selling album of 2008, ''Mirotic'' debuted atop the Hanteo charts and sold 110,000 albums in one week, setting the record for one-week sales in South Korea on that chart. Version A of the album sold over 208,000 copies in a month, and cumulative sales surpassed 500,000 copies 109 days after its release. ''Mirotic'' was the first Korean album in four years, since Seo Taiji's 2004 album '' 7th Issue'', to break 500,000 sales. ''Mirotic'' sold over 594,000 copies in South Korea by 2022.


Background

The album had been in production since 2007, but the title was not decided upon until January 2008. TVXQ members Xiah Junsu and Max Changmin participated directly in the making of the album, penning the lyrics for "노을.. 바라보다 (Picture of You)" and "Love in the Ice", respectively. In addition, members
Hero Jaejoong Kim Jae-joong (; born January 26, 1986), also known mononymously as Jaejoong in South Korea and in Japan, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, actor and director. He is a member of the Korean duo JX, a former member of JYJ and was one of t ...
and
Micky Yoochun Park Yoo-chun (born June 4, 1986), formerly known as Micky Yoochun and better known by the mononym Yoochun, is a Korean-American singer-songwriter and actor. He is a former member of the South Korean boy bands JYJ and TVXQ. He has starred in d ...
composed and wrote the lyrics to "사랑아 울지마 (Don't Cry My Lover)" and "사랑 안녕 사랑 (Love Bye Love)", respectively, for version C of the album. TVXQ had two promotional singles from the album. The title single " Mirotic" won a total of nine number-one trophies on Korean music programs ''
The Music Trend ''Inkigayo'' (; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform on stage. ...
'', '' Music Bank'', and ''
M! Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leete ...
'', and is touted by critics as a staple song of
K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...
. Though succeeding single "Wrong Number" was unable to meet the success of its predecessor, it was an acclaimed K-pop hit. ''Mirotic'' won the Disk Daesang (equivalent to Album of the Year) at the 23rd
Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to prom ...
and Album of the Year at the 2008 Mnet KM Music Festival (MKMF). It is currently the best-selling album among Korea's second-generation idols, earning the name "Album of the Decade." The choreography of "주문-Mirotic," the title track of the album, was done in a collaboration between Korean choreographers and
Kenny Wormald Kenny Wormald is an American dancer, reality television star and actor. He played Ren McCormack in the 2011 remake of 1984's ''Footloose (2011 film), Footloose''. Wormald was a regular on the MTV reality television series ''Dancelife'' in 2007. ...
, who had also worked with pop stars
Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, record producer, and dancer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Prince of Pop", ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' honored him as the b ...
,
Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. A Pop music, pop and hip-hop-influenced contemporary R&B, R&B musician who works in a variety of genres, he has been called the "Honorific nic ...
and
Christina Aguilera Christina María Aguilera ( , ; born December 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Recognized as Cultural impact of Christina Aguilera, an influential figure in music and having received Public imag ...
. The song features a "reverse beat" track, meaning that the bass beat is either a half beat or a whole beat late in coming into a new phrase. While in most genres of music, the bass note comes in directly on the first beat of the measure in setting the chord of the phrase, reverse beat songs alter this usual method. In doing so, the reverse beat genre is said to have an effect of "growing on" the listener, having an addictive sound. "Mirotic" is a newly coined term, created by member Hero Jaejoong, that combines the Korean ''miro'' (미로), meaning "maze", and the English suffix "-tic". The title song was composed by the Danish producers,
Remee Remee Sigvardt Jackman (né Mikkel Johan Imer Sigvardt; born 8 November 1974), better known as Remee, is a Danish rapper, songwriter, producer and composer. Career Remee has written more than 60 hits and has sold over 25 million records. He has c ...
, Lucas Secon and
Thomas Troelsen Thomas Troelsen (born 6 October 1981) is a Danish singer, songwriter, and producer from Skive. Troelsen has written and produced songs for Pitbull, Flo Rida, Justin Bieber, David Guetta, Lil Wayne, Drengene fra Angora, Nile Rodgers, Jason De ...
. The German singer, Sarah Connor, also bought the copyright to the song (not specified when). Despite the fact that the two original songs were the same composed piece, they have musical differences (TVXQ's version has a rap and multi-layered harmonies while Connor's has a bridge; the melodies in the chorus also differ). "Mirotic" is one of the most successful singles ever in South Korea, in 2008 the song was downloaded 2,337,864 times. By the end of 2011 the song was officially downloaded 4,173,225 times.


Reception

''Mirotic'' received positive reviews from
music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...
. Hwang Seon-eop, an editor of South Korean magazine ''
IZM ''IZM'' () is a South Korean online magazine that publishes pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Stre ...
'', rated the album 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising the record's production and the group members' performance.


Accolades


Lyrics controversy

In November 2008, the Korean Commission of Youth Protection ruled that the lyrics of "Mirotic" were provocative and overly sexual. As a result, the album was labeled with stickers indicating that it was unsuitable for people under 19 years old and any performances of the song would have to be broadcast after 10pm. In response to the ruling,
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 ...
agreed to make a clean version but also had filed an injunction to overrule the commission's decision, asserting that the lyrics are "entirely different and miles away from the erotic or sexual that the association is making it to be." TVXQ performed the clean version at the 23rd Annual
Golden Disk Awards The Golden Disc Awards (, formerly spelled the Golden Disk Awards before 2015) is an annual South Korean major music awards ceremony that honors achievements in the local music industry. The awards ceremony was founded with the purpose to prom ...
. The lyrics were changed from "I got you" to "I chose you" and "I got you under my skin" to "I got you under my sky." In March 2009, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of SM Entertainment, stating that the concerned lyrics "neither encouraged youth to have sex or described women as object for sex". The following month, the Commission of Youth Protection announced they would appeal the ruling to a high court after having an emergency meeting and deeming that the phrase, "I got you under my skin", was inappropriate for minors.


Track listing

;Notes * Track 5 is stylized in all caps as HEY! * Version B of the album does not include Tracks 11 & 12 ("Forgotten Season" & "Love in the Ice (Korean version)").


Charts


Weekly charts


Monthly charts


Sales


Release history


References

{{Authority control 2008 albums Dance-pop albums by South Korean artists TVXQ albums Grand Prize Golden Disc Award–winning albums SM Entertainment albums 2000s Korean-language albums