Girl's Talk

Girl's Talk (ガールズトーク, Gāruzu Tōku^?) is the first Japanese full-length album by K-pop girl group Kara. It was released on November 24, 2010 in three limited editions: one with a DVD,^[2] one with a 28-pages photobook,^[3] and one with Korean versions of the songs "Sweet Days", "Love Is", and "Binks".^[4] The regular CD-only edition doesn't contain the bonus tracks.^[5] The album has topped the Oricon Weekly Album Charts several times and was eventually certified as Platinum by the RIAJ.

Composition

The album contains many brand-new and original Japanese songs. These are 5 songs from the album that were later on included onto Kara's fourth Korean mini-album Jumping (including "With" which was previously titled "Sweet Days"^[4]).

It also includes a few Japanese versions of songs which were previously released in Korean. These are "루팡" ("Lupin") and "Umbrella" on the mini-album "루팡" ("Lupin"), and "미스터" ("Mister") from the album Revolution, which was also the group's Japanese debut single.

Techno-pop songstress Aira Mitsuki also worked with worked with Han Jae-ho, Kim Seung-soo, and An Jun Sung, the trio responsible for some of the group's Korean hits, to produce this album..^[6]

Track listings

Chart performance

By the end of the first week of its release, Kara had sold over 107,000 copies which placed the album on number 2 at the Oricon Weekly Album charts, with the #1 spot going to Japanese-American singer-songwriter Hikaru Utada's second Japanese compilation album, Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2, which debuted with 231,000 copies in the same week. This is also the first time in 6 years and 9 months for a foreign Asian girl group in Japan to sell 100,000 copies in their first week since Twelve Girls Band did back in March 2004 with the release of their album Kikō: Shining Energy. The first week sales of Girl’s Talk is almost double that of Kara Best 2007—2010 first week sales (51,000 copies) which was released back in September.^[7]

The album spent many weeks in the Top 10 spot of the Oricon Weekly Album charts. It was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAJ. By February 12, 2011, the album peaked at number one after spending over 12 weeks in the charts.^[8]

On February 12, 2011 twelve weeks after the album release, Girl's Talk ranked #1 in the ORICON daily chart, making it Kara's first #1 album. Girl's Talk also managed to sell 300,000 albums making them the first foreign female group to sell 300,000 copies since Destiny’s Child in 2005. By November 18, it was announced that the album had already sold over 500,000 copies.^[9][10]

Sales and certifications

Sources

1. ^ "KARA Girl's Talk Album Launch" (in English/Filipino). Facebook/MCA Music. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178420142194481. Retrieved 2011-02-04. 
2. ^ "Girl's Talk - Type A" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. http://www.universal-music.co.jp/kara/disco/UMCK-9393.html. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
3. ^ "Girl's Talk - Type B" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. http://www.universal-music.co.jp/kara/disco/UMCK-9394.html. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Girl's Talk - Regular Edition (First Press)" (in Japanese). Universal Music Group. http://www.universal-music.co.jp/kara/disco/UMCK-9395.html. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
5. ^ "ガールズトーク ＫＡＲＡのプロフィールならオリコン芸能人事典-ORICON STYLE" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://www.oricon.co.jp/prof/artist/503091/products/music/891713/1/. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
6. ^ http://www.tokyohive.com/2010/10/aira-mitsuki-teams-up-with-karas-producers-for-new-album/
7. ^ "Oricon Weekly Charts" (in Japanese). Oricon Charts. http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/confidence/82528/full/. Retrieved November 30, 2010. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "Oricon Weekly Charts" (in Japanese). Oricon Charts. http://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/d/. Retrieved February 13, 2011. 
9. ^ [1]. "Newsen" February 12, 2011. Retrieved February 12, 2011
10. ^ [2]
11. ^ "KARA’s "Girl’s Talk" back on top of Oricon". allkpop. February 12, 2011. http://www.allkpop.com/2011/02/karas-girls-talk-back-on-top-of-oricon. 
12. ^ "アルバム 年間ランキング-ORICON STYLE ランキング" (in Japanese). Oricon. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on December 20, 2010. http://www.webcitation.org/5v6zwRQHp. Retrieved December 20, 2010. 
13. ^ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp. Retrieved March 4, 2011.  (subscription only)
14. ^ http://www.allkpop.com/2011/11/karas-super-girl-debuts-at-1-on-oricon-chart
15. ^ "ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2011年11月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (November 2011)]" (in Japanese). RIAJ. December 11, 2011. http://www.riaj.or.jp/data/others/gold/201111.html. Retrieved December 11, 2011.