Agent J (album)

Agent J

Agent J cover
Studio album 特務J by Jolin Tsai
Released 21 September 2007
Genre Mandopop
Length 43:01
Language Mandarin
Label EMI Music Taiwan
Producer Jolin Tsai, Lars Quang, Nik Quang, René Prang, Gabriel Ssezibwa, Thea Hall, Lina Rafn, Adam Powers, Paw Lagermann, Alexander Bard, Bengt Magnus, Anders Hansson
Jolin Tsai chronology

Dancing Diva
舞孃
(2006)		 Agent J
特務J
(2007)		 Love Exercise
愛的練習語
(2008)

Agent J (Chinese: 特務J; pinyin: Tè Wu J) is Taiwanese artist Jolin Tsai's ninth studio album. It was released on 21 September 2007 by EMI Music Taiwan[1] but was leaked onto the Internet on 8 September 2007. The album was renamed Love Mission (Chinese: 爱情任务; pinyin: àiqíng rènwu) for Mainland China market. This is the second album Jolin released under EMI Music Taiwan. On 2 November 2007, a second edition was released with ten music videos, four dance instruction music videos, and a remix version of "愛無赦" (Bravo Lover).

It debuted at number one having almost half of all album sales in Taiwan on its debut week and racked up over 50,000 pre-release orders. Agent J became her highest debut breaking her previous one held by her preceding album Dancing Diva which debuted with 27.68% at the G-Music Combo Chart and 51.1% on the G-Music Mandarin Chart.

The track, "日不落" (Sun Will Never Set) won one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year at the 2008 HITO Radio Music Awards presented by Taiwanese radio station Hit FM.[2]

The track "特務 J" (Agent J) was nominated for Top 10 Gold Songs[3] and Tsai won Best Music Video Performance for the MV of "特務 J" (Agent J) at the Hong Kong TVB8 Awards, presented by television station TVB8, in 2007.[4]

Album

The expenses for Jolin's album "Agent J" took 50,000,000 Taiwan dollars (1,513,179.80 USD), filming in Paris, England, and Thailand and taking dance lessons in Europe, Taiwan, and USA.[5] Jolin had to learn pole dancing and aerial silk dancing for a music video for her album "Agent J". Jolin learnt the moves within 10 days of intense training, almost paralysing her right arm.[6] The deluxe version of the new album contains a three-part music movie featuring popular Korean actor Kim Jae Won and Hong Kong stars Stephen Fung and Carl Ng. Metronome was written by Jolin herself.

The track, "Sun Will Never Set" is a cover version of the original "Sunshine In The Rain" by Bodies Without Organs. The track "Let's Move It" was used in a Toyota commercial.[7]

Reception

Agent J is one of the best-selling albums around Asia. In Taiwan, the order before the album release had reached 50,000. One week after the album was released, the total sales in Taiwan has reached 150,000. Critics are expecting this album can sell over 200,000 just in Taiwan. In Hong Kong, the album debuted in HMV's best selling Asian albums chart at its peak, number 2. As the album was released one week later after Taiwan, the Agent J has sold over 10,000 copies in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the promotion was still continuing in December. Jolin is planning to go to Hong Kong for events and promotion in Christmas period as the album has now sold about 20,000 and is one of the best-selling Mandarin album in Hong Kong in 2007.

Track listing

  1. "特務 J" Te wu J (Agent J)
  2. "愛無赦" ài wú shè (Bravo Lover)
  3. "一個人" yī gè rén (Alone)
  4. "怕什麼" pà shénme (Fear-Free)
  5. "桃花源" táohuāyuán (Ideal State)
  6. "冷前言" lěng qiányán (Prologue of Tacit Violence)
  7. "冷暴力" lěng bàolì (Tacit Violence)
  8. "非賣品" fēi mài pǐn (Priceless)
  9. "節拍器" jiépāi qì (Metronome)
  10. "金三角" Jīnsānjiǎo (Golden Triangle)
  11. "日不落" rì bù luò (Sun Will Never Set)
  12. "Let's Move It"

Charts

Agent J debuted on the G-music Charts with an accounted 45% of all album sales and 62.28% of all Mandarin album sales in Taiwan. On its third week Agent J dropped down to number two while Stars Reunion's new album "Love Stars Reunion - Yesterday, Now & Tomorrow" took the top position by a small gap. On its fifth week on the charts it dropped to 4 due to new album releases by other artists. On its sixth week on the charts it went up to 2 beating Jay Chou's new album "On The Run".

Release Chart Peak position Chart run
September 21, 2007 G-music Weekly Combo Chart (Taiwan) 1 24 weeks (Till March 21, 2008)
G-music Weekly Mandarin Chart (Taiwan) 1

References

  1. ↑ Yesasia.com Agent J album info 21 September 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-60
  2. ↑ (Chinese) 2008 HITO Radio Music Awards winners list 1 March 2008. Retrieved 2011-04-19
  3. ↑ (Chinese) Sina.com Hong Kong TVB8 Awards 2007 Top 10 Gold Songs nomination list 14 December 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-29
  4. ↑ (Chinese) Sina.com Hong Kong TVB8 Awards 2007 winners list 16 December 2007. Retrieved 2011-06-29
  5. ↑ (Chinese) 十國聯軍！籌備一年！飛越萬里！拍攝一個月！EMI推出耗資五千萬製作的音樂電影 "特務J". August 22, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2007.
  6. ↑ (Chinese) 萬眾矚目！天后蔡依林【特務J】超強舞功大曝光！【無重力旋轉彩帶鋼管舞】JOLIN 特務J舞蹈驚艷四座!. August 25, 2007. Retrieved September 2, 2007.
  7. ↑ Jolin Tsai Toyota Commercial and Track List

External links