Seo Taiji & Boys (album)

Seo Taiji & Boys (also referred to as Seo Taiji and Boys, Seotaiji and Boys, and Seo Taiji & Boys I) is the debut studio album by Korean pop trio Seo Taiji and Boys. The album brought the group major success, a success that would continue through the band's next three albums and even frontman Seo Taiji's solo career.^[1][2][3]

Overview

The first track, "Yo! Taiji," begins the album. Songs of the same name would later appear at the beginning of the trio's other three albums. The song is less than a minute long and consists of beatboxing and synthesized rhythms. It serves as sort of a segue for the album's second track. The next track, known most commonly by its romanized name "Nan Arayo," is the album's lead single. It was a massive hit in South Korea and was often performed on various talk shows throughout 1992. In 2004, a heavy metal version was performed by Seo Taiji during his Zero Tour, in promotion of Seo Taiji 7th Issue. The third track, "You, In the Fantasy" (also known as "You, In the Illusion"), is a dance song reminiscent of American dance music. A remix version was featured on the 2007 anniversary edition of the album. The fourth track, "In the Time Spent With You," is a soft song that features female backing vocals and a synthesized saxophone. "Through Tonight Growing Late" is another soft song. It features a piano. A remix of this song is featured on the 2007 anniversary edition of the album. (On vinyl and cassette editions, this would conclude Side One or Side A, respectively). "My Everything" is a love song and is the sixth track. "Now" is the seventh track and is arguably the slowest and most emotional song. Following this is "Blind Love" (labeled as "Nan Arayo! English Version"), which is an English version of "I Know." It details Seo Taiji finding a girl and then losing her. The ninth track is one of the more popular songs from the album. "Rock'n Roll Dance," often called "Rock 'n' Roll Dance," is well known for its intense solo at the end of the song. Element like these would occur throughout the group's career and would be the primary element in Seo Taiji's first three studio albums, Seo Tai Ji, Ultramania, and 7th Issue, respectively. The final track, "Missing," is just over a minute long. It is an instrumental that has a police siren playing over a synthesized rhythm.

Track listing

All songs written by Seo Taiji, Yang Hyun-suk, and Lee Juno:

1. "Yo! Taiji" 0:38
2. "Nan Arayo (I Know)" 3:48
3. "You, In the Fantasy" ("You, In The Illusion") 3:26
4. "In the Time Spent With You" 4:21
5. "Through Tonight Growing Late" 3:55
6. "My Everything" 4:46
7. "Now" 4:14
8. "Blind Love (Nan Arayo! English Version)" 3:57
9. "Rock'n Roll Dance" 3:11
10. "Missing" 1:08

Total—33:18

• 15th Anniversary Edition (2007)

11. "You, In the Fantasy (Remix)" 3:43
12. "Through Tonight Growing Late (Remix)" 5:14
13. "Rock'n Roll Dance (Remix)" 5:16
14. "Nan Arayo (I Know)(Live 2004)" 4:26
15. "Nan Arayo (I Know)(1992 TV Edit)" 3:24
Total—55:19

References