Seotaiji 7th Issue

7th Issue
Studio album by 서태지
Released	January, 2004
Recorded	Sound City Studio
Genre	Pop punk, pop rock, alternative rock, post-hardcore, nu metal
Length	33:35
Label	SEOTAIJI COMPANY
Producer	서태지
서태지 chronology
Seotaiji 6th Ultramania (2000) Seotaiji 7th Issue (2004) Seotaiji 8th Atomos (2009)

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7th Issue is the seventh studio album by Korean musician Seo Taiji. All lyrics and music written by Seo Taiji. Strings on the song "0 (Zero)" was arranged and conducted by Takayuki Hattori (Face Music). Many of Seo Taiji's fans have noted that the whole CD sounds like one very long song. This is because the most of the songs are written in dropped C tuning with similar chord structures. Japanese musicians J (Luna Sea), K.A.Z and I.N.A (both from hide with Spread Beaver) contributed to the album.

Track listing

1. "Intro" – 1:01
2. "Heffy End" (Happy End) – 3:22
3. "Nothing" – 0:17
4. "Victim" – 3:30
5. "DB" – 0:36
6. "Live Wire" – 3:53
7. "로보트" (Robot) – 5:01
8. "Down" – 0:24
9. "10월 4일" (October 4) – 3:43
10. "F.M Business" – 4:02
11. "0" (Zero) – 5:30
12. "Outro" – 2:09

The Description of the Songs

Heffy End

"Heffy End" is perhaps the most loved song from the album. It is essentially a sad love song where a woman obsessively stalks and confines her lover. Although the title "Heffy End" might indicate a bit of irony, and Taiji justifies their deviated love from the norm by using purposely misspelled "Heffy." Also note that the name of his drummer is Heff "The Machine" Holter. Whether Heff's name has any influence on the song's name is anybody's guess.

Nothing

Man's voice mocking about women's rights in Korea. (This is not Taiji speaking) The voice comments that sexism is becoming an issue because of such things as women rights campaigns, but he disagrees with the efforts that women put it that women are placed at higher level than men in (Korean) society. However, one should note that Taiji has put this as sarcasm, or to reflect what most men are thinking in South Korea.

Victim

A tribute song to women's rights directly following "Nothing" track. There has been controversy over this song because it was banned for TV performances due to explicit lyrics. Many of Taiji's fans protested against the censorship and questioned the freedom of expression.

Live Wire

A song celebrating musical freedom. Taiji hails to his fans "You feel me? Here I come to show you love", referring to his steadfast devotion to music. The lyrics contain lots of poetic devices; the overall motif is the feeling of rock.

로보트(Robot)

It is the title song of the album. Story about a boy, or Taiji himself, who is destroyed by the cruelty that exists in the current overly digitalized society. After he has stopped checking his height on the doorway with his mom, he feels that his emotions are gone and can only think "illogically"; where the metaphor "logical" Taiji's view is things that are emotional and analogical, as his fans can easily catch from his previous works.

10월 4일(October 4th)

"October 4th" represents a shift in his usual heavy metal style. Also, if expressed in numerical form, October 4 would be 1004, which is read "천사"(chun-sa, where chun is thousand and sa), and that reading of 1004 spells the same to mean "angel".

The song is lightly driven by two guitars, one playing chords at complex rhythms and the other plays a repetitive (yet catchy) melody line. It later makes a transition into a full ensemble with heavy percussion and a bass guitar.

The pensive lyrics tell the story of a man whose mind is flooded with memories of a lost love. He still regrets having lost her but acknowledges that she is "like a fox" (in the Korean culture, someone who is like a fox is sly and deceitful). In the end, he enjoys holding on to the memories and watches his former lover from afar, commenting how she's more beautiful than ever.

F.M Business

The "F.M" in the title stands for "Fucked up Music" as the lyric suggests. However, FM could also represent the radio and music business in more general view.

Taiji makes various accusations regarding the current direction Korean pop music is heading. In early 90's, Taiji introduced the concept of "American" music, such as Hip-hop and Rock. His ideology makes him detest the current trend in the Korean music scene. According to Taiji, idol groups (aka "boybands") were borne for the sole purpose of making profit out of music. While he admits making the same mistake in the past, he is more concerned with asking musicians to take a look at themselves ("You and me... why are we face to face here? For the selling my soul & music? For the making money?").

0 (Zero)

A symphonic rock piece that spans five minutes and thirty seconds, the longest song on the album. Unlike the other songs, which follow a simple formula with guitar chords and a memorable melody line, 0 (Zero) consists of a noticeably more complex composition. A demanding song that showcases Taiji's mastery of music-writing as well as endurance when performed live, it features distortion guitars as well as clean guitar riffs during the vocals and harmonizing part. Strings were arranged by Takayuki Hattori of Face Music.