BIGBANG’s Fifth Album, Alive, Catapulted BIGBANG Into the Global Music Industry
Before releasing their fifth EP album, Alive, BIGBANG was already the King of K-pop in Asian countries. Japan, China and Taiwan were regular stops for promoting their albums. Songs like Day by Day, Sunset Glow, and Last Farewell claimed top positions in the music charts.
BIGBANG released Alive in January 2012. With songs like Alive, Fantastic Baby, and Blue, BIGBANG reached a new level of stardom. Alive received plentiful praise from the international music community. the Korean wave had spread, reaching all the way to the American music industry.
In this article, Channel-Korea will talk about all the information from BIGBANG’s fifth album, Alive. So stay tuned!
About BIGBANG’s Alive’s Background Release
BIGBANG’s Alive set the record for being the first K-Pop album to make it onto the United States’ Billboard 200 chart. YG Entertainment released Alive on February 29, 2012, and the album became one of the most successful BIGBANG albums. Alive was repackaged in various versions: Japanese, Taiwanese, Alive: Monster Edition, and Alive Tour Live Albums.
The standard edition of Alive included seven tracks, with Fantastic Baby as the title track. Almost all the songs on the album became huge hits, topping domestic and global music charts.
As usual, G-Dragon and T.O.P wrote the lyrics and music for the majority of the songs. Alive, with its super-popular hits such as Bad Boy and Fantastic Baby, was considered a breakthrough album. Foreign music media went as far as naming Alive as one of the best albums of the year, and it became the only album with non-English lyrics on the prestigious list. Other media praised Alive for showing BIGBANG’s maturity and diversity in music style.
Positive reviews and huge sales translated into high positions in domestic and global music charts. Asian music charts such as Japan’s Oricon and Taiwan’s G-Music showed Alive in the number one and number six spots, respectively.
Charts
Alive
| Chart | Peak position |
| Oricon Weekly Album Chart | 6 |
| Oricon Monthly Album Chart | 33 |
| Gaon Weekly Album Chart | 1 |
| Gaon Monthly Album Chart | 1 |
| Gaon Yearly Album Chart | 2 |
| G-Music Combo Chart | 1 |
| Billboard 200 | 150 |
| Billboard Heatseekers Albums | 4 |
| Billboard Independent Albums | 22 |
| Billboard World Albums | 4 |
Still Alive
| Gaon Weekly Album Chart | 1 |
| Gaon Monthly Album Chart | 1 |
| Gaon Yearly Album Chart | 6 |
| G-Music Combo Chart | 2 |
Sales
Alive
| Chart | Sales (2012) |
| Gaon physical sales | 266,848 |
| Oricon sales | 26,914 |
| Billboard sales | 4,100 |
| Taiwan sales | 35,000 |
Still Alive : Special Edition
| Chart | Sales (2012) |
| Gaon physical sales | 148,030 |
| Oricon sales | 9,000 |
| Taiwan sales | 20,000 |
Track List & Music Videos
Standard Edition : Alive
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement |
| 1. | Intro (Alive) | G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P | Dee.P, G-Dragon, Teddy | Dee.P |
| 2. | Blue | G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P | Teddy, G-Dragon | Teddy |
| 3. | Love Dust | G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Teddy | Teddy |
| 4. | Bad Boy | G-Dragon, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Choice37 | Choice37 |
| 5. | Ain’t No Fun | G-Dragon, T.O.P | G-Dragon, D.J Murf, Peejay | D.J Murf, Peejay |
| 6. | Fantastic Baby | G-Dragon, T.O.P, Teddy | G-Dragon, Teddy | G-Dragon, Teddy |
| 7. | Wings (Daesung Solo) | G-Dragon, Daesung | G-Dragon, Choi Pil-kang | Choi Pil-kang, Dee.P |
Special Edition / Repackage : Still Alive
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement |
| 1. | Still Alive | G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P | Dee.P, G-Dragon, Teddy | Dee.P |
| 2. | Monster | G-Dragon, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Choi Pil-kang | P.K, Dee.P |
| 3. | Feeling (Korean version) | G-Dragon, T.O.P | Boys Noize, G-Dragon, T.O.P | Boys Noize |
| 4. | Fantastic Baby | G-Dragon, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Teddy | G-Dragon, Teddy |
| 5. | Bad Boy | G-Dragon, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Choice37 | Choice37 |
| 6. | Blue | G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P | Teddy, G-Dragon | Teddy |
| 7. | Bingle Bingle | G-Dragon, T.O.P | Teddy, G-Dragon, Seo Won-jin | Teddy, Seo Won-jin |
| 8. | Ego (Korean version) | G-Dragon, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Ham Seung-cheon, Kang Uk-jin | Ham Seung-cheon, Kang Uk-jin |
| 9. | Love Dust | G-Dragon, Teddy, T.O.P | G-Dragon, Teddy | Teddy |
Alive : Repackaged albums, Live Tour, Special Edition
| Album | Released Date | Remarks |
| Japan New Album : ALIVE (Type D) | 2012.03.28 | Contains 3 discs and includes interviews and the making of music videos |
| Japan New Album : ALIVE (Type C) | 2012.03.28 | Contains 2 discs and includes the making of music videos, interviews, recording, and photo shooting |
| Japan New Album : ALIVE (Type B) | 2012.03.28 | Includes music videos |
| Japan New Album : ALIVE (Type A) | 2012.03.28 | |
| Special Edition : Still Alive | 2012.06.06 | |
| Alive : Monster Edition | 2012.06.20 | Contains 2 discs, includes CD, DVD, and T Shirt |
| Alive : Monster Edition | 2012.06.20 | Contains 2 discs, includes CD, and DVD |
| 2012 BIGBANG Alive Tour Live Album | 2013.01.10 | Contains 1 disc |
| 2013 BIGBANG Alive Tour Live Album (The Final in Seoul) | 2013.05.30 | Contains 2 discs |
Blue Music Video
Blue was released on February 22, 2012, as a teaser song before releasing the actual album, Alive, a week later. G-Dragon and Korean–American rapper Teddy collaborated in the writing and composing of Blue, while T.O.P participated in the rap verse. Blue topped all music charts in Korea, and became one of the best and one of the best-selling singles of 2012. Blue Received the Song of the Month award (February) from the Cyworld Digital Music Awards and Gaon Music Chart K-Pop Awards.
Bad Boy was the third single on the Alive teaser video that was released the week before the album’s official release. BIGBANG gave their first stage performance of Bad Boy at Inkigayo in March 2012. Bad Boy took the top position in the first and second weeks of its release. The song was downloaded more than 2 million times in 2012.
The Fantastic Baby music video was released on March 7, 2012. Right from the start, Fantastic Baby was destined to become one of the most popular K-pop singles. G-Dragon and Teddy Park collaborated in writing and producing the song. Famous music magazines and newspapers like Billboard, the Sun-Times, and Rolling Stone complimented Fantastic Baby for carrying the Korean wave, especially K-pop, into the American music industry.
Awards
| Music Award | Song/album title | Award Categories | Result |
| Cyworld Digital Music Awards | Blue
Fantastic baby |
Song of The Month (Feb)
Song of Te Month (March) |
Won
Won |
| Gaon Chart Music Awards | Blue
Fantastic Baby Alive |
Song of the Year (Feb)
Song of the Year (March) Album of the Year (1st Qt) |
Won
Won Won |
| Melon Music Awards | Alive
Fantastic Baby Fantastic Baby Fantastic Baby Big Bang |
Album of the Year
Song of the Year Global Star Award Netizen Popularity Battle Artist of the Year |
Nominated
Nominated Nominated Nominated Nominated |
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | Fantastic Baby
Fantastic Baby Fantastic Baby Alive |
Best Male Group
Best Global Group-Male Artist of the Year Album of the Year |
Won
Nominated Won Nominated |
| Japan Gold Disc Awards | Alive | Best 3 Albums (Asian) | Won |
| Singapore E-Awards | Alive | Double Platinum Award | Won |
That was all the information about BIGBANG’s fifth E, Alive. Will BIGBANG ever produce better albums and better music? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy Alive as one of the most successful K-Pop albums.
