The Face
Studio album by
BoA
ReleasedFebruary 27, 2008
Recorded2007–2008
GenreJ-pop
Length1:05:06
LanguageJapanese
LabelAvex Trax
BoA chronology
Made in Twenty (20)
(2007)		 The Face
(2008)		 BoA
(2009)
Singles from The Face
  1. "Sweet Impact"
    Released: April 25, 2007
  2. "Love Letter"
    Released: September 26, 2007
  3. "Lose Your Mind"
    Released: December 12, 2007
  4. "Be with You"
    Released: February 20, 2008
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]

The Face is the sixth Japanese studio album (eleventh overall) by South Korean singer BoA. It was released on February 27, 2008.[2] The album was released a week after her single, "Be with You." The full album is known to have total of fifteen tracks along with 3 different types of packaging: regular CD, CD+DVD, and first press.

Commercially, The Face marked BoA's sixth consecutive number-one album on the Oricon Albums Chart in Japan, making her the solo artist with the second-most number-one albums in the country's history at the time, with the first being Ayumi Hamasaki with eight number-one albums.[3]

Production

The production of The Face started with her "Sweet Impact" single, released in mid-2007. Three months after the release of her fifth studio album, "Made in Twenty (20). "Sweet Impact" was first featured in a Fasico CM in January 2007. "Sweet Impact" also features a B-side "Bad Drive" and it sold 42,789 in Japan and 5,000 in South Korea.

Approximately five months later, she released another single, entitled "Love Letter". It became her second single to be featured on her sixth studio album. "Love Letter" contains two B-sides: "Diamond Heart" and "Beautiful Flowers." At first "Beautiful Flowers" was chosen by the Yokohama BayStars (a baseball team in Japan's Central League), as the team's official theme song during their 2007 season. "Diamond Heart" was used to promote Toshiba's W53T, featuring BoA herself.

Three months after the release of "Love Letter", BoA once again released another single entitled: "Lose Your Mind", which was released on December 12, 2007. It hit its peak position at #6 and sold total of 22,961 copies as of December 26, 2007.

Shortly after "Lose Your Mind", BoA announced another single, "Be with You.", which was planned to be released along with her sixth Japanese studio album. But due to competition on February 20, 2008, with other major artists, the album was pushed backwards a week to February 27, 2008, to avoid conflicts.

Music videos

Currently it is confirmed that 4 possible music videos (or PVs) will be on the album: "Sweet Impact", "Love Letter", "Lose Your Mind" (feat. Yutaka Furukawa from Doping Panda), and "Be with You." (Listed in order of release.)

Sweet Impact

The "Sweet Impact" PV was inspired by Michael Jackson's Moonwalker.

Love Letter

The "Love Letter" PV officially aired on early September before the single's release.

Lose Your Mind

The PV for "Lose Your Mind" features BoA as a supermodel on the catwalk. She and two other female backup dancers start dancing on the catwalk and are joined by three male dancers. The music video also shows BoA in a short black wig. Yutaka Furukawa from rock group Doping Panda also makes an appearance in the music video playing the electric guitar. BoA's three outfits in the music video are a huge contrast to each other. She and her backup dancers are featured wearing black clothes. Later in the music video they are all wearing more casual Japanese style clothes.

Be with You.

This ballad was featured in the Japanese film, "10 promises with my dog". The PV shows scenes of BoA in a canoe, on a couch, and spending time with a Golden Retriever. Also expressing how much she remembers being with you or in her case her lover. Also that she wants to live the promises that she made with him and to forget all the troubles so long as they are together.

Track listing

The Face track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Aggressive"Natsumi Watanabe
  • Daniel Pandher
  • Tommy La Verdi
H-Wonder3:41
2."Sweet Impact"Ryoji SonodaKazuhiro HaraKazuhiro Hara4:58
3."My Way, Your Way" (feat. Wise)
  • Ryoji Sonoda
  • Wise
Daisuke ImaiDaisuke Imai4:21
4."Be with You."SatomiH-WonderH-Wonder5:12
5."Lose Your Mind" (feat. Yutaka Furukawa from Doping Panda)Shoko Fujibayashi
  • Jonas Jeberg
  • Simon Brenting
  • Damon Sharpe
  • Greg Lawson
H-Wonder3:13
6."Girl in the Mirror"Shoko Fujibayashi
Akira3:08
7."Happy Birthday"Chokkyu MuranoTomomi NarimotoNaoki-T4:09
8."Diamond Heart"Emi NishidaArmySlickArmySlick4:10
9."Love Letter"
  • BoA
  • Natsumi Watanabe
Yoko KuzuyaYanagiman5:04
10."Brave"Emi K. LynnSun SuyamaShoichiro Hirata3:57
11."Gyappu ni Yarareta! (Hit by the Gap!)" (ギャップにやられた!)BoAAkiraAkira3:40
12."Style"HUBNao TanakaNao Tanaka3:09
13."Smile Again"BoANao TanakaNao Tanaka5:39
14."Beautiful Flowers"Shoko FujibayashiH-WonderH-Wonder3:30
15."Best Friend"HiroHiroHiro4:08
Total length:61:59
The Face – Limited edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
16."Hey Boy, Hey Girl" (Seamo feat. BoA)Naoki Takada
  • Naoki Takada
  • Shintaro "Growth" Izutsu
  • Naoki Takada
  • Shintaro Izutsu
3:47
Total length:3:47
DVD Disc #1
No.TitleLength
1."Sweet Impact" (music video) 
2."Love Letter" (music video) 
3."Lose Your Mind" (music video) 
4."Be with You." (music video) 
5."BoA TV -The Face of BoA- Be with You." (Limited edition only) 
6."Special Live Performance – 65 minutes worth of clips" (Limited edition only) 
DVD Disc #2 – BoA '07 Live Works
No.TitleLength
1."BoA the Live "X'mas" – (8 performances)" 
2."BoA Arena Tour 2007 Made in Twenty (20) (4 performances)" 
3."M-Flo Tour 2007 Cosmicolor @ Yokohama Arena-the Love Bug Performance" 
4."Be with You." (music video) 
5."Rhythm Nation 2007 (3 performances)" 

Charts

Sales and certifications

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[11] Platinum 185,388[12]
South Korea (RIAK) — 11,145[13]

Singles

Date Title Peak position Sales
April 25, 2007 "Sweet Impact" 5 42,789
September 26, 2007 "Love Letter" 3 43,526
December 12, 2007 "Lose Your Mind" 6 28,128
February 20, 2008 "Be with You" 13 15,636

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ CD Japan 7dream.com AVCD-23497 AVCD-23499
  3. ↑ "BoA Takes Sole Possession of 2nd Place of All Time. Brother and Sister of the Jackson Family Reach the Top 10 Together" (in Japanese). Oricon. March 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
  4. ↑ "BoAのリリース一覧" [List of BoA's Releases]. Oricon. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Top Albums Sales – 2008/03/05". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). March 5, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  6. ↑ "G-Music Combo Chart – Week 11 of 2008". G-Music. March 14, 2008. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  7. ↑ "G-Music J-pop Album Chart – Week 12 of 2008" (in Chinese). March 21, 2008. Archived from the original on April 3, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2022.
  8. ↑ "2008.2 월 – POP음반 판매량" [February 2008 International Album Sales]. Recording Industry Association of Korea. 2008. Archived from the original on June 18, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Oricon Top 100 2008: Albums". JaME. December 31, 2008. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
  10. ↑ "Billboard Japan Top Albums Sales – 2008". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Japanese album certifications" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2008年02月 on the drop-down menu
  12. ↑ "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」" [Oricon Ranking Information Service 'You Big Tree']. Oricon. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ "2008상반기결산 POP음반 판매량집계" [2008 Half Year End International Music Sales]. Recording Industry Association of Korea. 2008. Archived from the original on November 12, 2008. Retrieved October 22, 2014.
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