Face Yourself (stylized in all caps) is the third Japanese and fifth overall studio album by South Korean boy band BTS released on April 4, 2018, through Big Hit, Virgin, Universal Music Japan and Def Jam Recordings. The album contains Japanese versions of songs previously released on the group's second Korean studio album Wings (2016), and the Love Yourself: Her (2017) extended play (EP), as well as three new, original Japanese-language tracks: "Don't Leave Me", "Let Go", and "Crystal Snow". Its debut at number 43 on the Billboard 200 made it the third-highest-charting Japanese album in the history of the chart.[1]

Face Yourself
Digital and regular editions cover
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 4, 2018
Genre
Length44:25
LanguageJapanese
Label
Producer
  • Pdogg
  • UTA
  • Andrew Taggart
  • Soma Genda
BTS chronology
Love Yourself: Her
(2017)
Face Yourself
(2018)
Love Yourself: Tear
(2018)
Singles from Face Yourself
  1. "Don't Leave Me"
    Released: April 4, 2018

Background and release

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The album was announced on February 1, 2018, along with an April 4 release date and details for three limited editions. A tentative tracklist revealed new Japanese recordings of the songs "Go Go" and "Best of Me" from the band's 2017 Korean EP Love Yourself: Her,[2] as well as the inclusion of "Crystal Snow", originally released back in December 2017 as part of a triple A-side single album with the Japanese versions of "Mic Drop" and "DNA".[3] The completed tracklist was released on March 8.[4] That same day, "Don't Leave Me" was announced as the opening theme song for Japanese drama Signal, a remake of the 2016 South Korean television series of the same name.[5] A preview of the song aired on March 15, causing it to chart on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 prior to its official release—it peaked at number 25.[6][7]

The Japanese translations for "Blood Sweat & Tears", "DNA", "Not Today", "MIC Drop", "Go Go", and "Crystal Snow" were done by Japanese rapper and arranger KM-MARKIT.[8]

Editions

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Four versions of the album were made available for purchase: three Limited editions, and a CD-only Regular edition. The Type A and B versions both included a 32-page booklet, and featured exclusive content viewable on Blu-ray and DVD respectively.[9][10] Type C included a 68-page booklet,[11] while the Regular edition contained a 24-page booklet.[12] All albums share a standard track listing.

Commercial performance

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The album debuted at number one on Oricon's Daily CD Album chart.[13] It remained there for seven consecutive days, and ranked at number one on the Weekly Album chart with over 282,000 accumulated units sold,[14] breaking a six-year-five-month-long record previously held by KARA, for the highest first-week sales by a Korean artist on the Oricon chart.[15] This made it the highest-grossing album by a male artist on the Oricon chart for 2018 at the time.[16] The album ranked at number 12 on the daily chart on its eighth day of charting,[17] but surged back up over the course of the following weeks, reaching as high as number two.[18] It spent thirteen successive weeks on the Oricon chart, with 324,381 accumulated units sold,[13][19] and became BTS' first Japanese album to receive Platinum certification from the RIAJ on May 10.[20] Oricon announced in June, that Face Yourself and BTS had made the top ten of their "Album Ranking" and "Artist Sales Ranking" charts for the first half of 2018, coming in at fourth and sixth respectively. BTS was the only Korean artist to enter both charts, and the highest ranked international artist.[21] Tower Records Japan reported the album was the second best-selling album by a Korean artist in Japan for 2018.[22]

On January 14, 2019, the album was awarded Double Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for selling over 500,000 copies. It was the first album by a Korean act to achieve this since KARA's Super Girl in December 2011.[20]

Singles

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Following the album's release, "Don't Leave Me" entered Oricon's Weekly Digital Singles chart at number 28, with 4,611 digital copies sold for the period dated April 2–8.[23] "Let Go" debuted at number 40 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100,[24] and entered South Korea's Gaon component Download Chart at number 63.[25] In February 2021, the song was certified Silver by the RIAJ for surpassing 30 million streams in Japan,[26] and gold in Brazil, in 2024, for 20,000 equivalents sold.[27]

Four of the album's singles ranked on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart in the US. "Dont Leave Me" debuted atop the chart with 9,000 sales, earning the band its record seventh number-one, while "Let Go" followed at number two, and "Intro: Ringwanderung" and "Outro: Crack" entered at numbers four and five respectively.[28]

Accolades

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The album was nominated for and won Album of the Year and Best 3 Albums in the Asia category at the 2019 Japan Gold Disc Awards.[29]

Track listing

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Original

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All lyrics are written by KM-MARKIT.[30]

Type A·B·C and Regular CD
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Intro: Ringwanderung"
  • UTA
1:26
2."Best of Me" (Japanese version)
  • Ashton Foster
  • Andrew Taggart
  • Sam Klempner
  • Pdogg
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • "hitman" bang
  • Ray Michael Djan Jr.
  • Adora
  • Andrew Taggart
  • Pdogg
3:47
3."Blood Sweat & Tears" (Japanese version)
  • Pdogg
  • RM
  • Suga
  • J-Hope
  • "hitman" bang
  • Kim Do Hoon
Pdogg3:36
4."DNA" (Japanese version)
  • "hitman" bang
  • Kass
  • Pdogg
  • Suga
  • RM
  • Supreme Boi
Pdogg3:43
5."Not Today" (Japanese version)
  • "hitman" bang
  • Pdogg
  • RM
  • Adora
  • Supreme Boi
  • June
Pdogg3:53
6."Mic Drop" (Japanese version)
  • "hitman" bang
  • Pdogg
  • J-Hope
  • RM
  • Supreme Boi
Pdogg3:58
7."Don't Leave Me"
  • "hitman" bang
  • Hiro
  • Pdogg
  • Sunny Boy
  • UTA
UTA3:47
8."Go Go" (Japanese version)
  • "hitman" bang
  • Pdogg
  • Supreme Boi
Pdogg3:57
9."Crystal Snow"
Soma Genda5:23
10."Spring Day" (Japanese version)
Pdogg4:36
11."Let Go"
  • Hiro
  • Jun
  • Sunny Boy
  • UTA
UTA4:59
12."Outro: Crack"UTAUTA1:14
Total length:44:19

Limited Edition Type A·B

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Face Yourself Blu-ray + DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Blood Sweat & Tears Music Video" (Japanese ver.) 
2."MIC Drop Music Video" (Japanese ver.) 
3."MIC Drop Music Video" (Japanese ver.) (dance edit) 
4."Japan Documentary 5 Days" 
5."DNA" (Live @ Yokohama Arena Event) 
6."MIC Drop" (Live @ Yokohama Arena Event) 
7."Making of Album Jacket Photos" 

Charts

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Sales and certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[20] 2× Platinum 338,324 (Phy.)[54]
4,871 (Digi.)[55]
United Kingdom (BPI)[56] Gold 100,000
United States 4,000[57]

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Country Date Format Label Source
Japan April 4, 2018
  • CD
  • DVD
  • digital download
  • streaming
[58]
Various
  • Digital download
  • streaming
United States November 16, 2018
  • CD
  • digital download
  • streaming
[59]

References

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  1. ^ Kawamura, Takahiro (March 14, 2018). "Not heard of them? Nor have most people, but they're very big". The Asahi Shimbun. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved April 30, 2018.
  2. ^ "BTS Japan Official Fanclub" 全米で大ブレイク中!BTS (防弾少年団)、待望の日本オリジナルアルバム4月4日発売決定!世界中で大ヒットした楽曲に、日本制作楽曲含む新録4曲を収録!初回限定盤には来日ドキュメンタリーほか、映像も収録! [A big break in the US! BTS (BTS) will release the long-awaited Japan original album on April 4th! Recorded 4 new songs including Japanese-produced songs that were a huge hit all over the world! The first limited edition will include a documentary in Japan and video!]. bts-official.jp (in Japanese). February 1, 2018. Archived from the original on June 14, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  3. ^ Kelley, Caitlin (December 7, 2017). "BTS' Japanese Song 'Crystal Snow' Yearns for a Fragile Love: See the Translated Lyrics". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 19, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  4. ^ BTS(防弾少年団)、4月4日リリースのアルバム収録新曲が坂口健太郎初主演ドラマ主題歌に - エキサイトニュース [BTS new album released April 4th includes theme song for Kentaro Sakaguchi's first starring drama]. Excite Music (in Japanese). March 8, 2018. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
  5. ^ Kim, Bo-ra (March 8, 2018). [공식입장] 방탄소년단, 日드라마 '시그널' 주제가 부른다 [[Official Release] The theme song of the drama 'Signal' is sung by BTS]. Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
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  19. ^ 【ビルボード】BTS (防弾少年団)『FACE YOURSELF』が284,866枚を売り上げ、2位以下に約20万枚の大差をつけアルバム・セールス首位獲得 [[Billboard] BTS (BTS) “FACE YOURSELF” sold 284,866 copies, gaining first place in album sales with a large difference of about 200,000 copies over 2nd place]. Billboard Japan (in Japanese). April 9, 2018. Archived from the original on April 11, 2019. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
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