The First is an upcoming first Japanese

Japanese language

is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...

 studio album by the popular South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

n quintet boy band, Shinee

SHINee

Shinee is a contemporary R&B South Korean boy band. Formed by SM Entertainment in 2008, they made their debut on May 25, 2008 on SBS's Inkigayo with their promotional single, "Noona Neomu Yeppeo "...

. It is slated to be released on December 7, 2011, in Japan under EMI Music Japan. The album features three previously released B-side singles, "Replay

Replay (Kimi wa Boku no Everything)

Replay -Kimi wa Boku no Everything- is the debut Japanese single of South Korean boy group Shinee, released on June 22, 2011 in Japan. It sold 50,000 copies on its release date, debuting at the #2 spot of the Oricon Daily Singles Chart...

", "Juliette

Juliette (Shinee song)

"Juliette" is a song performed in Korean and later Japanese by the South Korean boy band, Shinee. The song is an instrumental remake of Corbin Bleu's "Deal with It".-Korean version:...

" and "Lucifer

Lucifer (Shinee song)

"Lucifer" is a song performed by South Korean boy band Shinee. The song was written by Yoo Young-jin, who also penned the lyrics of many other songs performed by Shinee.-Korean version:...

", all of which have ranked within the top three on Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

 charts.

History

Five of the songs from the album have been released as B-side singles, "Replay

Replay (Kimi wa Boku no Everything)

Replay -Kimi wa Boku no Everything- is the debut Japanese single of South Korean boy group Shinee, released on June 22, 2011 in Japan. It sold 50,000 copies on its release date, debuting at the #2 spot of the Oricon Daily Singles Chart...

", "Juliette

Juliette (Shinee song)

"Juliette" is a song performed in Korean and later Japanese by the South Korean boy band, Shinee. The song is an instrumental remake of Corbin Bleu's "Deal with It".-Korean version:...

" and "Lucifer

Lucifer (Shinee song)

"Lucifer" is a song performed by South Korean boy band Shinee. The song was written by Yoo Young-jin, who also penned the lyrics of many other songs performed by Shinee.-Korean version:...

", in Japan. Shinee is the first foreign artist in the 44 year history of the Oricon

Oricon

, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...

 who released three different singles and all three have ranked within the top three.

The Japanese release date was originally announced to be November 23, 2011, but now has been delayed to December 7, 2011.

The album features five new songs in addition to Japanese remakes of seven previously released Korean songs. The regular version of the album will also feature the theme song to the drama Stranger 6, a track called "Stranger" as a bonus.

Tracklist