Romeo is the second EP of South Korean boy groupShinee. It was released on May 25, 2009 in South Korea under the seal of the label S.M. Entertainment. The EP consists of six tracks including the title song "Juliette" and is Shinee's first Korean release after seven months hiatus. On August 29, 2011 a Japanese version of "Juliette" was released as Shinee's second Japanese single with the original Japanese song "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as a B-side. The release peaked at #3 on the weekly Oricon chart. The album was commercially successful in South Korea — it charted high on the charts and topped the Hanteo Charts for three consecutive weeks but there are no known cumulative chart records for albums sold in 2009. Prior to the establishment of the Gaon Music Chart in 2010, South Korea's music charts were supplied by the Music Industry Association of Korea, which stopped compiling data in 2008. Accourding to Gaon the EP has sold over 20,000 copies since 2011.
Background and release
Romeo is Shinee's first Korean release after 7 months hiatus since the reissueAmigo on October 31, 2008. The EP was originally scheduled for release on May 21 but was delayed to May 25 due to Onew's damaging his teeth. The choreography for the title song is the work of Rino Nakasone who also choreographed Shinee's previous songs like Replay and Love Like Oxygen. The lead single "Juliette" is a remake of "Deal with It" by Jay Sean and Corbin Bleu. Executives at S.M. Entertainment bought the rights to the song from Hollywood Records. The song was slightly re-arranged by Cutfather and as the original song's lyrics were not purchased, the Korean lyrics were penned by Shinee members, Jonghyun and Minho. On May 22, the group started their official promotions and performed the title song for the first on Music Bank. The Korean music video was released on May 22, and features f's Krystal as the female lead, while the song's Japanese music video featured actress Go Ara. The Korean music video was shot in early May in Seoul and Ilsanseo-gu and was directed by Lee Sang-kyu.
Concept and Composition
The album concept was inspired by William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet. The boys portray the Romeo of 21st century, who are confessing their love to their Juliet. The album consists of six tracks and composers like Kenzie, Young-hu Kim, Jung Yeop and Eco Bridge have participated on the composition for the album. Also two of the six songs are named after Romeo and Juliet — the title song "Juliette" and the last track on the album "Romeo + Juliette". The title song, which is described as a song with silver refined rhythm and acoustic drums is written by Shinee's group member Jonghyun, who for the first time after debut has taken on the job of writing the lyrics. He stated that after listening to the demo of the title track he went to look for a romance story that "will make everyone interested but also a story which everyone can identify with" and that he suddenly thought of the classic movie, Romeo and Juliet and was inspired by it. A Japanese version of "Juliette" was released on August 29, 2011 as Shinee's second Japanese single with the original Japanese song "Kiss Kiss Kiss" as a B-side.
