Tone is the fifth Japanese studio album by South Korean pop groupTohoshinki, released on September 28, 2011 by Avex Trax. It is Tohoshinki's first Japanese album since becoming a two-piece band, with members Yunho and Changmin. Tone was released in three physical versions – Version A, a CD+DVD version with music videos; Version B, another CD+DVD version with off-shot movies; and Version C, a CD only version with a bonus track. Composing sessions for the album began in 2009, bull full production began in early 2011. Musically, Tone is a pop music album largely consisting of uptempos, midtempos, and ballads with R&B, electropop and rock influences. Tone received positive reviews upon its release, with some critics praising it as one of Tohoshinki's most cohesive Japanese albums to-date. The album was a major commercial success: it was Tohoshinki's second album, but first original release, to top the Oricon Albums Chart, selling 205,000 copies on its first week of release. Earning a platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan two weeks later, Tone eventually became Tohoshinki's best-selling original Japanese studio album, with over 330,000 copies sold.
Background
The second single "Superstar" was originally written with English lyrics and titled "Everyday Superstar". When the song was translated into Japanese the lyrics and meaning were completely changed apart from the single word "Superstar". Co-writer Lars Halvor Jensen told HitQuarters that the translator kept it in because "it's a catchy word that everybody understands". The original English language song was recorded by the Irish pop duoJedward and included on their second album Victory. It was also included as the bonus track on the Japanese release of their debut albumPlanet Jedward.
Release
On July 30, 2011, while attending the a-Nation 10th Anniversary for Life Charge & Weider in Jelly concert, U-Know revealed that their upcoming Japanese album was slated for release on September 28. There Max also revealed that their 5th Nationwide Japanese tour would be starting in January of next year. July 31 it was revealed that previously released tracks "Why? ", "Maximum", "Superstar", and "I Don't Know" would be included on the album and that three versions: CD+DVD, CD+DVD and CD of the album would be released. On August 15 it was revealed that one of the songs off the album "Back to Tomorrow" would be used as the CM song for Illuneige, a product by Menard Cosmetics. A 1-minute, 12-second preview of the song was available on the Illuneige site. On August 27 the track list for all three versions of Tone were revealed on Tohoshinki's official Japanese website, along with a 17-second preview of the song "B.U.T ". The limited edition bonuses were revealed to be a jacket sized card and event application, "Superstar" PV shoot off shot movie, and special miniphotobooklet. On September 2, 2011 Tohoshinki revealed the jacket covers for all three versions of Tone, as well as a 30-second teaser for "Duet" on their Japanese site. From September 2–4 Tohoshinki participated in SMTown Live '10 World Tour, where they performed their yet-to-be released song "B.U.T ". September 6, Avex Trax's official YouTube page released a 15-second MV teaser of "B.U.T ". 5 days later, a 1-minute, 30-second version of "B.U.T " was shown, along with three behind-the-scenes footage clips, on Fuji TV'sMezamashi TV. September 19 the full music video for "B.U.T " was released through various sites. On September 27, 2011, the first day of album release, Tone topped the Oricon Daily Album Chart at first place by selling 105,484 copies, surpassing their previous studio album The Secret Code's first day sales of 82,891 copies, the album maintained the daily #1 rank for the remainder of the week. On October 4, 2011, Oricon reported that Tone has sold over 204,980 copies for the week of 9/26~10/2, again surpassing The Secret Code's first week sales of 157,954 copies; it ranked first on the Oricon Weekly Album Chart and earned Tohoshinki their first weekly #1 rank for a studio album release. This is also the first time in over 11 years that a foreign male artist has sold over 200,000 copies in the first week since Bon Jovi's Crush. On November 7, 2011, Oricon reported that Tone has sold over 278,057 copies for the month of October, topping the Oricon Monthly Album Chart at first place, making this the first time Tohoshinki has achieved the monthly #1 rank with a studio album release. On October 7, 2011, Tone was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipping over 250,000 copies. On December 19, 2011, Oricon reported that Tone has sold over 293,674 copies in 2011, ranked 20th for the year on the Oricon Yearly Album Chart.
