Love & Peace is the third Japanesestudio album and seventh overall by South Korean girl groupGirls' Generation. The album was released fordigital download on December 10, 2013, in selected countries in Asia byNayutawave Records (Universal Music Group), followed by a physical release in Japan the next day.[2][3] This marks their last Japanese studio album featuring memberJessica before her departure from the group in September 2014.
The album was physically released in four editions, with each edition containing the same twelve songs.The four editions also feature three different album covers, with the Blu-ray limited edition and DVD limited edition sharing the same cover.[5]
On October 25, 2013, it was revealed that Girls' Generation will be releasing their third Japanese album on December 11.[6] "Galaxy Supernova", "Love & Girls", "Do The Catwalk", "Lingua Franca",[7] "My Oh My" and "Beep Beep" (B-side from "Flower Power") have all been released prior to the release of this album.[8] A live show subsequently titled asLove & Peace took place on December 14, 2013, at theYokohama Arena, with tickets distributed through a lottery available to those who purchased the third album.[9][10]
"Love & Girls" served as thelead single fromLove & Peace. It was released on June 19, 2013, in Japan by Nayutawave Records and Universal Music Japan.[11] The single debuted at number 4 on the JapaneseOricon Singles Chart, selling 42,796 physical copies within its first week of release.[12] It also peaked at number 3 on theJapan Hot 100.[13]
"Galaxy Supernova" debuted at number four on theOricon Daily Singles Chart.[14]The single managed to sell 14,564 physical copies on its second day achieving first place in theOricon Daily Singles Chart.[15]One week after the release, Galaxy Supernova managed to sell 50,793 physical copies.[16][17]
"My Oh My" was released digitally on November 5, 2013, as apromotional single.[8] The music video depicts the girls dressed in brightly colored outfits, taking revenge on a guy who cheated on his girlfriend by using magic to teach him a lesson.[18] The song "Motorcycle" was released as the second promotional single on December 5, 2013.[19]
Love & Peace garnered generally positive reviews from contemporarymusic critics. Patrick St. Michel fromThe Japan Times praised the record's composition and wrote that its production "quality is still top notch".[21] Kazuma Namba fromRolling Stone Japan likewise complimented its production quality and wrote that "Even those who find Japanese albums a bit unsatisfactory will be satisfied with the result."[20]
On the day of its physical release, the album debuted on the dailyOricon Albums Chart at number one. After the first week, with sales amounting to about 129,000, it debuted on the weeklyOricon chart at number one as well and number two onBillboard Japan, which resulted in the album being certifiedGold by theRecording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ).[4]Due to receiving significant airplay in Japan, "Motorcycle" charted on the Adult Contemporary Airplay chart ofBillboard Japan at number 54, along with "Marry You" byBruno Mars, "Best Song Ever" byOne Direction, "Yuki no Hana" byMika Nakashima, and eight other songs.[22]
All of the album's tracks charted at various positions from number ten to 126 on the South KoreanGaon internationalDigital Chart following the release.[23]Love & Peace also debuted at number ten and peaked at number nine withShíjiān de gē (2013) (Chinese:時間的歌) byCheer Chen and two other albums on theTaiwanese albums chart.[24] The album debuted on the monthlyOricon albums chart at number two.
^"G-Music Albums Chart" (in Chinese).G-Music. Archived fromthe original(Select "2013年—第50迥" or "51迥" on the bottom right of the page) on December 24, 2013. RetrievedJanuary 8, 2014.
