Golden Age (album) explained

Golden Age
Type:studio
Artist:NCT
Cover:NCT - Golden Age.png
Caption:Digital cover
Released:August 28, 2023
Recorded:2023
Studio:SM Studios (Seoul)
Genre:
Length:32:21
Language:Korean
Label:
Prev Title:ISTJ
Prev Year:2023
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Next Year:2023

Golden Age is the fourth studio album by South Korean boy band NCT. It was released on August 28, 2023, by SM Entertainment. Similar to their previous releases NCT 2018 Empathy, NCT 2020 Resonance, and NCT 2021 Universe, Golden Age is part of "NCT 2023" project; which saw all current NCT members from several units collaborating on a full-length release. This time, the album features 20 members from three current units of NCT; NCT 127, NCT Dream, and WayV. The album consists of ten tracks with two singles released to support the album, the title track of the same name and "Baggy Jeans".

Golden Age is the first album release of NCT after the departure of three former members; Lucas, who departed from the group on May 10, 2023, after his hiatus since mid 2021, and Shotaro and Sungchan who were withdrawn from the group on May 24, 2023, to re-debut as a member of SM Entertainment's new boy group Riize in September of the same year.[2] [3]

Background and release

SM Entertainment announced NCT's fourth union project NCT 2023 on August 9, 2023, with the confirmation of the release of the group's fourth studio album Golden Age. It is the first NCT union project in a year and four months after the 2021 union project NCT 2021 Universe, which saw the release of the group's third studio album. All twenty current members of the group participated in the project, including Winwin who was absent from the 2021 project due to his personal schedule in China. The label also announced two singles which will be released to support the album, the lead single being "Golden Age", an all members track which was released on August 23, 2023, while the second single off the album is "Baggy Jeans", which saw the reunion of Taeyong, Doyoung, Ten, Jaehyun, and Mark, the first five debuted members of NCT who participated in the group's debut single "The 7th Sense", released on the same date as the album.[4]

Commercial performance

Golden Age debuted at number one on the Circle Weekly Album Chart in the chart issue dated August 27– September 2, 2023, with the debut sales of 961,463 units, making the album the fourth album for NCT as a whole group to top the chart.[5] The album also topped the monthly chart of August 2023, with the first month sales of 955,109 units.[6]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Peak
position
Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon)[7] 1
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[8] 3
South Korean Albums (Circle)[9] 1
Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[10] 18

Monthly charts

Chart ! scope="col"
Position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 9
South Korean Albums (Circle)[12] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2023)! scope="col"
Position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[13] 56
Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[14] 55
South Korean Albums (Circle)[15] 37

Release history

Region ! scope="col"
Date Format Label
VariousAugust 28, 2023
South Korea
United StatesSeptember 29, 2023
Canada

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NCT the 4th Album 'Golden Age' . 2023-10-15 . 2023-10-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231026035548/https://www.smentertainment.com/Entertainment/Albums/11794 . dead .
  2. Web site: '사생활 논란' 루카스, NCT 탈퇴→개인 활동 예정 "멤버들 미안" [종합]]. 'Personal life controversy' Lucas leaves NCT → Plans for individual activities "I feel sorry for the members" [Comprehensive]. Choi. Hye-jin. May 10, 2023. Star News. Naver. ko. May 10, 2023.
  3. Web site: NCT 성찬·쇼타로, 팀 탈퇴→신인 그룹 재데뷔. NCT's Sungchan and Shotaro leave the team → re-debut as a new group [Comprehensive]. Baek. Seung-hoon. May 24, 2023. MBC Entertainment. Naver. ko. May 24, 2023.
  4. Web site: 어느덧 정규 4집...NCT 2023 '골든 에이지' 28일 발매. The 4th full-length album... NCT 2023 'Golden Age' released on the 28th. Baek. Seung-hoon. August 9, 2023. CBS No Cut News. Naver. ko. August 9, 2023.
  5. Web site: Album Chart 2023 Week 35. Circle Chart. September 7, 2023. ko. September 7, 2023.
  6. Web site: Album Chart 2023.08 Month. Circle Chart. September 7, 2023. ko. September 7, 2023.
  7. Web site: Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: 2023-10-09 . . October 6, 2023. ja.
  8. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of October 4, 2023. Billboard Japan. ja. October 4, 2023.
  9. Web site: Album Chart 2023 Week 35. Circle Chart. September 7, 2023. ko. September 7, 2023.
  10. Web site: Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 37. Sverigetopplistan. September 15, 2023.
  11. Web site: Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-10 . . November 8, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231108035959/https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/m/2023-10/ . November 8, 2023 . ja.
  12. Web site: Album Chart 2023.08 Month. Circle Chart. September 7, 2023. ko. September 7, 2023.
  13. Web site: https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/y/2023/p/4l6/. ja:年間 アルバムランキング 2023年度. Oricon. 6. ja. Annual Album Ranking 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231219222404/https://www.oricon.co.jp/rank/ja/y/2023/p/6/. December 19, 2023. live. December 20, 2023.
  14. Web site: Billboard Japan Hot Albums Year-End 2023. Billboard Japan. December 24, 2023.
  15. Web site: Album Chart 2023. Circle Chart. January 12, 2024.