About Universal Records

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Quezon City, Philippines
Universal Records is the NUMBER ONE independent record label in the Philippines. Bringing you quality music for the past 30 years, we are home to artists like: Jose Mari Chan, Gary Valenciano, Ogie Alcasid, Regine Velasquez, Lani Misalucha, Jed Madela, Christian Bautista, Jay R, Billy Crawford, Kris Aquino, Edu Manzano, Marian Rivera, Mark Herras, Nina, Ronnie Liang, Gail Blanco, Sam Concepcion. Our band roster includes: Parokya Ni Edgar, Kamikazee, Sponge Cola, Imago, Silent Sanctuary, Kenyo, Paraluman. We are equally committed to bring you exciting international releases covering various genres like pop, jazz, new age, classical, alternative, indie pop, rock, electronica, dance, r&b, and hip-hop. Name it, we definitely have it!

April 15, 2011

Coming soon: CNBLUE "First Step" album


CNBLUE is considered one of the best, if not the best, K-Pop debuts of 2010. The band, which debuted in Japan before debuting in Korea released two bestselling mini-albums last year including "Bluetory" and "Bluelove". They also won several well-respected newcomer awards including the MNet Asian Music Awards, Melon Music Awards and the 20th Seoul Music Awards.

With all the members in high demand for overseas activities and acting roles, their first full-legth album took a long time coming, but CNBLUE has finally released it. Continuing to deliver a fresh pop rock sound amid the electro-pop trend, the album "First Step" bears witness to not only CNBLUE's phenomenal rise as idols, but also their growth as musicians. The 12 tracks in "First Step" features songs personally written and composed by the members themselves. Their title track, “Intuition,” features a strong guitar sound with rhythmical, yet powerful vocals to round it out. Leader Jung Yonghwa participated in the writing, composition, and arrangement for “Love Girl,” as well as member Lee Jonghyun in “Love Rides the Rain” and “Thank You”. “Just Please" a track off of their Japanese single, features newly written Korean lyrics by Yonghwa as well. "First Step" also includes songs like "Imagine", as well as "One Time" and "I Don't Know Why", previously featured on their Oricon-charting Japanese single releases.

CNBLUE’s “Intuition” rose to number one in real time charts and weekly charts after its release. The group has already won several awards in music program like M!Countown, Music Bank and Inkigayo for their first title track off their album. To date, their "First Step" album has sold 130,000 copies in Korea alone, following in the footsteps of K-pop superstar idol groups like TVXQ and Big Bang, who have also hit the 100,000 units mark with their own albums this year.

"First Step" has also topped one of Japan’s most prestigious album charts becoming the top selling album on the online pre-order sales charts of Japan’s Tower Records, the country’s largest record store. The Korean band surpassed pre-order sales of AKB48, Japan’s most popular idol group, reflecting their growing popularity all over Asia. Also, “First Step” was the number one album on Taiwan’s “G-Music: J-Pop Weekly Chart”. The feat was all the more impressive because the group didn’t even release the “First Step” album in Taiwan yet, and had not run a single album promotion for it either. CNBLUE has indeed conquered three of the leading music markets in Asia and can certainly be proclaimed as Asian superstars!

Online charts with Intuition at #1:
#1 Baidu/Monkey
#1 Bugs
#1 Cyworld
#1 Daum
#1 Doshirak
#1 Hanteo
#1 Melon
#1 MNet
#1 Naver
#1 Soribada

Wins in various music programs with Intuition at #1:
#1 March 31, 2011 - MNET Countdown
#1 April 1, 2011 - KBS Music Bank
#1 April 7, 2011 - MNET M!Countdown
#1 April 8, 2011 - KBS Music Bank
#1 April 10, 2011 - SBS Inkigayo
#1 April 14, 2011 - MNET Countdown


"First Step" tracklisting:
1. Intuition
2. Love Girl
3. Imagine
4. I Don't Know Why
5. Eclipse
6. Lie
7. One Time
8. Just Please
9. Wanna Be Like U
10. Ready N Go
11. Thank You
12. One Of A Kind (Bonus Track)

Special thanks to CNBLUE Philippines (http://www.facebook.com/pages/CN-BLUE-PHILIPPINES/207429376312)


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