20 (Twenty)

Background and development

After performing at the Nippon Budokan in 2011, F.T. Island recorded the song "Let It Go!" in commemoration of the event. Recorded during the same period, "Neverland" was composed by Choi Jong Hoon. Described as an energetic song, he recorded the guitar as the final bit to make the instrument the most prominent in the recording. He penned the song "Stay", which is based on his personal relationship experiences. He initially wrote the lyrics in Korean, then translated them into Japanese, using a translator where he was unable to translate the lyrics by himself. The process between three and four hours.

Choi Min Hwan and Song Seung Hyun worked on the songs "Always" and "Compass" together while in high school. Discussing "Always", Choi Min Hwan compared the song to "Satisfaction" in that one may feel a similar "atmosphere and a strength", but noted that there was more emphasis of sorrow in "Always". "Paper Plane" is a medium-tempo song, which features a dense snare drum. "Distance" was written by Kenn Kato, Song Seung Hyun and Lee Jae Jin, and composed by Corin. Lead singer Lee Hongki had difficulty singing the song, stating that the key he sang in was very high.

20 [Twenty] was recorded while F.T. Island was in the midst of promoting in South Korea, which limited their time on the project. Determined to convey the proper emotions of the songs, they "made sure to stop and interpret every part of the lyrics". F.T. Island aimed to make 20 [Twenty] their most mature album to date. The title of the album refers to the average age of the band members.

Release and promotion

"Let It Go!" was released as the first single on July 27, 2011. The single peaked at number four on the weekly Oricon singles chart and sold over 41,500 copies in Japan.^a The second single "Distance" was released on November 30 in the same year, which also peaked at number four on the weekly Oricon singles chart, selling over 44,500 copies.^b On April 18, 2012, "Neverland" was the third single released from the album. It peaked at number 10 on the weekly Oricon singles chart and sold over 30,500 copies in Japan.^c The song "Stay" was used as the opening theme song for TV Asahi's Music Ru TV and TV Tokyo's Japan Countdown, and was used as the ending theme for Nippon Television.

20 [Twenty] was released on May 16, 2012, in three editions: a CD-only edition which features the bonus track "Hit the Sands", a CD and DVD edition which includes the Korean version of "Satisfaction" as a bonus track, and the music video for "Stay" and a special feature, and a Lawson edition which contains footage from March 2012 of F.T. Island's performances at Fuji-Q Highland. On May 19 and 20, 2012, F.T. Island held two release events for the album at Zepp Tokyo and the Hotarumachi Dōjima River Forum in Osaka, respectively. An estimate of 10,000 winners of a lottery were in attendance in both events, where the band performed five songs. On May 26, 2012, F.T. Island performed "Neverland" on Fuji Television's music show Music Fair. The following day, they performed acoustic versions of the songs "Stay", "Flower Rock", "Soyogi", and "Venus" on Space Shower TV.

From June 24 to July 8, 2012, the band embarked on their F.T. Island Summer Tour 2012: Run! Run! Run! and performed in various venues across Japan, including at the Sun Dome Fukui in Fukui and the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Their shows drew in over 60,000 audience attendees in total.

Chart performance

20 [Twenty] debuted at number four on the weekly Oricon albums chart, selling 41,726 copies in its first week. The album earned F.T. Island their best first-week sales in Japan. On the Billboard Japan Top Albums, 20 [Twenty] also debuted at number four. The album has sold 44,603 copies in Japan.^d