Alive (EP)

Release and promotion

Beginning on January 27, 2012, the track listing and title of Big Bang's upcoming EP, Alive were released. Teddy Park of YG Entertainment and Big Bang member G-Dragon produced the majority of the music for the EP with the help of other producers such as DJ Murf and Peejay. G-Dragon also wrote the majority of the songs on this album with the help of T.O.P. and Teddy Park.

"Blue" was released on February 22, 2012, as the EP's lead single, and thereafter Big Bang released previews of other tracks on YouTube every day from February 23–28. They also announced the Big Bang Alive World Tour, in support of the album.

The Alive EP and its second single, "Bad Boy" were released on February 29, 2012. Promotions began with televised performances from the album on March 11, 2012, on SBS's Inkigayo. "Fantastic Baby" was the album's third single, released March 7, 2012.

The EP was repackaged as a special edition with additional songs and re-titled as Still Alive. The special edition and its single "Monster", were released June 3, 2012. "Blue", "Bad Boy", "Fantastic Baby", and "Monster" were also re-recorded with Japanese lyrics and included on Big Bang's full-length Japanese album, Alive. Other album tracks, in their original Korean language form, were also included on the album.

Commercial performance

Alive became the first Korean album or EP to chart on the United States' Billboard 200 and at its time of release, held the record for being the best selling K-Pop album ever in the United States, selling over 4,100 copies in its first week of release. It also charted at number four on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, at number twenty-two on the Independent Albums chart, and number four on the World Albums chart. Alive reached to number six on Japan's domestic Oricon weekly album chart as a Korean import. The EP finished 2012 as the second best-selling album of the year in South Korea.

The lead single "Blue" hited number one on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart, remaining at the top spot for three weeks, and at the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100. "Bad Boy" went to number two on the weekly Gaon Digital Chart and number three on the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100. "Fantastic Baby" went to number three on Korea's Gaon Chart and number three on Billboard's K-pop Hot 100. Big Bang became the first act to hit number one in the Gaon Monthly Digital Chart for two consecutive months, when "Blue" topped for the month of February and "Fantastic Baby" topped March. "Monster" hit number one on the weekly Gaon Digital Charts and Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100. In the Gaon's Year End Digital chart, both "Fantastic Baby" and "Bad Boy" charted within the Top 10, occupying the fifth and tenth spot, respectively, while "Monster" charted at number fourteen.

On March 9, 2012, it was revealed that Big Bang was the first act to occupy 5 out of the top 10 spots on Billboard's K-pop Hot 100 with "Blue," "Bad Boy," "Fantastic Baby," "Ain't No Fun," and "Love Dust."

As of December 2016, according to the Gaon Chart, Oricon and the Chinese music service KuGou, songs from the album have sold over 24 million downloads.

Critical reception

Billboard called the EP and its repackage "objectively one of the group’s best eras," and noted how "each song is iconic in its own way." Chicago Sun-Times noted that Alive included a more mature sound and "more interesting production techiniques," and that it displayed Big Bang's diversity. The Fader praised Alive for making "the most compelling case yet" for a rising K-Pop star in the west. The Borneo Post declared that "‘Alive’ is a humble manifesto that declares Big Bang’s efforts to grow into Kpop legends who live in the now. They’ve certainly proven before that they’re a cut above the usual" and stated "this album is everywhere, and everyone-friendly."

"Monster" was noted for presenting the group at "their most dramatic" and having a "perfect touch of eeriness." "Bad Boy" was noted for being "the epitome of Big Bang’s unique brand of evocative hip-hop." In their list of "The 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time," Spin magazine lists "Bad Boy" at number thirteen. Deasung's solo, "Wings" was called the stand-out song on the album, noting that "Daesung gives the album the sunny verve that makes it worthy of the title 'Alive'." "Fantastic Baby" was chosen by Billboard as the group's best song. The magazine recognized that “'Fantastic Baby' was the first song to cross international boundaries with it’s then-groundbreaking EDM style" and praised the song for being "nothing short of fantastic". Rolling Stone ranked "Fantastic Baby" at number twenty-two in their "50 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time" list.