Outside Castle is the fifth and final studio album by South Korean boy group H.O.T., released on through SM Entertainment on September 29, 2000. The album spawned three singles: the title track "Outside Castle", "We Can Do It", and "A Song For a Lady".

Outside Castle debuted at number one on the MIAK monthly album chart and sold nearly 880,000 copies in 2000, and was the year's fifth best-selling album. The single "Outside Castle" won Best Popular Music Video (Daesang) at the 2000 Mnet Music Video Festival—the group's second consecutive win in the category.

Background

The proportion of self-composed songs, which had been gradually increasing, reached 100% for the album as all of the record's tracks were written or produced by the group members.

Commercial performance

On September 25, 2000, SM Entertainment revealed that the album received over 800,000 pre-orders, with sales expected to surpass ₩3 billion within the month. Released physically on October 2, the album debuted at number one on the monthly MIAK album charts for October with sales of over 840,000 copies. MIAK ranked Outside Castle the fifth best-selling album of 2000 with nearly 880,000 copies sold.

Accolades

Awards and nominations for "Outside Castle"
Award ceremonyYearCategoryResultRef.
Mnet Music Video Festival2000Best Popular Music Video (Daesang)Won
Best Male GroupNominated
Best Dance PerformanceNominated
Music program awards for "Outside Castle"
ProgramDate
InkigayoOctober 22, 2000
October 29, 2000
November 5, 2000
Music CampOctober 28, 2000
November 4, 2000
November 11, 2000
Music BankNovember 9, 2000
November 16, 2000
November 23, 2000

Promotion and live performances

2001 H.O.T. Live Concert

H.O.T. held their second concert at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium titled the "2001 H.O.T. Live Concert – H.O.T. Forever". The concert took place on February 27, 2001, and attracted 45,000 fans. A live album recording of the concert was released on April 27, 2001, which sold 138,616 copies.

Setlist

  1. "I Yah!"
  2. "Git It Up!" / "You Got Gun"
  3. Opening Ment
  4. "It's Been Raining Since You Left Me" / "Delight"
  5. "N.B.K. (Natural Born Killer)"
  6. "Time Will Tell"
  7. "Livin' La Vida Loca" (Tony solo)
  8. "Only You" (Kangta solo)
  9. "Right Here Waiting" (Kangta solo)
  10. "Full of Happiness" (with fan) (Kangta solo)
  11. "Let It Be" (Kangta solo)
  12. "Persia Black Hole ((Moon Hee-joon solo)
  13. "A Song For a Lady"
  14. "We Are the Future" / "OP.T (Operation Takeover)"
  15. "Scratch Show" (Woohyuk solo)
  16. "Good-bye For the Last" (with Tony) (Woohyuk solo)
  17. "Full of Happiness" / "Hope"
  18. "My Mother"
  19. Closing Ment
  20. "You & I"
  21. "We Can Do It"
  22. "Outside Castle"

Track listing

Outside Castle track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Outside Castle"Moon Hee-joonMoon Hee-joonMoon Hee-joonPark In-young5:23
2."Delight" (신비; Sinbi)KangtaKangtaKangta3:51
3."We Can Do It!" (그래! 그렇게!; Geulae! Geuleohge!)KangtaKangtaKangta4:05
4."My Mother"Jang Woo-hyukJang Woo-hyukKangtaJang Woo-hyukSong Gwang-sikOh Jo-hwan3:49
5."Pray for You" (꿈의 기도; Kkum-ui gido)KangtaKangtaKangta4:47
6."Wish of a Blue Bird" (파랑새의 소원; Palangsaeui sowon)Moon Hee-joonMoon Hee-joonMoon Hee-joon3:35
7."Time Will Tell"Lee Jae-wonMoon Hee-joonLee Jae-wonMoon Hee-joonLee Jae-won4:21
8."One Last Love"Tony AhnTony AhnYoon Chi-woongTony AhnYoon Chi-woong3:35
9."Good-bye for the Last" (Goodbye 이젠; Goodbye Ijen; lit. 'Goodbye For Now')Jang Woo-hyukJang Woo-hyukKangtaJang Woo-hyuk4:16
10."A Song For Lady" (연가)Moon Hee-joonMoon Hee-joonMoon Hee-joonPark In-young4:20
11."Illusion"KangtaKangtaKangta4:44
12."Natural Born Killer"Tony AhnTony AhnTony AhnOh Jo-hwan3:43
13."Abandoned Children" (버려진 아이들; Beolyeojin aideul)Lee Jae-wonLee Jae-wonLee Jae-won4:46
14."Always My Love" (늘 지금처럼; Neul jigeumcheoleom)KangtaKangtaKangta4:00
Total length:59:15

Credits and personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's booklet.

H.O.T. Moon Hee-joon – vocals, rap, digital editing (tracks 1, 6, 10), piano (1), sampling (1, 6), chorus (1, 4, 6, 9, 12), backing vocals (2–3, 5, 11, 14), mixing (1, 6, 10) Kangta – lead vocals, computer programming (tracks 2–3, 5, 11, 14), backing vocals (2–3, 5, 11, 14), chorus (4, 6, 8–9, 12) Tony Ahn – vocals, rap, backing vocals (tracks 2–3, 5, 11, 14), chorus (4, 9, 12), digital editing (8, 12) Jang Woo-hyuk – rap, backing vocals (tracks 2–3, 5, 11, 14), digital editing (4, 9), chorus (4, 9, 12) Lee Jae-won – rap, backing vocals (tracks 2–3, 5, 11, 14), chorus (4, 9, 12), digital editing (7, 13) Session Song Gwang-sik – piano (tracks 1, 4, 9, 14) Groovie K – other (tracks 1, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13) Park In-young – string arrangement (tracks 1, 10) Kim Jin-mi and 23 others – string music (track 1) Oh Yo-hwan, Oh Jo-hwan and 8 others – string music (tracks 2, 5, 14) Oh Yo-hwan, Oh Jo-hwan – string music (tracks 4, 9, 12) Gary Chung – other (tracks 3–5, 8, 9, 11, 14) Lee Tae-yun – bass guitar (tracks 4–6, 9, 10, 12–14) Lee Jeong-sik – saxophone (tracks 4, 6) Little Peace Children's Choir – chorus (track 6) Yoon Chi-woong – digital editing (track 8) DJ Murf – scratch (track 9) Suho Kang – drums (tracks 10, 12, 14) Hunihoon – rap lyricist (track 13)Staff Lee Soo-man, H.O.T. – producers Yeo Doo-hyun – mixing (tracks 1, 6, 7, 13), recording KAT – mixing (10), recording Jeon Hoon (Sonic Korea) – mastering Kim Kyung-wook – production Hong Hyun-jong, Park Won-young – promotion Kim Ki-beom, Cheon Kang-soo, Kim Yeon-jeong, Lee Kyung-min – promotional assistants Seong Moon-seok, Choi Mi-sook, Kim Eun-ah, Lee Sang-hee, Kim Ji-hyun, Sunwoo Yun-jae – stylists Hyeong Bae-hyung – album design Jo Se-hyun – photography Myungjin Art – printing SM Entertainment – executive producer

Charts

Chart (2000)Peak position
Monthly charts Chart (2000) Peak position South Korean Albums (MIAK) 1 Year-end charts Chart (2000) Peak position South Korean Albums (MIAK) 5Sales Chart Amount South Korea (MIAK) 879,613
South Korean Albums (MIAK)1
Chart (2000)Peak position
South Korean Albums (MIAK)5
ChartAmount
South Korea (MIAK)879,613