Fiction and Fact is the first full-length studio album of South Koreaboy bandBeast. It was released in Korea on May 17, 2011 and contains 10 songs total: 8 new songs, an unplugged version of "Lightless" and an orchestra version of title track "Fiction". The album peaked at number 1 on Gaon's Monthly Chart for May 2011 with 90,000 copies sold. The album garnered them a win for Artist of the Year for the 2nd quarter of 2011 at the Gaon Chart K-Pop Awards and their title song, "Fiction", won Song of the Year at the 2011 KBS Music Festival.
Release
On May 9, 2011, Cube Entertainment announced on their official website that Beast would release their first official studio album on May 17, 2011. They stated that Beast had a new sound with a modern feel that was unexpected based on their past background. They also stated that the album had a dramatic storytelling-like arrangement that would make any listener feel as if they were reading through different novels. On May 12, 2011, “On Rainy Days" was released as a digital single. It went on to become the ninth biggest-selling digital single in South Korea for 2011. A Japanese-language version was included as the B-side of Beast's Japanese single, "Midnight -Hoshi wo Kazoeru Yoru-", released October 17, 2012, and as a track on the Japanese album So Beast. On May 13, 2011, an intro music video for their title track "Fiction" was released on their official YouTube channel which Cube Entertainment described as "like a scene from a movie". The music video for "Fiction" and the Fiction and Fact album were released on May 17, 2011. A special limited edition of the album was released on May 25, 2011 which included new pictures, three fashion cap buttons, and a special T-shirt. The album ranked first on Gaon's monthly album chart for May 2011 with a total sales of 90,000 copies. An orchestral version of "Fiction" was also included on the album. The original version placed at number 16 on Gaon's year-end digital songs chart of 2011. Japanese-language versions of both the original and orchestral version of the song were included on Beast's Japanese album So Beast.
Composition
The first single released, “On Rainy Days“, was written by Choi Gyu-seong with the rap lyrics written by Beast member Yong Jun-hyung. The song was actually recorded on a rainy day in order to emphasize the feeling of sorrow. While recording, a company representative stated that “the members of BEAST were drunk with emotions and all shed tears” and “the recording had to be stopped multiple times because they couldn’t hold back their tears.”
Promotion and reception
Beast started their promotions for Fiction and Fact on the cable channel Mnet‘s M! Countdown on May 19, 2011 with a performance of their pre-released single "On Rainy Days" and their title track "Fiction". In order to fully deliver the feelings of these two very different songs, the M! Countdown staff prepared two different stage sets. For the performance of "On Rainy Days" they built an atmosphere simulating rain while they created an unrealistic, dreamy stage for "Fiction". A week after, on May 26, 2011, Beast won their first first-place award for "Fiction" on M! Countdown and subsequently won first place for the shows June 2 and June 9, 2011 episodes. They also won first place on KBS Music Bank's May 27, 2011 episode for their single "On Rainy Days" while "Fiction" won first place on the shows June 3 and June 10, 2011 episodes. Their title track also won first place on SBS Inkigayo's June 5 and June 12, 2011 episode. Beast ended their Korean promotions for Fiction or Fact on June 19, 2011 on SBS Inkigayo in order for them to move on to the promotions for their Japanese single "Bad Girl" in Japan. Beast first studio album received generally positive reviews, saying that the group has utilized their full color that has been built up over their past mini-albums.
Controversy
On July 14, 2011, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family placed a ban on "On Rainy Days" because it “contained content that’s harmful to youth”. The agency cited the line "I think I'm drunk, I should stop drinking" as possibly encouraging young listeners to drink. In response to the ban, member Yang Yoseob posted on his Twitter, "I think I'm going to start singing children songs. I need Tylenol" then added, "This is just too much. Sigh... we can't perform with this song, agh". On August 25, 2011, Cube Entertainment filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, requesting that they nullify the ban on the song. A Cube representative stated "The lyrics did not intend to glamorize drinking nor encourage it. The song is not about drinking at all, but rather a love story." They continued, "Considering the fact that the MOGEF has failed to ban other songs that contain strong lyrical content talking directly about topics that are more harmful to the youth, Beast's ban is a violation of equality." On September 8, 2011, the Seoul Administrative Court suspended the MOGEF's ban, ruling that it should reverse its decision to designate the song as harmful to youths. The court ruled in favour of Cube Entertainment, stating that the lyrics alone do not encourage drinking or smoking amongst youths.
