State of the Art (Shinhwa album)

State of the Art is a studio album by South Korean boy band Shinhwa. It was released on May 11, 2006, by Good Entertainment, and represents the group's eighth major album release (tenth overall). It was the third best-selling album of 2006 in South Korea with over 215,000 copies.

Background and release
A special edition version of State of the Art also released, containing bonus remix tracks of "Throw My Fist" and "Midnight Girl" and a DVD with behind-the-scenes footage. The album was released in Taiwan on October 5, 2006, by Universal Music Taiwan in two versions, including one with a bonus DVD.

The music video for "Once in a Lifetime", was directed by Cho Soo-hyun, who also directed the music video for Psy's "Gangnam Style" and "Gentleman"; and also the music video for "This Love" from Shinhwa's The Classic album in 2013.

Composition and recording
State of the Art twelve tracks. It was recorded at GoodSound Studio, Rui Studio, Silk Studio, Eungeon (은건) Studio, Dream Factory, and Momo Studio in 2006. Shinhwa member Lee Minwoo composed the lyrics for the song "Paradise", and member Eric Mun composed the rap lyrics for all songs, alongside David Kim.

Commercial performance
The album debuted on the Recording Industry Association Korea (RIAK) chart for the month of July 2006, with 161,452 copies sold The album finished 2006 at number 3 on South Korea's year-end charts, with total sales of 215,641 copies.

Shinhwa 2006 Tour "State of the Art"
Shinhwa embarked on a concert tour shortly after the release of State of the Art on May 13, 2006. They became the first Korean artist to hold a solo concert in Singapore on September 10, 2006, which attracted around 10,000 fans.

Credits and personnel
Credits are adapted from the album liner notes.


 * Park Kwun-young – producer
 * Shinhwa – co-producer
 * Lee Jang-eon – co-producer
 * Park Bong-gu – music producer
 * Park Hyeok – sound engineer
 * Choi Hyo-young – mastering
 * Sam Lee – guitar ("Thanks!", "Doobob", "Chance", "Why Me...")
 * Ko Tae-young – guitar ("Your Man", "Once in a Lifetime", "Throw My Fist", "Midnight Girl (Pop Ballad Ver.)")
 * Park Su-won – guitar ("Highway Star")
 * Hong Joon-ho – guitar ("Midnight Girl", "You're My Everything")


 * Cho Joon-soo – bass ("Midnight Girl (Pop Ballad Ver.)"
 * K-Strings – strings ("Weak Man", "Once in a Lifetime", "Throw My Fist", "Why Me...")
 * Shin Min – string arrangement ("Weak Man", "Why Me...")
 * Lee Na-il – string arrangement ("Once in a Lifetime", "Throw My Fist")
 * Ryu Hyeong-seob – string arrangement ("Throw My Fist")
 * Hwang Seong-jae – programming, keyboards ("Thanks!")
 * Jang Ji-won – keyboards ("Once in a Lifetime", "Midnight Girl (Pop Ballad Ver.)")
 * Kang Su-hyo – drums ("Once in a Lifetime")
 * Jang Sang-hyeon – drums ("Midnight Girl (Pop Ballad Ver.)")