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JYJ on top with ‘In Heaven’ despite career hurdles

Korean superstars JYJ composed of former TVXQ members Jaejoong, Yoochun and Junsu, reaches the top of the charts once again with their latest release "In Heaven" having reported sales figures of 350,000 copies as of October 2011. The physical CD of "In Heaven" was released last September 27.

"In Heaven" is the second full studio album of JYJ after their English album "The Beginning" and their two mini albums titled "The…" (Japanese) and "Their Rooms: Our Story" (Korean).

"In Heaven" is a beautiful and personal album from JYJ as all three members (but with special mention to Jaejoong) were active in penning and producing the music. The "In Heaven" album cover and tracklist is as follows:

1. Get Out
2. In Heaven
3. Fallen Leaves
4. Boy's Letter
5. Mission
6. I.D.S. (I Deal Scenario)
7. Pierrot
8. You're
9. Nine
10. Nameless Song Part 1

The sales success of JYJ's album is not surprising since JYJ possesses a strong and loyal fanbase not just in Korea but all over the world. What is sad, however, is that due to their feud with their former management agency SM Entertainment (SME), JYJ faces a lot of hurdles in their career. These hurdles are more apparent now as JYJ released "In Heaven," their first full Korean album release in a long time.

Everyone knows how much promotions help in the performance of an album and JYJ are keen on performing and appearing on television again for "In Heaven". However, almost a month after the release of "In Heaven", JYJ has yet to receive a callback or invitation to perform on music shows. In fact, JYJ representatives were quoted as saying: "We never received an offer to perform on music shows even if we bring the album with us to meet them, they do not call back."

JYJ's representatives also expressed doubts as to why an album performing very well on sales charts are not reflected on the charts of music shows. They also expressed that the music shows were unable to provide fair reasons for not allowing JYJ to perform given that JYJ was given the legal clearance to promote and appear in Korean shows. Although there are no clear evidences that SME is stopping JYJ's promotions, fans of the trio have no qualms in expressing their thoughts that SME has something to do with creating these roadblocks.

Not to worry, however, as the boys of JYJ continue to be successful in music and other areas like acting in dramas. Jaejoong is one of the male leads of the drama "Protect the Boss" while Yoochun won hearts in "Miss Ripley". Junsu also showed his acting chops in the music video for "In Heaven". Watch the video below to experience JYJ's music.

There is no doubt that JYJ is one of the most accomplished and highly regarded Korean artists today. Even with career hurdles set up in front of them, they continue to be a strong force in the industry. The JYJ boys are currently preparing for the final leg of their world tour with upcoming shows in Spain and Berlin.
Catherine Deen blogs for Yahoo! Philippines OMG!. She lives, eats and breathes Korean music, cuisine, telenovelas, and pop culture. Follow her on Twitter @cathsdeen.