Don't Don - Pre-release and Recording

Pre-release and Recording

When promotions for Super Junior's previous hit single, "U" completed, SM Entertainment announced that the group were processing on the beginning touches for their second full-length album, with an expected November 2006 release. However, due to Heechul's car accident on August 10, 2006, schedules regarding album recordings had to be postponed. Another car accident inflicted upon four other members on April 19, 2007 also affected the album schedules. Kyuhyun, the most injured out of the four, was not discharged from the hospital until July 5, 2007.

During a fan-meet in Shanghai on August 26, 2007, Han Geng revealed that recording schedules for the album were finally active and the album would be released in September, followed up by Shindong's announcement that he would be on a short hiatus from hosting activities to work on the album, and an official announcement of the re-appearance of Kyuhyun in news articles. On September 5, 2007, Kang-in revealed his new hairstyle at a public radio, causing an intense anticipation within the media for the group's second album comeback. Their new album concept became a hot topic of debate within netizens as more information of the new concept unraveled. A few days later, SM Entertainment released the album's first promotional image, which contains a silhouette of the thirteen members. The mysterious image increased discussion for the anticipated new album concept, but the new concept was not fully revealed until the release date of the album. However, leaked pictures of the group's new image lightly surfaced across the web a week before the official release date.

On September 13, 2007, the label announced an official date for the album release. Demonstrative ringtones of the tracks in the album was released online on September 19, 2007. The official album was released on September 20, 2007. Pre-orders for the album began in South Korea on September 14, 2007.

"돈 돈! (Don't Don)", also the name of the album, was chosen to be the first single. Transliterated to "Money, Money! (Don't Don)", the title is a pun, playing with the words "don," (Korean: 돈), which means money, and "donda" (Korean: 돈다), which means to go insane. "Don't Don" is introduced as a genre of SMP (SM Music Performance), a genre invented by the company, that consists of the strong mix of R&B, rock, rap, and hip hop. The musical style of "Don't Don" has the combination of heavy guitar riffs, fast drum rhythms, electric guitar, a violin solo, and other musical instruments that make the single a rare musical. In an effort to promote the world to become a more innocent and magnanimous place to live, the lyrics sends a message about how money, hypocrisy, and the change of society has made the world into a twisted and greedy place to live. "Marry U" was chosen to be the second single. Different from the fast-pace first single, "Marry U" is a medium-tempo R&B ballad, reviving a classic image which is a contrast of their dark image from their first single. The rest of the album consists of soft ballads, string section focus, retro R&B, and 1980s style trendy dance songs, a style that is completely different from their first album, which a majority of the music consisted of modernized R&B dance pop. However, the trend of bubblegum pop still remains in the album, such as the second track, "Sapphire Blue."

Many members contributed in the production of the album. Yesung, Ryeowook, Kyuhyun were active as background vocalists while Eunhyuk, one of the main rappers of the group, was in charge of most of the rap lyrics in the album. Leeteuk, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, and Donghae also wrote the lyrics for the dance/pop song, "I am," arranged by Yoon Jongshin. Famous musicians like Yoon Jongshin, Kim Johan, Kim Youngho, Hwang Sungjae, Kim Changhyun, etc. also participated in the production of the album.