Play (S.H.E album)

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Play
Play cover
Studio album by S.H.E
Released May 11, 2007
Genre Mandarin pop
Length 43' 12"
Label HIM International Music, EMI, WOW Music
Producer S.H.E, David Tao
S.H.E chronology
Forever
(2006)		 Play
(2007)
Alternate covers
Economic version
Economic version

Play is S.H.E's 10th album, and was released on May 11, 2007. During the week of its release, Play accounted for over half of all Taiwanese album sales, beating out its runner up by over 40% of the market share. Over 100,000 copies of the album were pre-ordered; by mid-July, the sales total reached 500,000. Despite being tainted by cross-straits controversy, "Chinese Language", the album's lead single, earned six awards, including one for its music video. Due to the overall popularity of the album, Play became the first S.H.E album to warrant its own concert, which was held at the Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf in July.

Contents

[edit] Pre-release

Following Forever 's release in July, rumours had circulated around the Internet regarding S.H.E's tenth album. On March 30, 2007, The Beijing News reported that S.H.E had begun filming a music video for "Chinese Language", the lead single for their newest album.[1] Mere hours later, Tom.com revealed that the new album would be called Play, quashing contradictory rumours about the album's name.[2] On April 12, 2007, HIM announced that Play 's second single would be "May Day"; however, the song itself had nothing to do with the band. Mayday was so ecstatic that a song had been named after them that they promised to write songs for S.H.E in the future.[3] After years of criticism for covering too many songs, S.H.E finally produced two pieces for this album. Selina and Ella collaborated to produce "Wife" (老婆), while Hebe was responsible for "Say You Love Me" (說你愛我).[4] The song "Listen to Yuan Wei-jen Play Guitar"(聽袁惟仁彈吉他) was announced as part of Play on April 13.[5] David Tao composed "Good Mood - Just be Yourself" in two versions, one for Play, and another for Rene Liu's newest album.[6] "好心情Just be yourself" became the successor to "Super Model" as Daphne Shoes' promotional song.[7] On April 20, HIM set up countdowns at S.H.E's Xuite and MSN Space to count down to the album's release date. [8]

[edit] Musical style

As the album's title suggests, the songs come from a potpourri of music genres, ranging from slow pop ballads to hip hop to a sound influenced by traditional Chinese music. Three tracks are tributes to accomplishments of three different artists, namely Yuan Wei-jen, S.H.E's mastering producer up until 2004,[9] superstar Jay Chou, and S.H.E themselves.

[edit] Reception

The album's lead single, "Chinese Language," was released on April 16, 2007, and debuted at #9 on the KKBOX Music Charts.[10] The song climbed seven spots before perching itself at the top of the charts on April 18.[11] Preorders for Play totalled over 100,000 one week before the album's release date.[12] During its first week of sales, Play topped 15 different music charts.[13] The following week, all eleven tracks cracked the top 20 on the Inkui Top 50 charts. The album's second single, "Mayday", was China's seventh most requested song in karaoke bars.[14] Critics praised the album as an "excellent" showcase of S.H.E's "angelic harmonization."[15] By mid-July, around 500,000 copies of the album were sold.[16] Not all reception has been positive, however. Johnny Neihu, a Taipei Times columnist, found the album's lead single to be so disgusting that he barely "managed to drag [himself] out the door." [17]

In response to album sales, S.H.E held a concert at the Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf, with their setlist consisting entirely of songs from Play. The concert drew 20,000 fans. On September 24, S.H.E announced another concert, which will be held on November 10 in Zhuhai, in preparation for the Changsha stop of their Perfect 3 World Tour.[18]

[edit] Zhong Guo Hua controversy

"Chinese Language," the album's main hit, was heavily criticised by pro-Taiwanese-independence critics as "praising China", or "kissing China's ass" in the lyrics of the song. Their record company cleared them for the above accusation, claiming that the song was praising the language if anything else, and stated that critics should not mix politics and music.[19][20]

[edit] Track listing

  1. Chinese Language (中國話)
  2. Thanks for Your Gentleness (feat. Fahrenheit) (謝謝你的溫柔)
  3. Listen to Yuan Wei-jen Play Guitar (聽袁惟仁彈吉他)
  4. May Day (五月天)
  5. Excuses (藉口)
  6. Boom
  7. See You, Cambridge (再別康橋)
  8. London Bridge Is Falling Down (倫敦大橋垮下來)
  9. Say You Love Me (說你愛我)
  10. Good Mood - Just Be Yourself (好心情Just be yourself)
  11. Wifey (老婆)

[edit] Music Videos

For the music video of "May Day," label HIM recruited Mayday's lead singer, Ashin, to play the lead male role for the video.[21] In the MV, "Excuses", the male used is actually not Jay Chou, but a television host who is known for his ability to mimic Chou. It has been rumored that it is to avoid further rumors of a relationship between Jay Chou and S.H.E member Hebe. The "Thank You For Your Gentleness" MV included Fahrenheit.

[edit] Charts

Release Chart Peak Position Chart Run
September 5, 2007 G-music Weekly Combo Chart (Taiwan) #1 12 weeks
September 5, 2007 G-music Weekly Mandarin Chart (Taiwan) #1 13 weeks +Still Charting

[edit] References

  1. ^ (Chinese) S.H.E and Shaolin monks show off their kung fu skills. March 30, 2007. Retrieved March 29, 2007 (the article was written on 3/30 in the Chinese time zone)
  2. ^ (Chinese) Tom.com. S.H.E acts in "Chinese" MV. March 30, 2007. Retrieved March 29, 2007 (the article was written at 11:08 am, Chinese time).
  3. ^ (Chinese) S.H.E "praises" Wu Yue Tian; Ashin wants to write a song in reply. April 13, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007. (time zone difference)
  4. ^ (Chinese) United Daily News. S.H.E produce "Wife" in tears. April 14, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007 (time zone difference).
  5. ^ (Chinese) S.H.E dresses up as Play Girl{sic}, pose for the album. April 13, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  6. ^ [1] April 17, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2007.
  7. ^ (Chinese) [2]. April 16, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  8. ^ (Chinese) HIM International Music. HIM ePaper - Issue 87. April 20, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.
  9. ^ (Chinese) Sing Tao News. Lo Ta-yu releases and produces the title song from album "Total Song Influence" ; Yuan Wei-jen named as successor. October 12, 2006. Retrieved July 30, 2007.
  10. ^ (Chinese) KKBOX - Daily Music Charts. April 16, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.
  11. ^ (Chinese) KKBOX - Daily Music Charts. April 18, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
  12. ^ (Chinese) S.H.E feeling love for each other; netizens joke around, turning "Chinese Language" into "Taiwanese Language". May 5, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2007.
  13. ^ [3]. May 23, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2007.
  14. ^ (Chinese) City Karaoke Charts. May 25, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
  15. ^ Taiwan-based Mandopop Girl Group S.H.E. June 27, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.
  16. ^ (Chinese) S.H.E's album sales are unparalleled; fan support is very touching. July 9, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  17. ^ Neihu, Johnny. S.H.E looks like The Man to me. May 12, 2007. September 27, 2007.
  18. ^ (Chinese) Guangdong's fall and winter full of music, artists of all kinds are converging on the province. September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.
  19. ^ (Chinese) "Chinese Language? Chinese Transformation! 中國話?中國化!", Liberty Times, 2007-05-02. Retrieved on 2007-06-07. 
  20. ^ "S.H.E defend hit song 'Mandarin'", Taipei Times, 2007-05-06. Retrieved on 2007-07-26. 
  21. ^ (Chinese) [4]. April 26, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.
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