Play (S.H.E album)
Encyclopedia
Play is the eighth studio album by Taiwanese
Mandopop
girl group
S.H.E
. It was released on 11 May 2007 by HIM International Music
. 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.
The track, "五月天" (May Day) won one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year at the 2008 HITO Radio Music Awards presented by Taiwanese radio station Hit FM.
for their newest album. Mere hours later, Tom.com revealed that the new album would be called Play, quashing contradictory rumours about the album's name. On 12 April 2007, HIM announced that album'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. 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). The song "Listen to Yuan Wei-ren Play Guitar" (聽袁惟仁彈吉他) was announced as part of Play on 13 April. David Tao composed "Good Mood - Just be Yourself" in two versions, one for Play, and another for Rene Liu
's newest album. "好心情Just be yourself" became the successor to "Super Model" as Daphne Shoes' promotional song. On 20 April, HIM set up countdowns at S.H.E's Xuite and MSN Space to count down to the album's release date.
, and S.H.E themselves.
bars. Critics praised the album as an "excellent" showcase of S.H.E's "angelic harmonization." By mid-July, around 500,000 copies of the album were sold. 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."
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 24 September, S.H.E announced another concert, which will be held on 10 November in Zhuhai
, in preparation for the Changsha stop of their Perfect 3 World Tour.
's lead singer, Ashin
, to play the lead male role for the video.
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 the original film with the real Jay Chou was ruined because of the hot weather, so they decided to make it a second time, using a fake Jay Chou, just to have a little bit more fun. The "Thank You For Your Gentleness" MV included Fahrenheit
.
Taiwanese people
Taiwanese people may refer to individuals who either claim or are imputed cultural identity focused on the island of Taiwan and/or Taiwan Area which have been governed by the Republic of China since 1945...
Mandopop
Mandopop
Mandopop is a colloquial abbreviation for "Mandarin popular music." It is categorized as a subgenre of commercial Chinese-language music within C-pop. Mandopop was the first variety of popular music in Chinese to establish itself as a viable industry. As the name implies, Mandopop features songs...
girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
S.H.E
S.H.E
S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. The name of the group is an alphabetism derived from the first letter of each member's name. Since releasing their first album Girls Dorm , S.H.E has recorded 12 albums with sales totalling over 15 million, and...
. It was released on 11 May 2007 by HIM International Music
HIM International Music
HIM International Music is a Taiwanese independent record label and artist management company established in 1999. It was previously known as Grand Music International Inc....
. 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.
The track, "五月天" (May Day) won one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year at the 2008 HITO Radio Music Awards presented by Taiwanese radio station Hit FM.
Pre-release
Following Forever album release in July, rumours had circulated around the Internet regarding S.H.E's tenth album. On 30 March 2007, The Beijing News reported that S.H.E had begun filming a music video for "Chinese Language", the lead singleLead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
for their newest album. Mere hours later, Tom.com revealed that the new album would be called Play, quashing contradictory rumours about the album's name. On 12 April 2007, HIM announced that album's second single would be "May Day"; however, the song itself had nothing to do with the band. Mayday
Wu Yue Tian
Mayday , is a Taiwanese alternative rock band that was formed in the late 1990s with five members, Ashin , Monster and Stone , Masa and Guan You ....
was so ecstatic that a song had been named after them that they promised to write songs for S.H.E in the future. 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). The song "Listen to Yuan Wei-ren Play Guitar" (聽袁惟仁彈吉他) was announced as part of Play on 13 April. David Tao composed "Good Mood - Just be Yourself" in two versions, one for Play, and another for Rene Liu
René Liu
René Liu was born June 1, 1969. She is a Taiwanese actress and singer. She is the first to win Best Actress awards at the Asia Pacific Movie Festival in both television and film productions...
's newest album. "好心情Just be yourself" became the successor to "Super Model" as Daphne Shoes' promotional song. On 20 April, HIM set up countdowns at S.H.E's Xuite and MSN Space to count down to the album's release date.
Musical style
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, superstar Jay ChouJay Chou
Jay Chou is a Taiwanese musician, singer-songwriter, music and film producer, actor and director who has won the World Music Award four times. In 1998 he was discovered in a talent contest where he displayed his piano and song-writing skills. Over the next two years, he was hired to compose for...
, and S.H.E themselves.
Reception
The album's lead single, "Chinese Language," was released on 16 April 2007 and debuted at #9 on the KKBOX Music Charts. The song climbed seven spots before perching itself at the top of the charts on 18 April. Preorders for Play totalled over 100,000 one week before the album's release date. During its first week of sales, Play topped 15 different music charts. 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 karaokeKaraoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
bars. Critics praised the album as an "excellent" showcase of S.H.E's "angelic harmonization." By mid-July, around 500,000 copies of the album were sold. Not all reception has been positive, however. Johnny Neihu, a Taipei Times
Taipei Times
The Taipei Times is one of the three major English-language newspapers in the Republic of China the other two being the Taiwan News and The China Post...
columnist, found the album's lead single to be so disgusting that he barely "managed to drag [himself] out the door."
In response to album sales, S.H.E held a concert at the Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf
Tamshui Fisherman's Wharf
Tamsui Fisherman's Wharf is a very scenic spot at the western tip of Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Its predecessor was the "Tamsui Second Fishing Port" on the right bank of the Tamsui river estuary, an important fishing harbor in the early history of north Taiwan.The Tamsui Fisherman's...
, with their setlist consisting entirely of songs from Play. The concert drew 20,000 fans. On 24 September, S.H.E announced another concert, which will be held on 10 November in Zhuhai
Zhuhai
Zhuhai is a prefecture-level city on the southern coast of Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and Macau to the south. Zhuhai was one of the original Special Economic Zones...
, in preparation for the Changsha stop of their Perfect 3 World Tour.
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.Track listing
- "Chinese Language" (中國話, Zhong Guo Hua)
- "Thanks for Your Gentleness" (feat. FahrenheitFahrenheit (Taiwanese band)Fahrenheit is a Taiwanese boy band who has been active in Asia since 2005. The group debut with four members: Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen, Aaron Yan and Wu Chun. They are managed by Comic International Productions . The group's music is distributed by HIM International Music in Taiwan, by WOW Music in...
) (謝謝你的溫柔, Xie Xie Ni De Wen Rou) - "Listen to Yuan Wei-ren Play Guitar" (聽袁惟仁彈吉他, Ting Yuan Wei Ren Tan Ji Ta)
- "May Day" (五月天, Wu Yue Tian)
- "Excuses" (藉口, Jie Kou)
- "Boom"
- "See You, Cambridge" (再別康橋, Zai Bie Kang Qiao)
- "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (倫敦大橋垮下來, Lun Dun Da Qiao Kua Xia Lai)
- "Say You Love Me" (說你愛我, Shuo Ni Ai Wo)
- "Good Mood - Just Be Yourself" (好心情 Just Be Yourself, Hao Xin Qing Just Be Yourself)
- "Wifey" (老婆, Lao Po)
- "Always Open" (with FahrenheitFahrenheit (Taiwanese band)Fahrenheit is a Taiwanese boy band who has been active in Asia since 2005. The group debut with four members: Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen, Aaron Yan and Wu Chun. They are managed by Comic International Productions . The group's music is distributed by HIM International Music in Taiwan, by WOW Music in...
) (pre-order bonus track)
Music videos
For the music video of "May Day," label HIM recruited MaydayWu Yue Tian
Mayday , is a Taiwanese alternative rock band that was formed in the late 1990s with five members, Ashin , Monster and Stone , Masa and Guan You ....
's lead singer, Ashin
Ashin Chen Hsin Hung
Ashin , born on December 6, 1975, Taipei, Taiwan, is a Taiwanese singer, music composer, songwriter, author, and an actor. His legal name is Chen Hsin-hung . He is the lead vocalist of the Taiwanese rock band Mayday. Even though he majored in art during high school and college, Ashin started his...
, to play the lead male role for the video.
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 the original film with the real Jay Chou was ruined because of the hot weather, so they decided to make it a second time, using a fake Jay Chou, just to have a little bit more fun. The "Thank You For Your Gentleness" MV included Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band)
Fahrenheit is a Taiwanese boy band who has been active in Asia since 2005. The group debut with four members: Jiro Wang, Calvin Chen, Aaron Yan and Wu Chun. They are managed by Comic International Productions . The group's music is distributed by HIM International Music in Taiwan, by WOW Music in...
.
Charts
| Release | Chart | Peak Position | Chart Run |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 September 2007 | G-music Weekly Combo Chart (Taiwan) | #1 | 12 weeks |
| 5 September 2007 | G-music Weekly Mandarin Chart (Taiwan) | #1 | 13 weeks |