Play (S.H.E album)

Infobox Album
Name = Play
Type = Album
Artist = S.H.E

---

Released = May 112007
Recorded =
Genre = Mandarin pop
Length = 43' 12"
Label = HIM International Music, EMI, WOW Music
Producer = S.H.E, David Tao
Reviews =
Last album = "Forever"
(2006)
This album = "Play"
(2007)
Next album = FM S.H.E
我的電台 FM S.H.E
(2008)
Misc = Extra album cover
Upper caption = Alternate covers
Background = lightsteelblue


Lower caption = Economic version

Play is S.H.E's 10th album, and was released on May 112007. 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.

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. [zh icon [http://ent.thebeijingnews.com/0598/2007/03-30/[e-mail] 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)] Mere hours later, Tom.com revealed that the new album would be called "Play", quashing contradictory rumours about the album's name. [zh icon Tom.com. [http://bb.tom.com/2007-03-30/073S/11314269.html S.H.E acts in "Chinese" MV] . March 30, 2007. Retrieved March 29, 2007 (the article was written at 11:08 am, Chinese time).] 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. [zh icon [http://showbiz.chinatimes.com/Chinatimes/ExteriorContent/Showbiz/Showbiz-Page/0,4434,content+110511+112007041300329,00.html 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)] 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). [zh icon United Daily News. [http://udn.com/NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT/ENT6/3802939.shtml S.H.E produce "Wife" in tears] . April 14, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007 (time zone difference).] 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. [zh icon [http://www1.iwant-song.com/d-b0001/?sn=d-b0001_20070413_01 S.H.E dresses up as Play Girl{sic}, pose for the album] . April 13, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.] David Tao composed "Good Mood - Just be Yourself" in two versions, one for "Play", and another for Rene Liu's newest album. [ [http://www.mtvchinese.com/News/Chinese/200704/18/04.html] April 17, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2007.] "好心情Just be yourself" became the successor to "Super Model" as Daphne Shoes' promotional song. [zh icon [http://joy.online.sh.cn/joys/gb/content/2007-04/16/content_1924681.htm] . April 16, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.] 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. [zh icon HIM International Music. [http://www.him.com.tw/EPAPER/view.asp?eps=218 HIM ePaper - Issue 87] . April 20, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.]

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, [zh icon Sing Tao News. [http://www.singtaonet.com:82/music_scene/t20061012_358366.html 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.] superstar Jay Chou, and S.H.E themselves.

Reception

The album's lead single, "Chinese Language," was released on April 162007, and debuted at #9 on the KKBOX Music Charts. [zh icon [http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/48/48_0_566_0_0_0.html KKBOX - Daily Music Charts] . April 16, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2007.] The song climbed seven spots before perching itself at the top of the charts on April 18. [zh icon [http://www.kkbox.com.tw/funky/48/48_0_568_0_0_0.html KKBOX - Daily Music Charts] . April 18, 2007. Retrieved April 20, 2007.] Preorders for "Play" totalled over 100,000 one week before the album's release date. [zh icon [http://www.cneie.com/xxnews/20075/200755161314.html S.H.E feeling love for each other; netizens joke around, turning "Chinese Language" into "Taiwanese Language".] May 5, 2007. Retrieved May 11, 2007.] During its first week of sales, "Play" topped 15 different music charts. [ [http://www.him.com.tw/news/news_2007-05-23_29.php] . May 23, 2007. Retrieved June 7, 2007.] 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. [zh icon [http://www.morning.sc.cn/2007/05/25/200705257413544439131.htm City Karaoke Charts] . May 25, 2007. Retrieved January 1, 2008.] Critics praised the album as an "excellent" showcase of S.H.E's "angelic harmonization." [ [http://english.cri.cn/4026/2007/06/27/[e-mail] Taiwan-based Mandopop Girl Group S.H.E] . June 27, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007.] By mid-July, around 500,000 copies of the album were sold. [zh icon [http://ent.sina.com.cn/y/2007-07-09/23441631656.shtml S.H.E's album sales are unparalleled; fan support is very touching] . July 9, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.] 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." [Neihu, Johnny. [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2007/05/12/2003360559 S.H.E looks like The Man to me] . May 12, 2007. September 27, 2007.]

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. [zh icon [http://ent.qq.com/a/20070925/000074_3.htm Guangdong's fall and winter full of music, artists of all kinds are converging on the province] . September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.]

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. [zh icon cite news | title = Chinese Language? Chinese Transformation! 中國話?中國化! | url = http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2007/new/may/2/today-show2.htm | publisher = Liberty Times | date = 2007-05-02 | accessdate = 2007-06-07] [cite news | title = S.H.E defend hit song 'Mandarin' | url = http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/05/06/2003359665 | publisher = Taipei Times | date = 2007-05-06 | accessdate = 2007-07-26]

Track listing

# Chinese Language (中國話, Zhong Guo Hua)
# Thanks for Your Gentleness (feat. Fahrenheit) (謝謝你的溫柔, Xie Xie Ni De Wen Rou)
# Listen to Yuan Wei-jen Play Guitar (聽袁惟仁彈吉他, Ting Yuan Wei Ren Tan Ji Tai)
# 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)

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. [zh icon [http://ent.163.com/07/0426/10/3D0ES0LA000327RF.html] . April 26, 2007. Retrieved April 26, 2007.] 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.

Charts

References

* http://www.gmusic.com.tw/GMusicBillboard1.aspx
* http://www.g-music.com.tw/GMusicBillboard0.aspx