Play (S.H.E album)

Last updated
Play
SHE-CD10A.jpg
Play cover
Studio album by
S.H.E
Released11 May 2007 (2007-05-11)
Genre Mandopop
Length43:12
Language Mandarin
Label HIM International Music
Producer S.H.E, David Tao
S.H.E chronology
Forever
(2006)		Play
(2007)		 FM S.H.E
(2008)

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.

Contents

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. [1]

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 single for their newest album. [2] Mere hours later, Tom.com revealed that the new album would be called Play, quashing contradictory rumours about the album's name. [3] 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. [4] 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). [5] 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. [6] David Tao composed "Good Mood - Just be Yourself" in two versions, one for Play, and another for Rene Liu's newest album. [7] "好心情Just be yourself" became the successor to "Super Model" as Daphne Shoes' promotional song. [8] 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. [9]

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, [10] superstar Jay Chou, 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. [11] The song climbed seven spots before perching itself at the top of the charts on 18 April. [12] Preorders for Play totalled over 100,000 one week before the album's release date. [13] During its first week of sales, Play topped 15 different music charts. [14] 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. [15] Critics praised the album as an "excellent" showcase of S.H.E's "angelic harmonization." [16] By mid-July, around 500,000 copies of the album were sold. [17] 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." [18]

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. [19]

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. [20] [21]

Track listing

  1. "Chinese Language" (中國話, Zhong Guo Hua)
  2. "Thanks for Your Gentleness" (feat. Fahrenheit) (謝謝你的溫柔, Xie Xie Ni De Wen Rou)
  3. "Listen to Yuan Wei-ren Play Guitar" (聽袁惟仁彈吉他, Ting Yuan Wei Ren Tan Ji Ta)
  4. "May Day" (五月天, Wu Yue Tian)
  5. "Excuses" (藉口, Jie Kou)
  6. "Boom"
  7. "See You, Cambridge" (再別康橋, Zai Bie Kang Qiao)
  8. "London Bridge Is Falling Down" (倫敦大橋垮下來, Lun Dun Da Qiao Kua Xia Lai)
  9. "Say You Love Me" (說你愛我, Shuo Ni Ai Wo)
  10. "Good Mood - Just Be Yourself" (好心情 Just Be Yourself, Hao Xin Qing Just Be Yourself)
  11. "Wifey" (老婆, Lao Po)
  12. "Always Open" (with Fahrenheit) (pre-order bonus track)

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. [22] 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

ReleaseChartPeak PositionChart Run
5 September 2007G-music Weekly Combo Chart (Taiwan)#112 weeks
5 September 2007G-music Weekly Mandarin Chart (Taiwan)#113 weeks

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Chou</span> Taiwanese Mandopop singer and musician (born 1979)

Jay Chou is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and musician. Dubbed the "King of Mandopop" and having sold over 30 million records, Chou is one of the best-selling artists in Taiwan. He is known for his work with lyricist Vincent Fang, with whom he has frequently collaborated on his music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">S.H.E</span> Taiwanese girl group

S.H.E is a Taiwanese girl group whose members are Selina Jen, Hebe Tien, and Ella Chen. They formed in 2001 and are managed by HIM International Music but decided not to renew their contract in 2019 due to having their own management company.

Mandopop or Mandapop refers to Mandarin popular music. The genre has its origin in the jazz-influenced popular music of 1930s Shanghai known as Shidaiqu; later influences came from Japanese enka, Hong Kong's Cantopop, Taiwan's Hokkien pop, and in particular the campus folk song folk movement of the 1970s. "Mandopop" may be used as a general term to describe popular songs performed in Mandarin. Though Mandopop predates Cantopop, the English term was coined around 1980 after "Cantopop" became a popular term for describing popular songs in Cantonese. "Mandopop" was used to describe Mandarin-language popular songs of that time, some of which were versions of Cantopop songs sung by the same singers with different lyrics to suit the different rhyme and tonal patterns of Mandarin.

<i>Heroes of Earth</i> 2005 studio album 蓋世英雄 by Leehom Wang

Heroes of Earth is American-Taiwanese R&B Mandopop singer-songwriter Leehom Wang's eleventh Mandarin studio album. It was released on December 30, 2005, by Sony Music Taiwan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fahrenheit (Taiwanese band)</span> Taiwanese boy band

Fahrenheit was a Taiwanese boy band composed of members Calvin Chen, Jiro Wang, Wu Chun, and Aaron Yan. They were formed in 2005 by Comic International Productions and HIM International Music and GMM Grammy in Thailand. Their music is distributed by WOW Music in Hong Kong and by Pony Canyon in Japan. Fahrenheit ware often associated with their labelmate seniors S.H.E, who are also under HIM International Music.

<i>Hanazakarino Kimitachihe</i> (soundtrack) 2006 soundtrack album 花樣少年少女 電視原聲帶 by Various artists

Hanazakarino Kimitachihe Original Soundtrack is the soundtrack album for the 2006 Taiwanese drama, Hanazakarino Kimitachihe, based on the Japanese manga, Hana-Kimi, starring Wu Chun and Jiro Wang of Fahrenheit; and Ella of S.H.E. It was released by HIM International Music on 1 December 2006.

Hokkien pop, also known as Taiwanese Hokkien popular music, T-pop, Tai-pop, Minnan Pop and Taiwanese folk, is a popular music genre sung in Hokkien, especially Taiwanese Hokkien and produced mainly in Taiwan and sometimes in Fujian in Mainland China or Hong Kong or even Singapore in Southeast Asia. Hokkien pop is most popular amongst Hoklo people in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong, and the Overseas Chinese and Overseas Taiwanese in Southeast Asia, such as Chinese Singaporeans, Chinese Malaysians, Chinese Filipinos, Chinese Indonesians, etc.

<i>Two-Sided Fahrenheit</i> 2008 studio album 雙面飛輪海 by Fahrenheit

Two-Sided Fahrenheit is the second studio album by the Taiwanese Mandopop boy band Fahrenheit. Two versions of the album were released on 4 January 2008 by HIM International Music: Two-Sided Fahrenheit and Two-Sided Fahrenheit (CD+DVD) with a bonus DVD containing 2 music videos and their making of footage. A Two-Sided Fahrenheit was released on 1 February 2008 with a bonus DVD containing five music videos, Fahrenheit - Asia Storm footage, two music video behind-the-scene and album cover shoot making of footage

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cindy Yen</span> Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter

Cindy Yen is a Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter, actress, composer and record producer. She is signed to JVR Music since 2009 and released her first debut album in October of same year entitled "Cindy Yen", as well as her first song, "Sand Painting", a duet composed by her and sang along Jay Chou. She is known for R&B, soul, pop, classical, rock, acoustic folk, and hip-hop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yen-j</span> Musical artist

Yen-j is a Taiwanese jazz-pop singer-songwriter and actor. He has achieved rising success as a newcomer on the Mandopop scene, due to testimonials from well-known artists such as Wang Leehom, Mayday's Ashin, Dee Hsu, Blackie Chen and DJ Xiao Shu. His fresh combinations of jazz and pop have made him a noticeable star on the rise. His debut album, Thanks to Your Greatness (谢谢你的美好) contains 11 songs, all written, and produced by him, or with his input. He also plays many instruments, such as the piano, trombone, guitar and bass guitar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Chou albums discography</span>

The discography of Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou consists of fifteen studio albums, five live albums, four extended plays, and one compilation album. Chou released his debut studio album Jay in November 2000, which sold over 250,000 copies in Taiwan. It received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association Singapore (RIAS) in 2020. His subsequent studio albums were also met with commercial success in Taiwan and other Asian territories; his fifth studio album, Common Jasmine Orange (2004), is amongst the best-selling albums in China with over 2,600,000 copies sold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Wei</span> Taiwanese singer-songwriter

Wei Li-an, known professionally as WeiBird, is a Taiwanese singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, one live album and two extended plays. Wei won the Golden Melody Award for Best New Singer in 2011 and Best Composer in 2015.

<i>S.H.E Is the One</i> 2011 live album by S.H.E

S.H.E Is the one was released on 4 March 2011 on Blu-ray and DVD and features the Taipei stop of their S.H.E Is the One Concert Tour. It also includes a bonus DVD of behind the scenes, video messages from their mothers, Selina's wedding proposal and their KTV music videos.

<i>Play</i> (Jolin Tsai album) 2014 studio album by Jolin Tsai

Play is the thirteenth studio album by Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai. It was released on November 15, 2014, by Warner and Eternal. Produced by Starr Chen, Andrew Chen, Tiger Chung, JJ Lin, and Michael Lin, Play is primarily a pop and dance record with lyrics consisting of themes related to societal issues.

KKBox, stylized as KKBOX is a music streaming service developed in 2005 by KKBox Inc., a software company in Taipei, Taiwan. It is a part of Japanese Telecom Group, KDDI. The service mainly targets the music markets of East and Southeast Asia, focusing on regions including: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and Singapore. Working on a freemium basis, both paid and free members can listen to over 20 million tunes on smartphones, TVs, media centers and computers.

Zhongguo feng or Chinese style music is a popular Chinese music genre considered to adopt a more traditional musical style in its instrumental than normal popular music, similar to Chinese traditional music but with a "Modern Twist" style way. Following the success of Taiwanese singer Jay Chou's early works including "Wife" (娘子) and "East Wind Breaks" (東風破), it emerged in the popular music scene in early 2000s.

<i>City Zoo</i> 2019 studio album by G.E.M.

City Zoo is the sixth studio album by Hong Kong singer-songwriter G.E.M., it was released on December 27, 2019, by Sony Music. As the executive producer, G.E.M. worked with producer Terrence Ma. The self-written album was done after G.E.M.'s departure from her former record label Hummingbird Music Limited. It was produced and finished within 8 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mojito (Jay Chou song)</span> 2020 single by Jay Chou

"Mojito" is a single by Taiwanese singer Jay Chou. The song was written by Alang Huang and composed by Jay Chou. It was released on 12 June 2020, and was included on Chou's 2022 album Greatest Works of Art.

References

  1. ↑ (in Chinese) 2008 HITO Radio Music Awards winners list 1 March 2008. Retrieved 2011-04-19
  2. ↑ (in Chinese) S.H.E and Shaolin monks show off their kung fu skills. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007 (the article was written on 3/30 in the Chinese time zone)
  3. ↑ (in Chinese) Tom.com. S.H.E acts in "Chinese" MV. 30 March 2007. Retrieved 29 March 2007 (the article was written at 11:08 am, Chinese time).
  4. ↑ (in Chinese) S.H.E "praises" Wu Yue Tian; Ashin wants to write a song in reply Archived 2007-04-16 at the Wayback Machine . 13 April 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2007. (time zone difference)
  5. ↑ (in Chinese) United Daily News. S.H.E produce "Wife" in tears. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2007 (time zone difference).
  6. ↑ (in Chinese) S.H.E dresses up as Play Girl{sic}, pose for the album Archived 2007-04-15 at the Wayback Machine . 13 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  7. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-04-30. Retrieved 2007-04-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) 17 April 2007. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
  8. ↑ "欢迎光临上海热线！" (in Chinese). Archived from the original on 2007-04-18. Retrieved 2007-04-16.. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  9. ↑ (in Chinese) HIM International Music. HIM ePaper - Issue 87. 20 April 2007. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
  10. ↑ (in Chinese) Sing Tao News. Lo Ta-yu releases and produces the title song from album "Total Song Influence" ; Yuan Wei Jen named as successor. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 30 July 2007.
  11. ↑ (in Chinese) KKBOX - Daily Music Charts. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 16 April 2007.
  12. ↑ (in Chinese) KKBOX - Daily Music Charts Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine . 18 April 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2007.
  13. ↑ (in Chinese) S.H.E feeling love for each other; netizens joke around, turning "Chinese Language" into "Taiwanese Language". 5 May 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
  14. ↑ . 23 May 2007. Retrieved 7 June 2007.
  15. ↑ (in Chinese) City Karaoke Charts. 25 May 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2008.
  16. ↑ Taiwan-based Mandopop Girl Group S.H.E. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  17. ↑ (in Chinese) S.H.E's album sales are unparalleled; fan support is very touching. 9 July 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  18. ↑ Neihu, Johnny. S.H.E looks like The Man to me. 12 May 2007. 27 September 2007.
  19. ↑ (in Chinese) Guangdong's fall and winter full of music, artists of all kinds are converging on the province. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  20. ↑ "Chinese Language? Chinese Transformation! 中國話?中國化!" (in Chinese). Liberty Times. 2007-05-02. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
  21. ↑ "S.H.E defend hit song 'Mandarin'". Taipei Times. 2007-05-06. Retrieved 2007-07-26.
  22. ↑ (in Chinese) . 26 April 2007. Retrieved 26 April 2007.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.