The Gift of Game

Last updated

The Gift of Game
Crazytown-GiftofGame.jpg
Studio album by
Crazy Town
ReleasedNovember 9, 1999 (1999-11-09)(US)
Recorded1999
StudioWestlake (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length45:17
Label Columbia
Producer Josh Abraham
Crazy Town chronology
The Gift of Game
(1999)		 Darkhorse
(2002)
Singles from The Gift of Game
  1. "Toxic"
    Released: September 9, 1999
  2. "Darkside"
    Released: June 10, 2000
  3. "Butterfly"
    Released: February 20, 2001 (physical release) [5]
  4. "Revolving Door"
    Released: August 14, 2001

The Gift of Game is the debut studio album by American band Crazy Town. It was released on November 9, 1999, in the U.S. by Columbia Records. The album yielded the band its biggest hit with "Butterfly" which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 [6] on March 24, 2001.

Contents

Worldwide the album sold more than 2.5 million units, [7] with more than 1.6 million in the US alone. [8]

Background

The band refused to cede its official website to Columbia Records (as per a contract clause), so the record label barred the group from advertising it on the album's artwork. [9] The band circumvented the ban by adding a last-minute outro to the album, titled after the website (www.crazytown.com), and in which the URL is repeating multiple times. [9]

The girl licking the lollipop on the cover of the album is a fictional character created by Crazy Town, known as "Little Lolita". Both the album title and the picture of Little Lolita are based on lyrics from the song "Lollipop Porn". The album cover was designed by co-lead singer Shifty Shellshock's father and uncle. [10] A song titled "Lolita" later appeared on Shellshock's solo album Happy Love Sick and her image reappears on Crazy Town's third album The Brimstone Sluggers .

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [4]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
NME 3/10 [2]
PanoramaStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]
Wall of Sound 65/100 [13]

Steve Huey at AllMusic described the album as "similar to many other rap-inflected alternative metal albums in that it concentrates on sound over structure, creating macho, aggressive grooves with grinding, noisily textured guitars and the underlying feel of squared-off hip-hop beats". Huey argued that despite signs of Limp Bizkit's "juvenile humor", the album "shows promise". [4] April Long of NME criticized the album for its generic guitar riffs, and containing "some of the most Neanderthal lyrics ever written". [2]

About the album's lyrics, Shifty Shellshock said: "We're just having a good time. We're not like political or anything. I can be very sarcastic just like a little punk, we talk a lot of trash. We have some points, like 'learn from your mistakes', 'check yourself', you know, 'don't get taken advantage of'. Real simple things, nothing too overwhelming". [14]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Intro" Shifty Shellshock, Doug Miller 0:25
2."Toxic"Shellshock, Miller, Bret Mazur 2:48
3."Think Fast" (featuring Dirty Unit)Shellshock, Mazur, Miller, Rust Epique, Torshawn Roland, Percy Washington3:52
4."Darkside"Shellshock, Mazur3:52
5."Black Cloud" (featuring Jay Gordon)Shellshock, Mazur, Miller, Epique, Gordon, Bernard Williams5:02
6."Butterfly" (sampled Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Pretty Little Ditty")Shellshock, Mazur, Anthony Kiedis, Flea, Chad Smith, John Frusciante 3:36
7."Only When I'm Drunk" (Tha Alkaholiks cover) Tash, J-Ro, E-Swift 2:47
8."Hollywood Babylon" (featuring Mad Lion)Shellshock, Mazur, Mad Lion4:23
9."Face the Music"Shellshock, Mazur3:24
10."Lollipop Porn"Shellshock, Mazur, Nicole Lorenzo3:54
11."Revolving Door"Shellshock, Mazur3:40
12."Players (Only Love You When They're Playing)" (featuring Jenny Sipprelle)Shellshock, Mazur, Williams, Anthony Valli4:13
13."B-Boy 2000" (featuring KRS-One)Shellshock, Mazur, KRS-One, Williams, Valli, Miller, Epique4:27
14."Outro www.crazytown.com" 1:19
32."Untitled Hidden Track" 0:50

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [41] Gold35,000^
Canada (Music Canada) [42] Platinum100,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat) [43] Gold20,933 [43]
Germany (BVMI) [44] Gold150,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ) [45] Gold7,500^
Norway (IFPI Norway) [46] Gold10,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [47] Gold25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [48] Gold100,000*
United States (RIAA) [49] Platinum1,000,000^ / 1,600,000 [8]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions
US
[50] 		US
Alt.
[50] 		US
Main.
[50] 		AUS
[51] 		NLD
[52] 		NZL
[53] 		FIN
[54] 		GER
[55] 		SWI
[56] 		UK
[57] 		SWE
[58] 		NOR
[59]
1999"Toxic"————————————
2000"Darkside"————————————
"Butterfly"1121482211321
2001"Revolving Door"———76 [60] 71—1926432346—
"—" denotes a single that didn't chart

Personnel

Crazy Town

Additional personnel

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 Long, April (April 13, 2001). "Crazy Town : The Gift Of Game". NME . Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  3. ↑ Kitts, Jeff; Tolinski, Brad (2002). Guitar World Presents Nu-metal. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN   9780634032875 . Retrieved July 5, 2015.
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  8. 1 2 "Crazy Town Rides 'Darkhorse' On The Road". Billboard. December 20, 2002. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Band, Label Feud Over Web Site an overstatement, if not by much". The Los Angeles Times . November 3, 1999. Retrieved July 3, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
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  43. 1 2 "Crazy Town" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland . Retrieved July 24, 2019.
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  49. ↑ "American album certifications – Crazy Town – The Gift of Game". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved September 26, 2019.
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  51. ↑ Australian Singles Charting
  52. ↑ Dutch Singles Charting
  53. ↑ New Zealand Singles Charting
  54. ↑ Finnish Singles Charting
  55. ↑ "German Singles Charting". Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved September 3, 2009.
  56. ↑ Swiss Singles Charting
  57. ↑ UK Charting Search for: "Crazy Town"
  58. ↑ Swedish Charts – Crazy Town
  59. ↑ Norway Charts – Crazy Town
  60. ↑ "ARIA Report Issue 597 – Week commencing 6th August 2001" (PDF). Australian Web Archive . Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2002. Retrieved April 13, 2013.
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