Play is the eighth studio album by Taiwanese girl group S.H.E. It was released on May 11, 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 "May Day" (五月天) won one of the Top 10 Songs of the Year at the 2008 Hito Radio Music Awards presented by Taiwanese radio station Hit FM. 2008 HITO Radio Music Awards winners list March 1, 2008. Retrieved April 19, 2011

Background and release Following Forever album 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. 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. 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). On April 12, 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. 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). United Daily News. S.H.E produce "Wife" in tears. April 14, 2007. Retrieved April 13, 2007 (time zone difference). The song "Listen to Yuan Wei-ren Play Guitar" (聽袁惟仁彈吉他) was announced as part of Play on April 13. 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. April 17, 2007. Retrieved April 18, 2007. "好心情Just be yourself" became the successor to "Super Model" as Daphne Shoes' promotional song.. 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. HIM International Music. HIM ePaper - Issue 87. April 20, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2007.

Composition 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, 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. superstar Jay Chou, and S.H.E themselves.

Reception The album's lead single, "Chinese Language," was released on April 16, 2007, and debuted at #9 on the KKBOX Music Charts. 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. 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. 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.. 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. 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.". June 27, 2007. Retrieved June 28, 2007. By mid-July, around 500,000 copies of the album were sold. 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. 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. Guangdong's fall and winter full of music, artists of all kinds are converging on the province. September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 27, 2007.

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. . 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.

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

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2007) Peakposition Taiwanese Albums (G-Music) 1

Year-end charts Chart (2007)PositionTaiwanese Albums 3

Notes

References

External links Gmusic.com.tw G-music.com.tw S.H.E discography@HIM International Music