Marcy Playground | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 25, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1996–1997 | |||
Studio | Sabella Recording Studio ( Roslyn, New York) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 34:37 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | John Wozniak | |||
Marcy Playground chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Marcy Playground | ||||
|
Marcy Playground is the eponymous debut studio album by American alternative rock band Marcy Playground, released on February 25, 1997, on EMI. [2] It was reissued later that year on October 7 on Capitol Records with a large amount of promotion for the single " Sex and Candy," which became the band's breakthrough single, spending a then-record 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The album also includes the singles " St. Joe on the Schoolbus" and " Sherry Fraser" both of which received moderate radio and MTV2 airplay.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | [4] |
NME | 7/10 [5] |
Pitchfork | 7.6/10 [6] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
Marcy Playground garnered a mixed reception from music critics. Ronan Munro of NME said that, "What is surprising is how enjoyable this window on Wozniak's soul is: his lazy drawl and gentle melodies coating his misery in a pop sheen... the mood remains resolutely downbeat but the angst is not imposing." [5] James P. Wisdom of Pitchfork stated that Marcy Playground was "the most soothingly mellow and pleasant thing [he] had heard in a long time." [6] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that "only a handful" of the album's tracks are as memorable as "Sex and Candy", while adding that "those moments are what make Marcy Playground a promising, albeit imperfect, debut." [3]
Robert Christgau graded the album as a "dud", [4] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought." [8] Chuck Eddy of Rolling Stone heavily panned the album for its subpar musicianship, saying that it "sets icky new standards for commercial-post-alternative callowness." [9] Dan Weiss of LA Weekly deemed it the twelfth-worst album of the 1990s, opining that aside from the singles "Sex and Candy" and " Saint Joe on the School Bus," the album is "folksy, opiate-obsessed bullshit". [10]
All tracks are written by John Wozniak, except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Poppies" | 2:49 |
2. | " Sex and Candy" | 2:53 |
3. | "Ancient Walls of Flowers" (John Wozniak, Sherry Fraser) | 3:16 |
4. | " Saint Joe on the School Bus" | 3:20 |
5. | "A Cloak of Elvenkind" | 2:59 |
6. | " Sherry Fraser" | 2:50 |
7. | "Gone Crazy" | 2:45 |
8. | "Opium" | 3:07 |
9. | "One More Suicide" | 2:39 |
10. | "Dog and His Master" | 2:12 |
11. | "The Shadow of Seattle" | 2:48 |
12. | "The Vampires of New York" | 2:55 |
Credits adapted from liner notes. [11]
Marcy Playground
Additional musicians
|
Production
Additional personnel
|
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia ( ARIA) [20] | Gold | 35,000^ |
United States ( RIAA) [21] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)
Marcy Playground | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | February 25, 1997 | |||
Recorded | 1996–1997 | |||
Studio | Sabella Recording Studio ( Roslyn, New York) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 34:37 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | John Wozniak | |||
Marcy Playground chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Marcy Playground | ||||
|
Marcy Playground is the eponymous debut studio album by American alternative rock band Marcy Playground, released on February 25, 1997, on EMI. [2] It was reissued later that year on October 7 on Capitol Records with a large amount of promotion for the single " Sex and Candy," which became the band's breakthrough single, spending a then-record 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.
The album also includes the singles " St. Joe on the Schoolbus" and " Sherry Fraser" both of which received moderate radio and MTV2 airplay.
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Christgau's Consumer Guide | [4] |
NME | 7/10 [5] |
Pitchfork | 7.6/10 [6] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [7] |
Marcy Playground garnered a mixed reception from music critics. Ronan Munro of NME said that, "What is surprising is how enjoyable this window on Wozniak's soul is: his lazy drawl and gentle melodies coating his misery in a pop sheen... the mood remains resolutely downbeat but the angst is not imposing." [5] James P. Wisdom of Pitchfork stated that Marcy Playground was "the most soothingly mellow and pleasant thing [he] had heard in a long time." [6] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that "only a handful" of the album's tracks are as memorable as "Sex and Candy", while adding that "those moments are what make Marcy Playground a promising, albeit imperfect, debut." [3]
Robert Christgau graded the album as a "dud", [4] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought." [8] Chuck Eddy of Rolling Stone heavily panned the album for its subpar musicianship, saying that it "sets icky new standards for commercial-post-alternative callowness." [9] Dan Weiss of LA Weekly deemed it the twelfth-worst album of the 1990s, opining that aside from the singles "Sex and Candy" and " Saint Joe on the School Bus," the album is "folksy, opiate-obsessed bullshit". [10]
All tracks are written by John Wozniak, except where noted
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Poppies" | 2:49 |
2. | " Sex and Candy" | 2:53 |
3. | "Ancient Walls of Flowers" (John Wozniak, Sherry Fraser) | 3:16 |
4. | " Saint Joe on the School Bus" | 3:20 |
5. | "A Cloak of Elvenkind" | 2:59 |
6. | " Sherry Fraser" | 2:50 |
7. | "Gone Crazy" | 2:45 |
8. | "Opium" | 3:07 |
9. | "One More Suicide" | 2:39 |
10. | "Dog and His Master" | 2:12 |
11. | "The Shadow of Seattle" | 2:48 |
12. | "The Vampires of New York" | 2:55 |
Credits adapted from liner notes. [11]
Marcy Playground
Additional musicians
|
Production
Additional personnel
|
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia ( ARIA) [20] | Gold | 35,000^ |
United States ( RIAA) [21] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
{{
cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (
link)