Marcy Playground (album) explained

Marcy Playground
Type:	studio
Artist:	Marcy Playground
Cover:	Marcy Playground - Marcy Playground album cover.gif
Recorded:	1996–1997
Studio:	Sabella Recording Studio (Roslyn, New York)
Length:	34:37
Label:	Capitol
Producer:	John Wozniak
Next Title:	Shapeshifter
Next Year:	1999

Marcy Playground is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Marcy Playground, released on February 25, 1997, on EMI.^[1] 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 "Saint Joe on the School Bus" and "Sherry Fraser" both of which received moderate radio and MTV2 airplay.

Critical reception

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." James P. Wisdom of Pitchfork stated that Marcy Playground was "the most soothingly mellow and pleasant thing [he] had heard in a long time." 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."

Robert Christgau graded the album as a "dud", indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought."^[2] 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."^[3] 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".^[4]

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.^[5]

Marcy Playground

• John Wozniak – lead vocals, guitar
• Dylan Keefe – bass, backing vocals
• Dan Rieser – drums, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Glen Braver – bass on "Poppies"
• Jared Kotler – bass on "Sex and Candy", "Sherry Fraser", "One More Suicide" and "The Vampires of New York", drums on all songs except "Saint Joe on the School Bus"
• Edgar Mills – bass on "Ancient Walls of Flowers" and "Opium"
• Jen Handler – cello on "One More Suicide"

Production

• John Wozniak – production
• Jim Sabella – engineering
• Ken Gioia – engineering, mixing
• Marcy Playground – mixing
• Greg Calbi – mastering

Additional personnel

• Henry Marquez – art direction
• Robert Laverdiere – package design
• James Wojcik – cover and color photo
• Chris Black – black-and-white photo

Charts

Year-end charts

External links

• Official Myspace Page
• Official Website
• Official Facebook

Notes and References

1. Web site: Marcy Playground by Marcy Playground. Apple Music. May 19, 2020.
2. Book: Christgau, Robert. Key to Icons. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/bk-cg90/grades-90s.php. August 11, 2016. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. Robert Christgau. St. Martin's Press. 2000. 0-312-24560-2.
3. Marcy Playground: Marcy Playground. Eddy. Chuck. Chuck Eddy. Rolling Stone. April 22, 1998. September 7, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20071001200152/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/marcyplayground/albums/album/231741/review/5943676/marcy_playground. October 1, 2007. dead.
4. News: The 20 Worst Albums of the '90s: The Complete List. LA Weekly. March 7, 2013. March 7, 2019.
5. Marcy Playground. 1997. Capitol Records. Marcy Playground. liner notes. 7243-8-53569-2-6.
6. Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1998. Billboard. September 21, 2020.