Marcy Playground is the debut studio album by American alternative rock band Marcy Playground, released on February 25, 1997, on EMI. 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." 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." 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".

Track listing

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Marcy Playground

  • John Wozniak – vocals, guitar
  • Dylan Keefe – bass ("Saint Joe on the School Bus", "A Cloak of Elvenkind", "Gone Crazy", "Dog and His Master", "The Shadow of Seattle")
  • Dan Rieser – drums ("Saint Joe on the School Bus")

Additional musicians

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

Weekly charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;" border="1"

! scope="col"| Chart (1997–98)

! scope="col"| Peak<br />position

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Year-end charts

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"

! scope="col"| Chart (1998)

! scope="col"| Position

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! scope="row"| US Billboard 200

| 58

|}

Certifications

References

  • Official Myspace Page
  • Official Website
  • Official Facebook