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Play Games (Dog Eat Dog album)

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Play Games
Studio album by
Dog Eat Dog
ReleasedJune 2, 1996
Genre
Length37:07
LabelRoadrunner
Producer
Dog Eat Dog chronology
All Boro Kings
(1994) 		Play Games
(1996) 		Amped
(1999)
Singles from Play Games
  1. "Isms"
    Released: 1996
  2. "Rocky"
    Released: 1996
  3. "Step Right In"
    Released: 1997

Play Games is the second studio album by American band Dog Eat Dog. It was released on June 2, 1996, by Roadrunner Records.[1] The album shows a change of sound in the band, shifting from their raw hardcore punk sound that they had on their previous album All Boro Kings to a more distinct pop-punk sound. The album was a success in Europe, the music videos for the songs Isms and Rocky were on rotation on TV. The album peaked in top 20 in 4 countries, with the highest position being no. 12 in Austria and Belgium (Flanders). The album peaked at no. 5 in the UK Rock & Metal chart. The album was certified gold in Belgium two months after the release of the album. Heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio as well as RZA from Wu-Tang Clan make an appearance on the album. This album is the first album they recorded with Brandon Finley.

Recording and production

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Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 were recorded and mixed at the Studio 4 and Big Zone Studios in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania. The tracks mentioned were produced, mixed and recorded by the Butcher Bros, known for working with artists like Anthrax, Cypress Hill, Fugees and more.[2]

Tracks 3, 7, 9 and 11 were recorded and mixed at the Sony Recording Studio in New York City. The tracks mentioned were produced, recorded and mixed by Robert Musso, known for working with artists like Jimi Hendrix, Blondie, Ozzy Osbourne and more.[2]

The song "Step Right in" was recorded at RPM Studios in New York City. The song was produced by RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, who also makes a vocal appearance on the song. The song was mixed by Steve Ett at Chung King Studios in New York City.[2]

The album was mastered by Chris Gehringer at the The Hit Factory in New York City.[2]

This is the first album that has Scott Mueller credited as the member of the band, instead as an additional musician.[2]

When recording the song "Games", the band joked about John Connors vocals sounding like Ronnie James Dio. The label overheard the idea and decided to contact Dio's management. Eventually, Dio came and recorded the song with them.[3]

The collaboration with RZA happened because bands lead singer John Connor shared the same lawyer as the rapper. The 2 met at the waiting room of the lawyers office and started discussing music. After the discussion, John said that his band was interested in working with a hip-hop producer, to which RZA replied that he was looking to work with a live band. Dog Eat Dog and RZA met at the RPM Studios in NYC and after hours of jamming, "Step Right In" was made.[3]

The bassist of the group Dave Neabore wrote and composed the song "Rocky", when he came to the studio to record the song with the band, John had to leave the studio early, so the band decided to record the song with Dave on vocals. The rest of the band thought that the song sounded better with him on vocals, so they decided to record it like that.[4]

On the song "Games", American sports announcer Ian Eagle, makes an appearance.[2]

Music and lyrics

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The album shows a change of sound in the band, shifting from their raw hardcore punk to a more distinct pop-punk sound. Despite that, this album contains wide range of genres including rap metal ("Bulletproof", "Step Right In"), hardcore punk ("Numb") and more.

Unlike their previous album, some songs from the album talks about social issues. The song "Bulletproof" talks about gun violence, while the song "Isms" talks about racism, sexism.

Release and promotion

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Play Games was released on June 2, 1996, by Roadrunner Records on CD, vinyl and audio cassette. The album was made available in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia.[2]

Singles

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The band released the song "Isms" as the lead single in 1996. The song received significant airplay on TV and debuted at no. 19 in Finland. It also debuted at no. 3 in UK Rock & Metal chart. In the same year the band released the song "Rocky" as the second single. The music video didn't get much airplay on MTV; however, the song got significant airplay on VIVA.[4] The song "Step Right In" was released in 1997 as the third single.

Touring

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The band toured US and Europe as well as Asia in support of the album. In United States they opened for No Doubt and they became really good friends with the band.[3] They also took part in the Vans Warped Tour in 1996. In Europe they played concert halls and festivals, most notable ones being Pinkpop, Pukkelpop, Roskilde, Eurockéennes and Monsters of Rock where they played in front of 75,000 people and is the third largest crowd Dog Eat Dog has ever played in front of.[5][6][7][8][9][4] During the tour, they shared stages with much more important acts than before like: Sepultura, Deftones, Rage Against the Machine, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica

Critical reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic
Visions

The album was met with mostly good reviews from critics. In the AllMusic review, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that "with their second album, the band improved their crunching fusion of metal, punk, hip-hop and reggae from their debut album, offering a more muscular production and more developed songwriting"[10]

German music magazine Visions in their review said that "The album isn't amazingly innovative, however that doesn't make "Play Games" a bad album"[11]

Commercial performance

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Like the previous album All Boro Kings, the album didn't had much mainstream recognition, though it had solid success in Europe, peaking at top 20 in 4 countries, with the highest position being in Austria and Belgium (Flanders) where it peaked at no. 12. The album also debuted at no. 40 in UK as well as no. 5 in UK Rock & Metal chart. The album would go to be certified gold in Belgium in 1996, 2 months after the release of the album for selling 25,000 copies.[12] They also made their second appearance in the French talk show Nulle Part Ailleurs.[13] With the release of the album, the band expanded its fanbase to Asia, performing in countries like Singapore, Thailand, Japan and more.

[edit]

The song "Rocky" was featured in a Guinness commercial in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1996.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Dog Eat Dog

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Bulletproof" 3:14
2."Isms" 3:11
3."Hi-Lo" 3:02
4."Rocky"Dave Neabore2:26
5."Step Right In"RZA3:50
6."Rise Above" 2:46
7."Games" 5:25
8."Getting Live" 3:10
9."Buggin'" 3:12
10."Numb" 3:07
11."Sore Loser" 3:48
Total length:37:07

Personnel

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Dog Eat Dog

  • John Connor - vocals
  • Sean Kilkenny - guitar
  • Marc DeBacker - guitar
  • Dave Neabore - bass, vocals
  • Scott Mueller - saxophone, keyboard, vocals
  • Brandon Finley - drums

Additional musicians

  • Paul Vercesi - horns
  • Jon Vercesi - horns
  • Keene Carse - horns
  • Kevin Batchelor - horns
  • Heartbeat - percussion on "Rise Above"
  • Jeannie Brooks - vocals on "Isms"
  • Ronnie James Dio - vocals on "Games"
  • Danny Ilchuk - vocals on "Getting Live"
  • Chippy Love - vocals on "Getting Live"
  • RZA - vocals on "Step Right In"

Production

  • Butcher Bros. - production, recording and mixing
  • Robert Musso - production, recording and mixing
  • RZA - production
  • Steve Ett - mixing
  • Dirk Grobelny - engineer
  • David Voigt - engineer
  • Jim Caruana - assistant engineer
  • Jay Nicholas - assistant engineer
  • Chris Gehringer - mastering (at the The Hit Factory)

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1996) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[15] 12
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[16] 20
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 13
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[18] 26
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 22
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[20] 14
UK Albums (OCC)[21] 40
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 67
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[23] 5

Year-end charts

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Chart (1995) Position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[24] 94

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Belgium (BEA)[25] Gold 25,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "Doge Eat Dog – Play Games". AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Dog Eat Dog - Play Games, 1996, retrieved December 27, 2024
  3. ^ a b c "Biography 1996 - 1997 - Dog Eat Dog official fansite". www.dogeatdog.nl. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "The Moshville Times - Interview Archive: Dave "Rocky" Neabore (Dog Eat Dog)". The Moshville Times. April 12, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  5. ^ Old School VHS (May 10, 2017). Dog Eat Dog - Studioreport NYC 1996 + Landgraaf 27.05.1996 "Pink Pop Festival" (TV) Live & Interview. Retrieved December 27, 2024 – via YouTube.
  6. ^ "1997". www.pukkelpop.be. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Roskilde Festival 1996". festivalhistorik.dk. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  8. ^ "Édition 1996 - Eurocks Memories". Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  9. ^ "Monsters of Rock 1996 - 17/08/1996 - Castle Donington - Donington Park - United Kingdom". en.concerts-metal.com. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Play Games - Dog Eat Dog | Album | AllMusic, retrieved December 27, 2024
  11. ^ "Dog Eat Dog: Play Games". VISIONS.de (in German). Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  12. ^ "ultratop.be - ULTRATOP BELGIAN CHARTS". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  13. ^ MonsieurValentineFR (March 29, 2020). Dog Eat Dog - Rocky - NPA Live - Nulle Part Ailleurs. Retrieved December 27, 2024 – via YouTube.
  14. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Dog Eat Dog – Play Games" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Dog Eat Dog – Play Games" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Dog Eat Dog – Play Games" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  17. ^ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved November 19, 2021.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Dog Eat Dog – Play Games" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 27, 2013.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Dog Eat Dog – Play Games". Hung Medien.
  20. ^ "Dog Eat Dog: Play Games" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  21. ^ "Dog Eat Dog | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  23. ^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company.
  24. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
  25. ^ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 1996". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved December 28, 2024.
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