Crybaby Art Milk and Cookies Cry Baby Drawing

2015 album by Melanie Martinez

Cry Baby
Studio album by Melanie Martinez
Released	August 14, 2015 (2015-08-14)
Recorded	2013–2015
Genre	Alternative pop electropop indie pop
Length	46:38
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Kinetics & One Love Christopher J. Baran Kara DioGuardi Kyle Shearer SmarterChild Babydaddy Frequency Aalias Felix Snow
Melanie Martinez chronology
Dollhouse (2014) Cry Baby (2015) Pity Party (2016)
Singles from Cry Baby
"Pity Party" Released: June 2, 2015 "Soap" Released: July 9, 2015 "Sippy Cup" Released: July 29, 2015

Cry Baby is the debut studio album by American singer and songwriter Melanie Martinez. It was released on August 14, 2015, by Atlantic Records through digital download, CD, vinyl and audio cassette.^{[1] [2]} The album was supported by the release of three singles. Two singles preceded the album's release: lead single "Pity Party", was released on June 2, 2015,^[3] while the second single, "Soap", was released on July 10, 2015. The third and final single from the album, "Sippy Cup" was released July 31, 2015. Cry Baby is a visual concept album. The album is labeled as an alternative pop,^[4] electropop,^[5] and indie pop^[6] release, and received generally positive reviews from critics. In 2021 the album was certified double platinum, after earning 2 million album-equivalent units (sales, streaming, and track sales).

On November 25, 2016, Martinez released an EP titled Cry Baby's Extra Clutter. The EP, released exclusively on vinyl, consisted of the three bonus tracks from Cry Baby, and "Gingerbread Man", which was released on December 23, 2015, as a single. The album was promoted by the Cry Baby Tour (2015–2017).

Background and production [edit]

This section needs expansion with: additional citations. You can help by adding to it. (March 2017)

Martinez had an extended play completely done around 2013, which she began recording soon after she was eliminated from The Voice and was ready to put it out. However, after creating her song "Dollhouse" in September 2013, she decided not to release the aforementioned extended play. She began conceptualizing her debut album, which differed from the sound of the 2013 EP. In May 2014, Melanie put out her Dollhouse EP, and announced that summer that she hoped to have her album out around October. When October came, Melanie released the video for "Carousel" and postponed her release date for her album, and stated that she hoped to have it out in spring. That spring, Kinetics & One Love announced that all of the vocals for Melanie's album were finished, and Melanie officially announced that her album would be titled "Cry Baby". Melanie began teasing some titles for tracks. The first single was "Pity Party" and was confirmed on May 27, 2015. The music video was accidentally leaked by Melanie herself on May 29, but she later tweeted that she was happy and excited for the fans who had seen it and promised there was "more to come" during her live stream on June 1. It was officially released on the day of the live stream. During the live stream, Martinez announced that the release day of Cry Baby would be in August. The second single, "Soap", was confirmed in late June, and it was announced soon before it was to be released on July 10. It leaked a day earlier. The one-shot music video came out the same day.

On July 16, the album art and release date were leaked on Amazon, although the release date was false. On July 17, the album art was officially revealed, and merchandise bundles were available to pre-order on Martinez's website, with the digital pre-order on July 24. Before the 24th, the track list of the album was leaked, although the websites that leaked it replaced "Tag, You're It" with "Jump Rope" and "Play Date" with "Half Hearted". The track list was officially revealed on the 24th with the pre-order. Starting on July 27, Melanie released a snippet of each song (apart from the ones on the deluxe edition) on her Instagram page. On July 28, Melanie released the snippet for "Sippy Cup" and announced that it would be released on July 31. On July 30, Spin premiered the video, and "Sippy Cup" was released the day after. The album was released on August 14. The CD was packaged as a storybook, with jewel case CDs available later. Both a picture disk and a standard black vinyl were released in the future. Cassettes were then released, advertised as being in yellow, blue, and pink. There is also a less common green cassette. All physical copies of the album are the standard explicit, with the deluxe and clean being digital exclusives.

Concept [edit]

The album is about a character, named Cry Baby, a fantasy version of Martinez when she was a very young child (specifically before she started education), and a representation of her vulnerable and messed-up side. Martinez described Cry Baby as "a child who experiences adult things". She states that many of the things that have happened to Cry Baby are embellished versions of things that have happened in her own life, except the part where Cry Baby gets kidnapped and kills her kidnapper. Each song on the tracklist has a childhood-related title and contains childhood-related metaphors, while the deeper messages being crossed to the listener carry more adult themes and problems. For example, the song "Cry Baby" refers to someone who is teased for openly displaying their emotions (as opposed to an actual baby), and the song "Training Wheels" is actually about taking a relationship to the next level. The storybook available in the pre-order bundle features rhymes and illustrations based on the album, written by Martinez herself.^[7]

Release [edit]

The album was released on August 14, 2015, by Atlantic Records, through digital download, CD, vinyl, and audio cassette.^[2] The vinyl and CD have special packaging, which includes a storybook that follows the album by illustrator Chloe Tersigni.^[8] Cry Baby debuted at number 6 on the Billboard 200 with 41,000 units sold in its first week; it also debuted at the top of the Alternative Albums Chart. It was announced on August 2, 2016, that the album had sold 263,050 copies.^[9] On February 24, 2017, the album was certified Platinum, having sold 1,000,000 copies in the US.^{[10] [11]}

Singles [edit]

"Pity Party" was released as the first single. The music video was released on Vessel by Martinez on May 29, 2015, for early access users. It was then released three days later, on June 1, 2015, on YouTube. It was certified Platinum by RIAA.

"Soap" was released as the second single. It was released on July 10, 2015, along with a music video. It was certified Gold by RIAA. As of the end of 2017, "Soap" became an online trending song on the application TikTok (formerly known as Musical.ly), and a challenge known as the "Soap Challenge" gained speed, which saw users play Martinez's song while using liquid dish soap on makeup wipes to blow a stream of foam with their mouth.

"Sippy Cup" was released as the third single on July 31, 2015, with a music video. It was the darker sequel to the music video of her 2014 single, "Dollhouse".

Other songs [edit]

Martinez said in an interview that she would be releasing music videos for all tracks of the album.^[12] The song "Training Wheels" had a music video released on November 18, 2015, as a double-feature with a new video for "Soap", but "Training Wheels" was not announced as a single by Martinez.^[13] "Alphabet Boy" received a music video on June 2, 2016.^[14] A double feature music video for "Tag, You're It" and "Milk and Cookies" was released on August 23, 2016.^[15] The song "Pacify Her" had a music video released on November 15, 2016.^[16] The song "Mrs. Potato Head" had a music video released on December 1, 2016.^[17] The song "Mad Hatter" had its music video released on September 23, 2017, serving as the conclusion to the Cry Baby visual story.^[18]

In April 2020, Martinez's song "Play Date", one of the album's deluxe tracks, reached the "Viral 50" songs on Spotify and is subsequently rising on the charts. This resulted from a popular trend on TikTok, where users make an edit of a celebrity with the song playing in the background.^{[19] [20]} Martinez posted on Instagram, addressing the song's success as the "best birthday present ever".^[21] On May 1, 2020, the song was certified Gold by RIAA and as of December 8, 2020 the song has been certified Platinum.^[11] In an interview with Idolator on May 8, 2020, Martinez revealed plans to record a music video for the song from home.^[22]

Critical reception [edit]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[23]
ABC News	[5]
Billboard	[24]
Outlet Magazine	[25]
Popdust.com	4/5[4]
Spin	8/10[26]
Under the Gun Review	9.5/10[6]

Cry Baby received generally positive reviews from music critics. Allan Raible at ABC News gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, describing it as "a jarring, affecting record that will stick with you days after listening. It's not for passive listening. It is a rare pop record that is both catchy beyond belief and an artistic triumph."^[5] Jason Scott at Popdust.com described the album as "13 tracks of pure hypnotic bliss [that] tests the absolute bounds of alt-pop, puncturing and bleeding out of [Martinez's] Lesley Gore and Purity Ring influence," highlighting "Sippy Cup", "Mrs. Potato Head", "Soap", "Cry Baby" and "Alphabet Boy".^[4] AllMusic's Matt Collar compared Martinez to Björk and Beyoncé, and said that "her songs also fit nicely next to the work of contemporaries like Lorde and Lana Del Rey." Emma Guido at Under the Gun Review gave the album a 9.5 out of 10, calling the album "a journey with Martinez's creepy alter ego as she battles her demons and obsessions", calling her songwriting methods "expressional, passionate and marvelously creative" and writing that "The haunted carnival-esque ambience of Cry Baby...takes on a new form of indie-pop music that the world has been waiting to hear."^[6]

SPIN named the album number 22 on their list of "The 25 Best Pop Albums of 2015".^[27]

Track listing [edit]

Standard edition^[28]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Cry Baby"	Melanie Martinez Jeremy Dussolliet Tim Sommers	One Love	3:59
2.	"Dollhouse"	Martinez Dussolliet Sommers	One Love	3:51
3.	"Sippy Cup"	Martinez Dussolliet Sommers	One Love	3:15
4.	"Carousel"	Martinez Dussolliet Sommers	One Love	3:50
5.	"Alphabet Boy"	Martinez Dussolliet Sommers	One Love	4:13
6.	"Soap"	Martinez Emily Warren Schwartz Kyle Shearer	Shearer	3:29
7.	"Training Wheels"	Martinez Scott Hoffman	Babydaddy	3:25
8.	"Pity Party"	Martinez Christopher J. Baran Kara DioGuardi John Gluck Wally Gold Seymour Gottlieb Herb Wiener	Baran	3:24
9.	"Tag, You're It"	Martinez Scott Harris Rick Markowitz	SmarterChild Mike Miller[a]	3:09
10.	"Milk and Cookies"	Martinez Dussolliet Markowitz	SmarterChild Michael Keenan[a]	3:26
11.	"Pacify Her"	Martinez Chloe Angelides Keenan	Keenan	3:40
12.	"Mrs. Potato Head"	Martinez Dussolliet Sommers	Kinetics & One Love	3:37
13.	"Mad Hatter"	Martinez Dussolliet Bryan Fryzel Aaron Kleinstub	Frequency Aalias	3:21
Total length:				46:38

Digital deluxe edition^[29]

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Play Date"	Martinez Jennifer Decilveo	Keenan Decilveo[a]	2:59
15.	"Teddy Bear"	Martinez Phoebe Ryan Felix Snow	Snow	4:05
16.	"Cake"	Martinez Baran DioGuardi	Baran	3:19
Total length:				56:01

Notes

• ^[a] signifies an additional producer.
• "Pity Party" samples Lesley Gore's "It's My Party", written by Wally Gold, John Gluck, Herb Wiener, and Seymour Gottlieb.

Personnel [edit]

• Melanie Martinez – vocals

Production

• Jeff Levin – A&R
• Pete Ganbarg – A&R
• Anne Declemente – A&R
• Mitch McCarthy  – mixing on all tracks except "Dollhouse", "Carousel" and "Pity Party" at Owl Foot Ranch
• Manny Marroquin  – mixing on "Pity Party"
• Chris Gehringer – mastering

Charts [edit]

Certifications [edit]

[edit]

Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP
EP by Melanie Martinez
Released	November 25, 2016
Recorded	2013–2015
Length	13:51
Label	Atlantic
Melanie Martinez chronology
Pity Party EP (2016) Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP (2016) K-12 (2019)
Singles from Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP
"Gingerbread Man" Released: August 1, 2015

Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP is the third extended play by American recording artist Melanie Martinez, released on November 25, 2016. The EP is a physical vinyl release and her first EP without a digital release of the three bonus tracks from Cry Baby as well as the limited-release 2015 Christmas single, "Gingerbread Man".^[56] The vinyl was only available for purchase via Urban Outfitters and Martinez's website.^[58] The EP's cover art was drawn by Chloe Tersigni.

Track listing [edit]

Vinyl

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Play Date"	Jennifer Decilveo Melanie Martinez	Michael Keenan Jennifer Decilveo	2:59
2.	"Teddy Bear"	Martinez Phoebe Ryan Felix Snow	Snow	4:05
3.	"Cake"	Martinez Baran	Baran	3:19
4.	"Gingerbread Man"	Martinez Keenan Arthur McArthur	Keenan McArthur	3:28
Total length:				13:51

Tour [edit]

Cry Baby

Tour by Melanie Martinez
Associated album	Cry Baby
Start date	August 26, 2015
End date	April 2, 2017
Legs	9
No. of shows	98 in North America 4 in Oceania 5 in Latin America 17 in Europe 124 in total
Supporting acts	Handsome Ghost[59]
Melanie Martinez concert chronology
Dollhouse Tour (2014–15) Cry Baby Tour (2015–17) K-12 Tour (2019-20)

Set list [edit]

Notes

• The songs that Martinez played as the encore was based on audience choice.
• The encore songs can be played in random order as Melanie likes, but Cake will always be the last song, except during the last shows in São Paulo, Buenos Aires, and Santiago (Cake was performed before Mad Hatter).
• Melanie decided to perform "Teddy Bear" after "Pity Party" in select shows.
• From March 26, 2017, to April 2, 2017, "Pacify Her", "Gingerbread Man", and "Play Date" was removed from the setlist.

Shows [edit]

References [edit]

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2. ^ ^{a b} "Melanie Martinez - Official Store". Store.melaniemartinezmusic.com. Retrieved 2015-11-24 .
3. ^ "Pity Party - Single". iTunes. Archived from the original on July 15, 2015. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Melanie Martinez Conjures Up Sinister Stories With 'Cry Baby' Debut". Popdust.com. August 13, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
5. ^ ^{a b c} "Talib Kweli, Nada Surf, Melanie Martinez and More Music Reviews". ABC News. August 19, 2015. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Guido, Emma (21 August 2015). "REVIEW: Melanie Martinez – 'Cry Baby'". Under the Gun Review . Retrieved 21 August 2016.
7. ^ "Cry Baby by Melanie Martinez". Archived from the original on 28 July 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
8. ^ "Melanie Martinez Talks 'Cry Baby,' Toys, Cake & Party Essentials". Popdust.com. 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2015-11-24 .
9. ^ "Kill the Lights" spends second week at top of Billboard 200". Billboard.com.
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11. ^ ^{a b} "Melanie Martinez sales certifications". RIAA. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
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13. ^ "Twitter: Melanie Martinez announces Soap and Training Wheels". Twitter. November 17, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
14. ^ Cutruzzola, Annemarie (3 June 2016). "Melanie Martinez Drops Alphabet Boy Music Video". CelebMix . Retrieved 4 June 2016.
15. ^ GaGaca, Anna (August 24, 2016). "Melanie Martinez Battles the Big Bad Wolf in 'Tag You're It' and 'Milk and Cookies' Videos". Spin . Retrieved 28 August 2016.
16. ^ Wass, Mike (November 15, 2016). "Melanie Martinez's Visual LP Nears Completion With "Pacify Her" Video". Idolator . Retrieved 16 November 2016.
17. ^ Dickman, Maggie (December 1, 2016). "Melanie Martinez releases new music video for "Mrs. Potato Head"". Alternative Press . Retrieved December 1, 2016.
18. ^ Paxton, Whitney (September 23, 2017). "Melanie Martinez releases creatively adventurous "Mad Hatter" music video". Alternative Press . Retrieved September 23, 2017.
19. ^ "Melanie Martinez's "Play Date" Is A Belated Hit". idolator. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2021-01-18 .
20. ^ "Surprise Streaming Hits: 10 Songs From the 2010s You Wouldn't Expect Still Get Millions of Weekly Plays". Billboard . Retrieved 2021-01-18 .
21. ^ "Melanie Martinez on Instagram: "💕My song Play Date from my first album has taken on a life of it's [sic] own and it's [sic] the best birthday present ever💕 #streamplaydate 🌟link in..."". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2020-04-30 .
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27. ^ Staff, SPIN (7 December 2015). "The 25 Best Pop Albums of 2015". SPIN Magazine . Retrieved 17 July 2016.
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50. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard . Retrieved December 12, 2017.
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53. ^ "Certificados Musicales Amprofon" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
54. ^ "British album certifications – Melanie Martinez – Cry Baby". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved March 2, 2017. Select albums in the Format field.Select Gold in the Certification field.Type Cry Baby in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
55. ^ "American album certifications – Melanie Martinez – Cry Baby". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 5, 2021.
56. ^ Grebey, James (2015-12-23). "Melanie Martinez Shares Sweet and Spicy New Track, 'Gingerbread Man'". Spin . Retrieved 2019-06-12 .
57. ^ "Melanie Martinez - Cry Baby's Extra Clutter EP $14.98". Urban Outfitters. 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
58. ^ @handsomestghost (24 October 2016). "i use the word UNREAL too loosely...but this tour with melanie has been just that. three more then home before our…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Crybaby Art Milk and Cookies Cry Baby Drawing

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_Baby_(Melanie_Martinez_album)