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Cover of 14 Shades of Grey by Staind — Cover: 14 Shades of Grey

Song · Staind

“Price to Play” by Staind

From the album 14 Shades of Grey (2003)

“Price to Play” by Staind appears on 16 radio countdowns from 16 stations in 2003. It was first released in 2003 on the album 14 Shades of Grey. Its best result is #27 on the 89X Top 89 Songs of 2003. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #44 alternative song of 2003 and #440 of the '00s.

16countdowns

16stations

#27best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

2003years charted

Watch

Staind - Price To Play (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (Staind Videos). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Price to Play" was the last song Staind wrote and recorded for 14 Shades of Grey, and it went out ahead of that 2003 album as its lead single. Aaron Lewis wrote the words out of pure irritation: the record was nearly done, and there he was, back in the studio churning out more songs and feeling like the band was pinned under someone's thumb. By the time it was finished it had widened into a song about what the music business takes out of body and mind, and about life in general.

Josh Abraham produced and Andy Wallace mixed, and the music came from Lewis, Mike Mushok, Johnny April and Jon Wysocki: a tight, grinding slab of alternative metal. Rock radio grabbed it, sending it to number two on Mainstream Rock Tracks, and WWE made it the theme of Vengeance 2003.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Hard Rock & Metal

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
2003	90	KROQ Los Angeles, CA	KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 2003	107
2003	64	91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana	91X Top 91 Songs of 2003	91
2003	78	Live 105 San Francisco, CA	Live 105 Top 105.3 Songs of 2003	106
2003	38	Q101 Chicago, IL	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 2003	101
2003	44	WHFS Washington, DC / Baltimore, MD	WHFS Top 99.1 Songs of 2003	100
2003	48	K-Rock New York, NY	K-Rock Top 92.3 Songs of 2003	92
2003	28	WFNX Boston, MA	WFNX Top 100 Songs of 2003	100
2003	27	89X Detroit, MI / Windsor, ON	89X Top 89 Songs of 2003	89
2003	76	Y100 Philadelphia, PA	Y100 Top 100 Songs of 2003	100
2003	53	CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON	CFNY Top 102 Songs of 2003	102
2003	60	The Buzz Burlington, VT / Plattsburgh, NY / Montreal, QC	The Buzz Top 99 Songs of 2003	99
2003	32	WCCC The Rock Hartford, CT	WCCC Top 106 Songs of 2003	106
2003	38	102.1 The Edge Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	KDGE Top 102 Songs of 2003	102
2003	95 (tie)	WBER Rochester, NY	WBER Listener Countdown 2003	196
2003	68	103.1 The Buzz West Palm Beach, FL	Buzz 103.1 Top 103 Buzz Cuts of 2003	103
2003	34	Radio & Records United States (national airplay chart)	Radio & Records Top 100 Songs of 2003	100

Also listed as: Price To Play.

Charting alongside it in 2003

Best songs of 2003 →

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