Ace of Base

I was surprised (and a little embarrassed) by how much I enjoyed listening to this 90s pop band! Comparisons to ABBA are inevitable, since they are both Swedish pop-rock bands with quirky song writing and pairs of blonde boys and girls. If having a song called "Angel Eyes" doesn't tip the hand a little then consider also "C'est la vie," for example. With their international success you might even think that Ace of Base is the second greatest selling Swedish band of all time; if you think that, however, you forgot about Roxette. These guys are #3. It's a sleazy producer guy and his two sisters, plus some other vaguely douchey guy. As always seems to be the case with such bands, when the guys sing a line it is usually unfortunate but somehow required; it's best when they stick to pure vocoder, but even then it occasionally drifts into some disturbing demon voice. Sometimes their songs sound like we got to play happy hardcore on the radio. Sometimes it's like they're playing a club song on the radio, except it was never actually played in the club, except now it is because it was on the radio. At least there is occasional keytar. The keyboards are great throughout. Of course they influenced fellow Swedish pop artist Robyn, but there are spoken highly of by American pop stars like Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, going for that pre-9/11 90s fun feel. Indie synth rockers Yeasayer have also cited them as an influence, which makes me feel a little better.

The first thing they ever really did was try to push this song and ridiculous video, featuring fake trumpet playing and the lead singer's signature expressive hand moves. Their debut album from 1993, actually an amalgamation of their earlier work repackaged for the non-European market, is one of the greatest selling debuts of all time; in America it's called The Sign, but at home it was Happy Nation. Despite being hastily recorded in response to the success of "Wheel of Fortune" and their other pre-album single, "All That She Wants," apparently it is the first debut album to produce three #1 hit songs. So it was pretty huge at the time, although they haven't really demonstrated the staying power that such mammoth success might indicate. I'm not sure about that ridiculous, honking saxophone sample, but otherwise their opening track and first single "All That She Wants (Is Another Baby)," besides raising everyone's eyebrows thinking she was talking about breeding rather than coupling (a little bit lost in translation there, depending on who you ask), contains all their signature elements that they would continue to mine effectively over the course of four albums: interesting transitions between minor and major chords, clear and catchy melodies, great keyboards lines, and--somehow--a reggae beat. In re-listening to the album, I was struck by how many of these Swedish pop songs are built over a breezy islands rhythm. According to an interview,  this came about simply because a reggae band practiced in the rehearsal studio next to theirs, and ideas (and sounds) would bleed over due to everybody practicing at high volumes. But, dammit it works! (The same interview reveals their name comes from Motorhead's "Ace of Spades" sounding cool and being easing to pronounce; they blame their hometown's predilection for heavy metal over techno on their early inability to break through.). Their whole first album is pop solid gold. I knew going into this that super-hit "The Sign" is one of my favorite pop songs ever, but I was impressed by how good the lesser known tracks are here. If you love the hits, also "Don't Turn Around" (originally recorded by Tina Turner), the rest of the album will not disappoint. I don't recall fourth single "Living in Danger" getting much airplay, but it's not any worse or better than the big hits. Despite never having heard most of these not-on-the-radio songs before (my younger brother owned the CD back in the day, but I never did), the album is virtually free of fluff and filler. That's confirmed by the fact that the last thing they put out in 2015 is a b-sides and demos collection that conveniently collects all the lesser tracks that were wisely kept off the original albums, keeping those brief four albums all consistently tight and solid. The hints of primitive early techno give it an air of authenticity, but things get cleaned up significantly by the later albums, which shimmer and shine with crystalline production, perhaps reflecting rave culture's move out of the warehouses and into swanky clubs. I like to think of these guys as influenced by underground music rather than exploiting it, even as they dominate the pop charts, although that might be wishful thinking. It is reminiscent of when Madonna first starting to get deep into electronic music on Ray of Light: trendy and opportunistic, yes, but satisfyingly executed.

The second album The Bridge is good, but just not as stellar as the first one. Like the debut, it is a rushed response to unexpected stardom, but that's fine. Even the most mundane deep cuts are made more listenable by interesting little electronic sounds peppered liberally throughout. The complete abandonment of the reggae sound was a bit of a disappointment. On this album they went for more of the ballads and bedroom rockers, though they might call it more sophisticated song-writing. I guess "Lucky Love" is a cute single, but a little too cute. The real killer track is "Beautiful Life." The batshit crazy video has just enough sexiness to keep everyone's attention, but the record label sure didn't like it. As with "The Sign," "Beautiful Life" is seriously one of my favorite songs ever. Instead of reggae they are throwing some gospel vocals at us. I had heard about how they wrote the song after a friend committed suicide, and I thought it was such a beautiful and effective response - and the mix of positive imagery and haunting chords is great, even as dance-club pop candy. The somewhat harrowing song "Ravine" speaks to the time a deranged fan broke into one of the singer's homes, holding her and her parents at knife-point; there's a happy ending. Despite the later singles failing to chart (some blame bad promoting), this is the one album of theirs on which all four members contribute song writing, so that's nice. I missed the reggae; it seems crazy to do a whole album without a single song in your own previous signature style.

They headlined with 2 Unlimited in Chile in 1996 because of course they did! Makes perfect sense.

Then, after finally taking a breather, their third album is practically an oldies pastiche through a pop prism. Their apt cover of Bananarama's "Cruel Summer" gets them back on the pop charts again. "Always Have, Always Will" is delightful but jarring as it foreshadows The Pippettes almost a decade away. Somehow that's the (again, slightly ridiculous) video that feature some keytar action. It's also a bit weird that at this point one of the the sisters takes over lead vocals from the other sister, who literally has her face blurred out on the album cover as she takes on a more background role. There she is lurking in the shadows

De Capo (2002) represents a return to form, as the title suggests. Sadly, it didn't perform well on the charts, but I loved all these largely nameless, forgotten songs. The production is better than on the debut album, but the song writing was not strong enough to match its success, at least in terms of popular singles. The album is good overall though. "Wonderful Life" is a wonderful song - the airy space in the drawn-out vocal delivery on the chorus is dreamy. "The Juvenile" is a weird and awesome pseudo-epic with lush strings- originally it was going to be a James Bond movie theme.

Then they go on hiatus for awhile. They get to together as a trio to perform a full concert for the first time in 10 years in 2007. Then the other sister leaves too for a solo career and such. It admittedly looks unseemly, but then in 2010 the two guys re-launch the band with two new (ahem- younger) singing ladies. That band is different though; it is "Ace.of.Base." OK?

I wanted to hate the album they made, but it's so slick and good. The production is better than ever and the sounds are all good fun.  Another song I left this experience loving is "Vision in Blue." It's a true hidden gem - apparently so much so that it got its own sub-par fan-made video. I had to google the lyrics because although the title is "Vision in Blue" the refrain of the chorus is "My Koh Phangan x6," which I also had to google to discover is an island off the coast of Thailand renowned for its Full Moon Party. Why am I just learning about this now?! I guess it would be like saying, "You're my Coney Island." The song is great and helps carry an album with no real discernible highlights, but white people partying at exclusive resorts in Asia is the perfect image for the album's vibe. Lead single "All For You" is good enough, and the video does what it is supposed to do, though I'm not sure people care as much anymore.  The album reminds me a bit of Cher's foray into electronica, although this album came out 10 years later.  There are a bunch of random good songs on the album, but they abandon the whole revamp idea and instead settle for releasing Hidden Gems in 2012 as their swan song. To be honest, a lot of those songs are pretty good too. The band seemed to dissolve after that, while still teasing reunion possibilities.

But what a minute....blonde haired, blue eyed Europeans...singing about their Happy Nation....I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but....

Yep - (some of their interpretations are way off and take the source with a big grain of salt, but) they're probably actually freaking Nazis!
** EDIT ** OK, a lot of that stuff was crazy theories...except for the part where the one guy definitely really was in an actual Nazi hardcore band.

Damn it. Doesn't that make it two in a row?

I heard they suck live.