Amazon.com: 'All That She Wants,' the song that catapulted the photogenic Swedish quartet to the Top 10 in the early '90s, was impossible to escape--it kept popping up on radio and prime-time TV shows, and even in novels. Despite the inevitable Abba comparisons--and the fact that the music was crafted in that sugary pop fashion that seldom lasts past the first single--Jenny, Linn, Jonas, and Ulf refused to disappear. They followed up their debut album, The Sign, with The Bridge, the songs on which--'Beautiful Life,' 'Lucky Love'--headed more and more toward lollipop dance, and it is there that they pick up with their third release, Cruel Summer. It is hard to label this collection of syncopation and radio-friendly melodies as anything more than fun, but that's just fine with Ace of Base. As they've pointed out in the past, 'A good song is a good song.' These songs--as exemplified by the light, upbeat groove of the title track--are just as apt to convince their fans likewise. --Rebecca Wallwork
Digital Life Reviews
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - My First Taste of AoB
For some reason, I decided to give AoB a try in April 2000 and I *was not* disappointed at all. I didn't know what to expect really, as I'd only heard their singles, never a full album. I was impressed and excited to listen to it each and every time I played it. My favorite song is HE DECIDES and I don't really care for DON'T GO AWAY. Linn, the blonde, sang EVERYTIME IT RAINS so darn beautifully. I think it's her best vocals to date.
This album is more 'pop' sounding than their previous albums, which were more dance oriented than this one. This album had two singles released, first being their cover of Bananarama's CRUEL SUMMER, which was #10 on the billboard chart in the U.S. and WHENEVER YOU'RE NEAR ME, which didn't do so well, made it to #60 or 70-something. The album 'only' sold 2 million worldwide and led to them being dropped later from Arista records a couple of years later in 2000, after the ... Read More
Rating: - Not a disappointment!!!!!
I have been a huge Ace of Base fan since "All That She Wants" was released in America. Very often, I find that when I buy a new CD, I have to listen to it a few times for it to grow on me. That was not the case with AoB's first two albums, and Cruel Summer was no exception. I instantly fell in love with this album! Jenny and Linn have two of the most beautiful voices ever, and as a group, they write some of the best melodies around. The only thing that bugged me about this album was the fact that it was named after the cover song on the album. That didn't make any sense to me until I got the Euro version, Flowers. Apparently, the US record company thought that the name Flowers was too European. This just goes to prove what I have often thought: Record label executives are idiots!!!!
I have found that I consider Cruel Summer and Flowers to be like two different albums. While they are both wonderful, ... Read More
Rating: - Almost intolerable
I was a huge Ace of Base fan back in the day. I remember loving both 'The Sign' and 'The Bridge' and listening to them all the time when I was about 10 or 11. Recently, wanting to feel nostalgic, I got copies of 'The Sign' and 'The Bridge' as well as 'Cruel Summer'. I'd never listened to the the third album, besides the title track. Listening to 'The Sign' and 'The Bridge' again proved to be a great experience, not only because of the nostalgia but because they were still pretty good albums in my mind, even after not hearing them in about a decade. Cruel Summer, on the other hand, is horrid.
The overall theme of this album is very disco, and sometimes even has a doo wop feel (a very caucasian-sounding doo wop, mind you). The album has spots that are more dance-y and poppy and are not too terrible, but they are still pretty drab. This album was very disappointing to me.
Rating: - Buy "Flowers" instead !!!
First, although I'm a eurodance music lover, I just LOVE Ace Of Base, they have a lot of nice tracks, and they released 2 excellent albums, "Happy Nation/The Sign" and "The Bridge". This is actually the 3rd one... the US version. The european version was called "Flowers". And it was much better than this US version, it was great actually, probably my favourite Ace Of Base album. So, if you have been disappointed with "Cruel Summer", listen to "Flowers" and you will know why. In the previous album "The Bridge", Arista (the record company) has already removed the track "You & I", but it was just that... here, they destroyed the awesome "Flowers" album. For example, "Whenever You're Near Me" is the american version of "Life Is A Flower". It is good, but "Life Is A Floower" was so much better. "Travel To Romantis" was my favourite track on the "Flowers" album. It was a great eurodance track (yes, eurodance), but here it's ... Read More
Digital
Life Shop
items subject to availability. Some restrictions
may apply. Music
Cruel Summer presented by digi2005.com Digi2005.com is
an Amazon.com
Associate
Digital Life Music News:
Kanye West Disrespected By Gay Comments Made By Beanie Sigel
Six Shot - He's never proclaimed to be a thug, but that didn't stop Kanye West from standing up for himself against a Broad Street Bully. Yesterday, during an interview with Hot 97 radio DJ Angie Martinez , Kanye responded to comments made by Beanie Sigel , who ...
more News
- Almost intolerable
- Buy "Flowers" instead !!!
