Album Reviews |

Ace Of Base

Happy Nation 3 32/100 ( 1993, UK pos 21 )
All That She Wants / Don't Turn Around / Young And Proud / Sign, The / Living In Danger / Voulez-Vous Danser / Happy Nation / Hear Me Calling / Waiting For Magic / Fashion Party / Wheel Of Fortune / Dancer In A Daydream / My Mind (Mindless Mix) / All That She Wants (Banghra Version) / Happy Nation (Remix)

Ace Of Base for me, stand as an enduring testament to the crapness of the singles charts at any given time. There is always an Ace Of Base in the singles charts, a hugely popular act that inexplicably but fortunately briefly capture the publics imagination. This is the album that contains their big hit, 'All That She Wants'. It works ok, and if that had been it, all would have been fine. You know, if i'm drunk out of my skull and i've lost my senses altogether, I quite enjoy 'All That She Wants'! Second song 'Don't Turn Around' is seemingly the old Aswad tune. It's hard to tell, because it features exactly the same drum pattern as 'All That She Wants', the same half hearted, computer treated vocals. Apart from the computer programming in fact, there isn't any music. The music that is here consists of the kind of 'beats' you create after half an hour with a top system and software package, musical talent or not, provided you did have half a grasp of pop music of course. I will credit Ace Of Base, whomever was behind them, with having half a grasp of something, at least. You see, i'm kind like that! 'Young And Proud' at least ditches the 'All That She Wants' beats for a second, but still manages to be sub-eurovision of the worst kind. 'The Sign' offers a subtle variation on the 'All That She Wants' drum pattern, and there you have it! Sure fire hit, someone counts money, nobody cares.

'Voulez-Vous Dancer' was never going to challenge Abba, let's face it. It's europop disco of the worst kind, no doubt went a storm in the drug, drunken, desperate beaches of ibiza and the like. Hey, I have fun with my life! I get drunk at home without spending hundreds of pounds! I go to clubs and flirt when I feel like doing so, which isn't often, but you know. Buy a sun-bed or something. 'Fashion Party' and 'Hear Me Calling' are both perfectly average pieces of dance music, and there you have it. 'Dancer In A Daydream' is mind-numbingly obvious, but there is much dance/pop music like this. Ace Of Base weren't unique, sadly.

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What, they released more than one album? Apparently, it's true. They released a couple more after this, if legend is true. Legend, ha! That's funny, i'm a funny guy, GOD THIS IS AWFUL! The same pounding, sickly happy euro-disco formula as before, only this time without a world-wide hit single. To be fair, the opening song is kinda stupidly dumb in a catchy way. I'd rather catch flu, but what can you do? I'm reading between the lines here. Many would simply give this a '1' ( my lowest allowed grade ) and be done with it, but no, not me! I give it 2½, because you know, the music is perfectly accomplished within it's own limited ambitions. Sure, I hate the life out of it, and would rather stick my penis in Paper Shredder than listen to this more than the obligatory amount of times required to review it, but what can you do? What I find funny, is the fact i'm still giving it a higher grade than The New Radicals album I reviewed! That's funny!!

This is 'Eurovision' but without the charm, although I almost enjoy the second song here, weird crazy kids, these 'Ace Of Base' guys and gals! Let's introduce a 'wailing', 'floating' keyboard line to subtly alter the 'All That She Wants' programmed beat pattern! Hotcha, that's genius!! 'Lucky Love' comes up subtitled 'Acoustic Version' in my Windows Media Player ( no, I didn't actually BUY these two albums on the page here ) but isn't at all acoustic, rather features the same computer beats as before! What a swizz! It's a fun song, though. It is, actually. The album stinks, of course, but there you go.

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Readers Comments Omega027@aol.com I have to disagree with you about your review of this album. I didn't care for the first album....OK, I hated it. Everyone around me was going gaga over Ace of Base, and I was just getting more and more sick of them by the minute... I had forgotten all about them by the time a friend showed me The Bridge. I borrowed the album and listened to it. I was a little grudged against Ace of Base because of their first "album", but, and you won't find me saying this in public, I really liked this album. Aside from the first three tracks, which interestingly enough, were the only tracks you reviewed. I looked in the booklet, and apparently "Never gonna say I'm sorry" was a remake of "all that she wants", hence the exact same beat. Oh yeah, that was the one exception from the first album, I liked All that she Wants. The bridge is nothing like the first album (again, except for the first 3 tracks), which must be why I like it. It has some actual emotion to it, and a lot of different styles, unlike The Sign album. I personally liked, again not in public, Ravine, Just N Image, Edge of Heaven, Whispers in Blindness and Strange Ways the most. The rest are only OK to me, but still, I don't think they're as bad as you make them out to be. Did you listen to anything other than the first 3? And in defense of Lucky Love Acoustic, those are real acoustic guitars, not computer shit, trust me. Oh wait, I also liked Living in Danger from the first album, lol. OK, I'm seriously done now. Unfortunately, Ace of Base were incapable of making anything else decent. I gave them a chance and bought their third album after liking the second one.....wow.....it was really bad.....to the point where you just want to die right there in the middle of track 4. too bad, because they actually showed some talent for a while

this page last updated 20/05/07