Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Coming from someone who listens to Thrash metal!, May 1, 2001
Most might be surprised at a metal head like me listening and enjoying this CD, but I'm not ashamed! The Cardigans are a brilliant band. They combine happy-happy vintage pop music with extremely dark lyrics. The result? A very enjoyable and fulfilling listening experience.At first listen, you might think "UGH this band is too happy!" But pay close attention to the lyrics - you'll see the dark underlying themes present in all the songs. Nina even cusses on one of the songs, but sings it with such a happy go lucky voice that you wouldn't notice it at first glance. The entire CD is great and varied in sound . The dance-disco of "Lovefool" to the cold drumming of "Heartbreaker," and the beautiful and ominous violin on "Great Divide", it all sounds like a love story gone wrong. The guitar work is very well placed and the bass rythmically follows every song with grace. The added effects such as additional back-up singers and violins adds to the entire album. On top of all this, Nina Persson's soothing voice just lulls me to sleep and relaxation every time I listen to this. This is an album that should be listened to with headphones at night, that way you'll get the full experience. If you enjoyed this CD and want to hear the Cardigans in a new direction, check out "Gran Turismo"
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Irresistible pop chock full of playful irony, July 1, 2004
This album is a shining example of the Cardigans' mastery of the retro yet fresh sound they had been churning out since the beginning of their gifted career.
Though known mostly for the hit song "Lovefool", this is no banally sugary collection of candied schlock that so many would assume.
The songs are delightfully subversive with immediately catchy melodies, ingenious arrangements...and despite this, are mostly centered around stories of a woman willingly accepting abuse from a partner who obviously couldn't care less. Tales of the unfortunate, made amusing by the obvious self-depracating quirks of the main character. These songs do include Lovefool, but also the aptly titled "Step on Me", and the song "Heartbreaker" in which a self-proclaimed loser speaks of her willing self-debasement with random men.
Elsewhere, are clever and tounge-in-cheek descriptions of people's feelings about the nature of love, giddy preparations for a "kinky" meeting between new lovers, and a tale of a wary and bitter attitude of hearing a previous lover use the same words on another naïve target.
There isn't one song on here that I couldn't listen to again and again.
With all this plus an amusing yet spot-on cover of Black Sabbath's Iron Man, you can't miss this piece of 90s delight.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This album is great! Truly distinctive....., May 16, 2007
I remember my introduction to the music of Swedish band, The Cardigans. I can tell you the time and place. I was a freshman in high school, and my class took a trip to the movie theater to see a screening of WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO AND JULIET. Their hit song, "Lovefool" was blaring while Juliet (Claire Danes) is preparing to see her lover, Romeo (Leonardo Dicaprio) in secret. I thought the song's infectious melody and cute vocals, from their female lead singer was so catchy! Also, the lyrics were border-line masochistic. They alluded to the foolishness that some women knowingly buy into in relationships, just to keep their partners, regardless of what damage they are being subjected to. I had to buy the cassette and see if this song was really "the peak" for these Swedish rockers, or if they were merely one hit wonders.
I am happy to tell you that these Swedes definitely lived up to my hopes, and I found their music interchangably upbeat and unsettling. The Cardigans is best described as conflicted rock music. They deliver punchy lyrics, set to a combination of percussive, bouncy accompaniment and dark, more slow and (even) demented background music. In fact, some of their songs almost sound like outtakes from younger versions of the S&M inspired band, The Velvet Underground. "Your New Cuckoo," "Been It," and "Losers" are three examples of their unabashedly honest songs, along with "Lovefool." Though, I had limited exposure and knowledge of sado-masochistic relationships, I had enough knowledge to understand what they were alluding to. Dark as the subject matter was, I appreciated it and still do today.
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