release date: Oct. 19, 1998
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,16]
producer: Tore Johansson
label: Stockholm Records - nationality: Sweden
Track highlights: 1. "Paralyzed" - 2. "Erase / Rewind" - 3. "Explode" - 6. "Higher" - 8. "My Favourite Game"
4th studio album by The Cardigans is a stylistic change. Completely gone is the loose and 'blue-eyed' lounge and jazz pop and instead the band is transformed into a Blur sound-a-like clone with a sudden strong love for britpop. The producer (Tore Johansson), record label (Stockholm Records), as well as primary songwriters, Nina Persson and Peter Svensson, all remain unchanged, so the band has simply grown, wanting to explore new grounds. The result, however, is to me less interesting, but record buyers didn't care as the album became the best-selling The Cardigans album so far and the first to reach number #1 on the national albums chart list (peaking as number #8 in the UK). The music video for My favourite game, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, was received as highly controversial in many countries as it shows Nina Persson acting a staged GTA suicidal game of crashing her car into other cars on an American straight highway driving in the wrong lane.
[ allmusic.com 2,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 3 / 5 stars ]
