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| front cover: Balling & Johansen |
release date: Sep. 17, 1992
format: cd (GENCD 187)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Henrik Balling, Torben Johansen
label: Genlyd - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "No Need to Be Afraid" - 2. "You and Yours" - 3. "Didn't I Make You Laugh" - 4. "Once in a While" - 6. "Never Say Goodbye" - 7. "Mountain Song" (official video) - 8. "Blessed by a Lesser God"
5th studio album by Gangway following 1½ years after The Quiet Boy Ate the Whole Cake (1991) sees the two main songwriters, Henrik Balling and Torben Johansen back in the producer seat. This is primarily synth-pop although, they have turned down a bit on the drum machines and on the electronic arrangements, so that it turns out like something in between their second and their third albums. It's more or less the same band as on the '91 album, although, percussionist Cai Bojsen-Møller has been included as full member now making the band a quartet again. Shortly after leaving Elektra Denmark, the band signed with Genlyd, which was by now economically secured under the stable wings of BMG Ariola. The front cover shows Henrik Balling and Torben Johansen (the two producers) with Cai Bojsen-Møller and Allan Jensen left on the back cover. Balling is credited as songwriter of the majority of the songs while three tracks are credited Johansen (tracks #2, #4, and #6), and "You and Yours" and "Once in a While" are not only two of his best songs ever but are also highlights of the album. As on predecessor, Jesper Siberg is credited 'sound design', which basically means that he filled in as both sound engineer and a type of assistant producer.
On a national scale, Happy Ever After was quite succesful and compared to its predecessor it was also better received by both the press and the public. The album eventually earned the band four Danish Grammy Awards in Feb. '93 for Band of the Year, Best Danish Rock Release, Best Music-Video (for "Mountain Song") and Best Songwriter (Henrik Balling). Furthermore, "Mountain Song" was a major national hit and in hindsight it stands as one of the band's most frequently played songs ever. The album itself sold twice as many copies as their so far most popular album Sitting in the Park and reached 50.000 sold albums in Denmark alone, securing the position as the band's best-selling album ever.
Personally, I don't find that Happy Ever After is a big leap forward - in fact, I find it more of a minor step in... another direction. At first, I saw it as a lesser album, as it doesn't contain a bunch of truly remarkable tracks, or: original takes like is found on the '91 album. Two to three fine songs all appearing to try to revitalise the spirit of Sitting in the Park (1986) doesn't quite save the album as something extraordinary; however, that was a first verdict, and it's certainly more straight-forward, more simplistic, and also a quite coherent whole. It's definitely more mainstream-shaped than the predecessor, and then it fully lives up to its title. Furthermore, it's without the ironic distance the band had carried with them in whatever direction they pursued on their first two albums out. Happy Ever After turns out as a real feel-good pop album without intentions to claim they play rock or indie pop. Imho, this is clearly bettering their '86 and '88 albums by being more coherent and better produced. It may not live up to what they sat out for on the debut, and it doesn't follow a path of trying something different, and it feels like a more secure choice than the predecessor with which they took on a new experimental approach. Having said that, and in retrospect Happy Ever After has come to stand as the band's musical peak and Gangway's most popular album. In my mind, it still comes second to their '91 album, but it's still highly recommended.
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| back cover: Boisen-Møller & Jensen |
