I used to dread this group, and would make fun of them as euro trash as many had described them for awhile. I bought The Sign out of curiosity and you know what i like it... and a few of there hits from other albums, they got that same beat but some of the song's have a funky beat.... and i may add in Ace Of Base's defense they where not always singing cheesy love song's but a lot of there song's actually told stories and where not just hog wash.

What are honest opinions on the band? The Sign sold like 17 million copies so i know some of you guy's and gals bought it

I have always liked them, they resembled a 90's Abba, but had their own signature sound....and Gaga lifted it for Alejandro, which reminds me of Don't Turn Around.

I can't stand them

abigail05 said:

I can't stand them

To each his own i used to not like them either took me awhile to warm up to them

Ace of Base indirectly made me think Robert Christgau isn't worth constulting on Music. He labeled the Sign as 'feel good happy music for feel good happy people'. I thought any critic who couldn't recognize the inherent darkness in "All that She Wants" wasn't worth paying attention to.

I am a big fan of the songs "All that She Wants", "The Sign", "Don't Turn Around" and "Beautiful Life". I heard those songs on the radio when they came out. I recently was reminded of those songs and looked into the rest of their catalouge. "Happy Nation" seems a good song, "Life is a flower" ad "Living in Danger" less so. Any recommendations?

I've read they wanted to make electronic dance music with a dark reggae flavour, I'd say they pulled it off.

rainman1985 said:

Ace of Base indirectly made me think Robert Christgau isn't worth constulting on Music. He labeled the Sign as 'feel good happy music for feel good happy people'. I thought any critic who couldn't recognize the inherent darkness in "All that She Wants" wasn't worth paying attention to.

I am a big fan of the songs "All that She Wants", "The Sign", "Don't Turn Around" and "Beautiful Life". I heard those songs on the radio when they came out. I recently was reminded of those songs and looked into the rest of their catalouge. "Happy Nation" seems a good song, "Life is a flower" ad "Living in Danger" less so. Any recommendations?

I've read they wanted to make electronic dance music with a dark reggae flavour, I'd say they pulled it off.

I thought that everybody knew that Robert is a subjective asshole, many of his reviews are just plain insulting, literally. He's just another bitter dinosaur of the Beatles/Bob Dylan generation, his reviews already sucked in the late-70's...He is, perhaps, the worst critic of all time, the perfect example of an overrated & uneven parasite...

and yeah, I dig Ace of Base, for me, they are THE pop group of the mid-90's. Such a killer set of golden singles. The Sign is probably my fav pop song of the 90's

That said, I only own their Greatest Hits album, which is flawless... All That She Wants, Don't Turn Around, Life is a Flower, Beautiful Life, etc.

aaaaahh, memories

JoeTyler said:

rainman1985 said:

Ace of Base indirectly made me think Robert Christgau isn't worth constulting on Music. He labeled the Sign as 'feel good happy music for feel good happy people'. I thought any critic who couldn't recognize the inherent darkness in "All that She Wants" wasn't worth paying attention to.

I thought that everybody knew that Robert is a subjective asshole, many of his reviews are just plain insulting, literally. He's just another bitter dinosaur of the Beatles/Bob Dylan generation, his reviews already sucked in the late-70's...He is, perhaps, the worst critic of all time, the perfect example of an overrated & uneven parasite...

You ought not to expect anything more from the self-proclaimed 'Dean of American Rock critics' than decent criticism of rock music, in that comfort zone he's probably better than most. Still full of utter shit obviously, but I remember he did an outstanding essay on Prince a a few years back.

Fuckin Rubbish! Can't stand them. Next!

Hated them!

Shit.

Hole.

I'm just saying they get a lot of hate but The Sign as i said sold 17 million copies or whatever who the hell was buying it?

I'll 'fess up, yeah I bought a copy of The Sign as well The Bridge and Cruel Summer as well as some the cd-maxi singles with the remixes as well. And to top it all off, I got the greatest hits set with the bonus dvd of music videos as well.

Gaga lifted it for Alejandro, which reminds me of Don't Turn Around

To me, Alejandro was like the love child of AOB's My Deja Vu and Madonna's La Isla Bonita. The 90's were like a small-scale Swedish invasion. Along with Ace of Base there was Roxette, ABBA (renewed popularity that is), Dr Alban, Clubland feat. Zemya Hamilton and super-producer Max Martin thrown in for good measure. I remember a USA Today review that described his sound as "ABBA meets Prince.".

[Edited 5/20/11 16:01pm]

The Sign was the SHIT back in 1994 for me.

Other than that 1 song, they are/were/will always be crap.

I always kind of mix them up with Roxette for some reason, 'cept Roxette actually had some cool songs

really liked their remake of Cruel Summer. still play it every now and again.

Gunsnhalen said:

I'm just saying they get a lot of hate but The Sign as i said sold 17 million copies or whatever who the hell was buying it?

It's one of thoses albums which sold really well, but looking back, people are like: What were we thinking???

Vanilla Ice sold also millions of his first album

OMG I LOVE Roxette! Wish they were bigger in North America for most of the 90's though they fell off after the early 90's

The Sign is a great album, The Bridge has some underrated songs, Akon sampled Edge of Heaven a few years ago and I recognized it right away, can't remember how I discovered it. And Cruel Summer is one of the very, very few remakes I can say I like better than the original. I'm an 80's lover, but I like the 90's version way more.

robertlove said:

Gunsnhalen said:

I'm just saying they get a lot of hate but The Sign as i said sold 17 million copies or whatever who the hell was buying it?

It's one of thoses albums which sold really well, but looking back, people are like: What were we thinking???

Vanilla Ice sold also millions of his first album

dude i know right! like almost 10 million or something i read all because of that one song!!!! i must say either way that's killer marketing or something lol

i liked some of their singles; definitely catchy and fun

All That She Wants was one of the first songs in english language that I heard. and yes I love Ace Of Base