Ace of Base's music is never about diversity.
Their first two records mined infectious Euro-disco beats to great effect, and the first, at least, illustrated they had a knack for writing big, irresistible pop hooks.
Cruel Summer, their third album, attempts to capture the carefree, stylish charm that drove "All That She Wants" and "The Sign" to the top of the charts, and while it has its moments, it fails to rival their previous pop pinnacles.
It's a little disappointing that the melodic high point is the title track, a cover of Bananarama's new wave classic.
Also, it's a little disappointing that Ace of Base haven't chosen to vary their Euro-disco rhythms, since the relentless thumping makes Cruel Summer sound a little too similar its predecessors -- only without as many hooks.
There are almost enough solid tracks to make the album enjoyable as it plays, but there's nothing really memorable about it once it's finished.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cruel SummerSarah Elizabeth Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, Keren Woodward | Ace of Base | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 2 | DonnieJonas "Joker" Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 29 MB |
| 3 | Whenever You're Near MeJonas "Joker" Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Everytime It RainsRick Nowels, Billy Steinberg, Maria Vidal | Ace of Base | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | Adventures in ParadiseJonas "Joker" Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:30 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 6 | Don't Go AwayJohn Ballard, Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg | Ace of Base | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 7 | CeciliaJonas "Joker" Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:54 | 8 MB | 30 MB |
| 8 | He DecidesJenny Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Always Have, Always WillJonas "Joker" Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:48 | 8 MB | 28 MB |
| 10 | Tokyo GirlJonas "Joker" Berggren, Ralph McCarthy, Billy Steinberg | Ace of Base | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 11 | Travel to RomantisJonas "Joker" Berggren | Ace of Base | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 12 | Cruel SummerSarah Elizabeth Dallin, Siobhan Fahey, Steve Jolley, Tony Swain, Keren Woodward | Ace of Base | Play | 03:36 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 45 mins | 104 MB | |||||
| 38 mins | 283 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Borje "Buller Bang" ? | Percussion |
| 2 | Delgado ? | Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 3 | Sasha ? | Bass |
| 4 | Ace of Base | Primary Artist |
| 5 | Per Adebratt | Keyboards, Programming |
| 6 | John Amatiello | Engineer, Keyboards, Programming |
| 7 | Andy ? | Remixing |
| 8 | John Ballard | Composer, Vocal Arrangement, Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | Ulf Bandgren | Guitar |
| 10 | Bas-Berra | Bass |
| 11 | Joe Belmaati | Arranger, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Producer, Programming |
| 12 | Jenny Berggren | Composer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 13 | Jonas "Joker" Berggren | Composer, Engineer, Keyboards, Programming, Vocoder |
| 14 | Linn Berggren | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 15 | Marit Bie | Vocals (Background) |
| 16 | Marianne Bundevik | Vocals (Background) |
| 17 | Mark Burdett | Design |
| 18 | Douglas Carr | Engineer, Keyboards, Programming |
| 19 | Suzanne Carstensen | Vocals (Background) |
| 20 | Desi "Dezrock" Caruso | Keyboards |
| 21 | Cutfather | Arranger, Mixing, Producer |
| 22 | Sarah Elizabeth Dallin | Composer |
| 23 | Clive Davis | Executive Producer |
| 24 | Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg | Composer, Producer |
| 25 | Tommy Ekman | Arranger, Engineer, Keyboards, Mixing, Programming |
| 26 | Ole Evenrude | Arranger, Producer |
| 27 | Siobhan Fahey | Composer |
| 28 | Charlie Falk | String Arrangements |
| 29 | Charles Fisher | Producer |
| 30 | Birthe H. | Vocals (Background) |
| 31 | Peo Haggstrom | Keyboards, Programming |
| 32 | Hani | Producer, Remixing |
| 33 | Nana Hedin | Vocals (Background) |
| 34 | Henrik | Conductor, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements |
| 35 | Johnny Jam | Keyboards, Producer, Programming |
| 36 | Uli Janson | Conductor, Horn Arrangements, String Arrangements |
| 37 | Bjarne "Spiff" Johansson | Drums, Percussion |
| 38 | Mads Johansson | Guitar |
| 39 | Steve Jolley | Composer |
| 40 | Jonas Karg | Guitar |
| 41 | Dave Lee | Programming |
| 42 | Peter Lee | Remixing |
| 43 | David Leonard | Mixing |
| 44 | Jonas Linell | Photography |
| 45 | Marian Lisland | Vocals (Background) |
| 46 | Bernard Löhr | Mixing |
| 47 | Ralph McCarthy | Composer |
| 48 | Matz Nilsson | Mixing |
| 49 | Rick Nowels | Composer |
| 50 | Tue Röh | Fender Rhodes, String Arrangements |
| 51 | Thomas Siqveland | Programming |
| 52 | Eivind Skovdahl | Engineer, Percussion |
| 53 | Billy Steinberg | Composer |
| 54 | Joakim Stiren | Mixing, Programming |
| 55 | Stonestream | Drum Programming |
| 56 | Tony Swain | Composer |
| 57 | Maria Vidal | Composer |
| 58 | Keren Woodward | Composer |
| 59 | Leon Zervos | Mastering |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |