Backtracking is our recurring look back at some of pop’s forgotten albums. Because, dammit, Miley Cyrus needs to start respecting her elders.
Ah, Ace Of Base. Only in the reactionary, post-grunge 1990s could Americans have briefly embraced such a pop phenomenon. Something about the reggae-inflected synth hooks and icy detachment of the Swedish quartet—siblings Jonas, Jenny and Malin Berggren, and their pal Ulf “Buddha” Ekberg—had us going bonkers for The Sign (or Happy Nation, as it was titled outside the U.S.).
And yet, when AOB’s sophomore album The Bridge was released in 1995, we tossed these supposed heirs to the ABBA throne out in the cold—despite The Bridge being a set of pop jams far superior to their first offering. More »
