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Cruel Summer

Ace of Base - Cruel Summer Audio CD

A fair review of the Ace of Base "Cruel Summer" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Ace of Base reviews here, or go back to the Ace of Base tabs.

Band: Ace of Base
Title: Cruel Summer
Rating:

Release Date: 1998-07-14
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Cruel Summer 2: Donnie 3: Whenever You're Near Me 4: Everytime It Rains 5: Adventures in Paradise 6: Don't Go Away 7: Cecilia 8: He Decides 9: Always Have, Always Will 10: Tokyo Girl 11: Travel to Romantis 12: Cruel Summer [Blazin' Rhythm Remix]

Not a disappointment!!!!!
Very often, I find that when I buy a new CD, I have to listen to it a few times for it to grow on me. I have been a huge Ace of Base fan since "All That She Wants" was released in America. That was not the case with AoB's first two albums, and Cruel Summer was no exception. I instantly fell in love with this album! Jenny and Linn have two of the most beautiful voices ever, and as a group, they write some of the best melodies around. The only thing that bugged me about this album was the fact that it was named after the cover song on the album. That didn't make any sense to me until I got the Euro version, Flowers. Apparently, the US record company thought that the name Flowers was too European. This just goes to prove what I have often thought: Record label executives are idiots!!!!

I have found that I consider Cruel Summer and Flowers to be like two different albums. While they are both wonderful, I find that there are things that I like better about Cruel Summer and other things that I like better on Flowers. The song "Cruel Summer" is an excellent cover tune. You won't be able to go back to listening to the original Bananarama version after hearing the kickin' beat and highly superior vocals of Jenny & Linn. "Donnie" is probably my second favorite song on this album; the motown flavor and wistfull lyrics go together perfectly, and I can't keep still when I hear it! "Whenever You're Near Me" is a great, infectious song, but I agree with all the other reviewers that "Life is a Flower" on Flowers is the superior version of the song. "Adventures in Paradise" is another danceable, butt-shaker of a song, and "Don't Go Away" can move me to tears with the lyrics of a relationship that is ending because one person made a mistake and did something stupid. "Cecilia" is another motown sounding song with clever lyrics. A song about Simon & Garfunkel's Cecilia, it asks the questions, Who was she really? and What was her life like outside the classic song? "He Decides" is a great song that I actually like better on this album than on Flowers. The Flowers version is too happy and upbeat sounding. This version is darker and seems to take the subject matter more seriously. It's about being so in love that what you do and how you feel become dependent on this other person and the mood they're in. "Always Have, Always Will" again has that great '60s sound. "Tokyo Girl" is my favorite song on the album; its a hard-core dance tune with a chorus that won't quit once it's in your head! "Travel to Romantis" is another great dance song and is a great follow-up to "Tokyo Girl". Besides the fact that you would miss some very different takes on these songs, the other reason to get this CD as well as Flowers is the song "Everytime it Rains", which doesn't appear on Flowers. While the remix on the Greatest Hits album is good, it doesn't quite convey the emotion that the original does.

The only other thing I want to comment on with this album is the fact that Linn seems to always be in the background in all the group pictures and her solo picture is blurry. Also, she's never in the forefront in the video for "Cruel Summer". I don't know why that is. I can only assume this was her choice, because I doubt the record company would want to miss a chance to show a "hot chick" on the cover of the album.

While I don't think this album is as good as The Bridge, I would recommend it for sure to fans of dance-pop and to die-hard AoB fans.

Almost intolerable
I remember loving both 'The Sign' and 'The Bridge' and listening to them all the time when I was about 10 or 11. I was a huge Ace of Base fan back in the day. Recently, wanting to feel nostalgic, I got copies of 'The Sign' and 'The Bridge' as well as 'Cruel Summer'. I'd never listened to the the third album, besides the title track. Listening to 'The Sign' and 'The Bridge' again proved to be a great experience, not only because of the nostalgia but because they were still pretty good albums in my mind, even after not hearing them in about a decade. Cruel Summer, on the other hand, is horrid.

The overall theme of this album is very disco, and sometimes even has a doo wop feel (a very caucasian-sounding doo wop, mind you). The album has spots that are more dance-y and poppy and are not too terrible, but they are still pretty drab. This album was very disappointing to me.

Buy "Flowers" instead !!!
This is actually the 3rd one. First, although I'm a eurodance music lover, I just LOVE Ace Of Base, they have a lot of nice tracks, and they released 2 excellent albums, "Happy Nation/The Sign" and "The Bridge". . . the US version. The european version was called "Flowers". And it was much better than this US version, it was great actually, probably my favourite Ace Of Base album. So, if you have been disappointed with "Cruel Summer", listen to "Flowers" and you will know why. In the previous album "The Bridge", Arista (the record company) has already removed the track "You & I", but it was just that. . . here, they destroyed the awesome "Flowers" album. For example, "Whenever You're Near Me" is the american version of "Life Is A Flower". It is good, but "Life Is A Floower" was so much better. "Travel To Romantis" was my favourite track on the "Flowers" album. It was a great eurodance track (yes, eurodance), but here it's just boring. This track has completely been destroyed. . . Another one is the remix of "Cruel Summer". Once again, it is good, but not as good as the "Big Bonus Mix" on "Flowers". And, it's not just that. . . They removed THREE tracks : the excellent "Dr. Sun", the very nice "I Pray", and "Captain Nemo", which were also present on "Flowers".

To sum up, "Cruel Summer" is a good album, but "Flowers" is A LOT better, so buy "Flowers", even if you already have "Cruel Summer".

Not their best

"Donnie", for instance, while a good song has that beach feel that I just cannot forgive. This album taps into a few older musical trends which I wish had been left untapped.

The album itself doesn't stand out as a whole, so I can't comment on the rest of it.

BAD SUMMER....
C'MON ACE OF BASE's FANS. . THIS ALBUM IS REALLY A WASTED OF TIME AND YOU KNOW IT. ANYWAY I HAVE TO ADMIDT. . . THEY HAVE A COUPLE OF GOOD SONGS AS "CRUEL SUMMER" "TRAVEL TO ROMANTIS" AND MAYBE. . . JUST MAYBE " EVERYTIME ITS RAIN". .

You can see a complete list of all Ace of Base discography, or go back to the Ace of Base tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.