Line #4 Music/AceOfBase


1	[[quoteright:267:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ace_of_base_1449.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:267:I saw the sign! (from left to right, bottom to top: Linn Berggren, Jenny Berggren, Ulf Ekberg, Jonas Berggren)]]
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4	Ace Of Base is a [[UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}} Gothenburg]]-based {{Europop}} band with its heyday in TheNineties and arguably one of the most prominent Swedish pop music exports right after the likes of Music/{{ABBA}} and Music/{{Roxette}}.
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6	The greatest merit of Ace of Base was their début Album ''Happy Nation'' (called ''The Sign'' in certain other markets) that found its way into Guiness World Records in 1995 as the best-ever sold début studio album with, until then, 21 million sold copies (which have become 24 in the meantime). [[note]]This record has been beaten twice in the meantime; the début album of Music/GunsNRoses from 1987 (six years before ''Happy Nation'') proved to show higher longevity in sales and subsequently overtook the Swedes, while both were eventually overshadowed by the début album of Music/LinkinPark from 2000 onwards.[[/note]]
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8	Their subsequent albums ''The Bridge'' and ''Flowers'' failed to repeat the success of ''Happy Nation'', but were still a commercial success with 7 and 2 million sales respectively. ''Da Capo'' was the last album of the traditional line up and only sold about 500,000 copies. The wane of success coincided with the [[DemotedToExtra gradual self-disengagement]] of the perceived face of the band, Malin, leading to her eventual exit in 2007 and the subsequent exit of Jenny in 2009. With only Jonas and Ulf left, they watched for two new female vocalists and eventually found them in Clara Hagman and Julia Williamson who were lost in the meantime after one album (''Golden Ratio'') and made the band a lone pack of two wolves once again. Ever since, Ace Of Base released a compilation album fittingly called ''Hidden Gems'' containing previously unreleased material from every era of the original line-up.
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10	'''Band members:'''
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12	* Jonas "Joker" Berggren (1990-present): Mastermind behind the formation of Ace Of Base (and their precedessors, at one time called [[Film/TheTerminator Tech Noir]]) and its major songwriter. More into synth than actual singing, being the lead male voice if singing ever happens.
13	* Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (1990-present): Received some backfire when it became public that he used to be into the neo-Nazi scene in his youth. Even more so than Jonas into synth and the least prominent vocal part.
14	* Malin "Linn" Berggren (1990-2007): Once the lead vocalist of the band, if not even face, she went [[DemotedToExtra more and more to the background]] from their third studio album on. While she got herself more and more into the background, first on tours, then in the studios, she eventually quit the band in 2007.
15	* Jennifer "Jenny" Berggren (1990-2009): Originally the second female vocalist of the band, she took over the female and vocal lead of the band after her sister Malin got more and more disengaged. Was dissatisfied that the band didn't get to make a new album since Malin got inactive and quit the band in 2009 to pursue a solo career.
16	* Clara Hagman and Julia Williamson (2010-2013): Part of the new lineup, filling the gap of the original female vocalists and making way for the last studio album.
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18	!!''Discography:''
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20	*''[[Music/HappyNation Happy Nation / The Sign]]'' (1992/1993)
21	*''The Bridge'' (1995)
22	*''Flowers / Cruel Summer'' (1998)
23	*''Singles Of The 90's'' (1999)
24	*''Da Capo'' (2002)
25	*''Golden Ratio'' (2010)
26	*''Hidden Gems'' (2015)
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28	----
29	!!''Ace Of Base'' provides examples of:
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31	* AlbumTitleDrop: ''The Bridge'', from "Lucky Love" to be precise.
32	%%* TheBandMinusTheFace: More and more so with the gradual retreat of Malin.
33	* BandOfRelatives: Malin and Jenny in the traditional line-up, sisters of Jonas. Subverted now as he's the last Berggren in the band.
34	* BlindIdiotTranslation: While they certainly aren't the band that's the worst at writing lyrics in English, there are a few instances where the lines don't sound ''quite'' right.
35	** "It's not a day for work/It's a day for catching tan" and "It's a night of passion/But the morning means goodbye" in "All That She Wants."
36	** "How can a person like me care for you?" in "The Sign."
37	** "My love is my engine/And you might be fuel" in "Wheel of Fortune."
38	* BrokenRecord: The long version of "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry":
39	--> ''I am like a clown and I know I'm not normal''\
40	''I am like a clown and I know I'm not normal''\
41	''I am like a clown and I know I'm not normal''\
42	''I am like a clown and I know I'm not normal...''
43	%%* BreakupSong:
44	%%** "Everytime It Rains"
45	%%** "Don't Turn Around"
46	%%** "Love In December"
47	%%** "Lucky Love"
48	%%** "The Sign"
49	%%** "Wave Wet Sand"
50	* ChristmasSongs: Subverted with "Always Have, Always Will". It ''sounds'' like a Christmas song, but the lyrics are those of an ordinary love song.
51	%%* CloudCuckooLander: "Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry"
52	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: Many listeners of "All That She Wants" thought that the song was about a woman wanting a child, due to the song's famous 'All that she wants is another baby' line, not realizing that 'baby' here is used as a synonym for 'boyfriend' or 'lover'.
53	%%* ComingOfAgeStory: "Blooming 18"
54	* ConceptAlbum: ''The Bridge'' has a tropical theme built around it, both in lyrics and musical style.
55	* CoverVersion:
56	** "Don't Turn Around" by Tina Turner (or Aswad)
57	** "Cruel Summer" by Music/{{Bananarama}}
58	** "Wonderful Life" by Black
59	* DemotedToExtra: Malin. Best to be seen at the covers of the albums ''Flowers'' and ''Da Capo'' where she's been suspiciously placed into the background.
60	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original ''Happy Nation'' album differs from and specifically lacks many later world hits to be found on ''The Sign'' which was re-released as ''Happy Nation (U.S. Version)'' outside of the US. There's also a visible difference on the album cover: It shows little more than a glitter ball.
61	%%* EthicalSlut: "All That She Wants".
62	%%* GenderEqualEnsemble
63	%%* GiveMeASign: "The Sign," making it a quasi-TropeCodifier
64	* HairContrastDuo: The blond Malin and the brunette Jenny. If you remember that Malin quit her music career altogether and Jenny pursued a solo career, you may well [[Music/{{ABBA}} feel reminded to Agnetha and Frida]].
65	%%* IntercourseWithYou: "Adventures In Paradise"
66	%%* LonelyAtTheTop: "Living In Danger"
67	%%* LongRunnerLineUp: Type 1 before becoming type 2.
68	%%* LoveNostalgiaSong: "Lucky Love"
69	%%* TheMunchausen: Lampshaded in "Münchhausen (Just Chaos)".
70	* NewSoundAlbum: ''The Bridge'' moves away from the reggae fusion of ''Happy Nation'' (or ''The Sign'' if you live in America) into a more traditional pop sound, even foraying into Eurodance on "Beautiful Life" and folk-pop on "Lucky Love" (the acoustic version, that is).
71	* NostalgiaFilter: Discussed in "Perfect World"
72	--> ''"My father's father said that things were better then, how easy they forget.''
73	--> ''In every page in every book of history, a thousand tears were shed."''
74	* OminousLatinChanting: "Happy Nation"
75	* RereleaseTheSong: "Wheel Of Fortune" got a second chance as a single after the success of "All That She Wants" turned the band into greater spotlight.
76	* StoryArc: In the track commentaries of ''Hidden Gems'', WordOfGod says that the four songs of "Happy Nation", "Perfect World", "Mercy, Mercy" and "Look Around Me" are tied together as a ComingOfAgeStory wherein a SoapBoxSadie eventually finds her meaning of life in hope and love at the very end.
77	%%* SurrealMusicVideo: "Beautiful Life"
78	%%* {{Utopia}}:
79	%%** "Happy Nation"
80	%%** "Perfect World"
81	%%* YouCannotKillAnIdea: "Happy Nation"

Context Music / AceOfBase