Another fun fact: When „All that she wants“ became this huge worldwide hit, the record company re-released their first Single „Wheel of Fortune“ and demanded an album, as soon as possible. All they had were mostly demo songs though and they had little time to polish some of them. So the production quality varies very much on their debut album. Most Singles (there are 6 on the album, depending on country 7) are great productions, the others are definitely very…raw.

Great band. First time watching you. Thanks for the reaction. Try Cruel Summer (Big Bonus Mix)

Irresistible superior electro pop-reggae production!Fantastic job.Oh Those Swedes!

Very nice. A punk rocker who likes Ace of Base. Greetings from Brazil.

When it comes to style a lot of people categorise Ace of Base as „Reggae Pop“. However that’s only partly true. They started out as a techno dance group called „Tech Noir“. You can hear those influences on their debut album very well. They renamed the band when their song „Wheel of Fortune“ (also on the album) became a Top 10 hit in Denmark and was played in clubs in Sweden. They sent out the demo of Wheel of Fortune and other songs to a lot of producers and labels but nobody wanted them. Famous producer Deniz Pop had their demo stuck in his car by accident and was only able to listen to them for a while, and he fell in love with the song „Mr Ace“ - which later became All that she wants. Later on they perfected their sound and became a true hit machine. At least in Europe and all over the world. The US only gave them any recognition during their debut album, the record label treated them really badly, even though they had two minor hits later on (Beautiful Life in 1995, Cruel Summer in 1998).

I’ve compiled a list for you, so it’s easier. Because the Ace of Base back catalogue can be a bit complicated. I hope that helps! Happy Nation U.S Version (1993) The Bridge (1995, European And US Version differences: the US only features the Acoustic version of „Lucky Love“. The European Version features both the Original and Acoustic. The US version is also missing the song „You and I“) Flowers (1998, European Version. The US Version is called „Cruel Summer“ and features different, mostly inferior mixes of the Flowers songs. The song „Life is a Flower“ - huge hit in Europe - has different lyrics and is called „Whever you’re near me“.) Singles of the 90’s (1999, European Greatest Hits featuring 4 new songs: „Cest La Vie“, „Love in December“, „Hallo Hallo“ and the previously only in the UK released „Everytime it Rains“) Da Capo (2002, only released in Europe) Hidden Gems (2015, album featuring rare bonus tracks, B-Sides and demos) Hidden Gems Volume 2 (2020)

I think this is their only cover version. The original track was reggae. I used to work in a music store at the time and the music style was listed in trade papers as Raggasol. Never heard that before or since. Maybe it was an attempt to coin a new genre... it didn't catch on. Great song.

Happy Nation US Version is actually an European album. The US album had a totally different title: The Sign. When „the Sign“ was released in the US it featured 4 new songs that weren’t on „Happy Nation“, so it was re-released in Europe under the title „Happy Nation US Version“. However when you get to their 1998 album it is important you listen to the European „Flowers“ album and not the US „Cruel Summer“ album. The former is how the band imagined the album to be, the latter is what the US record label wanted them to release, so they edited and changed their songs and had them re-record lyrics because „they sounded too European“. It was basically how the band lost interest in the US.

Most people view this as a cover of the Aswad version which was a big hit (in the UK at least) and hence the reggae feel to it. Aswad’s reggae version was in fact a cover of a Tina Turner original. I was today years old when I found that out!! 😂

Yeah, I agree about the reggae vibes … from recollection a number of their tracks had that reggae feel to it, upbeat and danceable but not as predictable as the more generic dance stuff that exploded onto the charts at the same era.

On another note, the reggae pop style was truly something new and after Ace of Base had been successful with it, a lot of other bands started copying them. Also artists like Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and many others cite Ace of Base as a big influence on their music today.

With Ace of Base I would skip the album tracks and focus on the singles first.