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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It needn't be nicer, 18 Oct 2005
This fell through my letterbox this morning and I have to say, I am not disappointed. While the album definitely has a theme going unlike some of the last albums, which were a little disjointed at times, there's a good feeling to this album, even if some of the lyrics can be a little bit eerie in places. Dog-training? Diamonds and a rubber knife? Someone's spent too much time trying to be a little weird. But the song writing team of Persson and Larsson are especially strong in this album, especially in tracks such as "Little black Cloud" and "Godspell".
And run down of the tracks with ratings follow here, so brace yourself.Track 1: "Losing a Friend", it's a very nice opener, and is a little slower than most of the rest on the album, but it's also a lot more special and ambient, and with lyrics such as "It's the ribbons I tied / I'd rather just die", the song gets its message of bitterness across well. 7/10 Track 2: The fantastically blasphemous "Godspell" refers to religion as "a great big swindle", and while it's clear they set out to shock with tracks such as this, it doesn't matter at all, because it's a solid tune, and is one of the best on the album. 9/10 Tracks 3 and 4: "Drip Drop Teardrop" and "Overload" are two of the less effectual songs on the album, and they don't have the appeal of the rest of the album. However, if I were to compare them to songs from previous albums, I'd have to say they have the appeal of "Explode" from the Gran Turismo album - decent lyrics and essentially growers. 6/10, 6/10 Track 5: The single released from this album, and though it didn't chart, it's one of the highlights of the album. In "I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to be Nicer" there are a lot of references, and this song showcases some of Persson and Larsson's best work. Talk of "killing the bottle" and "you're handsome in the fog" tells you just what this song is about - a relationship which has been going south for a short time. 10/10 for this track. It's wonderful. Track 6: "Diamonds" is a great song with one little problem - some of the lyrics are bordering on the obscene. Tune wise, this is one of the best tracks on the album, but a real lack of intelligible lyrics does this song no favours what so ever. Nice family reference as the subtitle "Don't Blame Your Daughter" is well used as a recurring lyric. 7/10 Track 7: A well polished piece of downbeat rock-pop, "Little Black Cloud" shows just what you can do with a bunch of exclamations dotted throughout. "Oh yeah!" just happens to come up a lot, but it doesn't detract from the song, and the brilliant percussion in the chorus gives the song an edge on this album. A big, whopping 9/10. Tracks 8 and 9: Two more slow numbers placed quite close together. While "In the Round" is a far softer track that is quite upbeat in the context of this album. A simple track about feeling lonely is followed up by the equally risqué "Holy Love", where Nina compares her love to that of an angel, and speaks of "throwing rocks through the windows of a monastery" - this is also where the title of the album, "Super Extra Gravity", is to be found.0 This much heavier track is the better of the two, though, earning a 6/10, while "In the Round" only gets 4/10 from me. Track 10: "Good Morning Joan" is the fastest, most pop-oriented song on the album, which couldn't come at a better time. After the depression and upset of "Holy Love". A good use of name-dropping, but the upbeat tune hides some seriously sinister lyrics. Joan is in fact lonely, unhappy, lost, and confused. It's a great, standout track, worthy of a 9/10. Track 11: "And Then You Kissed Me II" is an ultra slow ballad which is a good way to finish the album. It gets rockier half way through the middle with some disturbing lyrics to top off the whole album. This song, particularly, is a call back to "Gran Turismo", their least widely accepted album. But it's still great. 7/10 Track 12: Bonus tracks! A 20 second stint of choral loveliness. Track 13: The first bonus track on the album is "Give Me Your Eyes", which is easily the best of the two bonus tracks. Rocking, fast, good intelligent lyrics, this song has it all and really is the only one to compete with "I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to be Nicer" - 10/10, but only just. Track 14: "Slow", well, the name says it all. A country ballad with a perpetual bass line doesn't do it for me sadly, but there are some nice little lyrics here - not my thing, but then, it's not representative of this album at all. Again, only 4/10. Sorry. A good piece of Swedish rock-pop in which the lead singer, Nina Persson, had a hand in every song. This makes the album all the better as we can really see where the talent lies. A great album deserving of the 87% it has been given in this review. I'm waiting for the next "The Cardigans" album to come out now, because if it is anything like this one, I'll love it.
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