The Cardigans - Blah Blah Blah (2005)

Peter Svensson and Magnus Sveningsson, both heavy metal musicians, formed The Cardigans in October 1992 in Jönköping, Sweden, with drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead singer Nina Persson. Living together in a small apartment, they recorded a demo tape, with Persson providing lead vocals on about half of the songs, and A&R man Ola Hermanson heard the demo and signed the band to his Trampolene imprint. They released their debut album 'Emmerdale' in Sweden and Japan in 1994, with it being re-released internationally in 1997 after the group achieved some commercial success. The remainder of 1994 was spent touring Europe and recording 'Life', which was released worldwide in 1995, becoming an international success, and selling more than a million copies. For the US release of 'Life' in 1996, tracks were taken from both the UK 'Life' and previous album 'Emmerdale', making their American debut on Minty Fresh Records essentially a compilation album. After the success of 'Life', the band signed with Mercury Records, who released their third album 'First Band On The Moon' in 1996, with lead single 'Lovefool' becoming a worldwide hit, particularly in the US and Japan. 

In 1997, the band played themselves in an episode of 'Beverly Hills, 90210' as the featured entertainment at their college graduation party, hosted by Kelly Taylor's dad, and they performed 'Lovefool' and 'Been It'. 1998's 'Gran Turismo' produced their second global hit single with 'My Favourite Game', while other songs from the album were featured in videogame and film soundtracks. In 1999 Tom Jones asked The Cardigans to record a duet with him on a cover of Talking Heads' 'Burning Down the House' for his 'Reload' album, which would be last new music for three years. In 2002 they returned to record the 'Long Gone Before Daylight' album, which was released the following year, and it became the one of the best selling albums in Sweden that year. The songs showed a more mature side of the group, with their familiar happy pop sound giving way to songs with more of an American country music influence. It is a much darker album than their previous works, and quieter than 'Gran Turismo', and Persson even dyed her hair jet black, reflecting the band's change of mood. The new sound didn't appeal to everyone, and criticism was generally mixed, with some welcoming the change of direction, while others missed the old pop sound, and accused the band of possibly being ashamed of their former "happy" attitude. 

In October 2005 the band released their sixth album, 'Super Extra Gravity', to generally favourable reviews, and a #1 spot on the Swedish album chart, but after they'd finished promotional activities in Autumn 2006, they entered an extended hiatus and devoted themselves to other projects. After six year out of the limelight, they received a lucrative offer from Hultsfred Festival to perform the album 'Gran Turismo' in full, and after initial hesitation, they decided to accept the offer. With Oskar Humlebo filling in for a reluctant Peter Svensson, they asked their agent to put on more shows for them, and they ended up making their live comeback with gigs in Lund and Copenhagen ahead of Hultsfred, before playing in Poland, Finland, Russia, Indonesia, Taiwan and Japan. Persson has confirmed that Svensson will never rejoin the band, and that as a result there would be no new Cardigans albums, as they would not feel right making new music without him, but they continue to tour sporadically. Throughout their career they have always given their fans value for money on their singles, often using the b-sides for their idiosyncratic cover versions of songs from the likes of Thin LIzzy, Blizzard Of Oz, and Kraftwerk. The flip of 1994's 'Rise & Shine' CD was a fifteen-minute piano rendition of a number of songs from their albums, and while it was very well done, it did seem to go on a bit after a while, so I've chopped it up into five segments and slotted them in between the other songs as interludes.  

Track listing
 
Disc I - 1994-1996      
01 I Figured Out (b-side of 'Black Letter Day' 1994)
02 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 1) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
03 Plain Parade (b-side of 'Sick & Tired' 1994)
04 Laika (b-side of 'Sick & Tired' 1994)
05 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 2) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
06 Pooh Song (b-side of 'Sick & Tired' 1994)
07 The Boys Are Back In Town (b-side of 'Hey! Get Out Of My Way' 1995)
08 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 3) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
09 Mr. Crowley (b-side of 'Carnival' 1995)
10 Emmerdale (b-side of 'Carnival' 1995)
11 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 4) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
12 Nasty Sunny Beam (b-side of 'Lovefool' 1996)
13 Country Hell (b-side of 'Your New Cuckoo' 1996)
14 Cocktail Party Bloody Cocktail Party (Part 5) (b-side of 'Rise & Shine' 1994)
15 Blah Blah Blah (b-side of 'Been It' 1996)

Disc II - 1998-2005
01 War (b-side of 'My Favourite Game' 1998)
02 Burning Down The House (single with Tom Jones 1999)
03 Hold Me (b-side of 'You're The Storm' 2003)
04 The Road (b-side of 'For What It's Worth' 2003)
05 Das Model ('00) (b-side of 'For What It's Worth' 2003)
06 If There Is A Chance (b-side of 'Live And Learn' 2003)
07 Changes (b-side of 'Live And Learn' 2003)
08 For The Boys (b-side of 'I Need Some Fine Wine....' 2005)
09 (If You Were) Less Like Me (b-side of 'Don't Blame Your Daughter (Diamonds)' 2005)
10 Give Me Your Eyes (bonus track from the special edition of 'Super Extra Gravity' 2005)
11 Slow (bonus track from the special edition of 'Super Extra Gravity' 2005)