First Band on the Moon

there are certainly worse albums on the list. extra points for the iron man cover. i appreciate when artists can take a song from another genre and make it sound like their own. i dont think i ever want to hear it again but A+ for effort.

I listened to (and IIRC bought) Gran Turismo back in the day, and rather enjoyed it. This is also good, though perhaps not overall as strong other than Lovefool. I quite liked the cover of Iron Man; I like seeing a cover that's so dramatically different from the original. Low four.

Another listener described this as Saccharin and that's exactly what it is. Gross. 1.45

Saved by the 90s vibes and nostalgia and devoid of much other musically creative qualities. It's fun to listen to until you're forced to sit through a really crappy cover of 'Iron Man'. Just slander.

Das Album hat interessante Momente, wird aber durch die oft als nervig empfundene piepsige Stimme der Sängerin getrübt. Das Album hat keine herausragenden Highlights, abgesehen von dem bekannten und beliebten Song “Lovefool”, der vieles verzeiht und das Album aufwertet.
“Lovefool” ist zweifellos der Höhepunkt des Albums. Der Song, der durch seine eingängige Melodie und den charmanten Text besticht, hat es geschafft, sich in den Köpfen der Hörer festzusetzen. Die bittersüße Geschichte von unerwiderter Liebe, die im Refrain mit dem berühmten “Love me, love me, say that you love me” gipfelt, hat eine universelle Anziehungskraft. Dieser Track hat nicht nur das Album, sondern auch die Band selbst in den internationalen Fokus gerückt und bleibt ein zeitloser Klassiker.
Insgesamt ist First Band on the Moon ein solides Werk, das jedoch nicht übermäßig begeistert.

This album was pretty solid. Fairly distinct tunes with a great singer and a unique sound. Lovefool is a classic and I liked Your New Cuckoo as an opener. 3/5.

I had heard Lovefool when it was new, but never listened to the album. Pleasantly surprised. There's some good, creative stuff here.

Loverfool is an all time classic and the rest of the album is not far behind. The perfect blend of sincerity with rock sensibilities

Never heard of them, and I went on a real journey with this one.
Felt mildly positive at first, real chill

then "Lovefool" really perked me up, caught myself bouncing my knee while it was going. That one's an absolute bop, which, there's a part of me the often gets self-conscious when I learn my clear favorite songs off an album were the big mainstream radio hit singles. That happened to me with Jefferson Airplane, for instance. I'd never heard anything from these guys, though, so I think I can be less worried that I'm a secret lazy osmosis listener who just gets told what to like. In this case at least.

Then, uh, hm that "Iron Man" cover, huh. I don't think I liked it, but I threw it on the highlights playlist anyway because goddamn that kind of lunatic decision deserves respect.

I absolutely hate the overly sweet half whispered vocals. The rest of the band could have been absolute magic, and I would still hate the album.
As it is, the first few tracks are so incredibly annoying that I more or less checked out. Lovefool is catchy, but that has to be the worst Iron Man ever.

The crowd on the cover cannot possibly be reaching to anything made by this band?

That was very different to what i was expecting wow. A deserved 4 I can see myself revisiting this one

Lovefool stands out as the most obvious single - although I'm less sure it would if it hadn't been such a big hit! The cover song (no spoilers) is mega surprising, but still works (sort of). A pretty consistent effort, and I love Nina's voice, but it's mostly background music for me - albeit very good background music.

The music itself wasn't terrible, but the singing really turned me off; the singer's voice just grated at my ears. I managed to get through it all and there were some decent tracks, but I doubt I'll return to any of this. 2/5

This is off to the right start. fun band, great lead. Never Recover has this weird juxtaposition of bubblegum pop and some tense chords. THIS IS THE LOVEFOOL BAND?!?! Damn what a delightful album.

didn't expect to like this at all, much more off-kilter than I anticipating and a slightly horny vibe to it all - good stuff

I have so much to talk about relating to this album, so apologies to whoever reads this if you choose to do so, although I doubt anyone will.

Firstly, I've been looking forward to listening to this album for years, with it always being something I wanted to get around to listening to, but always forgetting. This is because not only is Lovefool easily one of the best, if not the best, pop hit of the 1990s, but because The Cardigans have always been compared to and been put into this bubble along with some of my other favorite bands, with Cloudberry Jam (which sadly seems to have been mostly lost in the streaming age), Stereolab, and one of my favorite bands of all time, Komeda. Cloudberry Jam always had some jazzy sensibilities, Stereolab, who's pretty well known, was the electronic one, and Komeda has a bigger alt-rock focus. The Cardigans, however, were far more pop-y then those others, and it had me worried I might not care for this quite as much as those other bands, but this was just as excellent as those. I love the whispery singing of Nina Persson, and they completely understand what I am looking for with a song, with each movement of a piece being satisfying in its own way, and they know when to bring into horns and woodwinds and all sorts of really creative stuff that sets their music apart without being too out there. I'm happy to finally listened to this. If you disagree with me, then know I'm the type of person to give a Black Sabbath album a three, and enjoy this cover of Iron Man far more than the original. Amazing album. What can I say, the Swedes make good music.

Also, just to make this review more niche than it already is, the bass riff in Lovefool is the same as Persona 4 Golden's intro theme, and that's knowledge I don't know what to do with. Also also, the first song sounds like a Katamari song, even more bonus points there. God, I love this feel good shit, pump it into my veins.

This was surprisingly okay

Kakkosraita erittäinkin hyvä, muutenkin mukiinmenevä levy. 4/5

The Cardigans and The Wannadies did indie better than the Brits thanks to the innate Swedish understanding of how to write great pop songs. The sweetness of Nina Persson's voice makes up for the insipid nature of some of the songs here.

Nothing special. I always liked the sound of Lovefool decently well, so had high hopes. Disappointed again. 2/5