Gran Turismo is the fourth studio album by the Swedish band The Cardigans, released internationally on October 1, 1998 and in November 1998 in the U.S.. It features a darker and more moody type of music, mixing with more electronic sounds. In an interview in 2009, producer and sound engineer Tore Johansson commented on the dark and clean-brushed sound of the record, which sets it apart from the warm, jammy feel of many other recordings made at Tambourine Studios: "It's a very cold and defined recording, no natural reverb or audio curtains: there's not a sound element on that disc which wasn't deliberately put there." Gran Turismo sold more than 3 million copies worldwide.[1]
[edit] Background
The album's name is explained by the band on an advanced copy of this CD's track number 15 Explain The Title Of The Album ' Gran Turismo': "The title can be interpreted in many ways but I think we only thought of a few ones we liked" Nina says, "we talked about having like Italian or French title and Gran Turismo came up and it sort of felt really good and you know I can think of music sometimes as tourism and traveling. So to me Gran Turismo is sort of the way to describe music sometimes or spending time with music" Peter says, "and I think that also the title suits this very album extremely well because the album is pretty much about trying to find your place in the world. I think sometimes you can always compare living to being a tourist in the world" Nina finishes.
[edit] Track listing
- "Paralyzed" (Nina Persson, Peter Svensson) – 4:54
- "Erase/Rewind" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:35
- "Explode" (Persson, Svensson) – 4:04
- "Starter" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:49
- "Hanging Around" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:40
- "Higher" (Persson, Svensson) – 4:32
- "Marvel Hill" (Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Svensson) – 4:16
- "My Favourite Game" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:36
- "Do You Believe" (Persson, Svensson) – 3:19
- "Junk of the Hearts" (Persson, Sveningsson, Svensson) – 4:07
- "Nil" (Lars-Olof Johansson) – 2:18
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Singles
- My Favourite Game (10 October 1998, #14 UK)
- Erase/Rewind (28 February 1999, #7 UK)
- Hanging Around (17 July 1999, #17 UK)
- Gran Turismo Overdrive EP (The Cardigans remixed by Nåid) (19 November 1999, released outside the UK)
[edit] Charts, awards and certifications
- UK Top 200 Albums: #8, spent 92 weeks in the Top 200
- Grammis Awards 1998: Album of the Year and Pop/Rock Group of the Year.
[edit] Singles
- Swedish Top 100 Singles: "My Favourite Game"; #3, "Erase/Rewind"; #12,
- UK Top 75 Singles: "My Favourite Game"; #14, "Erase/Rewind"; #7, "Hanging Around"; #17
- Billboard Modern Rock Tracks: "My Favourite Game"; #16
- Canadian Singles Chart: "My Favourite Game"; #19
[edit] Covers and appearances in other media
Alt-Metal band The Deftones recorded a version of the song Do You Believe as an extra track for their 2010 album Diamond Eyes.
My Favourite Game plays during the opening video of the Arcade disc of the racing game Gran Turismo 2. In the European version, the song was a remix. The song was also used as the song for Formula one's musical highlights at the end of the 1998 season on ITV.
Erase/Rewind is featured on the soundtrack in several films, including The Thirteenth Floor, Never Been Kissed and Gattaca.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "GT sales". http://www.stim.se/en/PRESS/Portraits/Nina-Persson---The-reluctant-rock-goddess-whose-songs-are-a-perfect-fit1/. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "The Cardigans - Gran Turismo". www.ultratop.be. http://www.ultratop.be/nl/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Cardigans&titel=Gran+Turismo&cat=a.
[edit] External links
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| Studio albums |
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| Compilations |
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| Singles |
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| Airplay/Promo only |
- "Daddy's Car"
- "Losers"
- "Communication"
- "Godspell"
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| EPs |
- Rise & Shine: Under the Covers EP
- Gran Turismo Overdrive
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| Related articles |
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