LOL (stylized LOL <(^^,)>; LOL is short for "laughing out loud",[1] and <(^^,)> is an emoticon for "satisfied")[2] is the second studio album by the Swedish musician Basshunter, and was released on 28 August 2006 by Warner Music Sweden. An international edition was released on 22 December 2006, with a red version of the cover artwork.[3] The international version includes the original album's Swedish songs (with the exception of "Sverige") with their titles translated into English, a slightly-different track order and additional tracks, including "Jingle Bells".
Background
On 21 November 2005, Basshunter announced that he was working on a new album and had completed ten songs.[4] He announced his upcoming single "Welcome to Rainbow" the following month,[5] and it was released on 1 April 2006 as an extended play. The EP included the title song, a hardstyle remix and two bonus tracks: "Evil Beat" and "Boten Anna".[6] Basshunter re-rcorded "Boten Anna" in March, and posted it on his website for download.[7] He signed with Extensive Music in April,[8] and Warner Music Sweden[9] and "Boten Anna" was released on 9 May.[10]
Basshunter worked on LOL for three-and-a-half weeks.[11] The album was recorded at Basshunter Studio and PJ Harmony Studio. Basshunter produced most of the songs; three were produced by PJ Harmony. Vocals were recorded by Basshunter and Robert Uhlmann at Basshunter Studio and Extensive Studio. LOL was mastered by Björn Engelman at the Cutting Room.[12]Ali Payami assisted Basshunter on three tracks.[11] According to the singer, its songs have elements of hard dance and hard trance and he chose them for his old and new listeners.[13]
According to Matthew Chisling of AllMusic, LOL contains Basshunter's best "beats and grinds".[14] Håkan Steen of Aftonbladet wrote that the album was for people who share Basshunter's lifestyle: using the social-media website LunarStorm and chatting and playing computer games online. Steen considered "Festfolk" the album's best song.[15] Stefan Thungren of Svenska Dagbladet sensed an intentional inadequate execution in the material, and wrote that the sophisticated, difficult shout in "Festfolk" was inspired by the musician E-Type. Thungren compared "Strand Tylösand" to the band Gyllene Tider's summer hits, criticised the trance adaptation of the Swedish national anthem in "Sverige", and noted a certain melancholy in the instrumental version of "Boten Anna".[16] Andreas Nordström from Expressen negatively described album as one of the most difficult records in the history.[17]