Life (The Cardigans album)

Life is the second studio album of The Cardigans. It was released worldwide in 1995 and was an international success, especially in Japan, where it achieved platinum status. Outside of Sweden and Japan (where debut Emmerdale had been released in 1994), it was released as their first album: a compilation of tracks from both Emmerdale and Life. It was released in the United States under the label Minty Fresh Records.

Life
Studio album by The Cardigans
Released	1 March 1995
Recorded	1994
Genre	Pop^[1] pop rock^[2] lounge^[3] easy listening^[3]
Length	45:22 (Original version) 47:04 (UK) 47:59 (US)
Label	Stockholm Records
Producer	Tore Johansson
The Cardigans chronology
Emmerdale (1994) Life (1995) First Band on the Moon (1996)
Singles from Life
"Carnival" "Hey! Get Out of My Way" "Rise and Shine" "Sick & Tired"

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Alternative Press	^[4]
Chicago Tribune	^[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	^[6]
Entertainment Weekly	A^[7]
NME	8/10^[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	^[9]
Sunday News	8/10^[10]

Track listing

All music composed by Peter Svensson, except "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" by Iommi, Butler, Ward, Osbourne

Swedish edition

1. "Carnival" (Lyrics: Nina Persson, Svensson, Sveningsson) – 3:37
2. "Gordon's Gardenparty" (Lyrics: Persson, Svensson) – 3:22
3. "Daddy's Car" (Lyrics: Sveningsson, Bengt Lagerberg) – 3:35
4. "Pikebubbles" (Lyrics: Sveningsson, Svensson) – 3:05
5. "Tomorrow" (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 3:05
6. "Beautiful One" (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 3:28
7. "Travelling with Charley" (Lyrics: Sveningsson, Svensson) – 4:09
8. "Fine" (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 3:11
9. "Sunday Circus Song" (Lyrics: Sveningsson, Svensson) – 3:56
10. "Hey! Get Out of My Way" (Lyrics: Persson, Svensson) – 3:30
11. "Closing Time" (Lyrics: Lars-Olof Johansson, Sveningsson, Svensson) – 10:22

UK, French, Canadian and Brazilian version

1. "Carnival" – 3:37
2. "Gordon's Gardenparty" – 3:22
3. "Daddy's Car" – 3:35
4. "Sick & Tired" (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 3:24
5. "Tomorrow" – 3:05
6. "Rise & Shine" (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 3:30
7. "Beautiful One" – 3:28
8. "Travelling with Charley" – 4:09
9. "Fine" – 3:11
10. "Celia Inside" (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 4:42
11. "Hey! Get Out of My Way" – 3:32
12. "After All..." (Lyrics: Sveningsson) – 2:57
13. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" (Lyrics: Butler) – 4:32^[11]

This version omits "Pikebubbles", "Sunday Circus Song" and "Closing Time", replacing them with "Sick & Tired", "Rise & Shine", "Celia Inside", "After All..." and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" from Emmerdale. "Celia Inside" is a longer edit, and "Rise & Shine" is a new recording, while the others are taken directly from the previous album. The omitted song "Pikebubbles" was released internationally as the B side to the 1995 "Rise & Shine" single. Additionally, "Hey! Get Out Of My Way" is single version.

US edition

1. "Carnival" – 3:36
2. "Daddy's Car" – 3:35
3. "Fine" – 3:09
4. "Rise & Shine" – 3:28
5. "Our Space" – 3:29
6. "Celia Inside" – 4:40
7. "Over the Water" – 2:13
8. "Tomorrow" – 3:03
9. "Sick & Tired" – 3:23
10. "Beautiful One" – 3:27
11. "Gordon's Gardenparty" – 3:19
12. "Hey! Get Out of My Way" – 3:30
13. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" – 4:30^[11]
14. "Happy Meal" – 2:36

This version omits "Pikebubbles", "Travelling with Charley", "Sunday Circus Song" and "Closing Time", replacing them with "Rise & Shine", "Our Space", "Celia Inside", "Over the Water", "Sick & Tired" and "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" from Emmerdale and exclusive US bonus track "Happy Meal". The four omitted tracks were included as a bonus disc with the US version of Emmerdale, released in 1997.

Personnel

• Lars-Olof Johansson – keyboards, piano
• Bengt Lagerberg – drums, percussion
• Nina Persson – lead vocals
• Magnus Sveningsson – bass, vocals
• Peter Svensson – guitar, vocals

Other appearances

• "Carnival" was featured in the soundtracks of the 1997 film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and the 1996 Australian film Love And Other Catastrophes.
• "Carnival" was featured in one episode of MTV animated series Daria.

Singles

Continental Europe/UK

• "Sick & Tired" (March 1995, #96 UK)
• "Carnival" (10 June 1995, #72 UK)
• "Sick & Tired" (re-release, 23 September 1995, #34 UK)
• "Carnival" (re-release, 25 November 1995, #35 UK)
• "Rise & Shine" (10 February 1996, #29 UK)

Japan/Sweden

• "Carnival"
• "Hey! Get Out of My Way"
• "Rise & Shine" (Japan only re-release)

Charts

Chart (1995–96)	Peak position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[12]	50
Icelandic Albums (Plötur og Diskar)^[13]	1
Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[14]	13
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[15]	20
UK Albums (OCC)^[16]	51

Certifications

‹See Tfd›‹See Tfd›

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)^[18]	2× Platinum	500,000^[17]
Sweden (GLF)^[20]	Platinum	191,000^[19]
United Kingdom (BPI)^[21]	Gold	100,000^*
Summaries
Worldwide	—	1,500,000^[17]
^* Sales figures based on certification alone.

External links

• The Cardigans discography at the band's official site

References

1. Bush, John. "Life – The Cardigans". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
2. Lewis, Justin (2003). "The Cardigans". In Buckley, Peter (ed.). The Rough Guide to Rock (3rd ed.). London: Rough Guides. pp. 173–174. ISBN 978-1-84353-105-0.
3. Freedom du Lac, Josh (1 January 1998). "The Cardigans". In Knopper, Steve (ed.). MusicHound Lounge: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. p. 77.
4. DeMarco, Laura (May 1996). "Music Reviews". Alternative Press. Vol. 10, no. 94. pp. 69–70.
5. Kot, Greg (6 June 1996). "The Cardigans: Life (Minty Fresh)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
6. Larkin, Colin (2011). "Cardigans". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958.
7. Smith, Ethan (23 February 1996). "Life". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
8. Beaumont, Mark (8 July 1995). "Long Play". NME. p. 47. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
9. Randall, Mac (2004). "The Cardigans". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 137–38. ISBN 9780743201698.
10. Phillips, Antony (25 February 1996). "Albums". Sunday News.
11. Originally performed by Black Sabbath
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Cardigans – Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
13. Island plötur og diskar (in Icelandic). Dagblaðið Vísir. 24 April 1996. p. 40. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
14. カーディガンズのランキング [The Cardigans album sales ranking] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
15. "Swedishcharts.com – The Cardigans – Emmerdale". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
16. "Cardigans | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
17. Craig Rosen (21 September 1996). "Sweden's Cardigans Wrap Up U.S." Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 38. pp. 9, 89. ISSN 0006-2510.
18. "Japanese album certifications – カーディガンズ – ライフ" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 1997年4月 on the drop-down menu
19. David Sinclair (23 December 1995). "Global Music Pulse | The Latest Music News From Around The Planet | APRIL". Billboard. Vol. 107, no. 50. p. 65. ISSN 0006-2510.
20. (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
21. "British album certifications – The Cardigans – Life". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 March 2017.