First Band on the Moon

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First Band on the Moon
FirstBandOnTheMoon.jpg
Studio album by
the Cardigans
Released6 September 1996 (1996-09-06)
RecordedSeptember 1995 – June 1996
Genre
Length39:01
Label Stockholm·Mercury
Producer Tore Johansson
The Cardigans chronology
Life
(1995)		First Band on the Moon
(1996)		 The Other Side of the Moon
(1997)
Singles from First Band on the Moon
  1. "Lovefool"
    Released: 10 August 1996 [4]
  2. "Been It"
    Released: 25 November 1996 [5]
  3. "Your New Cuckoo"
    Released: 9 December 1996 [6]

First Band on the Moon is the third studio album by the Cardigans. It features the international single "Lovefool". It was first released on 12 August 1996 and internationally on 6 September 1996.

Contents

The album was a major breakthrough for the band, both in their native Sweden and internationally. It is their best-selling album in the United States, having sold around 664,000 copies there as of September 2010. [7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [8]
Entertainment Weekly B+ [9]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]
NME 8/10 [12]
Pitchfork 8.1/10 [13]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Spin 7/10 [15]
The Village Voice B+ [16]

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Your New Cuckoo" Nina Persson, Peter Svensson 3:57
2."Been It"Persson, Svensson4:06
3."Heartbreaker"Persson, Svensson3:42
4."Happy Meal II"Lynette Koyana, Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Svensson2:37
5."Never Recover"Sveningsson, Svensson3:21
6."Step on Me"Sveningsson, Svensson3:48
7."Lovefool"Persson, Svensson3:21
8."Losers"Persson, Svensson3:06
9."Iron Man" (Black Sabbath cover from Paranoid ) Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward 4:20
10."Great Divide"Sveningsson, Svensson3:17
11."Choke"Sveningsson, Svensson3:26
Total length:39:01

"Happy Meal II" is a re-recording of "Happy Meal", a song that was originally a bonus track on the US edition of Life , with some minor lyric changes.

Black Sabbath connections

At least two songs on the album directly reference Black Sabbath material. In addition to the cover "Iron Man", "Heartbreaker" begins and ends with a quotation of the primary material from the song "Black Sabbath", the first track on Black Sabbath's debut album. [17]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of First Band On The Moon. [18]

Singles

Release dates refer to UK single releases. In Europe and Japan, "Your New Cuckoo" was released much earlier than in the UK, where the release was delayed due to the continued success of "Lovefool" and also to commission new remixes for the single release.

"Been It" and "Your New Cuckoo" were both slightly shortened for single release; the former also had the word "whore" obscured by a guitar lick to make it more palatable for radio play.

Charts

Single charts

United States

UK

Australia

Sweden

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada) [31] Platinum100,000^
Japan (RIAJ) [32] 2× Platinum400,000^
Sweden (GLF) [33] Gold50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [34] Gold100,000^
United States (RIAA) [35] Platinum1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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References

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  3. ↑ Morton, Rob (2005). "The Cardigans – First Band on the Moon". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . London: Cassell Illustrated. p. 791.
  4. ↑ "ラブフール | カーディガンズ" [Lovefool | Cardigans] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "New Releases: Singles". Music Week . 23 November 1996. p. 29.
  6. ↑ "ユア・ニュー・ククー | カーディガンズ" [Your New Cuckoo | Cardigans] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 30 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  7. ↑ "Week Ending Sept. 26, 2010: Moving Forward, Falling Back – Chart Watch". Yahoo! Music. 29 September 2010. Archived from the original on 10 December 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
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  10. ↑ Wollaston, Sam (27 September 1996). "Shiny happy people laughing". The Guardian .
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  16. ↑ Christgau, Robert (8 October 1996). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Archived from the original on 22 March 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
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  29. ↑ "Billboard 200 Year End 1997". Billboard . Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  30. ↑ "ARIA End Of Year Singles 1997 | Top 100 Singles Chart". ARIA Charts . Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
  31. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – The Cardigans – First Band On The Moon". Music Canada . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  32. ↑ "Japanese album certifications – カーディガンズ – ファースト・バンド・オン・ザ・ムーン" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan.Select 1997年4月 on the drop-down menu
  33. ↑ "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  34. ↑ "British album certifications – The Cardigans – First Band On The Moon". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  35. ↑ "American album certifications – The Cardigans – First Band On The Moon". Recording Industry Association of America . Retrieved 7 June 2017.
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