Ace of Base, which consists of Jonas ("Joker"), Jenny, and Linn Berggren, and their close friend Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg, is my favorite group EVER. Their music is fantastic and unique, and the four members of Ace of Base certainly have a knack for writing deep and poetic lyrics. The Bridge is certainly no exception. While The Sign was an amazing debut album, The Bridge was an even more amazing sophomore album, and I do not hesitate to tell people that this album is my favorite album ever. The sophomore jinx certainly had no effect on Ace of Base. The vocals, lyrics, and production are impeccable. I decided to write this review because, to my dismay, there were only two other (well-written) reviews here, and this album is worthy of receiving more praise. So here I go.

The Bridge was released in the U.S. in 1995. It was clear that Ace of Base would have to make this album nothing short of remarkable because The Sign was the #1 album here in 1994. The Bridge didn't sell as well as The Sign did because it wasn't as upbeat as The Sign, and many people were surprised that the group created such a deep and somewhat melancholy album. You all know the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Well, Ace of Base wasn't trying to fix anything; they just wanted to go a different route with their music, and to me, they did so VERY successfully. Here are descriptions, my interpretations, and my opinions of each of the songs on The Bridge:

Beautiful Life--This was their first single of The Bridge. It is also the only song on this album that resembles the upbeatness of The Sign. The song is about "seizing the day", not giving up on life, and considering the beauty of life. What makes this song different is the use of gospel singers in the background, and it suits this particular song wonderfully. The video for this song is a favorite of mine as well. This song was written by Joker.

Never Gonna Say I'm Sorry--This song uses some of the same background music as All That She Wants from The Sign, but the music has been rearranged so that you wouldn't really notice the similarity between the two songs. This song is very inspirational in that it talks about being proud of who you are, and never apologizing to anyone for who you are. It's also fairly upbeat as well, but it's even more upbeat lyrically. This song was also written by Joker.

Lucky Love (Acoustic Version)--The non-acoustic version of this song is great, but the acoustic version featured on the U.S. version of the album is even better. This is definitely a new, and pleasant, sound for Ace of Base, because they had never done an acoustic version of any of their songs before this one. This was also the second single released off the album. The song is basically discussing the happiness of young love. Joker wrote this song too.

Edge of Heaven--Beginning with this song, this is where the album makes a shift towards a deeper and more poetic (and sometimes melancholy) sound. When I first heard this song, I was a bit surprised that it wasn't upbeat (in terms of the music behind the lyrics) at all. However, this is one of the more beautiful songs on the album. It's about searching for the light, i.e. the edge of heaven, and "sailing the endless sea" to search for the edge of heaven. Although it's very deep, the lyrics themselves are upbeat and optimistic because it makes you feel like the songwriter is trying really hard to find the light, and that they are determined to do so. This song was written by Buddha.

Strange Ways--I *LOVE* the music to this song. It has some sort of Middle Eastern or Indian beat to it. It's about being in a relationship and "losing it" while you're in that relationship. The songwriter needs to just go somewhere and avoid the relationship for various reasons, but promises that they'll be back and hope that their significant other will be there for them. The "strange ways" refers to the songwriter's ways of dealing with their problems; by avoiding their loved ones. This song was written by Linn.

Ravine--Ahhh, my favorite song on the album, and one of my top 5 favorite songs ever. Jenny wrote this song, and it is based on a true story. Shortly before Ace of Base were creating this album, Jenny had a horribly frightening experience in her home in Sweden. She woke up one night to find a rabid and obsessed fan holding a knife to her head in her own bedroom. Luckily, her family fought the "fan" off and no one was seriously injured in the incident. Apparently this experience made Jenny write a stunningly poetic song about this incident. She says she was "ripped up by her roots" (but she refers to herself in the third person in this song, by talking about referring to "this girl"). She discusses her "darkest night" and how she "started to pray" during the incident. The "ravine" symbolizes "the only place on earth where you are near", and the "you" is a reference to God. The music of this song is very somber, but also very uplifting at the same time. Jenny's voice is what makes this song so uplifting. I could go on and on about this haunting yet beautiful song, but I need to concentrate on the other songs of this album as well. :)

Perfect World--It is strange how my favorite song leads right into my least favorite song of the album. However, that is all relatively speaking, because this is a great song; it just doesn't appeal to me like the other songs do, for some reason. It's about searching for the "perfect world", and praying for that world to appear sometime soon. Not only is this song talking about a search for a perfect world, but it's also about a search for love, because that special someone has the ability to yield a perfect world for the person in search of it. The lyrics are great, but the music behind the lyrics isn't all that remarkable. This song was written by Buddha.

Angel Eyes--This song is a beautiful love ballad, one of the few that Ace of Base has made. It is a great love song, and it talks about looking into your significant other's eyes and trying to see why you love them so much. Jenny, Linn, and Joker sing this song together, and the blending of their voices makes this song even more soothing and beautiful to hear. This song was written by Joker.

My Deja Vu--This is one of the more musically-upbeat songs on this album, but not as upbeat as Beautiful Life. The "deja vu" in this song is referring to a long-lost love who keeps entering the songwriter's mind long after the relationship was over. The songwriter is yearning to see and feel that long-lost love, but at the same time, they want that person to be erased from their mind because they've become obsessed with the "deja vu". However, their efforts to get them off of their mind are futile. This song was written by Joker.

Wave Wet Sand--I love the music of this song. It's very haunting, and a bit pessimistic as well. The song discusses how unreliable lovers can be. Their love seems to disappear at times, and the songwriter's goal is to find their love and make it stick around. I especially like the vocals of this song, because the sound of Jenny's voice suits the lyrics very well. The song was written by Jenny.

Que Sera--This song tells a story, which is why it's one of my favorites on this album. The whole song is just a story, as if you were telling it a friend or something. It tells the story of a girl who leaves her home in search of finding herself. She's figuring out how to make a living and how to start her new, independent life. She apparently runs into some trouble while she's out there in the "big bad world". "Que Sera" is a proverb that means "whatever will be, will be", and this song is about what was bound to happen to this young girl. I especially love the piano playing in the middle of the song. This song was written by Buddha.

Just 'N' Image--This song is closer to the techno/dance songs that were prevalent in The Sign. The song is about a person that the songwriter had just been in a relationship with, and how that person is now just an image and they don't really know that person anymore. The more and more the songwriter is driving away from their former lover, the more and more the lover is just becoming an image in their minds, and someone who was unreal and never existed in the first place. These lyrics are great, but some of them confuse me, so my interpretation of this song is probably completely off-base. The song was written by Linn.

Experience Pearls--This is another beautiful love ballad. It's about giving everything you've got to be in a relationship with someone, and being determined about that person loving you back. Overall, it's basically a song that says "I'll do anything for you to win your love". The pearls discussed in this song are the tears of the person the songwriter loves so much, because that lover has just been in a relationship that ended up not lasting, although that person loved their former lover very much. The songwriter wants to protect them and make sure they're safe. This song was written by Jenny.

Whispers in Blindness--This song is about begging a new lover to stay with you, and if they do, they'll never love anyone else. The songwriter feels so fortunate to have found a person like this, and they feel so blessed to have finally experienced love. The "whispers" in this song are referring to the trees that are whispering to them as they lie on the grass together. This song was written by Linn.

Blooming 18--This is a great song to end the album with, and it also happens to be another one of my favorites on the album (although every song is wonderful in its own way). It talks about how when you're 18, "reality is such a drag", because you want to be independent and do a lot of things with your life, but sometimes it's hard to do so because you're still young even though you may feel old. I was shocked to hear the word "a**" in this song, I guess because that's the closest to profanity that Ace of Base has every gotten! :) I absolutely love the beat of this song, especially the sound of drums(?) in the song. It's a very "in-your-face" song, and the perfect song to end an album with.

Right now, I'm waiting VERY impatiently for Ace of Base's fifth album to come out (probably around February 2002...they're taking their time with it because they want this to be their "ultimate album"). I hope it resembles The Bridge somewhat, and takes it to a whole new level. By the way, the other two albums they released were Flowers (It was released as Cruel Summer in the U.S. in 1998, but Flowers has some different songs and is much better overall...I'd suggest paying a few more bucks for Flowers since it's an import), and their Greatest Hits album. They were forced to release the Greatest Hits album because Arista just didn't want to work with them anymore, and since they signed a contract for a four-album deal, they decided to create the Greatest Hits album so they wouldn't have to work with Ace of Base anymore. The reason Cruel Summer didn't sell so well here and wasn't given great reviews was because Arista said Flowers was too European in nature and so they basically deleted some of the songs and rearranged others, much to Ace of Base's dismay. They were really screwed over. That's why I can't wait to hear their new album, because they'll be signed to another label that will hopefully respect their unique and wonderful music. Ace of Base is the type of group that, although they are a pop group (and we all know about the state of pop music these days, with all the teen pop music out there), they're the type of group that writes emotional and deep pop music that could relate to any music listener, whether they call themselves pop fans or not.

Anyway, I hope everyone felt my review was helpful. :)

Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Reading or Studying