Track Listing

1. Paralyzed - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson
2. Erase / Rewind - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson, Lars Göransson, Nina Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Peter Svensson, Lars Olof Johansson, Bengt Lagerberg
3. Explode - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson, Lars Göransson, Nina Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Peter Svensson, Lars Olof Johansson, Bengt Lagerberg
4. Starter - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson
5. Hanging Around - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson, Lars Göransson, Nina Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Peter Svensson, Lars Olof Johansson, Bengt Lagerberg
6. Higher - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson
7. Marvel Hill - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson
8. My Favourite Game - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson
9. Do You Believe - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson, Lars Göransson, Nina Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Peter Svensson, Lars Olof Johansson, Bengt Lagerberg
10. Junk Of The Hearts - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson
11. Nil - The Cardigans, Tore Johansson

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #27481 in Music
• Released on: 1998-10-19
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 42 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Oh my, they hated "Lovefool" so much. As they'd started out as Scandinavian miserablists, the hugeness of the fluffy "Lovefool" merely served to remind The Cardigans of what they really loved; and so Gran Turismo is a triumphal home-coming to the Void. Still, Gran Turismo just can't help being an incredibly classy pop treat. Dear God, they know what to do with a chorus. Take "Erase And Rewind": played on an acoustic guitar it would sound pleasant, certainly, but not the kind of song that has you jamming your head in the speakers and yelping. But with a grossly distorted bass here; a processed vocal there; a judicious pause just before the chorus comes in--oh hot mamma! Play your pop manna to me! That key-shift in "Hanging Around"--it's cleverer than Heinz Wolff using Big Blue to prop open a door! And let's not forget how Iggy Pop would kill a car with his teeth for "My Favourite Game". --Caitlin Moran

CD Description
In 1997, even as "Lovefool" climbed the Adult Contemporary radio-play charts and further sold mainstream America on thesound of "Swedish pop", something separated the Cardigans from sugary countrymates such as Roxette and Ace of Base. Yes, they placed their metallic guitars out-front while their colleagues hid behind layers of sequencers, making for a more"alternative" approach to "pop". More defining, though, wasthe sinister cloud that always hung around their songs, no matter how sunny the delivery and the setting. On GRAN TURISMO, the Cardigans follow this dark muse--which already beckoned them to cover Black Sabbath twice in two records--further incorporating a deeply affected melancholia into their Euro-pop ways.
On a bed of lush, melodic keyboards, Nina Persson's light tenor brings an angelic disposition to nearly every word she coos, no matter how pessimistic, while trip-hop beats keep the heartbreak moving forward. More importantly, the dirty squalls and lo-fi drive of Moogs and guitars amidst the band's pristinely produced songs seem deeply infected with the sound of American indie-rock (think Blur aping Pavement). And when this newfound influence collides head-on with the Cardigans' inherent way with a tune, GRAN TURISMO approaches the sublime in ways their previous records didn't.

Customer Reviews

Rewarding
Sometimes an album instantly grabs you with sings that you can sing along with. This is not one of those. But, if you give this album the attention it deserves you may never sing along to it, but you will certainly never tire of it either.

Gran Turismo has been my 'Exam Revision' CD through GCSEs, Alevels and my degree. It is so calming and uplifting that I almost require it to get through any stressful period in my life. But it is more than just background music. As any classic album requires you need to listen to the album all the way through in the right order to truly appreciate the form and story of the album. I know in this day of MP3s that can be the dullest way of attending to music, but believe me - it will pay off.

There is something so unusual and meaningful about this album. I have still to figure out what most of the songs are about, but everytime I hear it still challenges me and is a fantastic listening experience.

Love me, love me, say that you love me.... oh, no, wait.
Well, what can one say about this album other than it truley is very good.

Owning all of the Cardigans albums I would say this is the point where they grow up, previous offering 'Life' (and Emmerdale, which is really just a rehash of Life) and 'First Band On The Moon' had their moments of sheer pop bliss, but that is about it, the only assumption that could be made about The Cardigans that could be made up until this point would be young Brit-pop upstarts, until they hit upon 'Lovefool' one of those songs that make the band but inevitably makes the band hate their own sound due to the overplaying.

So here we return with 'Gran Turismo' the third album proper, and a brand new sound, everyone will know the hits 'My Favourite Game' and 'Erase/Rewind' but there is so much more to this album, 'Higher' is a fantastic piece of melancholic electro guitar crossover pop with fragile vocals from Nina pushing you to tears while the more upbeat offering 'Hanging Around' features an almost Kraftwerkian ticking with a keyboard and guitar riffs swirling round and again those distinctive vocals from Nina.

Gran Turismo, shows The Cardigans are capable of more than breezy guitar pop and this album should see them go down as one of Swedens finest and points to a promising future for the band, this album can proudly call itself one of the best in my collection and is definatley worth a rating of 5 stars

Also, if you like this check out the 'Gran Turismo Overdrive' remixes EP.

This is a serious album
I read an article in a guitar magazine about how they recorded the album without any real guitar amps, instead using Line 6 Amp Farm as a plug-in effect. I was curious and I found it for a good price. DAMN! This is a very serious album. I have subsequently purchased the other Cardigans albums but this is really a significant departure and will appeal to those who enjoyed Radiohead's OK Computer for example. Beautifully produced and sexily sung (Nina Persson is the only female vocalist in my very large CD collection) this is a real treasure of an album. Its aggressive and dark, not the pure pop of a Lovefool. Explode is simply one of the most beautiful melancholic songs I've heard. Check it out even if you're usually not into pop.