Gran Turismo is the fourth studio album by Swedish band the Cardigans, released internationally on 19 October 1998 and in November 1998 in the United States. It features a darker and more moody type of music, mixed with more electronic sounds.
| Gran Turismo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 19 October 1998 | |||
| Recorded | 1997–1998 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:36 | |||
| Label | Stockholm | |||
| Producer | Tore Johansson | |||
| The Cardigans chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Gran Turismo | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The Boston Phoenix | [6] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+[1] |
| The Guardian | [7] |
| Los Angeles Times | [8] |
| NME | 6/10[9] |
| Pitchfork | 7.0/10[10] |
| Q | [11] |
| Rolling Stone | [12] |
| USA Today | [13] |
In an interview in 2009, producer and sound engineer Tore Johansson commented on the dark sound of the record, which sets it apart from the warm, jammy feel of many other recordings made at Tambourine Studios: "It's a very cold and defined recording, no natural reverb or audio curtains: there's not a sound element on that disc which wasn't deliberately put there."[14]
The album and band were nominated for a total of seven awards at the 1999 Grammis—the Swedish equivalent of the Grammy Awards.[15] Gran Turismo sold more than three million copies worldwide.[16]
Background
The album's name is explained by the band in a track on an advanced copy of the album titled "Explain the Title of the Album Gran Turismo": "The title can be interpreted in many ways but I think we only thought of a few ones we liked," Nina says. "We talked about having like Italian or French title and Gran Turismo came up and it sort of felt really good and you know I can think of music sometimes as tourism and traveling. So to me Gran Turismo is sort of the way to describe music sometimes or spending time with music." Peter says, "and I think that also the title suits this very album extremely well because the album is pretty much about trying to find your place in the world. I think sometimes you can always compare living to being a tourist in the world," Nina finishes.
Track listing
All tracks are written by Nina Persson and Peter Svensson, except where noted
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Paralyzed" | 4:54 | |
| 2. | "Erase/Rewind" | 3:35 | |
| 3. | "Explode" | 4:04 | |
| 4. | "Starter" | 3:49 | |
| 5. | "Hanging Around" | 3:40 | |
| 6. | "Higher" | 4:32 | |
| 7. | "Marvel Hill" | Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Svensson | 4:16 |
| 8. | "My Favourite Game" | 3:36 | |
| 9. | "Do You Believe" | 3:19 | |
| 10. | "Junk of the Hearts" | Persson, Sveningsson, Svensson | 4:07 |
| 11. | "Nil" (instrumental) | Lars-Olof Johansson | 2:18 |
Personnel
- Peter Svensson – guitar, vocals
- Magnus Sveningsson – bass, vocals
- Bengt Lagerberg – drums, percussion
- Lars-Olof Johansson – keyboards, piano
- Nina Persson – lead vocals
Singles
Charts
Year-end charts
| Chart (1998) | Position |
|---|---|
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[36] | 30 |
| Chart (1999) | Position |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[37] | 94 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[38] | 89 |
| Italian Albums (FIMI)[39] | 46 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[40] | 48 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[41] | 38 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[42] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
| France (SNEP)[43] | Gold | 100,000* |
| Japan (RIAJ)[44] | Gold | 100,000^ |
| Netherlands (NVPI)[45] | Gold | 50,000^ |
| Norway (IFPI Norway)[46] | Platinum | 50,000* |
| Sweden (GLF)[47] | 2× Platinum | 160,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[49] | Platinum | 520,000[48] |
| Summaries | ||
| Europe (IFPI)[50] | Platinum | 1,000,000* |
| Worldwide | — | 3,000,000[16] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||