Happy Nation

For the song, see Happy Nation (song).

See also: The Sign (Ace of Base album)

Happy Nation is the debut studio album by the Swedish pop group Ace of Base. It was initially released in Denmark on 2 November 1992 by Mega Records. During the album's development, the group was significantly influenced by a Jamaican reggae band that was recording in a nearby studio.^[4] For its release in North America, Japan, and some Latin American countries, the album was retitled The Sign, featuring a heavily revised track listing along with three new tracks. To coincide with this, Happy Nation was reissued with the new tracks in other territories under the title Happy Nation (U.S. Version). In 1995, Guinness Book of World Records recognized the LP as the best-selling debut studio effort in music history, with over 19 million copies sold worldwide.^[5] By 1998, Happy Nation/The Sign had sold approximately 21 million units, including 9 million in the U.S. alone.^[6] Happy Nation/The Sign remains one of the best-selling albums of all time.

Happy Nation
Studio album by Ace of Base
Released	2 November 1992
Recorded	January–May 1992
Genre	Dance-pop Reggae-pop
Length	49:21
Label	Mega PolyGram Mushroom Festival
Producer	Buddha Joker Johnny Lindén Denniz Pop T.O.E.C.
Ace of Base chronology
Happy Nation (1992) The Sign (1993)
Alternative cover
U.S. version (re-release)
Singles from Happy Nation
"Wheel of Fortune" Released: 29 May 1992 "All That She Wants" Released: 31 August 1992 "Happy Nation" Released: 7 December 1992 "Waiting for Magic" Released: 12 April 1993 "The Sign" Released: 1 November 1993 "Don't Turn Around" Released: 14 March 1994 "Living in Danger" Released: 4 October 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[1]
The Guardian	(favorable)[2]
Music Week	[3]

Background and release

In an interview with Music & Media magazine, Metronome Records managing director Albert Slendebroek remarked on the album:

Everything was being driven by grunge or techno, then suddenly these people arrived and did something which was completely different and happy and simple. I just think they write brilliant pop tunes and it hit a nerve at the time. (...) I think they've developed their own style. If you listen to the radio and you hear a record, you immediately recognise that it's Ace of Base.

— Albert Slendebroek, ^[7]

Following its initial release in Denmark in November 1992, Happy Nation was gradually released across Europe throughout 1993, starting in Norway in January, followed by Sweden and Germany in February, and then the UK in June. It was also released in Africa and Latin America, reaching the number one position in at least ten countries.

Happy Nation (U.S. Version) was released on 22 November 1993 to coincide with the album's launch in North America under the title The Sign. This edition featured the new tracks "The Sign", "Living in Danger", and a cover of Tina Turner's "Don't Turn Around", along with a remix of "Waiting for Magic" and a revised version of "Voulez-Vous Danser". It also included the new track "Hear Me Calling", which did not appear on The Sign. However, the songs "Münchhausen (Just Chaos)" and "Dimension of Depth" from the original album were removed. The updated version of the album was released in the UK on 14 March 1994 and climbed to number one on the UK Albums Chart on 26 June, surpassing the original release's peak position of number 21.

In 2016, Russian label Mirumir released an "Ultimate Edition" of the album on vinyl, containing the original track listing from the 1992 release, the additional tracks from The Sign/Happy Nation (U.S. Version) releases, and the iTunes bonuses from all three releases.

Critical reception

Alan Jones from Music Week described the album as a "diverse but largely dance-oriented" collection, noting that it includes "more gentle reggae stuff" alongside some techno and house elements. He felt that "nothing here compares favourably" with "All That She Wants", although he suggested that "if the right tracks are picked and remixed, there are more hits".^[3]

Track listing

Happy Nation – original version (1992)^[8]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Voulez-Vous Danser"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	T.O.E.C. Joker Buddha	3:17
2.	"All That She Wants"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Denniz Pop Joker Buddha	3:30
3.	"Münchhausen (Just Chaos)"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:27
4.	"Happy Nation"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	4:11
5.	"Waiting for Magic"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	5:17
6.	"Fashion Party"	Joker	Joker	Joker Johnny Lindén[a] Martin Selwall[b]	4:10
7.	"Wheel of Fortune"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	T.O.E.C. Joker Buddha	3:52
8.	"Dancer in a Daydream"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:37
9.	"My Mind" (mindless mix)	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	4:09
10.	"Wheel of Fortune" (original club mix)	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	T.O.E.C. Joker Buddha	3:58
11.	"Dimension of Depth"	N/A	Joker	Joker Buddha[b]	1:45
12.	"Young and Proud"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:54
13.	"All That She Wants" (Banghra version)	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	Denniz Pop Joker Buddha	4:14

Happy Nation – remastered standard version (bonus track)^[9]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
14.	"Moogoperator"	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	T.O.E.C. Joker Buddha	3:31

Happy Nation – U.S. version^[10]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"All That She Wants"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha Denniz Pop	3:30
2.	"Don't Turn Around"	Albert Hammond Diane Warren	Hammond Warren	Tommy Ekman Per Adebratt	3:48
3.	"Young and Proud"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:56
4.	"The Sign"	Joker	Joker	Joker Denniz Pop Douglas Carr Buddha[d]	3:08
5.	"Living in Danger"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Ekman Adebratt T.O.E.C.[d]	3:41
6.	"Voulez-Vous Danser"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	T.O.E.C. Joker Buddha	3:17
7.	"Happy Nation"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	4:13
8.	"Hear Me Calling"	Linn Jenny	Joker Buddha Linn Jenny	Buddha Stonestream[a] John Ballard[a]	3:48
9.	"Waiting for Magic" (total remix 7")	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Buddha Stonestream	3:50
10.	"Fashion Party"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker	4:10
11.	"Wheel of Fortune"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha T.O.E.C.	3:52
12.	"Dancer in a Daydream"	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:37
13.	"My Mind" (mindless mix)	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	4:08
14.	"All That She Wants" (Banghra version)	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha Denniz Pop	4:14
15.	"Happy Nation" (Remix)	Joker Buddha[c]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha Ekman[e] Carr[e]	3:45

Happy Nation – remastered U.S. version (bonus track)^[11]

No.	Title	Length
16.	"Giving It Up" (Ace Version)	3:29

Happy Nation - China edition^[12]

No.	Title	Length
1.	"All That She Wants"	3:30
2.	"Happy Nation"	4:11
3.	"Wheel of Fortune" (original club mix)	3:58
4.	"Voulez-Vous Danser"	3:17
5.	"Young and Proud"	3:54
6.	"Dancer in a Daydream"	3:37
7.	"Waiting for Magic"	5:17
8.	"My Mind" (mindless mix)	4:09
9.	"Fashion Party"	4:10
10.	"All That She Wants" (Banghra version)	4:14

Happy Nation – U.S. version (All That She Wants: The Classic Collection)

No.	Title	Length
14.	"All That She Wants" (Banghra version)	4:14

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^[b]} signifies re-editing
• ^{^[c]} signifies rap lyrics
• ^{^[d]} signifies pre-production
• ^{^[e]} signifies a remixer

Release history

Region	Date	Label
Denmark	2 November 1992	Mega
Germany	22 February 1993	PolyGram
United Kingdom	7 June 1993	London Records 90
Europe (re-issue)	22 November 1993	Mega / PolyGram
United Kingdom (re-issue)	14 March 1994	London Records 90

Charts

Weekly charts Chart performance for Happy Nation Chart (1992–94) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] 9 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 3 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 2 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[16] 2 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 1 Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[18] 1 Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[19] 16 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[20] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[21] 1 Portuguese Albums (AFP)[22] 1 Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] 3 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[26] 1 Chart performance for Happy Nation (U.S. Version) Chart (1994) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[27] 3 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[28] 13 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[29] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 8

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Happy Nation Chart (1993) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[31] 8 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[32] 20 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 3 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[34] 3 Chart (1994) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[35] 80 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[36] 17 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[37] 7 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[38] 1 Year-end chart performance for Happy Nation (U.S. Version) Chart (1994) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[39] 19 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[40] 9

Certifications and sales

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[41]	Platinum	70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[42]	Platinum	50,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[43]	2× Platinum	160,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[44]	Gold	82,715[44]
France (SNEP)[45]	Diamond	1,000,000*
Germany (BVMI)[46]	3× Platinum	1,500,000^
Korea	—	700,000[47]
Netherlands (NVPI)[48]	2× Platinum	200,000^
Mexico	—	500,000[49]
Malaysia	—	200,000[47]
New Zealand (RMNZ)[50]	Platinum	15,000^
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[51]	Platinum	100,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[52]	Platinum	50,000^
Sweden	—	50,000[53]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[54] Happy Nation (US version)	Platinum	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[55]	2× Platinum	600,000^
Summaries
Worldwide	—	21,000,000[6]
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• List of best-selling albums in France
• List of best-selling albums in Germany
• List of best-selling albums
• List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
• List of number-one albums of 1994 (U.S.)
• List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1990s

References

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