First Band on the Moon

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.

First Band on the Moon
Studio album by the Cardigans
Released	6 September 1996 (1996-09-06)
Recorded	September 1995 – June 1996
Studio	Tambourine Studios (Malmö, Sweden)[1]
Genre	Pop rock[2] power pop[2] indie pop[3] electropop[4]
Length	39:01
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
"Lovefool" Released: 10 August 1996[5] "Been It" Released: 25 November 1996[6] "Your New Cuckoo" Released: 9 December 1996[7]

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.^[8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[10]
The Guardian	[11]
Los Angeles Times	[12]
NME	8/10[13]
Pitchfork	8.1/10[14]
Q	[3]
Rolling Stone	[15]
Spin	7/10[16]
The Village Voice	B+[17]

AllMusic critic John Bush viewed First Band on the Moon as a return to the "mood and feel" of the Cardigans' 1994 debut album Emmerdale, with a new lyrical focus on "unfaithful lovers" and, in the case of "Lovefool", "unrequited affection". He noted that while its stylistic shift from its 1995 predecessor Life may confuse listeners, the album is buoyed by Nina Persson's vocals and Peter Svensson's arrangements, "the Cardigans' core strengths".^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Your New Cuckoo"	Nina Persson, Peter Svensson	3:57
2.	"Been It"	Persson, Svensson	4:06
3.	"Heartbreaker"	Persson, Svensson	3:42
4.	"Happy Meal II"	Lynette Koyana, Persson, Magnus Sveningsson, Svensson	2:37
5.	"Never Recover"	Sveningsson, Svensson	3:21
6.	"Step on Me"	Sveningsson, Svensson	3:48
7.	"Lovefool"	Persson, Svensson	3:21
8.	"Losers"	Persson, Svensson	3:06
9.	"Iron Man" (Black Sabbath cover from Paranoid)	Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Ward	4:20
10.	"Great Divide"	Sveningsson, Svensson	3:17
11.	"Choke"	Sveningsson, Svensson	3:26
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.^[18]

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of First Band On The Moon.^[19]

The Cardigans Lars-Olof Johansson – keyboards, piano Bengt Lagerberg – drums, percussion Nina Persson – lead vocals Magnus Sveningsson – bass, vocals Peter Svensson – guitar, vocals "Your New Cuckoo" Åva Håkansson – violin Inga Zeppezauer – violin Mattias Svensson – violin Maria Holm – violin David Wilczewski – flute Lynette Koyana – background vocals

"Heartbreaker" Petter Lindgård – trumpet Patrik Bartosch – clavinet Ulf Thuresson – background vocals "Never Recover" David Wilczewski – flute "Losers" Annette Helmers – cello "Great Divide" Ronnie Weber – violin Gabriele Freese – violin Anna Berström – violin Ivan Bakran – cello, double bass "Choke" Jens Lindgård – trombone Sven Andersson – saxophone

Singles

• "Lovefool" (9 September 1996, #21 UK)
• "Been It" (25 November 1996, #56 UK)
• "Lovefool" (re-release 24 February 1997, #2 UK)
• "Your New Cuckoo" (25 August 1997, #35 UK)

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

Weekly charts Chart (1996–97) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA Charts)[20] 52 Canadian Albums (RPM)[21] 41 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[22] 16 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 83 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[24] 4 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 12 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[26] 2 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 18 US Billboard 200[28] 35 US Top Heatseekers (Billboard)[29] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1997) Position US Billboard 200[30] 137

Single charts

United States

• Billboard Hot 100 Airplay: "Lovefool"; #1
• Billboard Adult Top 40: "Lovefool"; #2
• Billboard Modern Rock Tracks: "Lovefool"; #9
• Billboard Top 40 Mainstream: "Lovefool"; #1
• Billboard Adult Contemporary: "Lovefool"; #23
• Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play: "Lovefool"; #5
• Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxisingle Sales: "Lovefool; #24
• Billboard Rhythmic Top 40: "Lovefool"; #18
• Billboard Top 40 Adult Recurrents: "Lovefool" #1

UK

• UK Radio Airplay: "Lovefool"; #1
• UK Top 100 Singles: "Lovefool"; #21, "Been It"; #56, "Lovefool" (Re-issue); #2, "Your New Cuckoo"; #35

Australia

• ARIA Top 100 Singles 1997 Year-End Chart: "Lovefool"; #52^[31]

Sweden

• Swedish Top 100 Singles 1996 Year-end Chart: "Lovefool"; #60

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[32]	Platinum	100,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[33]	2× Platinum	400,000^
Sweden (GLF)[34]	Gold	50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[35]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[36]	Platinum	1,000,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.