The Sign (Ace of Base album)

This article is about the album. For its title track, see The Sign (song).

See also: Happy Nation

The Sign
Studio album (reissue) by Ace of Base
Released	23 November 1993
Recorded	January 1992 – May 1993
Genre	Dance-pop[1] synth-pop[2] reggae-pop[2]
Length	45:24
Label	Arista
Producer	Per Adebratt Buddha Douglas Carr Tommy Ekman Joker Denniz Pop Stonestream T.O.E.C.
Ace of Base chronology
Happy Nation (1992) The Sign (1993) The Bridge (1995)
Singles from The Sign
"All That She Wants" Released: 24 August 1992 "The Sign" Released: 14 December 1993 "Don't Turn Around" Released: 19 April 1994 "Living in Danger" Released: 4 October 1994

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	link
Robert Christgau	[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Los Angeles Times	[5]
People	(favorable)[6]
Pitchfork	8.0/10[2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]

The Sign is a 1993 album by Swedish pop group Ace of Base, released as the band's debut album in North America and some Latin American countries by Arista Records. The Sign contains songs from Ace of Base's debut album, Happy Nation (1992) and the new songs "Don't Turn Around", "The Sign", and "Living in Danger" as well as revised versions of "Voulez-Vous Danser" and "Waiting for Magic".

The Sign is listed among the Top 100 Best-selling Albums of All Time by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), with sales in excess of 21 million copies. The album itself earned Arista Records 42 million USD, and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The Sign was ranked top three on the Billboard 200 chart for 26 consecutive weeks. The album, and the single of the same name, are the only single or album by a Swedish act to rank number one on Billboard's annual overall Year-End lists.^{[citation needed]}

Background

The album was intended to be released in the US on 26 October 1993 as Happy Nation. However, their label, Arista Records, delayed the album in order for the band to add two radio-friendly singles.^[8] The two additional tracks were: "The Sign" and "Living in Danger". The album was eventually released on 23 November 1993. To coincide with the release of The Sign, Happy Nation was re-released in Europe, Mexico, and Australia as Happy Nation (U.S. Version). These releases featured the new tracks and revised versions included on The Sign, as well the new track "Hear Me Calling" and a remix of "Happy Nation".^{[citation needed]}

Commercial performance

The Sign is listed among the Top 100 Best-selling Albums of All Time by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),^[9] with sales in excess of 21 million copies.^[10] The album itself earned Arista Records 42 million USD,^[11] and was nominated for Best Pop Album at the 1995 Grammy Awards. The Sign was ranked top three on the Billboard 200 chart for 26 consecutive weeks. In Canada, the album was number one for 13 weeks.^[12] The album, and the single of the same name, are the only single or album by a Swedish act to rank number one on Billboard's annual overall Year-End lists.^{[citation needed]}

Track listing

The Sign standard version

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"All That She Wants"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha Denniz Pop	3:30
2.	"Don't Turn Around"	Albert Hammond Diane Warren	Hammond Warren	Per Adebratt Tommy Ekman	3:48
3.	"Young and Proud"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:54
4.	"The Sign"	Joker	Joker	Denniz Pop Douglas Carr Joker Buddha^[b]	3:08
5.	"Living in Danger"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Ekman Adebratt T.O.E.C.^[b]	3:44
6.	"Dancer in a Daydream"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	3:39
7.	"Wheel of Fortune"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha T.O.E.C.	3:54
8.	"Waiting for Magic" (Total remix 7")	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Buddha Stonestream	3:49
9.	"Happy Nation"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	4:13
10.	"Voulez-Vous Danser"	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	T.O.E.C. Joker Buddha	3:21
11.	"My Mind" (Mindless mix)	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha	4:10
12.	"All That She Wants" (Banghra version)	Joker Buddha^[a]	Joker Buddha	Joker Buddha Denniz Pop	4:14

The Sign remastered version bonus track

No.	Title	Length
13.	"Mr. Ace" (demo 1991)	3:21

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies rap lyrics
• ^{^[b]} signifies pre-production

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for The Sign Chart (1993–1994) Peak position Argentine Albums (CAPIF)[13] 1 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[14] 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[15] 3 US Billboard 200[16] 1

Year-end charts 1994 year-end chart performance for The Sign Chart (1994) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[17] 1 US Billboard 200[18] 1 1995 year-end chart performance for The Sign Chart (1995) Position Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[19] 19 US Billboard 200[20] 47

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for The Sign

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Argentina	—	300,000[21]
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[23]	Gold	200,000[22]
Canada (Music Canada)[24]	Diamond	1,000,000^^
Chile	—	60,000[25]
Japan	—	800,000[26]
Mexico	—	300,000[27]
South Korea	—	500,000[28]
United States (RIAA)[30]	9× Platinum	10,000,000[29]
Summaries
Scandinavia	—	900,000[31]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

The Sign
Video by Ace of Base
Released	1994 (1994)
Genre	pop

Video album

Some songs from the album were also released as an Ace of Base video collection released in the summer of 1994 on VHS video in North America. Laserdisc editions appeared in Japan as well.^{[citation needed]}

Contents

1. "All That She Wants"
2. "The Sign"
3. "Don't Turn Around" Studio Documentary
4. "Don't Turn Around"
5. "Living in Danger" Studio Documentary
6. "Happy Nation"
7. "Wheel of Fortune"

References

1. Harcourt, Nic (2005). "Swedish Made". Music Lust. Seattle: Sasquatch Books. p. 197.
2. Torres, Eric (12 November 2023). "Ace of Base: The Sign Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
3. Christgau, Robert. "The Sign". Robert Christgau. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
4. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. p. 1977. ISBN 9780857125958. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
5. Hunt, Dennis (6 February 1994). "In Brief". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 22 January 2023. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
6. "Picks and Pans Review: The Sign". People. 28 February 1994. Retrieved 6 September 2020.
7. Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 4. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
8. Mayfield, Geoff; Atwood, Brett (6 November 1993). "Popular Risings - Shuffling The Deck" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 105, no. 45. p. 31. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
9. "RIAA - Gold & Platinum - November 03, 2010". riaa.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
10. Ferro, Charles (30 May 1998). "Ace Of Base Sprouts 'Flowers'". Billboard. p. 70. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
11. Seabrook, John (2015). The Song Machine: Inside the Hit Factory. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-3932-4192-1.
12. "RPM Top 100 Albums - July 18, 1994" (PDF).
13. "Hits of The World" (PDF). Billboard. 28 May 1994. p. 43. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
14. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 2427". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 September 1994.
15. "オール・ザット・シー・ウォンツ" (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on 23 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
16. "Ace Of Base Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
17. "Top 100 Albums of 1994". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
18. Geoff Mayfield (25 December 1999). 1999 The Year in Music Totally '90s: Diary of a Decade - The listing of Top Pop Albums of the '90s & Hot 100 Singles of the '90s. Billboard. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
19. "100 Albums (CD's & Cassettes)". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. 17 July 2013. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
20. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1995". Billboard. 2 January 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
21. "Argentina". 10 December 1994. p. 68. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
22. "Ace of Base: Quase Platina". Jornal do Commercio (in Portuguese): 5. 24 July 1994. Archived from the original on 15 April 2023. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
23. "Brazilian album certifications – Ace of Base – The Sign" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
24. "Canadian album certifications – Ace of Base – The Sign". Music Canada. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
25. "Chile". Billboard. 10 December 1994. p. 70. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
26. Steve McClure (7 September 1996). "Japan Embraces Swedish Acts". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 36. p. 67. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
27. Lannert, John (26 November 1994). "Viva Mexico!". Billboard. p. 73. Retrieved 10 June 2019.
28. Levin, Mike (20 August 1994). "Southeast Asia - multi media marketing" (PDF). American Radio History (Billboard Archive). p. 50. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
29. Barnes, Terry (13 May 2000). "Pop". Billboard. p. 74. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 14 March 2023 – via Google Books.
30. "American album certifications – Ace of Base – The Sign". Recording Industry Association of America.
31. Straton, Sally (4 November 1995). "Radio Plays Key Role in New Ace of Base Album" (PDF). Music & Media. p. 14. Retrieved 8 February 2021 – via World Radio History.