Aquarium

A breeze from the good times. This was my... let's count... third foreign (= non- Heidi Kyrö) CD?

#1 Happy Boys & Girls 10

I guess this still has to be my favourite. Now that there has been such a long time without listening to these, they now sound somewhat fresher. After all, Aqua and Spice Girls (especially Spice Girls) have been pretty much the only acts I've grown tired to some extent to.

#2 My Oh My 10

I so remember first hearing this, seeing the video and taping it right between Celine's My Heart Will Go on and Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply. And the day Kati and I were walking along Louhikatu (Poutapilvipolun sukua) onto our Spanish lesson with Tuomo Seppo and during the block from Koivukoskenkatu to Lönnrotinkatu she told me she had seen the third Aqua video on MTV, though she didn't consider it as good as the previous ones. After all, this turned out to be my favourite of the three and I got the CD as soon as possible. The "power of three" was due to my ancient tradition of waiting for three good singles from an album before buying it. No wonder my CD shelf had less than ten items...

#3 Barbie Girl 9½

For this I also remember the first time. But more important was the time when there were the Linnan juhlat in our high school and in the disco they played this. I commented to Kati that I was eagerly awaiting the third single, so that I could buy the album. Of course at that time I couldn't dance the song myself - it was even a great achievement to be there in the first place instead of sitting safely at home... In half a decade so much can change...

#4 Good Morning Sunshine 8

This will always be remembered as Tassu's favourite song. I remember her walking into the room quite often while this was playing. Probably it's just a statistic coincidence but the thought's fun. I've never understood what René means by rapping "My dreams come to bicycle". In the good old times individual things like CDs were gathered so much more culture and importance. Maybe because there were so few of them?

#5 Doctor Jones 9½

Of course I also remember the first time I saw this. I noticed the "Presented in Aquascope" logo and thought, "oh great, it's Barbie Girl once again", but it wasn't. I thought they were too similar but then again, I've thought that about so many good things. And I remember me leaving some day the KMK Kajaani apartment while this was playing on MTV and Kati, Kirsi and I discussed what Lene sings in the part D. I suggested "Please, please, Jonie!" but Kirsi got it right with "cure me".

#6 In the Heat of the Night 7½

Token latin track. I remember when Kirsi (Kyllönen, my cousin) was visiting us from Canada and wanted Kati to tape this CD for her but without this track. I convinced her that it would've been too much unnecessary trouble to leave it out so she got the whole deal. These less-known album tracks seem quite distinctly tainted with Colonization...

#7 Be a Man 7

This is famous for the sudden "when everything stops" silence towards the end, which part I also included in my Musavisa, a medley of small clips from songs from my CDs, from which HRL and Kati had to guess the artists, titles and other relevant information.

#8 Lollipop (Candyman) 8½

How many singles were there altogether out of this album? Eight? For this song it was said they were first going to do a vampire video but then BSB got there first with Everybody and they had to change into Star Wars.

#9 Roses Are Red 9

Many people don't know this was actually their first single and not BG. It was said that their success was based on their innovative and energetic concept, which then of course was soon copied by acts around Europe. In a way that sounds similar to the beginning of AoB's career. They too brought something new to the scene. I guess AoB must be the most referred-to artists in my reviews - beating even B*Witched... ;]

#10 Turn Back Time 9

It's funny but to my knowledge, in the end this was their biggest hit. Being on the OST of the wonderful Sliding Doors certainly helped.

#11 Calling You 9½

Used to be my second favourite, isn't anymore, but still stays in the top 5.