Aquarium (Aqua album)

Aquarium
Studio album by Aqua
Released	26 March 1997
Recorded	1996-1997
Genre	Eurodance[1]
Length	40:44
Label	Universal
Producer	Per Adebratt, Delgado, Tommy Ekman, Peter Hartman, Johnny Jam, Jan Langhoff, Claus Norreen, Søren Rasted
Aqua chronology
Aquarium (1997) Aquarius (2000)
Singles from Aquarium
"Roses Are Red" Released: 24 September 1996 "My Oh My" Released: 11 February 1997 "Barbie Girl" Released: 14 May 1997 "Lollipop (Candyman)" Released: 25 November 1997 "Doctor Jones" Released: 8 December 1997 "Turn Back Time" Released: 18 May 1998 "Good Morning Sunshine" Released: 14 December 1998

Aquarium is the debut studio album by Danish-Norwegian band Aqua. The album was released in Scandinavia on 26 March 1997 and in the United States on 9 September 1997. Although the group had been together for three years under their original name Joyspeed, their only release under that name was a single called "Itzy Bitsy Spider". The album is best known for including the successful singles "Barbie Girl", "Doctor Jones" and "Turn Back Time", the first of those being a huge hit across the globe. (The album was preceded by the two singles "Roses Are Red" and "My Oh My", with the latter re-released in 1998.)

The album's third single, "Barbie Girl" brought the group to international attention after reaching number one in both Denmark and Norway, as well as across Europe and in Australia and New Zealand. It would later peak at number 7 in the US. Its success helped the album reach number one in both the group's home countries, and make the top 10 in the UK and US. While not selling as highly "Barbie Girl", the album's fourth single "Doctor Jones" was released in late 1997/early 1998 and became a number one in Denmark, Norway, Australia and the UK. "Turn Back Time" would later give the group their third consecutive number one single in the UK, despite only reaching number 16 in Denmark. The final single, "Good Morning Sunshine" failed to chart highly and was only released in select regions like the earlier "Lollipop (Candyman)", the group's only other song to chart in the US. The album has sold 14 million copies worldwide.^[2][3]

Chart performance

Aquarium debuted at number one in Denmark.^[4] As of August 2001, the album had sold 430,000 copies in Denmark.^[5] It is the third best-selling album in Denmark to date, only beaten by Danish recording artist Kim Larsen's 1983 album Midt om natten and his 1986 album Forklædt som voksen.^[6][7] The album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and later peaked at number seven.^[8] It would spend a total of 50 weeks on the album sales chart, and sold 1,7 million copies in 1997.^[9] On March 4, 1999 the album was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of three million units, becoming the most successful Eurodance album in the US since Ace of Base's The Sign (1993). Aquarium has been certified four times platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of four million copies inside Europe.

Track listings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Happy Boys & Girls"	Søren Rasted Claus Norreen René Dif Lene Nystrøm	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	3:37
2.	"My Oh My"	Rasted Norreen Dif	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	3:25
3.	"Barbie Girl"	Rasted Norreen Dif Nystrøm	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	3:16
4.	"Good Morning Sunshine"	Rasted Norreen Dif	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	4:03
5.	"Doctor Jones"	Anders Øland Rasted Norreen Dif	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	3:22
6.	"Heat of the Night"	Rasted Norreen	Rasted Norreen Hartmann & Langhoff	3:33
7.	"Be a Man"	Rasted Norreen Nystrøm	Tommy Ekman Per Adebratt	4:22
8.	"Lollipop (Candyman)"	Rasted Norreen Nystrøm Dif Hartmann & Langhoff	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	3:35
9.	"Roses Are Red"	Rasted Norreen Dif Nystrøm Hartmann & Langhoff	Hartmann & Langhoff	3:43
10.	"Turn Back Time"	Rasted Norreen	Johnny Jam Delgado Rasted Norreen	4:09
11.	"Calling You"	Rasted Norreen Dif Hartmann & Langhoff	Rasted Norreen Hartmann & Langhoff Johnny Jam (vocals) Delgado (vocals)	3:33

Disc 2: Aquarium – Remixed
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Barbie Girl" (extended version)	5:16
2.	"My Oh My" (extended version)	5:06
3.	"Roses Are Red" (club version)	7:01
4.	"Lollipop" (Razor 'N' Go "Lick It" Mix)	12:20
5.	"My Oh My" (H20 Club Remix)	7:34
6.	"Barbie Girl" (Dirty Rotten Scoundrel Clinical 12" Mix)	8:37

Re-issue edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Barbie Girl" (extended version)	5:16
13.	"My Oh My" (extended version)	5:06
14.	"Roses Are Red" (club version)	7:00
15.	"Lollipop" (Razor 'N' Go "Lick It" Mix)	12:16
16.	"Barbie Girl" (Dirty Rotten Scoundrel Radio Mix)	4:12

Limited Christmas edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Didn't I"	3:17
13.	"My Oh My" (Spike, Clyde 'N' Eightball Club Mix)	5:02
14.	"Lollipop (Candyman)" (extended version)	5:28
15.	"Turn Back Time" (Love to Infinity's Classic Radio Mix)	3:20
16.	"Doctor Jones" (Metro's 7" Edit)	3:36
17.	"The Official Megamix"	11:16

Picture disc edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Didn't I"		Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	3:22
13.	"Doctor Jones" (Molella & Phil Jay Mix)	Anders Øland, Dif	Rasted, Norreen, Johnny Jam, Delgado	5:29

Japan bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Didn't I"	3:17
13.	"Roses Are Red" (Disco 70' Mix)	3:17

South Korea bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Roses Are Red" (club version)	7:01
13.	"Roses Are Red" (club edit)	4:12
14.	"Roses Are Red" (Disco 70' Mix)	3:10

Personnel

Per Adebratt – producer, arrangement, mixing Bee – backing vocals Marian Binderup – backing vocals Mogens Binderup – backing vocals Vivian Cardinal – backing vocals Douglas Carr – guitar Delgado – producer, vocal producer, arrangement, mixing René Dif – songwriter, lead vocals Tommy Ekman – producer, arrangement, mixing Björn Engelmann – mastering

Peter Hartmann – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing Claus Hvass – guitar Johnny Jam – producer, vocal producer, arrangement, mixing Kati – backing vocals Jan Langhoff – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing, guitar Claus Norreen – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing, instruments Lene Nystrøm – songwriter, lead and backing vocals Søren Rasted – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing, instruments, backing vocals Anders Øland – songwriter

Credits adapted from album liner notes.^[10]

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (1997–98) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[11] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[12] 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 4 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 3 Canadian Albums Chart[15] 1 Danish Albums Chart[4] 1 European Album Chart (European Top 100 Albums) 4 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[16] 6 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[17] 2 French Albums (SNEP)[18] 11 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 6 Irish Albums Chart[20] 6 Italian Albums Chart[21] 1 Japanese Albums (Oricon)[22] 41 Malaysian Albums Chart[23] 3 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 1 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[25] 1 Portuguese Albums Chart[26] 5 Spanish Albums Chart[27] 3 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 1 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 3 UK Albums (Official Charts Company)[30] 6 US Billboard 200[8] 7 Year-end charts Chart (1998) Position German Albums Chart[31] 19 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/Sales Australia (ARIA)[32] 6× Platinum 420,000^^ Austria (IFPI Austria)[33] Gold 25,000^* Belgium (BEA)[34] Platinum 50,000^* Brazil (ABPD)[35] Gold 100,000^* Canada (Music Canada)[36] Diamond 1,083,000[37] Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[38] 2× Platinum 72,757[38] France (SNEP)[39] Platinum 471,000[40] Germany (BVMI)[41] Gold 250,000^^ Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[42] 2× Platinum 40,000^* Norway (IFPI Norway)[43] 4× Platinum 200,000^* New Zealand (RMNZ)[44] Platinum 15,000^^ Sweden (GLF)[45] 5× Platinum 400,000^^ Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[46] Gold 25,000^^ United Kingdom (BPI)[47] Platinum 501,000[48][49] United States (RIAA)[50] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^^ Summaries Europe (IFPI)[51] 4× Platinum 4,000,000^* ^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history

Country	Date	Label
Denmark[52]	26 March 1997	Universal
Sweden[53]	1997
United States[54]	9 September 1997	MCA
Germany[55]	1997	Universal

References

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