Massive Luxury Overdose

Massive Luxury Overdose is the second studio album by the Swedish pop group Army of Lovers. The album was released in 1991, and the second version (called U.S. Edition) was released in 1992. The album contains the band's biggest hits, including "Obsession", and "Crucified", which was a #1 hit in 29 countries.[4] The original version of this album also includes three songs from their first album Disco Extravaganza (1990), which aren't included in the U.S. edition."

Massive Luxury Overdose
Studio album by
Army of Lovers
ReleasedAugust 26, 1991
March 13, 1992
GenrePop, dance, euro house
LabelTon Son Ton
Stockholm Records (1992)
ProducerAlexander Bard, Anders Wollbeck, Per Adebratt, Emil Hellman, Ola Håkansson (also exec.), Anders Hansson, Tim Norell
Army of Lovers chronology
Disco Extravaganza
(1990)		 Massive Luxury Overdose
(1991)		 The Gods of Earth and Heaven
(1993)
Singles from Massive Luxury Overdose
  1. "Crucified"
    Released: May 1991
  2. "Obsession"
    Released: September 1991
  3. "Candyman Messiah"
    Released: November 1991
  4. "Ride the Bullet (rerelease)"
    Released: January 1992
  5. "Judgment Day"
    Released: June 1992
Alternative Cover
1992 cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
NME(favorable)[3]

Background

When La Camilla left the band in 1991, she was replaced by Michaela Dornonville de la Cour. For the second release in 1992, the band recorded four new songs and released the album under the same name but with a new cover, introducing Michaela.

Army of Lovers made their first tour in March 1992 and at that time the album had already sold over 500,000 copies. The tour began in Sweden, at High Chaparral in Kulltorp, and after several Swedish cities the tour continued throughout Europe.[5]

Critical reception

AllMusic editor Neil Raggett wrote, "Some album titles do nail it, and this is one of the prime candidates." "Crucified" was named the "most memorable number", "a totally over-the-top disco anthem on all fronts". He also mentioned the "half-twinky, half-ominous" "Candyman Messiah" and "Say Goodbye to Babylon", which are "taking religious imagery and tweaking it for all it's worth".[1] David A. Keeps from Austin American Statesman felt the album is "audacious in its appropriations". He added; "We Stand United" is "a rote re-creation of Chic's classic disco", "Say Goodbye to Babylon" "blends Theme from Midnight Express into massive hallelujah choruses suitable for Andrew Lloyd Webber", "I Cross the Rubicon" has "a piano bass line [that] thunders beneath cymbals, horn crescendos, whispered male vocals and soul diva whoops", "Walking With a Zombie" "fuses boulevardier accordion with an insistent Latin beat", and "Crucified" is "steeped in romantic and biblical imagery that suggests, in a typically broad camp stroke, that obsessive love is the most religious experience of all."[6]

American magazine Billboard constated that the "campy Swedish trio continues to reverently pilfer through '70s-era disco and '80s-style hi-NRG on this glittery sophomore outing." They highlighted the "bombastic" "Dynasty of Planet Chromada" and the "swin-vibed" "Say Goodbye to Babylon", and concluded, "Melodramatic dance/pop that should make acts like Pet Shop Boys green with envy."[7] NME said, "A great record, proper disco style dance music and packed full of cultural surprises."[3] Joe Brown from The Washington Post wrote that here, "the Army presents its unapologetic, exuberant Eurodisco as if house never happened." He felt that on tracks like "Crucified" and "Dynasty of Planet Chromada", "the Army reveals a lyrical obsession with a millenarian-apocalyptic- sacrilege thang, and La Camilla's kitschy cooing includes imitations of Grace Jones and Debbie Harry."[8]

Commercial performance

In Sweden, Massive Luxury Overdose sold about 70,000 copies, and worldwide the album sold at least 2 million copies.[9]

Track listing
Standard edition
No.TitleLength
1."We Stand United"3:44
2."Crucified"3:32
3."Candyman Messiah"3:24
4."Obsession"3:39
5."I Cross the Rubicon"4:01
6."Supernatural (1991 remix)"3:54
7."Ride the Bullet (1991 remix)"3:42
8."Say Goodbye to Babylon"4:26
9."Flying High"3:39
10."Walking with a Zombie"4:09
11."My Army of Lovers"3:27
1992 rerelease [note 1]
No.TitleLength
1."Dynasty of Planet Chromada"3:54
2."Crucified"3:32
3."Candyman Messiah"3:24
4."Obsession"3:39
5."We Stand United"3:44
6."Say Goodbye to Babylon"4:26
7."Ride the Bullet"3:27
8."The Particle Song"3:26
9."Someone Somewhere"3:18
10."I Cross the Rubicon"4:01
11."Flying High"3:39
12."Walking with a Zombie"4:09
13."Judgement Day"3:58

Charts
Chart performance for Massive Luxury Overdose
Chart (1991–92) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[10] 126
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 7
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[12] 28
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[13] 13
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[15] 21

Sales and certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Sweden (GLF)[16] Platinum 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Personnel
  • Backing vocals: Erika Essen-Möller, Jean-Paul Wall, Katarina Wilczewski, Malin Bäckström, Richard Evenlind
  • Co-producer: Per Adebratt (tracks: 1 to 6, 8 to 10)
  • Engineer: Per Adebratt (tracks: 1 to 10)
  • Guitar: Anders Wollbeck (tracks: 1, 5, 7, 10)
  • Keyboards: Anders Wollbeck (tracks: 1 to 10)
  • Mixed by: Per Adebratt (tracks: 1 to 10)
  • Percussion: André Ferrari (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 10)
  • Producer: Alexander Bard (tracks: 1 to 10), Anders Wollbeck (tracks: 1 to 10)
  • Programmed by: Anders Wollbeck (tracks: 1 to 10)
  • Saxophone: Anders Gustavson (tracks: 1, 5, 8, 10)

Notes
    1. Track 7 "Ride the Bullet" was not released on copies of the album sold in the United States.

    References
    1. "Massive Luxury Overdose - Army of Lovers - Songs, Reviews, Credits - AllMusic". Retrieved 23 April 2017.
    2. Larkin, Colin (2006). "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music". Omnibus Press. p. 249.
    3. "Short Circuit". New Musical Express. 11 January 1992. p. 28. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
    4. Sarina; Gogi (1 May 2011). "Crucified – The 20th Anniversary". Army of Lovers.net. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
    5. Dagens Nyheter, 8 March 1992, Nils Hansson, "Bards armé på testväg runt landet"
    6. A. Keeps, David (20 August 1992). "After 13 years, B-52's still lead the flight to camp". Austin American Statesman. p. 6.
    7. "Album Reviews". Billboard 28 March 1992. p. 46.
    8. Brown, Joe (17 July 1992). "Moving the Feet, Shaking the Mind". The Washington Post.
    9. Tidningen Vi, no 26/27, 1 July 1993, Hans Wigstrand, "Våra välljudande världsstjärnor", pp. 19-20
    10. "Bubbling Down Under Week Commencing 10 February1992". Bubbling Down Under. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
    11. "Austriancharts.at – Army of Lovers – Massive Luxury Overdose" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
    12. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alice Cooper". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 19.
    13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Army of Lovers – Massive Luxury Overdose" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
    14. "Swedishcharts.com – Army of Lovers – Massive Luxury Overdose". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
    15. "Swisscharts.com – Army of Lovers – Massive Luxury Overdose". Hung Medien. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
    16. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-05-17.
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