• Top 5 Swedish Bands

  

  Written by Zeromage 23 Comments
  Last Updated:: July 14, 2008

  There are many countries that are recognized first and foremost for their quality of music. Two of the most obvious countries are England and the United States. The musical battle between these two empires has lasted a good half a century now. Little do the fighters of these countries realize that some of best pop music of the last century came from Sweden. Unfortunately though, when someone mentions Swedish music they are usually trying to reference some punk band like The Refused. This website does not find punk music to be the best of anything, so anyone looking for The Hives to be on this list can go look on some generic best of punk list instead. With this list, we celebrate Sweden for its pop music that has influenced some of the stronger bands of today. We urge everyone to check out these bands if they haven’t yet.

  5. Roxette

  Anyone who releases a greatest hits called “Don’t bore us get to the Chorus”, needs to be celebrated by Old-Wizard. While Roxette may have sounded tacky to the super critical music listener, it sounded like sweet sugar to the casual listener who just liked to dance and tap their foot in the car. This was epitomized most perfectly in “She’s got the look” which grooved like Bolan fronting New Order. “Look Sharp!” is the first album for anyone who wants to get into Roxette. This band sometimes gets a band wrap for being too pop. This claim is true when listening to a song like “It must have been love”. This sound was just too bombastically pop to hit at the grace in which grooving pop music can embody. Get by these more corny tracks though and one is in for some pure pleasurable listening.

  4. Soundtrack of our Lives

  The Soundtrack of Our Lives formed in the early 90’s. They took some of the best moments in 60’s and 70’s rock and infused that sound with mid 90’s Britpop bombast. Their most energetic album “Behind the Music” showcased the power of this band. “Sister Surround” had a chorus that would never leave the listener’s mind. “Infra Riot” was one of the strongest opening tracks in recent memory. Their previous albums were all strong gestures in big sounding rock, although never coming close to the extraordinary songwriting on “Behind the Music”. Anyone who likes rock music must love the Soundtrack of our Lives.

  3. Kent

  Kent may usually write albums in their Swedish language that most of the English world may not understand, but this does not stop them from being able to be communicated across the globe for their perfect sounding ambient pop. Kent makes smooth music that is played best on long rides down the countryside during any season. Check out their song “Kram” and one will realize their swift, sweet sonic quality. Their “Isola” album also embodies this sonic quality on all of the tracks. If one is looking for good songwriting and perfect sounding production, this is the band for you no matter if you speak Swedish or not.

  2. The Caesars

  If one wants the best example of a Swedish band writing strong choruses, it’s The Caesars. Listen to the entire of their “Paper Tigers” album and you will hear an album all full of singles. “We got to Leave” should have been bigger than all that it was around the Globe. Their biggest and most obvious single “Jerk it Out” did gain this success. This song can be heard in all clubs from Britpop nights, to even top 100 billboard clubs. All of the Caesars output though is deserving of big success. Look at some of their early work like “Candy Cane” and one will hear one of the coolest takes on a Neil Diamond song (in the best way possible). If you are a lover of singles, The Caesars may be your favorite band.

  1. ABBA

  Sweden is first and foremost known as a pop music continent. This is epitomized no more clearly than with ABBA. This band delivered perfect rhythms, perfect production, and most importantly, perfect songwriting. Everyone in the world has heard Dancing Queen. Everyone has this song stuck in their head whether they like it or not. While this song may seem tacky to some, it hits at perfect exuberant pop gestures only known to the Swedish. “Knowing Me, Knowing You” is another song that may sound tacky but is one of the most honestly sensual pop songs to come out of the pop music medium. Their singles collection is one of the greatest selling albums of all time and for good reason. This band was a singles band. Everyone they wrote was meant to be a single even if it wasn’t going to be released as a single. With this in mind, Old-Wizard celebrates ABBA as one of the greatest Swedish bands of all time. We know how hard it is to write a good single. ABBA could do it on command.

23 Comments

1. #1 Karl says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 2:18 am

   Why would anyone take the time to make this list?
2. #2 darren says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 6:31 am

   dam right abba is top they rule
3. #3 The Mountain says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 11:50 pm

   Ouf. Soundtrack of our lives are great
4. #4 Demi says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 3:51 pm

   You forgot the HIVES and ENTOMBED. They are better than all those bands.
5. #5 Wild Bill says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 3:52 pm

   What about the Cardigans?
6. #6 TheGamesta says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 7:55 am

   Wow this music is horrible! Opeth would pwn all of these bands with only the talent from their pinky fingers.
7. #7 Nifty Nerd says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 11:41 pm

   I don’t know how gay it makes me to agree with this list, but I do. ABBA is not only the greatest Swedish band but I believe it also to be the greatest band to consist of 2 men and 2 women…unless you count the Beatles because we all know Paul and John were a couple of bitches.

   -Mat N.
   http://www.TheNiftyNerd.com
8. #8 NecroVMX says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 6:27 am

   Opeth.
9. #9 brotherbitch says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 7:50 pm

   where the f is DUNGEN?! wait maybe they’re not swedish, doesnt matter same area same weird langauge. probably too recent for you blokes.
10. #10 Jeremy says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 5:01 am

    Where the heck is Meshuggah in this list?
11. #11 javier says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 7:22 am

    Millencolin? ace of base?
12. #12 ed says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:49 pm

    Wow, what a shitty mainstream list. Do you listen to anything outside what MTV plays? Seriously… this horrible.
13. #13 chris says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 3:37 am

    Fuck all of them, especially ABBA, it’s all about Swedish black metal. All those bands are for old people or fags…not to discriminate against the gays of course.
14. #14 springBär says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 3:00 am

    where is Peter, Björn, and John?
15. #15 Eddie says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 6:03 pm

    Opeth indeed. Soilwork as well.
16. #16 bob says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:59 am

    Soundtrack of our Lives should be #1.
17. #17 andrewB says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 4:05 am

    Never heard of any of them…
18. #18 Captain Raccoon says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:04 pm

    Who would even think to make this list?
19. #19 Olaf says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 12:25 pm

    What about Garmarna and Triakel?
20. #20 Kevin G. says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:28 am

    Where are the Hives? Or the Hellacopters? This list sucks.
21. #21 Erik the Great says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    I wonder if the person who wrote this has ever heard of Ace of Bass.
22. #22 Uzair says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 4:35 am

    Kent are the most popular band inside of Sweden. I can see why after 7 Swedish albums (8th out next month), 2 English albums, and a bunch of other releases, all of which somehow sound different from each other rather than having the same style. They have at least one album which everyone can like, Hagnesta Hill and Du & Jag Doden are my favourites. The Cardigans aren’t bad either although their albums aren’t as good