All That She Wants


"All That She Wants" is a song by Swedish group Ace of Base. It was released in 1992 as the second single from their first studio album, Happy Nation, and, in the following year, it was released as the first single from the 1993 album The Sign in North America. Produced by Denniz Pop, Jonas Berggren, and Ulf Ekberg, the drum beat was inspired by the Kayo song "Another Mother".
"All That She Wants" is a reggae-pop song that describes a sexually promiscuous woman, with the word "baby" being synonymous with "boyfriend". The song was first recorded in 1991, but went through many renditions before it was officially released.
The song was a commercial success, reaching the top of the charts in many countries, including Denmark, Germany, the UK and Australia. The single was certified platinum in the United States, where it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and was one of the best-selling singles of that year.

Background

While the group's predecessor single, "Wheel of Fortune", was a modest success, "All That She Wants" led Ace of Base to take off internationally. In 1991, the group produced a demo version of "All That She Wants", titled "Mr. Ace", which featured different lyrics, Linn Berggren on lead vocals, and rap vocals performed by both Jonas and Ekberg.. But they were not able to create the exact sound they were looking for, despite their attempts to get inspiration by listening to several other artists. After the release of the Swedish top 20 hit "Another Mother" by Kayo, the band finally found the drum beat they were looking for. The song was initially in major key, but was changed to minor upon Linn's insistence. Jenny Berggren explained that changing the key to minor allowed the song to portray a greater level of sadness and increased its relatability. Some of the other material on the Happy Nation album stemmed from "All That She Wants", leading the album to have a darker sound.
Jonas and Ekberg contacted the producer of "Another Mother", Denniz PoP, and sent him a demo tape featuring the song. Though Denniz was initially unimpressed with the song, the tape got stuck in the cassette tape player in his car. Because of this, he was forced to listen to it over and over again, which helped him decide to help produce the track. Denniz introduced many changes to the song. Denniz was not fond of the rap vocals on the original demo, and these were subsequently replaced with short spoken word sections. A new second verse was also added. Though vocals were recorded by all four members for this version, Jenny's vocals were eventually cut on the final release.
The final version of the song evolved into a dark fusion of dub-reggae with pop which became the band's trademark sound. The song is performed in the key of C minor with a tempo of 94 beats per minute in common time. The vocals span from G3 to C5. Ekberg described the song as being about "a typical girl in Sweden or Norway or Germany" who "meets a lot of guys". Jenny noted that it was about "a woman who is always leaving and that is because the woman is not whole in herself."
Denniz would go on to co-produce all officially released versions of the song that were available at the time, notably a more uptempo version of the song, dubbed the "Madness Version". This version features entirely different vocals and more spoken-word sections. Ace of Base would later collaborate with Denniz Pop on "The Sign" and multiple tracks on the band's sophomore release, The Bridge.
Following its release in August 1992, the song quickly climbed to number one on the Danish chart while "Wheel of Fortune" was still sitting at number two. Keen to rush out an album for the Christmas market, Mega Records pressed the band for an album and it was hastily recorded, mixed, and released within a few weeks.
In 2007, the song was re-recorded by the band as a three-piece with new lyrics in a first-person perspective, but was never officially released. This re-recording was leaked online in June 2016 in a collaboration version of the song that features new Ace of Base vocals alongside Britney Spears's vocals from her own 2007 demo version.

Reception

Critical reception

editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine said that it's easy to see why the song was a hit: "the beat is relentless and the hooks are incessantly catchy". Thomas Ginsberg from Associated Press noted the song's "unique sound". The Baltimore Sun called it Ace of Base's "finest, loneliest hit". Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that Ace of Base "wears its Abba influences proudly on this shuffling, reggae-splashed ditty." Matt Stopera and Brian Galindo from BuzzFeed stated that it is "the best Ace of Base song. End of story. No contest." Evening Herald described the song as "pure pop Esperanto. Simple, sublime and subversive. The weirdest record since Boney M's Rasputin." Dave Sholin from the Gavin Report commented, "The last time a new act from Sweden came on this strong it was Roxette with "The Look". Since we got hold of the import several months ago, the word about this release has spread. Not every song that reaches #1 in the U.K. like this one did succeeds in America, but they all would if they were this hot. Can't imagine it would take more than one listen to be convinced." Göteborgs-Posten said that "it smells a little like Dr. Alban with its reggae". Kim Såtvedt from Laagendalsposten noted that "All That She Wants" "holds magic". Fred Shuster from Los Angeles Daily News said it is a "supremely catchy pop confection with a bouncy reggae-inspired bass line and a chorus that lodges itself in the brain with deadly precision." Los Angeles Times wrote that it has "a strong European pop-synth feel, cruising on reggae undercurrents and mined with some deadly hooks." When it reached number-one in Denmark in 1992, Music & Media wrote that the song is "another great example of a band which has successfully drawn the pop reggae card." Neil Strauss from The New York Times called it a "reggae-infused dance-floor sleeper" that "tells of a troubled woman's search for romantic fulfillment in one-night-stands." People Magazine described the song as a "hummable reggae-flavored" tune. Bob Waliszewski of Plugged In said the song "warns a young man about a woman out for a one-night stand." Press-Telegram stated that it is "packed with unforgettable hooks." The Rolling Stone Album Guide noted that the "Ennio Morricone-style keyboard whistle marks the welfare-state cautionary tale "All That She Wants". Chuck Campbell from Scripps Howard News Service called it "a lilting dance song about a woman seeking a steady stream of boyfriends" and noted that the song "had remarkable staying power on the charts".

Commercial performance

"All That She Wants" reached the number-one position in thirteen countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and United Kingdom. The song peaked at top three positions in most other places where it was released. It was released as the band's first single from The Sign in the United States, where it peaked at number two, for three non- consecutive weeks; it was blocked from the top spot by "I'd Do Anything for Love " by Meat Loaf, for two weeks, and "Again" by Janet Jackson, for one week. The song was a very successful radio hit in the United States, sustaining the number one position on the US Billboard Top 40 Mainstream chart for nine consecutive weeks.
"All That She Wants" was listed at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 1994 year-end charts and at number 70 on the 1990s decade-end charts. In Germany, the song was the best-selling single of 1993.
According to Mega Records, the single sold 3.7 million copies worldwide as of May 1998.

Retrospective response

In 2018, Annie Zaleski from The A.V. Club wrote, "The song—which can be read as either a celebration of a woman who enjoys one-night stands, or a warning to her potential suitors—is a catchy marvel of simplicity. A glacial synth hum and strolling reggae rhythm provide propulsion, while the occasional saxophone curlicue and mysterious whistle give it intrigue, as well as a hint of melancholy." Nikola Nedeljkovic Gøttsche from Dagbladet Information noted in their retrospective review of The Sign, that "the song about the promiscuous man-hunter who only wants one more lover, with its mysterious flute melodies, progressive reggae pulse and instantly obsessive chorus, became a marker in the nineties popular musical landscape." Tom Ewing from Freaky Trigger wrote that "All That She Wants" is "so startling that you imagined a whole style around it. The sound of "All That She Wants" is disarmingly simple – high, clear, piping synths over a basic skank – but also quite perfect. It's a cooling sound, it makes the rest of pop sound busy and overheated. As the song so poetically puts it, "It's not a day for work – it's a day for catching time". Pop Rescue called it "fantastic" and added that "it's a simple uncluttered track, and it works perfectly." Christopher Smith from TalkAboutPopMusic described it as a "quirky number".

Accolades

indicates the list is unordered.

Music video

A music video directed by Matt Broadley was produced in November 1992 to promote the single. The video had a very low budget and was filmed in Copenhagen in one day with only two takes. In an 2018 interview, Ulf Ekberg told that they had $2000 to shoot the video. He also told that MTV loved the video because it was so clean, so they pushed the song. The music video was meant to serve as an explanation for the song. It depicts the band members performing in a cramped apartment, interlaced with shots of a woman getting ready to go out. She goes to a bar where she meets a man. They talk and then she takes him home to her. The woman who appears in the music video is the Danish actress and singer-songwriter. The video is recorded in her apartment and has a sepia tone. Though Jenny has no vocals in the song, she lip syncs the vocals during the chorus.

Track listings

  1. "All That She Wants"
  2. "All That She Wants"
  3. "All That She Wants"
  4. "All That She Wants"
  1. "All That She Wants" – 3:31
  2. "All That She Wants" – 7:56
  3. "All That She Wants" – 4:15
  4. "All That She Wants" – 4:46
  1. "All That She Wants"
  2. "Fashion Party"
  1. All That She Wants – 3:27
  2. All That She Wants – 6:18
  3. All That She Wants – 4:00
  4. All That She Wants – 4:51
  5. All That She Wants – 3:24
  6. All That She Wants – 3:55
  7. All That She Wants – 6:01
  8. All That She Wants – 4:52
  9. All That She Wants – 6:01
  10. All That She Wants – 5:41
  1. All That She Wants – 6:18
  2. All That She Wants – 4:51
  3. All That She Wants – 3:55
  4. All That She Wants – 6:01
  5. All That She Wants – 4:52
  6. All That She Wants – 6:01
  7. All That She Wants – 5:41
  8. All That She Wants – 6:00
  9. All That She Wants – 5:41

    Personnel

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position

Year-end charts

Chart Rank
Australia 67
New Zealand 22
US Billboard Hot 1009
US Cash Box26

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications and sales

Cover versions

An Italian band Age of Bass covered the song in 1993. Its close resemblance to the original Ace of Base version and the original band's name caused Mega Records alongside Polygram to prompt the rendition's record label Discomagic Italy into pulling the release from commercial markets. The rendition would later appear in a compilation release by Edel Records. In the same year, ZYX Music released a rendition performed by a German band called Box of Laces.
Swedish band Grass Show covered the song on their 1997 debut album Something Smells Good in Stinkville. American popstar Britney Spears recorded a song titled "Remembrance of Who I Am" which lifted the chorus from "All That She Wants" for her 2007 album Blackout but it failed to make the final cut for the album. The demo leaked onto the internet in January 2008.