History

The birth of Aqua

Following their cancellation of the contract with the label, the four began to change their musical style, having all agreed that it had been the main reason for the failure of "Itsy Bitsy". The four had been managed up until this point by the often controversial Swedish manager Michael Brinkenstjärna, who had got them the record deal in Sweden. Brinkenstjärna had also been very influential in choosing their musical direction, and as a result the group decided to change managers, feeling that he was becoming a burden to their chances of success.

International breakthrough and debut album

Aqua released their debut album Aquarium in Denmark on March 26, 1997. The album contained 11 tracks, including their first two singles and their then upcoming third single "Barbie Girl". Universal Music had by now began to market the group in other countries, releasing "Roses Are Red" in Japan in February 1997 and in various countries across Europe in late 1996. The single had proven popular everywhere it was sold, convincing Universal that the group should not just focus on the Danish market, but instead on the general European market.

The "Aquarium Age"

The release of the second album

Plans for third album and sudden split

Aqua spent the first few months of 2001 touring around the world, and working on material for their third album. The group also performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2001, collaborating with the Safri Duo and providing the music during the voting stages of the competition. During a couple of low-key events in Denmark the group performed live versions of songs intended for inclusion on the third album, including "Couch Potato" and "Shakin' Stevens (Is A Superstar)", the latter a tribute to the 1980s performer Shakin' Stevens. The songs were said to have incorporated a rock sound into their music.

Following the split

After the group's split, all four members of Aqua continued within the music industry, with three former members all having successful solo careers. René was the first to release a single, releasing "Let It All Out (Push It)" in early 2003 in his native Denmark. The single performed well, and an album was planned, but the comparative failure of his second solo single "The Uhh Uhh Song" made him decide to not continue working on the album. René, in 2004, began to pursue a career as an actor, and appeared in the Danish films Den Gode Strømer and Incasso. He was also awarded the Zulu Achievement Award in the same year.

Music videos

Aqua is well-known for their music videos, most of which followed a storyline of some sort. Due to their being one of Universal's biggest-selling pop groups, their budget for making videos has always been quite high. This has been reflected in their videos, which often appear to be cheesy, but tend of be accepted as fitting in well with their musical style.

Greatest Hits/New CD Rumors

In a Danish magazine and the Turn Back Time documentary Aqua reported that if all goes well, the fabulous four Aquarians plan to released the Greatest Hits in June or July. A new Aqua site is planned to be popping up as well.

Musical style

Aqua was musically influenced by the eurodance genre that was popular in Europe, Oceania and South America in the 1990s. The style of eurodance was dance music with a female singer and a male rapper. Often would the lyrics be meaningless and not follow the pattern of a traditional pop song. This however was what Aqua changed. Influenced by the recent wave of bubblegum pop started by the Spice Girls, Aqua followed a more traditional verse-chorus structure. Usually, the verse would consist of Lene starting and finishing, while René would sing in the middle. The chorus was mostly song by Lene. René would sometimes sing a few words, but that was it. Because of the traditional pop structure on top of the eurodance inspiration, Aqua is considered doing bubblegum dance-pop and more than eurodance.

Trivia

• In 1994, before the four members of Aqua formed as Joyspeed, René Dif was part of a duo called Factual Beat. The duo consisted of Dif and a young DJ Aligator. René was essentially the rapper of the duo, and this is most likely where the idea of him rapping for Joyspeed and later Aqua came from. Factual Beat had one album before René began to concentrate on Joyspeed, and Aligator began to concentrate on his own solo career.

• A parody of "Barbie Girl" entitled "Ugly Girl" was released in the 1990s. It has often been misattributed to the popular parodist Weird Al Yankovic.^[3]

• Although Lene was discovered by René on a cruise ship, she had previously had a few minutes of fame on Norwegian television, performing a song called "Almaz".

• Shortly before Aquarius was released, Aqua performed a song called "Here Comes The Birds" on tour. The song was expected to be one of the key songs on the album, but for unknown reasons was not included. A live performance of the song is available online in low quality, but the version which Aqua presumably recorded for use on the album has never been released to the public.

• Aqua is often wrongly credited with creating the songs "Tarzan and Jane", "Best Friend" and "Butterfly". The three songs were not, however, recorded by Aqua; the first two are by Toy-Box, an Aquaesque group who released them in the late 1990s on their debut album. "Butterfly," made famous from its appearance in Dance Dance Revolution, is by Smile.dk.

• Barbie Young released a cover of "Cartoon Heroes" which appears in the popular dancing game "Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME"

• Popular American punk band Tsunami Bomb released a cover of "Barbie Girl"

• Aqua performed during the interval at the 2001 Eurovision Song Contest held in Denmark.

• Aqua's success was so big that it could be seen in the Danish GDP for 1998.

Other

• "Didn't I" (1998) - Song released as a non-single
• The Aqua Diary (1998) - A VHS release of Aqua's story up until December 1998
• Aquarium Bubble Mix (1998) - Remix album of songs from Aquarium
• Aqua Mania Vol. 1 (1998) - Remix album of songs from Aquarius
• Remix SuperBest (2002) - Remix album of songs from both Aquarium and Aquarius
• Aqua Video Collection (2002) - Released as a VHS and DVD, it has all of Aqua's music videos except We Belong To The Sea
• Cartoon Heroes: The Best of Aqua (2002) - Compilation CD released in Japan including the most successful hits of Aqua and a remix of Cartoon Heores

Music samples

Notes

1. ↑  René Dif's official website - look under bio.
2. ↑  AllMusic.com - a total running time of 40:38 divided by 11 tracks gives 3:43 on average.
3. ↑  The Not Al Page - "Ugly Girl" listed as a track made by an unknown artist.

• Aqua: The Official Book by Jacqui Swift
• The Aqua Diary, a 1998 VHS release
• René Dif's official website
• The Official Single/Album Charts of the UK, US, Japan, Australia, Denmark and various other countries
• Lazyboy's official website
• http://www.lenemusic.com Lene Nystrøm Rasted's official website doesn't exist anymore...
• Aqua's official website (no longer updated)

Related Artist

• Ace of Base
• ATC
• Bambee
• D.H.T.
• DJ Aligator
• Fatboy Slim
• La Bouche
• Le Click
• O-Zone
• Smile.dk
• S.O.A.P.
• Technotronic
• Toy-Box
• Utada Hikaru
• Venga Boys
• Yuzo Koshiro