The Cardigans hit the big time a few years back with the song 'Lovefool' from Baz Luhrmann's 'Romeo And Juliet' film.
This was after they had released one album 'Life' which was very kitsch and sixties in sound.Their second album 'First Band On The Moon' was also very kitsch and retro but it showed a dark side to the Cardigans on songs such as 'Been It' and a bizarre reinterpretation of Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man'.
Next album 'Gran Turismo' yielded the hits 'Erase/Rewind' and 'Favourite Game' both modern pop masterpieces but overall the album was disappointing as it tried too hard to be the opposite of the first two albums.Too many synthesisers -not enough soul.
Nina Persson (the stunning lead singer with the lovely voice) took a long break after Gran Turismo to explore other forms of music and released the album 'A Camp' under the same moniker.Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse was heavily involved and the album was very lo-fi/alt country with a very weird 'ghostly' quality to it.It was an excellent album as it really showcased the power of Nina Persson's voice on slower numbers that were now devoid of kitsch orchestration or synthesisers.

The Cardigans went into the studio to record their latest album and Peter Svennson was not happy with the results and shelved the whole album.He felt that the new album had been rushed.
Instead the band regrouped for a major rethink and the result was 'Long Gone Before Daylight'.It was the best decision that Svennson ever made.When the album was released it clearly showed a major maturity in the songwriting and also the songs did justice to Nina Persson's wonderful voice.

The album doesn't really have a bad track to speak of.I particularly love 'Then He Kissed Me' a wonderful statement about a modern relationship with it's metaphor of love as violence (whether real or imagined, I don't know).
This is an album for listening to on your own as all the songs are extremely powerful.Persson is now showing what a powerful lead vocalist that she is on all of these songs.
The album is a stunning revelation.

With 'Long Gone Before Daylight" Sweden's Cardigans have finally made a mature, intimate, and dark album. It's hard to say why they chose the pedestrian country-rock backing that they did, but you know what? It works and it works well. Perhaps by stripping their songs of the usual quirky keyboards and extraneous instrumentation they finally found their biggest stregnth- the lyrics and vocals of front woman Nina Persson. On these songs she doesn't sing with the 'I've seen it all' weariness typical of most country tunes. She sings it with a mixture of tenderness, knowingness, and innocence- even lyrics with a darker undertow, such as the "blue, blue black and blue" bridge of "Then You Kissed Me", easily the album's best track. Elsewhere, she tells her doomed lover "c'mon let's drown" in the quiet, haunting "Feathers and Down."
Thus far, many critics have slammed this for being too produced or too bland. Sure, this album is more produced than their previous works, but that certainly does not take away from the stregnth of the songs or the arrangements. And yes, this record may sound derivitave upon first listen, but what the Cardigans have done is made confessional pop songs that actually require your attention. Their sound was always thus- they have never been (and probably never will be) sonic innovators. As 'Long Gone Before Daylight' proves, they have a gift for writing little songs that you'll surely remember long after the fact.
It seems that the Cardigans have great things on the horizon- and what a lonely one it is.

I absolutely love this album. I'm a long time Cardigans fan and I had been anxiously awaiting another album ever since Gran Turismo. I really didn't know what to expect from this one, since The Cardigans have developed somewhat of a reputation for changing styles. From the kitsch-pop sound of Emmerdale/Life and First Band on the Moon...to the dark, cold, electronic sounds of Gran Turismo...and now Long Gone Before Daylight.

It's so beautifully done. Their sound has changed in every way...the instruments are more organic, and Nina Persson's voice has gone from the syrupy sweet, high pitched thing we heard on Lovefool to something much deeper and sexier, reminiscent of a lounge singer. The lyrics are even more impressive than the sound. Nina really pours her heart into this one...from the vividly descriptive "You're the Storm", to the hauntingly fantastic "Couldn't Care Less" and "Feathers & Down".

This album is amazing from start to finish. You'll love it more and more each time you listen to it.

If The Cardigans were a mainstream group, this CD would probably have won album and artist of the year. The stripped down pieces toward the end of the CD is as good as anything you will ever hear in this kind of catagory of music. Songs like No Sleep, Couldnt Care Less, If There Is A Chance, as well as: Communication, Lead Me Into The Light, etc. The more uptempo songs are ALSO quite good! These songs are beautifully crafted and written, the lyrics are thought proving and mature, the arrangements are very impressive, the production superb. The bands back up work is tremendous, even the fine details (guitar pieces, drums, etc all work together to create a real mood here). The songs reach out and grab you and dont let go. These are some of the best pop songs I have heard in a very long time. What a long way to come from the Life CD, which to me was like Oblivious Happy Pop Music. When they made the BIG TURN on Grand Turismo, I started to hear a potential I didnt really expect. But rarely does a band make a transition like this on Long Gone Before Daylight. Everyone involved in this project deserves a great amount of credit! A++++

This is by far the best disk I bought in 2004 !!!!

Forget the band that did "Lovefool". They ceased to exist the second they put out 'Gran Turismo'. Now The Cardigans have come even further w/'Long Gone Before Daylight'.

Lyrics are somewhat intense, not always happy ("And Then You Kissed Me"), but they are not that immensely bleak either as some reviews have inferred. The lyrics are smart and creative ("You should know that love will never die - but see how it kills you in the blink of an eye) and usually packed w/emotion. You can't get that from an American band usually - let alone one from Sweden who writes and sings in English.

Musically the band is hard to categorize. Certainly not pop (though "For What It's Worth" and "Live and Learn" have pop sensibilities). Not quite rock, though the guitar work on "A Good Horse" would qualify. (Can they be 'Americana' if they're not from America?) Unfortunately, this album is nothing that will get played on mainstream radio. Probably not even on alternative radio. And that is a frickin' shame.

The first eight tracks are the stand-outs (along w/tracks 10 and 14) and are rated 5-stars. But highlights (for me) are "Please Sister", "A Good Horse", "Communication" (which could easily be about g-d as it could a boyfriend) & "Live and Learn" - but the other tracks are solid...and actually grow on you as time goes on ("If There's a Chance" "3:45 No Sleep").

A song not included on the non-U.S. versions ("For the Boys") is pretty good, but it is an add-on and you see how it kind of messes up the sequencing. "If There's A Chance" is a good closer, but the bonus song throws that out of whack a bit.

Usually the bonus disks that have been packaged w/newer releases are worthless. Though I won't got back to the DVD of videos, interviews and (good!) live performances often (if ever), they are at least better than most.

Get it. It's a keeper.