''Europop'' is the debut album by

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

electronic group

Eiffel 65 Eiffel 65 is an Italian music group that was formed in 1997 in the studios of the Turin record company Bliss Corporation, consisting of Jeffrey Jey, Maurizio Lobina and Gabry Ponte. They gained global popularity with their singles " Blue (Da B ...

. The album was released in late 1999 as under Bliss Corporation and

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

and Republic Music (Universal and Republic would merge to

Universal Republic Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

). The album is most notable for the group's two biggest hits: " Blue (Da Ba Dee)" and " Move Your Body," which topped the charts worldwide in 2000.

Music

The title of ''Europop'' describes its genre; it combines several dance styles unique to European countries, such as the United Kingdom's

trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with " downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic fusion of hip hop and electronica with slow tem ...

, Germany's

techno Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...

, and Italy's dance music, and songs are structured like a typical pop song. The album follows a deep house template featuring vocoder vocal effects, synthesizer hooks, and "nursery rhyme choruses," with occasional deviations from it into string-orchestrated hip-hop ("Living in a Bubble") and "trippy" house stylings ("Now is Forever" and "Europop"). Elements of 1980s synthpop dominate, with reviews making comparisons to Depeche Mode (especially towards "Your Clown"),

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...

, A-ha, and Duran Duran.

Lyrics

Although some of its tracks are self-indulgent and facile, ''Europop'' generally incorporates

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

on deceptions and connections between humans. Explained Jey, "We like to speak of how things affect human beings without saying 'This is bad' or 'We want to drown everyone who does that.'" "Living in a Bubble"'s message is making sure what's real in "a place of lies and hype"; specifically, according to Jey, it is about how celebrities have people they encounter be unusually "friendly and openhearted right away" when popular, only for that to change when their fame decreases. The subject of "Silicon World" dreams of "a silicon girl with silicon lips and silicon hair" he'll never meet. "Too Much of Heaven" critiques societies' fixation on wealth and its effects on morality, while "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" is about someone where "everything is blue for him" due to a need to be heard. ''Europop'' features references to consumer technology. In "Hyperlink (Deep Down)", the subject displays lust through computer terminology like "a sexual browser" and "a hyperlink to go inside you," and a tribute to the PlayStation, "My Console," that references games such as ''

Resident Evil ''Resident Evil'', known in Japan as is a Japanese horror game series and media franchise created by Capcom. It consists of survival horror, third-person shooter and first-person shooter games, with players typically surviving in environments ...

'', ''

Tekken 3 is a fighting game, the third entry in the ''Tekken'' series. It was released to the arcades in 1997, before being ported for the PlayStation in 1998. The arcade version of the game was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 as part of ''Tekke ...

'' and '' Bloody Roar''. There are also songs about love and relationships, including the aforementioned "Silicon World" and "Hyperlink (Deep Down)" as well as "Your Clown," which depicts the subject trying to get out of an abusive love triangle caused by his girlfriend.

Sound

The album features pitch-corrected vocals and

Euro disco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is the variety of European forms of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the late 1970s, incorporating elements of pop and rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

beats throughout.

perform all the songs on this album in English.

Reception

Contemporaneous reviews from ''

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'', the ''

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'', and ''

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'' welcomed the humorous, light-weight dance-pop style of ''Europop'' in a pop music market saturated with mostly dour music, calling serious cuts such as "Your Clown" and "Now is Forever" the LP's weakest. Reviews from ''The Plain Dealer'' and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' also appreciated its rejection of intellectual pretentiousness common in electronic music. On the other hand, the album was criticized for a lack of differentiation (in composition and production techniques) between songs, with Promis writing its best moments came when it combined its template with different genres. In his review for ''

Courier News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presid ...

'', Tab Benoit called Eiffel 65 a "one-trick pony" for using the same vocal effect for all tracks. The album peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States, and the song "Blue (Da Ba Dee)" peaked at number six on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, impressive for an

EDM EDM or E-DM may refer to: Music * Electronic dance music * Early Day Miners, American band Science and technology * Electric dipole moment * Electrical discharge machining * Electronic distance measurement *Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...

song at the time of its release. In February 2000, the album was certified two-times

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Pla ...

by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of two million copies in the US.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

Eiffel 65's ''Europop'' in Amazon.com

Eiffel 65's ''Europop'' in MSN music

Eiffel 65's ''Europop'' in Rhapsody
{{Authority control 1999 debut albums Eiffel 65 albums Republic Records albums Universal Records albums