Vilja Bli (Wanting to Become) is the debut studio album by Swedish singer Oskar Linnros after leaving the group Snook. The album was released on June 9, 2010, in Sweden. So far four singles have been released, "Ack, Sundbyberg", "Från och med Du", "25" and "Genom eld". The entire album was written, played and produced by Oskar Linnros.[1]
| Vilja Bli | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by | |
| Released | June 9, 2010 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 34:28 |
| Label | Universal |
| Producer | Oskar Linnros |
| Singles from Vilja bli | |
| |
Reception
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Aftonbladet |   link |
| Dagens Nyheter | link |
| Göteborgs-Posten | link |
| Sydsvenskan | link |
| Expressen | link |
Initial response to Vilja bli was positive. The album received positive reviews[2][3] and music journalist Jan Gradvall wrote that the album "is one of the most complete and hit-filled Swedish debut albums I have heard".[4] He also compared Linnros' songwriting abilities to those of Tomas Ledin, Magnus Uggla and Björn Skifs, artists that all were popular in Scandinavia during the late 80s and early 90s. At the Swedish website Kritiker.se, similar to Metacritic, the album received an average score of 3,7 out of 5 possible, based on 24 reviews.[5] On September 1, 2010, Linnros won two Rockbjörnen awards, one for the album featured song "Från och med Du" in the category "Swedish Song of the Year", and one in the category "Breakthrough of the Year".[6]
Music
editThe sound of the album was compared to Swedish artists such as Mauro Scocco, Orup and Peter LeMarc. In fact, Linnros mentions Al Green as an influence, taking a musical aim at the mid-70s with happy melodies and lyrics about agonizing relationships.[7] Unhappiness is pointed out as the consistent theme of the album. Other musical influences are Hall & Oates, Led Zeppelin and soul music in general. Linnros also mentions heavy Swedish drama films as an inspiration to the album, including the works of the Swedish director Björn Runge.[8]
Album cover
editThe album cover features Linnros sitting down topless covered in black paint. Linnros himself said that they were looking for album cover ideas for almost a year to find the right expression and that he chose to be topless on the cover because it said most about the music and because it felt honest and personal.[9] The color black was chosen simply because it was neat. He also said that there were at least as much work preparing all the visuals surrounding the album in the form of artwork, trailers and preparing for live performances as it had been with the music.[10]
Track listing
editAll tracks written by Oskar Linnros, except for "Genom eld", which was co-written by Magnus Lidehäll and Robert Elovsson, and "Från och med Du", which was co-written by Christian Olsson.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Genom eld" (Through Fire) | 4:21 |
| 2. | "25" | 3:48 |
| 3. | "Från och med du" (From You On) | 3:13 |
| 4. | "Ballad från en loftsäng" (Ballad from a Loft Bed) | 1:12 |
| 5. | "Debut" | 4:56 |
| 6. | "Kaffe/Cigg" (Coffee/Cigs) | 0:59 |
| 7. | "Din mamma" (Your Mom) | 4:26 |
| 8. | "Växande molnighet" (Growing Cloudiness) | 0:37 |
| 9. | "Annie Hall" | 2:52 |
| 10. | "Ack, Sundbyberg" (Alas, Sundbyberg) | 3:55 |
| 11. | "Ulla och Åke" (Ulla and Åke) | 3:58 |
Charts and certifications
editNotes
edit- ^ Universal Music 2010.
- ^ Dagens Nyheter 2010.
- ^ Aftonbladet 2010a.
- ^ Gradvall.se 2010.
- ^ Kritiker.se 2010.
- ^ Aftonbladet 2010b.
- ^ Aftonbladet 2010c.
- ^ YouTube 2010.
- ^ Café 2010.
- ^ Musiknyheter 2010.
- ^ "Vilja bli - swedish charts" (in Swedish). swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2010-11-02.
- ^ "Årslista Album, 2022" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
- ^ "Veckolista Album, vecka 24" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
References
edit- "Oskar Linnros #1 på iTunes!". Universal Music. 14 May 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- "Oskar Linnros: "Vilja bli"". Dagens Nyheter. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on August 19, 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- "Oskar Linnros – 10-talets Orup". Aftonbladet. 3 June 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- Gradvall, Jan (11 June 2010). "Skivrecensioner, DI Weekend". Gradvall.se. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
- "Oskar Linnros: "Vilja Bli"". Kritiker.se. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- "Oskar Linnros blev Rockbjörnens kung". Aftonbladet. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
- "Jag vill träffa en bra tjej". Aftonbladet. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
- Hopf, Hannes (Interviewer) (2010-07-04). Intervju: Oskar Linnros (Podcast). Sweden. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21.
- "Hiphop handlar om att sälja läsk och vitaminvatten". Café. 25 August 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
- "Ny albumtrailer från Oskar Linnros". Café. 2 June 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2010.