--- title: Ace of Base Has a Teenage Cover Band Called A*Base description: Just like the A*Teens, A*Base are bringing the songs of Sweden's pop past to a new generation — here's why it may not work canonical: https://time.com/3582071/ace-of-base-a-base-a-teens-abba/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-12T22:46:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:23:58.936Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: There's Now a Teenage Ace of Base Tribute Band og:description: A*Base is to Ace of Base as the A*Teens were to ABBA og:url: https://time.com/3582071/ace-of-base-a-base-a-teens-abba/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4afc72d5e8cda19c/6987687555a859c699a84104/abase-ace-of-base.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: abase-ace-of-base og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: There's Now a Teenage Ace of Base Tribute Band twitter:description: A*Base is to Ace of Base as the A*Teens were to ABBA twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4afc72d5e8cda19c/6987687555a859c699a84104/abase-ace-of-base.jpg?branch=production&width=1920&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # It's a Beautiful Life: There's Now a Teenage Ace of Base Tribute Band > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 12, 2014 10:46 PM UTC  A\*Base A\*Base  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Nov 12, 2014 10:46 PM UTC Sweden is the global epicenter for great pop music — this is a country that puts Robyn and superstar producer Max Martin on its _postage_ — but even the nation that brought us Roxette and the Cardigans runs out of ideas sometimes. (Just like America). Almost 15 years after the A\*Teens released their dance-pop ABBA covers album, _The ABBA Generation_, a different co-ed quartet has assembled to pay tribute to another of Sweden’s greats: Ace of Base, meet A\*Base. On Friday, A\*Base will release their first single, a cover of Ace of Base’s reggae-lite outsiders anthem “Never Gonna Say I’m Sorry.” It’s a slick, clean and very faithful update of the 1995 song that never got as much attention as “All That She Wants” or “The Sign,” which is why the initial preview is disappointing — if A\*Base’s predecessors are any indication, becoming more than a just a footnote on the Swede-pop Wikipedia page of history requires reinterpretations, not just replicas. When the A\*Teens made their debut so many years ago, the concept was cute — aw, look, parents can bond with their tweens over the songs of their college days! — but it didn’t exactly hold up upon closer examination. There were two girls and two boys, just like the real ABBA, but these guys didn’t sing (at first) or help out with songwriting (because the songs were covers), so they just lipsynched and worked their way through cheesy choreography like a pair of props in the early days. The album didn’t get great reviews, either, with critics, even the ones that took it seriously, taking issue with the song selection (_The ABBA Generation_ only scratched the surface of ABBA’s discography) and widely asserting that the project could never top the originals. That wasn’t the point, though, at least on artistic grounds; like Hollywood’s obsession with sequels, [money, money, money](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETxmCCsMoD0) likely has plenty to do with the formation of these pre-fab pop groups. What made the A\*Teens a worthy project was how the songs pushed and pulled the conventions of ABBA’s vintage sound to show just how well the songwriting could hold up over time. That “Mamma Mia” could work as a high-energy dance track (or, later, that Madonna could sample “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” in 2005’s “Hung Up”) was a testament to Benny and Björn, even if the newer incarnations struck purists as blasphemous. At times, the covers brought out elements of the songs that go less noticed under the original more subtle production. There’s a frantic energy in the A\*Teens’ “Take a Chance on Me” that only emphasizes the song’s desperation. There’s a shinier optimism in their “Super Trouper” that contrasts the weariness of Agnetha and Frida dealing with the emotional toll of life on the road. The bells and whistles of the A\*Teens sound (which, frankly, often sounded like Ace of Base covering ABBA themselves) gave songs like “S.O.S” the room to grow into the massive, melodramatic pop hooks they always were — but they also made the quieter and more reflective melancholy of the originals (of songs like “One of Us”) all the more appreciable. Making Ace of Base relevant in 2014 is an understandable challenge. The band’s own recent comeback record performed poorly, and their lineup changes saw two new vocalists come and go like Destiny’s Child castaways. That’s not to say there’s no room for souped-up Ace of Base sounds in today’s pop climate, either: Katy Perry, Robyn and Tegan and Sara have said they’ve been inspired by Ace of Base on recent records, and Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” certainly recalls the band’s “Don’t Turn Around.” At least they put their own spin on the works that influenced them. Where a covers act like this offers the most value is in those differences — the ones that put young listeners on the road to maybe one day becoming ABBA fans themselves. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3582071/ace-of-base-a-base-a-teens-abba/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3582071/ace-of-base-a-base-a-teens-abba/"},"headline":"It's a Beautiful Life: There's Now a Teenage Ace of Base Tribute Band","datePublished":"2014-11-12T22:46:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:23:58.936Z","description":"Just like the A*Teens, A*Base are bringing the songs of Sweden's pop past to a new generation. 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