Vacuum group: composition, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Swedish group Vacuum ("Vacuum") is, of course, an incredibly popular project of the 90s of the last century, which conquered not only Europe, but all post-Soviet countries. An attractive androgenic soloist, unusual music and unhackneyed lyrics - all this favorably distinguished the group from many other bands, and its songs and videos invariably ended up at the top of the charts. Despite the fact that the 90s are long gone, the Vacuum group has changed its composition, style and sound, it still creates and pleases fans with new singles.

History of Creation

Back in 1994, Army of lovers band member Alexander Bard, as well as composer and producer Anders Wollbeck conceived a new project, the main feature of which would be instrumental electronic symphonic music. It was planned to call it Vacuum Cleaner, which would literally translate as "vacuum cleaner". But on reflection, the creators decided to leave only the first word for general harmony and progressiveness.

At the planning stage of the project, Bard and Wollbeck decided to addvocal parts and engaged in the squeak of a suitable soloist. The initial contender for this place was Vasa Big Money. And although this candidacy was ultimately abandoned, the performer later collaborated with the group as a songwriter. In 1996, Bard left the Army of lovers and came to grips with the implementation of a new project. Then he met Matthias Lindblum at one of the club concerts of the little-known band Ceycamore Leaves, in which he was the vocalist. Impressed by Matthias's voice, Bard invited him to his project, and a little later he invited the keyboard player, a Swede of Ukrainian origin, Maria Shipchenko, to the team. This is how the Vacuum group appeared (the photo of the group is presented below), which soon conquered the musical Olympus.

Rapid start

Already a few months after the formation of the team, namely in December 1996, the world heard their first creation. The single I breath instantly soared to the top of the European charts, and the video for this song became the best in the following year, which was very fruitful for the musicians.

Already in February 1997, the first album of the Vacuum group appeared on the shelves of music stores, which was called The Plutonium Cathedral. Against the backdrop of electronic pop sound, elements of symphonic music, an abundance of orchestral arrangements, as well as the operatic vocals of the soloist in some compositions, clearly stood out. All this favorably distinguished the new disc, so it is not at all surprising that it was a resounding success. After the release of the second single Pride In MyReligion group "Vacuum" went on their first European tour.

Recognition

Not resting on their laurels, the band continued to work hard and prepare material for the release of the second album. Already at the beginning of 1998, a completely new song and a video for it were released, which immediately became one of the leaders on MTV. Tonnes Of Attraction is another masterpiece created by Vacuum. The band even won the SEMA Swedish Electronic Music Award for it. The next track, Let The Mountain Come To Me, was also very warmly received, followed by the second tour, which included European countries, Russia and Ukraine.

Post-Soviet phenomenon

Swedish group "Vacuum" was extremely surprised by the fact of their incredible popularity in the territory of the former Soviet Union, because officially very few albums and singles were sold in Russia. Nevertheless, the band's performances were accompanied by an unprecedented full house. As it turned out, more than 90% of all Vacuum records sold in the post-Soviet countries, and these are millions of copies, were pirated products. In terms of commercial benefits, this situation was not in favor of the group, but thanks to the mass cheap musical production in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, if not everyone, then very many knew about the Swedish team, and the popularity of Vacuum was much higher here than even in Europe.

Recognizable

In the second album, the musicians wanted to change the sound a little, so that the main idea was perceived in a new way. For this reason, the releaseplates were put aside several times. But the album was still released in 1998 in its original version in Russia and Italy under the name Seance At The Chaebol. The first two studio versions were sustained in the classical spirit of "Vacuum": European pop music and at the same time the socio-political and religious themes of the songs. And although synth-pop is considered the main genre of the group, such a set was somewhat unusual for this musical direction.

The appearance also stood out - thanks to the efforts of the English designer, the Vacuum group was dressed in black minimalist leather suits, the musicians' nails were covered with black varnish, and their hairstyles were incredibly stylish. All this made the team recognizable, it was their "trick". The band's concerts weren't spectacular either, they were more static.

Black stripe

The ideological inspirer of the group, Alexander Bard, soon lost interest in his offspring and left the team in 1999, motivating his act with the desire to engage in literary activities and the new dance project Alcazar. Together with two invited session musicians, the Vacuum group played a tour of Russia, but something had to be done further. Left without Bard, and, accordingly, without new songs, Mattias teamed up with Wollbeck to write new material. In the same period, the record company Stockholm Records, with which there had already been a conflict since the release of the second album, terminated the contract with the group due to the lack of prospects for the team without Bard.

Vacuum's popularity in Eastern Europe was no longer profitable. In 1999, the band signed with a new company and released the mini-album Icaros. And in 2000, the second album, reissued and supplemented with new compositions, was released in Sweden from three different companies at once under the name Culture Of Night. But without good advertising, it turned out to be a failure, and the Vacuum group announced the temporary cessation of its existence. Marina Shipchenko left the project, citing the need to focus on her family and the art gallery, and a little later joined Bard in his new group - BWO.

Like a phoenix from the ashes

There was absolutely no news for two years. In Europe, but not in Russia, everyone has already begun to forget about the once successful team. However, in May 2002, a new single from an already seemingly forgotten project under the symbolic name Starting (Where the story ended) unexpectedly appeared in music stores. The Vacuum group, whose membership has been reduced to two people, Matthias Landblum and Andres Wollbeck, has indicated that it will now follow a completely new path. The music was updated, the image of the band changed, everything went to the fact that the audience would hear something new and unusual.

True, having returned to the roots, the musicians translated and supplemented the Culture Of Night album, releasing it in the Scandinavian countries. The parts of the former member Maria Shipchenko at concerts were now performed by a guitarist. The group also decided to change the theme of the songs, moving away from sociopolitics towards personalexperiences, which was perfectly demonstrated by two new singles in 2004 - Fools Like Me and They Do It. And already in September of the same year, the renewed team presented the album Your Whole Life Is Leading Up to This with electronic, trance and techno sound to the audience. Then, every year, the Vacuum group consistently delighted fans with a new track until the release of the supplemented album in Germany. Recently there have been rumors about a new record, but so far no confirmation from the musicians has been received.

Productive Union

The Vollbeck/Landblom creative tandem works not only for the benefit of their own group. Musicians write songs for many artists and bands, including such European artists as Tarja Turunen, Marcella Detroit, Cinema Bizarre and Monrose, and even Russian singer Alexei Vorobyov. Talented composers and pianist Michael Zlanabitnig also worked very fruitfully together, however, the result of their labors is available only on the Internet. In recent years, musicians often appear with concerts in Ukraine and participate in local talent shows.