Aquarium is the debut studio album by Danish band Aqua, released on 26 March 1997. The album is best known for including the globally successful single "Barbie Girl", which went on to become a widely recognizable hit around the world, as well as the popular track “Lollipop (Candyman)”. The album also featured the songs "Doctor Jones" and "Turn Back Time". In early 1997, the release of Aquarium was initially preceded by the singles "Roses Are Red" and "My Oh My", which was released a second time in 1998.

The album's third (and most popular) single, "Barbie Girl", brought the group to international attention after reaching number one across Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, among other territories. The song later peaked at number 7 in the United States, at the end of 1997. Its success helped the album reach number one in both the group's home countries, and make the top 10 in the UK and US. While not selling as highly as "Barbie Girl", the album's fourth single, "Doctor Jones", was released in late 1997 and became a number one hit in Australia and the UK. "Turn Back Time" would later give the group their third consecutive number-one single in the UK, despite reaching only number 16 in their native Denmark. The record's final single, "Good Morning Sunshine", was notably more low-key than the band's previous dance-pop, uptempo releases; the song failed to chart highly, only being released in select regions and, like the earlier "Lollipop (Candyman)", was the group's third and final song to chart in the US. The album has sold 14 million copies worldwide.

Chart performance Aquarium debuted at number one in Denmark. As of August 2001, the album had sold 430,000 copies in Denmark. It is the third best-selling album in Denmark to date, only beaten by Danish recording artist Kim Larsen's 1983 album Midt om natten and his 1986 album Forklædt som voksen. The album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, and later peaked at number seven. It would spend a total of 50 weeks on the album sales chart, and sold 1.7 million copies in 1997. On 4 March 1999, the album was certified three times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of three million units, becoming the most successful Eurodance album in the US since Ace of Base's The Sign (1993). Aquarium has been certified four times platinum by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) for shipments of four million copies inside Europe.

Track listings

Personnel

Per Adebratt – producer, arrangement, mixing Bee – backing vocals Marian Binderup – backing vocals Mogens Binderup – backing vocals Vivian Cardinal – backing vocals Douglas Carr – guitar Delgado – producer, vocal producer, arrangement, mixing René Dif – songwriter, lead vocals Tommy Ekman – producer, arrangement, mixing Björn Engelmann – mastering

Peter Hartmann – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing Claus Hvass – guitar Johnny Jam – producer, vocal producer, arrangement, mixing Kati – backing vocals Jan Langhoff – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing, guitar Claus Norreen – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing, instruments Lene Nystrøm – songwriter, lead and backing vocals Søren Rasted – songwriter, producer, arrangement, mixing, instruments, backing vocals Anders Øland – songwriter

Credits adapted from album liner notes.

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Aquarium Chart (1997–1998) PeakpositionDanish Albums (Hitlisten)1European Albums (Top 100)3Irish Albums (IRMA)6Italian Albums (FIMI)1Japanese Albums (Oricon)41Malaysian Albums (RIM)3Portuguese Albums (AFP)5Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)3Taiwanese International Albums (IFPI)1

Year-end charts +1997 year-end chart performance for AquariumChart (1997)PositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)43Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)35Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)76 Canadian Albums (SoundScan) 6 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 1Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)63European Albums (Top 100)22New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)27 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)1Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)1UK Albums (OCC)79US Billboard 20074 +1998 year-end chart performance for AquariumChart (1998)PositionAustralian Albums (ARIA)2Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)20Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)15Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)17Canadian Albums (RPM)5Canadian Albums (SoundScan) 8 Danish Albums (Hitlisten) 15Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)29European Albums (Top 100)5French Albums (SNEP)34German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)19New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)15Swedish Albums & Compilations (Sverigetopplistan)17Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)15UK Albums (OCC)36US Billboard 20036

Certifications and sales

Release history +Release formats for Aquarium Country DateFormat Label Denmark 26 March 1997CD MCAUniversal Norway May 1997 Sweden Netherlands 1 September 1997Universal United States 9 September 1997 Europe22 April 2017 LP

References