"Ride the Bullet" is a song recorded by Swedish

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

group

Army of Lovers Army of Lovers is a Swedish dance-pop group which formed in 1987 and had a number of hits in Europe throughout the 1990s. Some of their biggest successes include the song "Crucified", which was a big hit in Europe, charting 31 weeks in the Eu ...

. It is written by group members

Alexander Bard Alexander Bengt Magnus Bard (born 17 March 1961) is a Swedish musician, author, lecturer, artist, songwriter, music producer, TV personality, religious and political activist, and one of the founders of the Syntheism, Syntheist religious movement ...

Jean-Pierre Barda Michel Jean-Pierre Barda (; born 7 March 1965) is a Swedish and Israeli singer, actor, make up artist and hair dresser of French/Algerian Jewish descent. He is one of the founding members of the pop group Army of Lovers. Biography Jean-Pier ...

and

Camilla Henemark Camilla Maria Henemark (born 23 October 1964), also known as La Camilla, is a Swedish singer, actress, political spokesperson, and former fashion model. Biography Henemark was born in Stockholm, to a Nigerian father and a Swedish mother. She s ...

with Emil Hellman and

Anders Wollbeck Anders Wilhelm Axel Wollbeck (born 10 February 1958 in Stockholm) is a Swedish songwriter and producer. He plays the guitar and Keyboard instrument, keyboard. He is part of the songwriting and production duo Vacuum (band), Vacuum together with Ma ...

, and was originally released on their debut album, ''

Disco Extravaganza ''Disco Extravaganza'' is the debut studio album by Swedish pop group Army of Lovers, released in 1990. In the US, the album was simply titled ''Army of Lovers'' and was released there the following year. A remastered version of the album was rele ...

'' (1990). In 1991, the song was remixed and included on the group's second album, ''

Massive Luxury Overdose ''Massive Luxury Overdose'' is the second studio album by Swedish pop group Army of Lovers. It was originally released in 1991, and a reissue of the album with altered track listing was released in 1992. It contains the band's biggest hits, inclu ...

'' (1991), and the US release of ''Disco Extravaganza'' titled ''Army of Lovers''. A single was released both times; in 1990 and 1992. And both years, a music video was produced, directed by Fredrik Boklund. The 1990 release features vocals by

La Camilla Camilla Maria Henemark (born 23 October 1964), also known as La Camilla, is a Swedes, Swedish singer, actress, political spokesperson, and former fashion model. Biography Henemark was born in Stockholm, to a Nigerian father and a Swedish mother ...

, but in the 1992 remix she was replaced by

De La Cour De la Cour is a French-language surname, meaning "of the court". The alternative forms Delacour and Delacourt were used by a Huguenot refugee who settled in Portarlington, County Laois, as well as his descendants who later moved to County Cork and t ...

after Camilla left the group in 1991. The 1992 remix of "Ride the Bullet" peaked at number one in Israel, number four in Austria and Finland, and number nine in Greece.

Chart performance

"Ride the Bullet" was a major hit on the charts in Europe, entering the top 10 in Austria (4), Finland (4) and Greece (9). Additionally, the song was a top 20 hit in Belgium (12), while peaking within the top 30 in Germany (22). In the Netherlands (34), Switzerland (40) and Sweden (32), it reached the top 40, as well as on the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, where it peaked at number 40 in May 1992. On the

European Dance Radio Chart The European Dance Radio Chart (also known as European Dance Radio Top 25) was a weekly chart compiled by pan-European magazine ''Music & Media''. After dance music had played a more dominant role on the magazine's Eurochart Hot 100 in the beginni ...

, it reached number 24. In the United Kingdom, "Ride the Bullet" was a top 70 hit, peaking at number 67 in its first week at the UK Singles Chart, on April 12, 1992. Outside Europe, the song was a number-one hit for one week in Israel in May 1992.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

editor Ned Raggett noted that "Ride the Bullet" "fuses

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

's pulse and sheen and the all-important string swirls, as

he track He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter call ...

merrily shows".

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' called it a "festive

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

anthem". Ken Capobianco from ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' felt that "its neverything-but-the-kitchen sink mix and it develops an intoxicating groove". Bevan Hannah from ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in 1 ...

'' declared it as "high energy" and "very catchy". Swedish ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' complimented it as "great". A reviewer from ''

Liverpool Echo The ''Liverpool Echo'' is a newspaper published by Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales – a subsidiary company of Reach plc and is based in St. Paul's Square, Liverpool, England. It is published Monday through Sunday, and is Liverpool's da ...

'' wrote, "Not quite as camp as "

Crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...

", this new single concentrates on an almost straightforward

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

style". Paul Lester from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' said, "This is far less hamstrung by ham and hamped by camp than Army of Lovers' last hit, sensibly placing the emphasis on the dazzling disco dynamism of the project". Rick Harmon from ''

Montgomery Advertiser The ''Montgomery Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper and news website located in Montgomery, Alabama. It was founded in 1829. History The newspaper began publication in 1829 as ''The Planter's Gazette.'' Its first editor was Moseley Baker. It be ...

'' felt it is "music that sounds not only as if it was played by machine, but created by it". British magazine ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

'' stated that the 1992 version is "sounding fashionably retro". Johnny Dee from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' gave it five out of five, commenting, "A

Technicolor Technicolor is a family of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes. The first version, Process 1, was introduced in 1916, and improved versions followed over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black-and ...

disco wonderland of a record that'll make the charts a sunnier place if it's a hit. Above all, Sweden's most excellent pop tarts are totally top because they look like

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

characters, realise pop music's a funny old thing and want the whole world to join their "

love train "Love Train" is a hit single by the O'Jays, written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Released in 1972, it reached No. 1 on both the R&B Singles and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in February and March 1973 respectively, and No. 9 on the UK Singles C ...

." Tom Maurstad from ''

Spartanburg Herald-Journal The ''Spartanburg Herald-Journal'' is a daily newspaper, the primary newspaper for Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. History The origins of the paper lie with ''The Spartan'', a weekly paper reportedly first printed in about 1842� ...

'' said "there is a giddy extravangance to the way the group parades its sources and influences" and noted "the

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

's- Last Dance-meets-the-

O'Jays The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canton, Ohio, formed in summer 1958 and originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles. The O'Jays made their first chart appearance with the m ...

-Love Train pulsations".

Music video

There were produced two different

music videos A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for the song, one with

in 1990 and one with De La Cour in 1992. Both were directed by Swedish director Fredrik Boklund. He also directed the other videos for Army of Lovers. Version 1 and 2 were later published on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in 2016, and by May 2023, they had generated more than 48,000 and 344,000 views.

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1990 singles 1992 singles Army of Lovers songs English-language Swedish songs Songs written by Alexander Bard 1990 songs Number-one singles in Israel Songs written by Anders Wollbeck Music videos directed by Fredrik Boklund Songs written by Jean-Pierre Barda