Pitkä ihana leikki

The cover artwork shows only a bit obscure picture of a face of a woman approximately at the age between 20 and 30 with short, apparently black hair. The smiling face with closed mouth, turned half-way to the left, and the woman's right hand in a fist placed to support her jaw, are exposed to greenish, white light. Due to the angle of the face, the woman's right eye is not visible. On the right side of the picture is a dark space with the vertical, bottom-to-the-top capital script which reads "Maija Vilkkumaa" on the upper row and "Pitkä ihana leikki" on the lower row, with both rows written in capital letters.

Studio album by Maija Vilkkumaa

Released

August 23, 1999
May 22, 2000 (Peltipainos)

Genre

Pop rock

Length

44:27

Label

Warner Music Finland

Maija Vilkkumaa chronology

Pitkä ihana leikki
(1999)

Meikit, ketjut ja vyöt
(2001)

Alternative cover

The cover artwork shows only a bit obscure picture of the face and the upper chest and shoulders of a woman approximately at the age between 20 and 30 with short, black hair up to her ears, with the picture ending at her upper forehead. The picture shows the tip of her left shoulder, but now her right shoulder. Her neutral face with a closed mouth is exposed directly to the camera and to greenish, white light. She wears black eye shadow and something resembling to a black trimmings vest and a barely visible necklace with white jewelry on the thin string. The background behind her is obscurely dark with white-blue and white-green shades. On the right side of the picture next to the woman's forehead is the capital script which reads "maija" with white, minuscule letters on the upper row and "vilkkumaa" with blue, minuscule letters on the lower row. On the woman's chest is placed the other capital script which reads "pitkä ihana leikki" with minuscule dark letters on the upper row and "PELTIPAINOS" with capital dark-green letters on the lower row, with "PELTIPAINOS" placed under "leikki" and the letters n and a of "ihana".

Cover for the 2000 edition
Pitkä ihana leikki – peltipainos

Singles from Pitkä ihana leikki

"Satumaa-tango"
"Salaa"
"Auringonpimennys"
"Hiuksissa hiekkaa"
"Tähti"

Pitkä ihana leikki (in English: Long Sweet Game) is the debut album by Finnish pop rock singer-songwriter Maija Vilkkumaa, released by Warner Music in Finland in August 23, 1999. The songs are written and composed by Vilkkumaa.

Considered as a fresh new release on the Finnish pop rock scene by music critics, Pitkä ihana leikki was favorably critiqued for its imaginative lyrical content for which Vilkkumaa, according to her, partially got the inspiration from the 1980s Finnish rock band Dingo. The album debuted at number 12 on the Finnish Albums Chart, peaking third the next week, then going variably down spending there 29 weeks.Pitkä ihana leikki has sold over 38,000 copies to date in Finland, which has granted it a gold certification. In 2000, Vilkkumaa re-released the album under the title Pitkä ihana leikki – peltipainos ("Sheet Metal Edition"), with one extra song, "Peltirumpu".

Five singles were released from the album.

Pitkä ihana leikki was well received by music critics that thought it fulfilled the expectations set by its lead single "Satumaa-tango" played in early 1999. On the August 1999 volume of Finnish rock magazine Soundi, Jorma Jortikka gave the album four out of five stars, complimenting the album for "inventive melodies and perceptive lyrics", though recognizing "a few clumsy metaphores". He praised Pitkä ihana leikki for its "credibility", "overwhelming cheerfulness" and lack of aspirations for being overly artistic.

Likewise, Roope Lehtinen from City magazine gave the album four out of five stars. Noting the album's "strong lean on Dingo's tradition", Lehtinen praised the structures of the songs for "sense of drama", "catchy choruses" and "schlager-ish suppleness". Differing from Dingo's "metaphorical mazes", the lyrics are "sensible and brisk". Furthermore, Lehtinen credits the album for "outstanding self-irony" and "themes and narrators changing throughout the album" that make it stand out from average Finnish "self-centered" pop. However, he notes the album's own one-size-fits-all nature that manages to "please all listeners". Summing up the downsides of the "well-produced" record, he considers "Timantti" and "Salaa" "idle" and "Vähän ennen" too dance-ish.

...
Wikipedia