Cruel Summer as a "collection of syncopation and radio-friendly melodies." Paul Verna of Billboard Magazine described the album as "a record of surprising freshness." Gary Shipes from The Stuart News also favorably compared the album to works of ABBA, and described "Everytime it Rains" as a "gorgeous ballad" that "oozes maturity and confidence". In a review for Flowers, Jose F. Promis of AllMusic stated that the track "Donnie" was in a superior form on Cruel Summer, noting that the track was "somewhat under-produced and unrealized on Flowers but truly shines on Cruel Summer." He also noted that the overall production on Cruel Summer was "meatier than on Flowers." Fred Bronson of Billboard Magazine ranked the album number one in the 1998 "the year in music" critics' poll. He preferred Cruel Summer to Flowers, stating "credit Clive Davis for transforming the original release into one of the greatest pop albums of all time." In contrast, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic was more critical in his review, comparing the album to The Sign and The Bridge. Despite calling the title track a "melodic high point", he stated that the album failed "to rival their previous pop pinnacles" and that the album sounded "a little too similar its predecessors". "Donnie", "Always Have, Always Will", and the Love to Infinity mix of "Travel to Romantis" were listed as track picks for the album. Commercial performance Despite spawning a top-ten single, the album was not successful. It peaked at number 101 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, dropping off the charts ten weeks after its release. People Magazine reported in December 1998 that only 122,000 copies of the Cruel Summer album had sold, while the Flowers album had received a platinum certification in Switzerland, gold certifications in Denmark and Sweden, and a silver certification in the United Kingdom. Cruel Summer was more successful in Canada, where it peaked at number 23 and was certified gold. Track listing Notes signifies an additional producer signifies pre-production Personnel Credits adapted from AllMusic. Borje "Buller Bang" – Percussion Delgado – Keyboards, Programming, Producer Sasha – Bass Per Adebratt – Keyboards, Programming John Amatiello – Keyboards, Programming, Engineer Andy – Remixing John Ballard – backing vocals, Vocal Arrangement Ulf Bandgren – Guitar Bas-Berra – Bass Joe Belmaati – Arranger, Keyboards, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Mixing Jenny Berggren – Vocals, backing vocals Jonas "Joker" Berggren – Keyboards, Programming, Engineer, Vocoder Linn Berggren