on 2011-03-31 hstisgod Said:

wow, literally wiping the digital dust off this one
Not Rated

on 2011-03-31 dscanland Said:

Seriously, Roxette was some of the catchiest radio pop ever to be crafted, and I'm not ashamed to say so. I actually saw Roxette live as well. I do like well crafted pop. And if you are into pop music, please, check out Robyn. She is one of the best pop craftsmen/women out there right now.
Not Rated

Review:

on 2011-03-31 CharlesMartel Said:

I always get the impression that I should not like this. But I do like this. At a time when music was becoming silly (the late eighties and early nineties were a very barren period in my view) along came this. Clearly drawn from the tradition of the new romantics but thankfully shorn of the stupid pretensions and dubious fashion sense, Roxette created here an album of pure pop pleasure.

There must be something in the water in Scandinavia because every so often one of the countries there comes out with some awe-inspiring pop - ABBA and A-Ha to name just two. Roxette were just the latest in a tradition which spread from the confines of the cold, frozen north and spread across the world. A heady mix of dance pop and new wave, Roxette finally made the grade with "Look Sharp!" which was all about how to have fun. It is not surprising that this album is so many peoples' personal guilty pleasure.

Of all the tracks, "Listen to Your Heart" is probably the best, a moody and melancholy number which never spills over into the maudlin. "Dressed for Success" is the most infectious pop song of the lot, and always brings a cheery smile to my face - in or out of the car. And yet there is really no rubbish on here, which is something which cannot always be said about a pop album. No filler, just some amazingly good catchy songs. OK this is not cerebral and doesn't require much effort, but it is enjoyable and enthusiastic pop and for that it deserves the accolades it gets. It is never going to feature in my personal top ten, but for what it is, it is well worth a damn good listen to every now and again.

All the songs on this are great, catchy little numbers. This is great music to drive a car too as well. Imagine listening to "Dressed for Success" while driving with top down along a dead straight tree-lined country road in Artois on a warm summer's day. Ah, such are life's simple pleasures. Listening to "Look Sharp!" surely has to be one of life's greatest guilty pleasures. Yet many will overlook this simply because Roxette were unashamedly commercial and placed firmly in the mainstream. That would be an error.

Much of what sounds good about this comes from the interplay of the vocals between Marie Fredericksson and Per Gessle. They share vocal duties, with the former doing most of the taxing stuff, while Per, in addition to playing guitar, comes along with some slightly accented male vocals to add a bit of depth and variation. As is to be expected, to a certain extent, the lyrics are a bit silly at times, but who cares about that when there are infectious melodies and some usable chant-and-respond refrains.

The question is though, why shouldn't people like it? Well Roxette may not be considered hip by some people. And there are plenty of people who will turn their nose up at anything that isn't considered to be hip. If that's the case, then people are missing out. I don't care if they are hip or not. If the music is good I'll listen to it and I don't care if the purist snobs look down at me for doing it. So if you are one of them, take the alien probe out of your arse and listen to stuff objectively for a change. You might actually pleasantly surprise yourself.
Rating: 7/10