Customer Reviews

Joyride (2009 Remastered Version - Includes Bonus Tracks)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Thinking back now, I realize how truly blessed I was to be coming of age and be able to buy my own records precisely in 1991. Sit back and reflect for a moment and I'm sure those of you who entered their teenage years around that time can recall a veritable barrage of amazing ambums from that particular year: Nirvana's Nevermind, Metallica's Black Album, Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion 1+2 & Michael Jackson's Dangerous (which spawned more singles than any album I can remember) and a host of Greatest-albums from artists like Queen, among others. And here in Denmark, where I'm from, rockers DAD released their pinnacle album, Riskin' It All. Now, alongside all of those there was a plucky duo (duette) from Sweden who were determined to claim their piece of the pie. They were & are Roxette and Joyride was the album with which they accomplished just that. My story with this record is like many you all can tell. I was visiting a friend and suddenly he says 'Hey I got something you should hear' and proceeds to put on Fading Like A Flower. I'm a sucker for power ballads, always will be, and needless to say I was hooked and sang it all the way home. So, inevitably, I bought the album (on Cassette, no less - I would switch to CD's the following year) thinking that if there was just a couple more songs as great as Fading on there I would like it. I started playing it...and then I found myself completely and helplessly unable to stop playing it! I simply fell in love with practically every single track on that damn thing - and now, 15 years later, I still get a kick out of putting it on. If THAT's not the definition of great music then I'll gladly admit that I've missed something. Yes, there are a couple of fun filler tracks but it's also very varied album and the percentage of great songs is nothing short of astounding! I would not hesitate to proclaim this one of the great pop records of all time. And in a way, I'm glad that Roxette decided to mature their sound after this. Because I honestly can't see how even they could have begun to try and top this...
So, in closing, if you're looking for a fun, energetic pop/rock album that features great songwriting to boot, then hunt this up. You shouldn't be dissapointed.

If you have never been introduced to Roxette this album is from when they were in their hey day and sold over 10 million copies so its gotta be worth a look.
The great thing about this album is practically every song on it could be a single. In fact I sometimes wonder why some of the other songs aren't.
Joyride is classic bubblegum powerpop with that trademark whistle and the wonderful balloons. Great hooklines.
Hotblooded is an overlooked single - it really rocks, and has a kind of blues souly feel to it. Harmonica is awesome.
Fading Like A Flower - another single, slow at first launching into great powerpop
Knocking On Ervery Door - This is a cool song swith a funky beat. Could make you dance. Cool lyrics. Could have been a single too.
Spending My Time - Beautifully melancholic, great vocals, bittwersweet, a good remix of this can be found on the Rarities album by the way.
I Remember You - Quite a rocky number, but also blues soul influences too.
Watercolours in the Rain - Marie wrote this song and from listening to it it really is a pity she hasn't written more. This is one of my all time favourites. It has a beautiful feel to it. One of their best ballads ever. Should have been a single.
The Big L - Rocky power pop. The video is quite porno i have to say.
Soul Deep - Soul deep exactly. Originally on Pearls of Passion their first album, re-released for international market.
Do you get Excited - another beautiful song. Ballad.
Church of your Heart - Another favourite. This song has great guitar on it and Per is great on it. It grew on me this one.
Small Talk - Souly number
Physical Fascination - This is a really funky song. Bowie-ish in some respects. Its kinda different.
Things Will Never Be the Same - Awesome Powerpop with a flamencoish feel to it in some places.
Perfect Day - One of my all time favourites. I think this is also one of Marie's favourite to sing. It is apparently a very hard one to sing. It is a real beauty. Should have been a single. Great closer to the album.
The song order is well arranged on the album to take you through a great journey.
Enjoy

I bought the tape, when tape was still available!, in 1991, when I was [...]. That was 15 years ago!! As I read the reviews and hear the music, it brings me memories of how much I love this album. It is my very first album I ever bought. I saw the video for joyride, and liked the chorus very much. I didn't know there were so many hits on this album. Fading like a flower, excellent ballad. Church of the Heart, another excellent song. Excellent guitar arrangement, in my opinion. the Big L, catchy chorus. I used to listen to this tape to fall asleep. I think that's why this is one of the reasons why I like it, it is almost inbedded in my head. I would recommend it.

When a friend popped in a cassette of "Joyride" in his car stereo for me a few years ago, I didn't have the first clue about Roxette; had never heard of them and had no interest at the time. I subsequently have become a huge fan and have purchased the other 4-5 albums as well, but "Joyride" is extra special. It has great vocals and musicianship, non-boring and unusual tunes, original writing from Per Gessle, and, best of all, boasts a unique sound different from anyone else I have ever heard. It rocks but never reaches "heavy metal"; it has ballads but never sounds syrupy. And with a large number of songs contained on the album (14), there are only a couple I really don't like, which is quite an amazing batting average these days. Best of all, there are several killer tunes on the album, so many that it's tough to pick a favorite. If you like original pop/rock music that is not overproduced but yet has a sophisticated sound, you have to have this album for your collection. At age 45, I own well over 1,000 albums dating back to the early 60's, and this is probably one of my top 10 all-time favorites.

Another of my favorites, great music for long car ride. My children are now enjoying. Wonderful love songs & vocals.

Besides the ultracool roxers like "Knockin' on Every Door" and
"Physical Fascination" just to name a few,
what stands out for me above all is the beauty
of the songs; "Watercolors in the Rain", "Spending my Time",
"Perfect Day"......all of them.

I am always surprised how much I still love this album after
over 15 years of listening!
I wonder why? And the answer is: I don't know.

While they probably never will be recognized for it, I honestly think that Roxette released one of the best pop albums ever with Joyride. It might not even be my favorite Roxette album, which would probably be the equally brilliant and incredibly underrated Have A Nice Day, but there's no doubt that Joyride is a rarely matched feat in pop-crafting.

The album includes 15 tunes which cover a surprisingly large musical spectrum - groovy and dance-oriented pop with Soul Deep and Physical Fascination, the more rocking style of Joyride, The Big L and I Remember You; the edgy Hotblooded; the pure-hearted pop of Small Talk; Church Of Your Heart takes on a more acoustic sound, gourgeous and sweeping power-pop ballads of Fading Like A Flower and Spending My Time in contrast to the more minimalistic sound of the simple yet breathtaking Watercolours In The Rain; and last but certainly not least a couple of heartwrenching love song in Things Will Never Be The Same and the spine-chilling Perfect Day.

This song does not include a single bad song. It does not include a single mediocre song either. In fact, there's no song in this selection I'd describe as anything less than VERY good, and the majority of these songs are so excelent that they tend towards status a pop classics. And several of those there is; Joyride, Fading Like A Flower, Do You Get Excited and Perfect day is as good as any pop-song will ever be, and Spending My Time, Watercolours In The Rain and Small Talk are up there with them. If I should find one weak point, I would say that Knocking On Every Door is not as good as the rest of the songs on the album, but in any other collection than this, the song would deffinitely stand out like a winner. The same holds true for I Remember You, but again, there's nothing to be embaressed about here! A quite 10 point rating of the songs with 10 being superb, 9 excellent and 8 very good would turn out something like:

Joyride - 10
Hotblooded - 9
Fading Like A Flower - 9
Knocking On Every Door - 8
Spending My Time - 9
I Remember You - 8
Watercolours In The Rain - 9
The Big L - 8
Sould Deep - 9
Do You Get Excited - 10
Church Of Your Heart - 8
Small Talk - 9
Physical Fascination - 9
Things Will Never Be The Same - 9
Perfect Day - 10

Also important is the arrangement of the songs on the album, and again there's nothing to put a finger on here. The flow of the songs is smooth and the albums takes you through uptempo and lowtempo songs in a perfectly natural and pleasant way. Also notice the detail with the fairyground sounds and the man calling 'C'mon join the Joyride, get your tickets here' at the very beginning of the album, and then at the end of Perfect Day, the same announcer tells us 'Closing time, closing time, thank you very much for comming, make your way out through the exits'. A nice little detail, that works very well to make the album feel like a complete package, and not just a random collection of 15 songs.

Perhaps like their fellow countrymen Abba, Roxette will one day be recognized for the pop genious I think they are. In fact, with their three albums Joyride, Crash Boom Bang and Have A Nice Day, they managed to put out three wonderfull ablums without a single song I'd rate less than 7 (good). Joyride was probably the most consistently brilliant of the three, and is essential in any pop collection.

OVERALL RATING - 10/10

In my humble opinion, Roxette's 'Joyride', is clearly the very definition of what great pop music is all about. A no-skip CD chock full of catchy, fun, toe-tapping songs that makes you bop around and sing your heart out (no matter how bad your singing voice may be!). While I love the CD as a whole, favorite tracks would be 'Joyride', 'Fading Like A Flower', 'Spending My Time', 'Church Of Your Heart', 'Small Talk', and the untouchable, 'The Big L.'.

If your searching for a terrific CD to crank up in the car, you absolutely can't miss with 'Joyride'. It's worth every penny and garners my highest recommendation.

I'm afraid I don't know much about their previous albums, but I grew up with this tape in my dad's car for years and have never grown tired of it. One of the most upsetting things when I was 13 was when my dad got a new car and put the tape in the new car. And it chewed it up. So I searched in vain for 6 months for it on cd and finally found it hidden in hmv! All I can say its my favourite and album and always a must for long car journeys.

What can I say? I adore Roxette to this day, they just never get old! Their 80's albums are still their best work and are widely known, and for good reason. Though they may be pop, you can't help but hear the songs on the radio and tap your feet. You probably still know the words don't you?
Great album. Tracks include "Joyride" "Run To You" and "Hot Blooded"