Customer Reviews

Tourism

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In 1991, Roxette embarked upon its first global tour, Join the Joyride. The tour lasted a little over a year, played more than 100 dates and sold out to more than a million people. While traveling, Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle decided to "capture the energy of the band" by documenting their development on tape. But the result, Tourism, is not a compilation of live material, or what Gessle has referred to as a "second-rate greatest hits album." Rather, it's a tour album, complete with some live tracks, some re-mastered material from the late '80s and some newly written, newly recorded songs. Some of the recording locations include an empty night club, an un-air-conditioned hotel room and studios in Copenhagen and Los Angeles. Live material comes from Sydney and São Paolo, among other places.

This is, by far, Roxette's best overall effort. Its spontaneity, energy and enthusiasm are prevalent in almost every one of the 16 tracks here. With the exception of older songs such as "Silver Blue" - the original B-side to the 1989 single "The Look" - and material recorded for but not included on the Joyride album - "Come Back (Before You Leave)" and "Queen of Rain" - these songs keep the momentum high. From the pure simplicity of "Fingertips" and "Here Comes the Weekend" to the acoustic remake of "So Far Away," a song originally included on the 1986 Pearls of Passion album, what you get is a true sense of growth and a tight set of bandmembers who are obviously having fun. Gessle pumps, and Fredriksson glides. Other winners here include "Cinnamon Street," "The Heart-Shaped Sea," "Never Is a Long Time" and "The Rain." Even the more studio-glossy numbers such as "Keep Me Waiting" and the venerable "How Do You Do!" have the ability to keep your feet tapping.

This was the first album by Roxette to fall short of the sales and singles peaks of Look Sharp! and Joyride. It did very well in Europe but floundered in the United States. This was the beginning of the decline of Roxette's once-formidable showing in the world music market. It's too bad because Tourism displayed exactly what Roxette was made of, what Gessle and Fredriksson could accomplish without a lot of hype or pomp. At the very least, Tourism is, as Fredriksson once put it, the documentation of a wonderful memory.

I've been a hardcore Rox fan ever since I heard "It Must Have Been Love" back in the early '90s. This album, while a big departure from Roxette's traditional synth-ladden sound, manages to capture the very essence of what makes Roxette such a great band, and lays the groundwork for the equally rockier "Crash! Boom! Bang!". Tourism was put together mostly during their first world tour, and as a result, we get a very varied selection of venues, recording styles, and arrangements... You name it, Per and Marie experimented with it.

I couldn't do justice to this masterpiece without providing a small review of each song. So, here we go:

1. How Do You Do!: A traditional Roxette tune. Upbeat, and very lighthearted.

2. Fingertips: This is the first departure. Accoustic guitars dominate this mid-tempo song, one of Per's best.

3. The Look: Recorded live in Australia, this is arguably the best version yet of Roxette's first megahit. The audience plays a big role in the second half of the song. Amazing.

4. The Heart Shaped Sea: A beautiful ballad about letting go of the one you love. The subtle, understated music track works very well on this one.

5. The Rain: A very moody, instrospective song. Great to listen to on a rainy day.

6. Keep Me Waiting: A more traditionl Roxette rocker, but grittier and harder-hitting than anything in "Look Sharp!" or "Joyride". The lyrics are wonderfully bizarre, as only Per could write them.

7. It Must Have Been Love: The quintessential Roxette song, this particular version is probably the only low point in the album. A country-style remake that works as a novelty item, nothing more.

8. Cinnamon Street: Don't let the sugary title fool you. This another example of the edgier Roxette. A very personal song, with an excellent melody.

9. Never Is a Long Time: A song that brings tears to my eyes. If you've ever experienced heartache, you will relate to this song. Marie at her best. This song was recorded in a Brazilian nightclub. Wanna talk about experimental recording venues? ; )

10. Silver Blue: A song originally written in 1987, and that wasn't finished until 1992. An absolutely gorgeous love song in which Per and Marie grace us with their most memorable duet yet. My all-time favorite Roxette song. You'll be transported to another world, believe me.

11. Here Comes the Weekend: Recorded in a hotel room in Argentina, this is one unique song. It will remind you of something The Beatles might have written, but at the same time is very much a song only Roxette could have made. Excellent.

12. So Far Away: Recorded in the same hotel room, it's another moving ballad featuring Marie in lead vocals, it's the ultimate song for the broken-hearted. Another beautifully crafted love song.

13. Come Back (Before You Leave): A few of my "metalhead" friends are put off by the abundance of synths on this track, but they've become converts once they get past the instruments selection and into the song itself: Beautiful lyrics framed by a wonderful, unique melody.

14. Things Will Never Be The Same: Recorded live, this unplugged, more melancholic bersion of the original popster from Joyride is one of the big winners in Tourism. Marie's soulful voice and Per's masterful guitar playing come together wonderfully.

15. Joyride: A bombastic live renditon of this classic hit. Joyride, like The Look, also features a memorable audience-participation segment. Roxette joins Queen, The Beatles, and Metallica as one of the best live acts around. Their connection with the audience is perfect.

16. Queen of Rain: A power ballad once again featuring darker, edgier lyrics than previous Rox efforts. Per shows he isn't alway the "cotton candy and balloons" songwriter he self-mockingly claims to be. A perfect epilogue to the perfect album.

Like any good album this one really grows on you and it has become one of my all time favourites out of any group. Initially I didn;t like the live versions so much but after awhile they grew on me too. But I particularly love the other songs on this album which I think could have been released as singles and should be listened to by anyone. To me the album has a more folky countryish flavour to it than other Roxette albums but I like that aspect to it. It is a nice mellow album good for listening to on the road. I love the mooing cows on Fingertips, the helicopters on Queen of Rain. I love the nostalgic schoolkid feeling and imagery of Cinnamon Street, and the melancholic melodies of Never Is a Long Time and So Far Away. I love the one two three four, the riff and the Samsonite suitcase of Here Comes the Weekend, the great duo sound of Silver Blue and the quirky edgier lyrics of Keep me Waiting. And I like it when Per sings about the rising sun in Come Back Before You Leave.
Let it grow on you too. A must have

When I got my first CD player, this was the first CD I picked out, because it had "Silver Blue", a song I loved on their first home video but never got on CD until this. It's also got the "good" version of "Things Will Never Be the Same", and lovely songs like "The Rain" and "Never is a Long Time", but I usually do prefer Marie's ballads over the uptempo songs. I do, however, like "How Do You Do!"" a lot. Oh, and "Fingertips" is fun, too, because it's got cows at the start! Loser that I am, I always have to moo along.

What a fabulous Roxette album. The reason why I liked it is because the emphasis wasn't on hits. Their songs are so earthy, different and such a pleasure to listen to. I love all the songs off this album, but my very favorites are "Fingertips", "The Heart Shaped Sea", "The Rain", "Silver Blue", "So Far Away", "Things Will Never Be The Same" and "Queen of Rain". Marie is clearly the best vocalist I have ever heard in my life, and her voice just makes such an impact on song after song (hey, Per's voice is pretty unique, too!). Per makes his mark as a great songwriter and musician. A nice mix of acoustic & electric sounds. A great CD to own and I never get tired of listening to it.

I have always admired the way Roxette keeps making great music for us devoted fans because they want to do it and it's really a shame that radio stations are oblivious to the fact that Roxette is one of the best music groups in the world and that some people would rather hear their music instead of the same formulated, programmed dispenser crap we hear today on the radio.

P.S. Last year, I phoned our local radio station and "weaseled" some information out of one of the DJ's. I told him that Roxette has a new album out (this was when "Room Service" was released) and asked him why the radio station wasn't playing any new songs off of it (or any Roxette songs, for that matter.) He replied that the album wasn't charting so that's why they weren't playing any new songs off of the album. I thought that was a bunch of bull and retorted back with, "Well, of course the album isn't going to chart if you're not going to play it!"

An accompaniment to Roxette's much-attended Joyride Tour, Tourism is an eclectic ensemble of songs recorde in different places whilest on the tour, including some live! tracks of the old faves (Joyride, The Look, It Must Have Been Love & Things Will Never Be The Same). There is also a host of brand new songs, which makes this album a great purchase for Roxette fans. Some of the standout tracks are Marie-led ballads, including The Rain (a very atmospheric track), So Far Away & Never Is A Long Time - these ballads are all very dark but with soaring melodies. There are also a lot of great uptempo tracks, personal faves including the single How Do You Do & Come Back Before You Leave. Personal fave is the album's closer & the second single off the album Queen Of Rain. Another dark & brooding ballad which unleashes Marie's vocals & shows Per's abilities again as a song-writer. All in all, the album can be viewed in two ways - as a souvenir of Roxette's smash hit tour (which never came to Ireland, alas) or indeed as a collection of new Roxette tracks wth a few live! favourites (some of which sound totally unique from the singles). Whichever way you wish to veiw it, you know you have a winner of an album

A non-ordinary Roxette album that contains all of the ordinary plus a lot of other things. Great songs like "Here Comes The Weekend", "Cinammon Street" and "The Rain" are mixed with instant hits like "Queen Of Rain" or "Fingertips". Get it!

This is a beautiful album. My favorite song has to be "The Rain." Listening to it puts me in a contemplative mood. Songs like "How Do You Do" and "Keep Me Waiting" are more upbeat. Roxette has the ability to engineer a complete song--the listener is left satisfied of a work well done. This album has all the elements of great music--it's a must-have for those who hold music on a higher level.

After two major releases in 1988 and 1991, Roxette took to the worldwide stage and created this gem of an album, most of which was recorded on the road in studios, dance halls and even a hotel room in places such as L.A., Buenos Aires, Sao Paolo and, of course, Stockholm. The songs here are intelligent, catchy and solid because, as Per Gessle puts it, Tourism captures the energy of Roxette in the midst of its mind-busting 1.2 million-fan four-continent 1991-92 Join the Joyride tour. This album is great for anyone who wants a good, solid piece of pop-rock.

I honestly never listened to this CD, but with the way my girlfriend listens to this cd nonstop it must be good