For the nostalgia / Frem fra glemselen: Tourism

Let's time warp right back to the summer of 1992: I was touristing in Spain with my parents and spent most of my time indoors watching MTV in the hotel lobby. As we didn't have MTV at home, I quickly got obsessed with it. This was the summer when Roxette's How Do You Do was on heavy rotation on every music channel and every radio station. I was hooked. Back home I purchased my first ever CD; Tourism. I got it several months before I even had a CD player, giving me lots of time to spend leafing through the booklet and learning the lyrics.

Roxette is doing a big outdoor concert in my hometown in just 3 days. It is the perfect occasion to wipe the dust of this old classic. The days of CDs and booklets are long gone, get it on Spotify.

1. The earlier mentioned How Do You Do is my favourite up tempo Roxette song and would have been a killer opening track of any album.

2. Fingertips is best categorized as album filler in all its midtemponess.

3. The album is in fact something of a best of, something I didn't understand at the time. The Look was far from beeing a favourite of mine back then. I later learned about its importance as a Roxette track. Beeing their big american breakthrough and all. I have learned to love it. The nananana nanna nanana parts are as infectious as can be.

4. I have a soft spot for any Roxette ballad. The Heart Shaped Sea beeing no exception. If I ever learn to play the guitar, these might be the first chords I'll set out to learn.

5. The Rain has a heavy 90's production, but Marie Fredriksson's fragile, yet soulfull voice easily shines through. Love the depressive opening lines : I was raised the northern way.
And my father had a northern way. I did my crying out in the pouring rain.

6. Keep Me Waiting: Another album filler. Despite being uptempo, for me, it somehow feels mid tempo. I liked this a lot more before than I do now.

7. It Must Have Been Love is perhaps their signature song, alongside Listen To Your Heart which is sadly missing on the album. Would have loved to hear it get the same treatment It Must Have Been Love gets here. It starts off with a live recording with just Marie on the piano and a huge Santiago crowd singing along, which makes this pure magic. It cleverly fades into a studio version with something of a country twist and lots of vocal improvisation. Back in 1992 I didn't understand that this was not how this song was ment to sound. First time I heard the original version I was deeply disappointed. The 1992 version is clearly superior. It's a pop masterpiece and one of my all time favourite songs.

8. Cinnamon Street had me grabbing the dictionary to find out what cinnamon actually meant. Not that it made more sense afterwards. Love the transformation from almost ballad like beginning to the big chorus. This is a cruise-with-the-top-down kind of song.

9. Never Is A Long Time: I simply adore this. Both lyrically and musically. The very uplifting lines of No answers for the asking / No mercy for the aching / I see no light on the forsaken just adds to the 3:46 minutes of Pop Perfection. And if I ever learn to play the piano...

10. Silver Blue has turned into something of a fan favourite. I don't quite understand why. But I won't complain. They will play it in the concert on Thursday, and any song they play from this album gets my approval.

11. Here Comes The Weekend: A song praising the weekend will of course make more of an impact on the Grown Up Me than it did on the Childhood Me. Not deserving of a full five star rating, but it is a nice little summer ditty. I welcome the use of accordion in any pop song.

12. So Far Away rivals Never Is A Long Time as my favourite Roxette track ever. In this acoustic version, not the 80s version. Marie sings her heart out like only she can. The opening lines of In the coldest time of year, darkness all around my heart quite clearly points out what path this song will follow. This is as sobby and sad as it gets. The na na na bits towards the end gives me the chills EVERY time! And did I mention how I welcome the use of accordion in any pop song?

13. I think Come Back Before You Leave was my favourite of the new songs in my younger years. The combination of up tempo mixed with violin arrangements (or should I say synth?) did the trick for me. I must admit it's not the song that has aged the best.

14. Things Will Never Be The Same, originally from the Joyride album gets the unplugged treatment here, and it suits it perfectly. Hard to believe this was not a ballad from the start. Favourite line: You've got the eyes of a child, but you hurt like a man always do...

15. I remember when Joyride came out. I was 10 and didn't know much english, but the infectious hook Hello, you fool, I love you! was no problem memorizing. It must have been written with kids like me in mind. Whistling usually is wrong, but not here.

16. Queen of Rain is something as rare as a Roxette ballad that didn't really get to me. Still doesn't.

Considering what could have been my first CD, some Absolute Music or Mega Dance compilation, I'm quite satisfied with this as my first ever CD buy. Even 19 years later I can still put it on and fully enjoy it. It contains some of my absolute favourite songs, and that's not just the 11 year old in me speaking. Marie & Per, velkommen til Bergen!