Room Service (Roxette album)

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Room Service
File:RoomService.jpg
Studio album by Roxette
Released 3 April 2001
Recorded January 2000 – January 2001
Genre Pop
Label EMI
Producer Clarence Öfwerman, Per Gessle, Marie Fredriksson
Roxette chronology
Have a Nice Day
(1999)Have a Nice Day1999		 Room Service
(2001)		 The Ballad Hits
(2002)The Ballad Hits2002
Singles from Room Service
  1. "The Centre of the Heart"
    Released: 2001
  2. "Real Sugar"
    Released: 2001
  3. "Milk and Toast and Honey"
    Released: 2001

Room Service is the seventh studio album released by Swedish pop duo Roxette, on 3 April 2001. The album was an European release only and not released in the United States. The album topped the Swedish charts and reached the upper regions of the charts in many other European countries, peaking at #3 in Germany, and #2 in Switzerland but was largely ignored in the United Kingdom, peaking only at #120 there.

Production

The album was a shorter effort than their previous release Have a Nice Day. "The Centre of the Heart" was originally recorded during the Have a Nice Day sessions but was left off that album. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

Singles

The album produced three singles; "The Centre of the Heart", "Real Sugar" and "Milk and Toast and Honey". "The Centre of the Heart" peaked at #1 in Sweden and was a minor hit in various European countries. The second single, "Real Sugar", was not a commercial success, and the third and final single, "Milk and Toast and Honey", was the only single from Room Service to be released in the UK but was also ultimately unsuccessful.

Critical reception

Professional reviews
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]
Aftonbladet 2/5 stars[2]
Expressen 3/5 stars[3]
Göteborgs-Posten 2/5 stars[4]
The Guardian 2/5 stars[5]
MTV Asia (7/10)[6]
Yahoo! Music UK 4/10 stars[7]

Room Service received a mixed response from critics. "Probably the best Roxette album since Joyride", wrote Leslie Mathew of Allmusic. "Room Service is an exciting, immediate, high-gloss pop gem that contains very little filler indeed."[1] Chili Paddy from MTV Asia also praised the album, saying "There are many potential hit singles here such as the glorious chirpy sing-along 'Real Sugar'".[6] Caroline Sullivan from UK newspaper The Guardian disliked the album, and wrote, "Fredriksson's vocals are compelling yet curiously unengaged as she tries to negotiate Per Gessle's lyrics."[5]

Per Bjurman, from Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, bluntly put it: "It [the album] is not very good", and thought the album was not original. "Many songs sound like covers of old Roxette material. Perhaps inevitable when you return to 'roots', but a little more imagination may be required." However, he did praise the three singles, "Real Sugar", "The Centre of the Heart" and "Milk and Toast and Honey", which he called "Roxette's strongest ballad since 'It Must Have Been Love' and 'Listen to Your Heart'", but ended the review with "Roxette is not finished. But soon, I suspect."[2]

The verse from "Jefferson": "Jefferson was always out of luck/I remember when we both grew up/ Jefferson got hit by a westbound truck/I guess that didn't make him look like a million bucks", also brought a mixed response. Simon P. Ward from Dotmusic called the verse a "lyrical gem",[7] while Sullivan from The Guardian called it "one of the worst first verses in history."[5] Ward additionally noted that "Make My Head Go Pop", "...has everything and the kitchen sink thrown into it - keyboards, techno beats, the guitar riff from the Stones' 'Satisfaction' and strings."[7]

In more recent years, Anders Nunstedt from Expressen gave a more critical overview to the album. Speaking of the album in relation to Roxette's other studio albums, he said it was, "Outdated, unattractive and also relatively unmusical."[8] While in another comment he stated "On Have a Nice Day, you heard a band that has lost its compass. You do not have to listen carefully to Room Service to hear the sound of a duo who have been lost in the woods so long that the search ended."[9]

Artwork

The visual theme to the album sleeve and promo shots, photographed by Jonas Åkerlund, was shot at the Californian hotel The Madonna Inn.[10] The video for "The Centre of the Heart", directed by Åkerlund, was shot at the hotel.[11] The video became the most expensive Roxette video ever produced, surpassing long-time title holder "Spending My Time" from their 1991 Joyride album.[citation needed]

European tour

The Room Service World Tour 2001 was Roxette's first tour in over six years, and saw the duo perform live in many parts of Europe except the UK. Concerts planned in South Africa were cancelled after the September 11 attacks.[12] On reviewing one of their concerts, Bjurman from Aftonbladet was critical of the duo's chosen playlist and suggested that the duo had become too stuck in their past glories.[13] Johan Lindqvist from Göteborgs-Posten was more positive, scoring their Munich concert four stars.[14]

Track listings

All songs written and composed by Per Gessle, except "Little Girl" written and composed by Marie Fredriksson. 

No. Title Length
1. "Real Sugar"   3:17
2. "The Centre of the Heart"   3:22
3. "Milk and Toast and Honey"   4:04
4. "Jefferson"   3:50
5. "Little Girl"   3:36
6. "Looking for Jane"   3:19
7. "Bringing Me Down to My Knees"   3:48
8. "Make My Head Go Pop"   3:22
9. "Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)"   3:13
10. "Fool"   3:52
11. "It Takes You No Time to Get Here"   3:35
12. "My World, My Love, My Life"   4:02
Total length:
 43:20

Singles

  • "The Centre of the Heart"
  • "Real Sugar"
  • "Milk and Toast and Honey"

Credits

  • The words and music to all tracks by Per Gessle, except "Little Girl"; words & music by Marie Fredriksson
  • Produced by Clarence Öfwerman, Gessle & Fredriksson
  • Tracks 1, 9 & 11, published by Jimmy Fun Music
  • Track 5 published by Shock the Music
  • All other tracks published by HipHappy
  • Programming by Clarence Öfwerman & Shooting Star with MP Persson & Gessle
  • Keyboards: Öfwerman, Persson & Gessle
  • Electric and acoustic guitars: Gessle, Christoffer Lundquist, Jonas Isacsson, Persson, David Birde, Micke 'Nord' Andersson and Mattias Thorell
  • Bass guitar: Lundquist
  • Banjo: Gessle
  • Zither: Lundquist
  • E-bow: Isacsson
  • 12-string acoustic guitar: Gessle & Lundquist
  • Live drums: Christer Jansson
  • Percussion: Jansson, Lundquist & Gessle
  • Strings: Stockholm Session Strings
  • Backing vocals: Gessle, Fredriksson & Lundquist

Charts

Album
Country Position Certification
Austria 4 ---
Finland 10 Gold[15]
Germany 3 Gold[16]
Hungary 18 ---
Netherlands 80 ---
Norway 7 ---
Poland 3 ---
Sweden 1 Platinum[17]
Switzerland 2 Gold[18]
UK 120 ---

External links

References

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  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Room Service CD liner notes.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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