Roxette - Crash! Boom! Bang! (Anniversary Celebration)

Swedish release date: April 9th 1994
Swedish album chart peak: #1
UK album chart peak: #3

Buy Crash! Boom! Bang! here (Amazon GB)
Read my Roxette 25th Anniversary posts here

By the time Roxette's fourth studio album, the boldly titled Crash! Boom! Bang!, was released in early 1994 it had been a long three years since their last studio opus had saturated the charts with potent singles. That's not to say they had been incredibly busy pop stars - they had toured the world, released a sort of live, sort of studio album in the form of Tourism (a charming interim piece that felt like little musical postcards from across the globe) and released what should have been the theme to Hocus Pocus but instead became the theme to Super Mario Bros (Almost Unreal - a fine piece of shimmering pop magic). All this creative productivity meant they remained a staple of the charts in the UK and the five singles released from Crash! Boom! Bang! weren't going to change that. Brits and Europeans were united (HURRAH!) in their anticipation for this whopping 15 tracks of crunchy guitar pop and heartfelt ballads; sadly our Stateside buddies got some weird shortened version of the album which was only available in MacDonalds - although it was for charity and raised a significant portion of cash for the health and well-being of children. This promotional version did sell over a million copies but got largely rejected by radio - a real shame because there were (and are) some absolute corking pop songs which would have enlivened the grungy airwaves sound of the time. Still, these songs have found the homes that cherish them over the years and - for me - it remains one of my favourite and most consistent Roxette albums to date. Here is a whizz through the singles which kept the album buoyant in the Euro charts for well over a year...

The album's lead single, Sleeping In My Car, was an exhilarating blast of fresh air. It has an electrifying guitar riff running through it which elevates the song and keeps it pulsing at a peppy, pulse-racing pace. I remember being super-excited to get this song, having been almost a year since the almost perfect Almost Unreal. That it was so markedly different from that song showed that the duo weren't just going to rest on their laurels, but forge forward with something that would really make people sit up and pay attention. The Per penned song had a trademark Roxette ridiculously catchy chorus, delivered with a blistering confidence by Marie. The salacious lyrics were easy to sing a long to so it seemed no surprise that it reached top ten all across Europe (including 3 weeks at number one in their native Sweden) whilst debuting and peaking at number 14 on the UK charts. The album followed a few weeks later, hitting top five pretty much everywhere across the world (and probably number one on the MacDonalds sales charts)... This set the scene nicely to release the more reflective ballad, Crash! Boom! Bang! as the second single. When I first played the album, I was expecting the title track to be another devil-horn-fingers style rocker so was pleasantly surprised when it subverted expectations and was a rather charming swoonsome slowie. Edited slightly from its lovely, languorous album version, this song told the story of the dramatic, devastating nature of the search for true love, sung with a poignant wisdom by Marie. I always thought the opening line ("Papa told me to stay out of trouble") was the most glorious opening never used by a country-music diva. It worked beautifully as the set up to this achingly melancholy tune. It may have peaked at number 24 in the UK but that doesn't dilute the lasting impact of this classic, textured, emotionally crescendo=ing evergreen.

After the actual tangible pain of the title track, Roxette fans needed to focus on something a little more uplifting. Fireworks was just the song to do that. Is it one of those songs that might just change your life? Not just a lyric from the song but a genuine question to be posed. No, Fireworks may not be the song to do that but it surely will provide a satisfying diversion from the real vigour of life for four minutes. The verses, delivered by Per, are a throwback to the style which made The Look such an indelible smash while the finger-clicking groove of the chorus (which, in the context of the song, was from another song the protagonists of the narrative hear on the radio) was a splendid head-bobbing romp. On the CD single, the song was remixed by indie-pop stars Jesus Jones which amped up the guitar and percussion and took the song to giddy new heights. It was another top 30 UK hit (although criminally failed to be placed on their greatest hits a few years later). Run To You was single number four just before Christmas 1994. I was just smitten by this mid-tempo delight - it was a gorgeous, glittering number full of pathos and yearning with a chorus that made you feel like anything was possible in the world of love (particularly those glorious strings that permeate the score). The middle 8 is an absolute triumph in giving listeners a new melody that actually builds anticipation for the final chorus. It was notable that this song had an early demo as a b-side in the form of Don't Believe In Accidents, a song Per says he wrote to test out his new synthesizer (and wrote the same day as The Look). This additional piece of Roxette history helped the band achieve a fourth UK top 30 hit from the album...

Also on the flip of Run To You (and one song I always felt should have been a Christmas single) was an edit of the album track Love Is All (Shine Your Light On Me). This incredibly effective sixties style anthem focused on the titular refrain to share a message of love will always be the law - a lesson which continues to resonate and be relevant all these years later. The "sha-la-la" vocal riff danced elegantly alongside the glistening nature of the keyboard chords and free-flowing guitar solos; whilst the duo just sounded radiant in their delivery of the heart warming lyrics. If you haven't heard this song in a while (or even before), go play it now and luxuriate in a musical epic that shows music will always unite us, even when everything else threatens to blight us. Utterly fantastic. Equally as brilliant (but in other ways) was the delicate final single, Vulnerable. The song may have ended their run of 17 consecutive top 40 singles here in England, but it remains one of their most delectable ballads. The graceful nature of the strings alongside the raw honesty of Per's vocal makes this an aural hug for the ages (plus another marvelous middle 8 that seems to linger long after the music finished playing). A fine fifth single from the album, proving Roxette would never bore us and always got to the chorus (whilst delivering memorable verses along the way)...