Music Review: Roxette
All the Videos Ever Made And More
The Complete Collection 1987-2001
Written by: Kage Alan

Videos Rating: A
Special Features: A

          Roxette holds a very special place in my heart.  I was on a sailboat about 10 years ago playing a cassette of their first album, which had only been
released in Sweden at the time, when a young man asked me where I'd gotten it from.   After explaining that it was an import, he asked me if he could borrow 
it.  I told him "no," but we exchanged phone numbers and I did let him come  
over and record it.  If not for that incident, I would probably have never 
started dating him three years later.

Before then in 1992, I drove home from college to see Roxette play in Detroit 
during their "Joyride" tour and attended the show while suffering from a 101  
degree fever.  I own every VHS tape that Roxette has ever released in North 
America, every bootleg live and rarity recording I could scrounge at record 
shows, every domestic and import single in all their various forms, cassette 
singles, 12" remixes, a laser disc from Hong Kong and an interview disc meant 
for DJs only.  So, after fifteen years of digging things up in the unlikeliest of places, I caught an ad for "Roxette: All Videos Ever Made And More." I can honestly say that I had no idea that this disc was going to be as comprehensive as it is; 35 videos, 5 rare videos and 2 documentaries.  Can we say "impressive?"

The videos are as follows: "Neverending Love," "Soul Deep," "I Call Your 
Name," "Chances," "The Look," "Dressed For Success," "Listen To Your Heart," "Dangerous," "It Must Have Been Love," "Joyride," "Fading Like A Flower," "The Big L.," "Spending My Time," "Church Of Your Heart," "(Do You Get) Excited?," "How Do You Do!," "Queen Of Rain," "Fingertips '93," "Almost Unreal," "Sleeping In My Car," "Crash! Boom! Bang!," "Fireworks," "Run To You," "Vulnerable," "You Don't Understand Me," "June Afternoon," "She Doesn't   Live Here Anymore," "Un Dia Sin Ti," "Wish I Could Fly," "Anyone," "Stars," "Salvation," "The Centre Of The Heart," "Real Sugar" and "Milk And Toast And Honey." The first three videos listed are from the rare first album, "Pearls Of Passion," and to my knowledge have never been seen before in North America.  The fourth video, "Chances," was never shown here either.  Two other videos, "It Must Have Been Love" and "Almost Unreal," incorporate clips from the films they were featured in, "Pretty Woman" and "Super Mario Brothers" ("Almost Unreal" was originally supposed to be used in the Bette Midler film "Hocus Pocus", just listen to the lyrics).

The five rare videos are "Neverending Love" (the first ever video clip), "It 
Must Have Been Love (Christmas For The Brokenhearted)" (an early TV 
performance at a Swedish chart show), "I Call Your Name" (another early TV  
performance at a Swedish chart show), "The Look" (an earlier video of this  
song) and "Silver Blue" (a rare video clip made during the 1989 tour and only  
previously available on the VHS tape of "Roxette Look Sharp! Live").  It's  
interesting to note here that an extended video version of "The Look" 
appeared after the credits on "Look Sharp! Live" as well.  It's unfortunate  
that it's absent here, but that's just a little nitpicky comment.

While there isn't anything specifically listed as a special feature, there 
are two lengthy documentaries included on the disc that I'm going to consider 
as extras.  The first is "The Making Of Joyride" and runs a few seconds shy  
of 50 minutes. This appeared on the "Joyride" VHS videotape that was 
released back in 1993 and included videos from the "Look Sharp!" and 
"Joyride" albums.  The documentary deals primarily with the writing of their 
third album, how the concept emerged, their thoughts on the previous album's 
success, choosing the cover shot for "Joyride," shooting the new videos and  
the initial release.  It's also got an extremely humorous ending that I won't 
spoil.

The second documentary is titled "Really Roxette" and, at a little more than  
52 minutes, follows the group around during their "Crash! Boom! Bang!" world tour.  This one really shows a much more verbal duo when reflecting on their fans, the media attention, their success, the length of the tour and the 
poverty in the places where they travel and are far from ignorant about.  
Since the US stopped releasing their albums before "Crash! Boom! Bang" was  
released, it was nice to catch up on what we've been missing.  This strikes 
me as especially funny because there is a scene where the President of EMI 
congratulates them for being so successful, which makes me wonder which 
president he was and from what country since there was no way it was the US.

The video and sound quality on the DVD tend to improve as the videos play 
from oldest to most recent.  It's not a fault of the mastering since many of 
these were old to begin with.  That's just the way it is, though it would 
have been nice had they tweaked the sound on the older videos. Considering how much material is on this disc, though, I'm SO not going to complain!

The only hitch to owning this DVD is that it's Region 2 and cannot be played 
on any Region 1 players.  If you are lucky enough to have bypassed that 
little problem, then a copy can be obtained from www.blackstar.co.uk in 
England.  That aside, this is an incredible disc from a group I hope 
continues to record and considers touring North America again, especially 
since I won't be sitting alone this time and will be drinking plenty of 
orange juice two weeks prior to the show.  Isn't it amazing the kind of power 
Pop artists have over people these days?

Kage holds degrees in Creative Writing, as well as Film & Video. He has been featured in a Life Journey Tele-Course, published poems in several national anthologies, been a contributor to The Third Coast Magazine and written several novels. kage@modamag.com >>Previous Page