Pearls Of Passion - Roxette > Reviews > Not a lot of passion!

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Mixed
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Average
Value for Money

Advantages:	Some good tracks
Disadvantages:	Some really boring/cringeworthy tracks

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I wasn't actually aware that this album was available in the UK. I actually downloaded it a couple of years ago, and only recently discovered in when looking through a pile of old Cd's.

This was the first album from Roxette, released in Sweden in 1986, and was unreleased in the UK, as the band only became known worldwide with the release of Look Sharp.

This album is a perfect reflection of the music that was popular around the time of its release, lots of synthesizers and there are a few guitars peeking through occasionally, but it's very different to some of their later more guitar orientated albums.

There’s a chance is you’ve heard some of Roxette’s other albums, some of these tracks will be familiar. ‘Soul deep’ also appeared on the ‘Joyride’ album and ‘So far away’ appeared on ‘tourism’. ‘Neverending Love’ has also appeared on some compilation albums, & I think most people will have heard ‘It must have been love’ from the Pretty Woman soundtrack. This album on the whole is pure pop, with somewhat dodgy lyrics!

‘Soul Deep’ is a heavy guitar driven track and starts the album off with a bang. If you expect more of the same from this album though, you’ll be disappointed. There’s also a slight element of discomfort present in this track, as though the band aren’t entirely comfortable with this style of music.

'Secrets That She Keeps' is more solid ground. It’s a poppy track with a slow start. It’s quite a contrast to the previous track. It also has the typical catchy chorus and overall has the sound so prevalent on this album.

'Goodbye to you' has a faster start. This is a very typical Roxette sound, poppy and very inoffensive. Overall, it doesn’t stand out on the album though, as it sounds very similar to the previous track.

‘I call your name’ follows, with a very strong drumbeat throughout it, something I find really offputting in music. Overall, for me, this track is one of the more boring ones, even the funky guitar solo fails to liven it up for me!

‘Surrender’ has a slow melodic start. The vocals are slow and powerful. This is one of those power ballads that Roxette do best. A slow start, building halfway through the track. This is the first track on the album that really stands out for me, with guitar riffs that are strangely similar, although I can’t place them.

‘Voices’ follows, my favourite track on the album. This surprised me, as I’m not usually a fan of Roxette’s slower ballads. Although this song has a really dodgy electronic start and some dodgy lyrics, there’s something haunting and melodic about this track.

‘Neverending love’ follows, a faster, poppy track, that’s quite a contrast to the previous track. This is the sort of track that people usually associate with Roxette, the poppy style so prevalent on their next 2 albums, ‘Look sharp’ and ‘Joyride’

‘Call of the wild’ follows, another slow ballad, with real feeling. There’s a strong hint of romance and fragility in the melody of this track.

‘From one heart to another’ is next, another ballad. This has a very soulful style, although, for some reason, it lacks something for me.

‘So far away’ is another of my favourite tracks. Anyone who has heard ‘Tourism’ will have heard this track, as there’s an acoustic version of this track on there. This is also a slow ballad, with powerful vocals. It has real emotion and the music mirrors the raw feelings of this track. Definitely the most emotive track on this album, although I do find the lyric’ come inside me now’ slightly dodgy!

‘Like lovers do’ makes me cringe for some reason. There’s nothing wrong as such with this song, but there’s something about the very 80’s style song that makes me feel embarrassed for the band!

The biggest disappointment on this album for me was the title track ‘Pearls of Passion’. I think this is a very poetic title and hadn’t expected the dull, slightly country feel of this track. The chorus is also very weak and overall is very disappointing for a title track.

‘Christmas for the broken hearted’ is an untweaked version of ‘it must have been love.’ The only difference is that this version has a weaker piano solo and there’s 1 line with a different lyric. This stands out so much from a lot of the rest of the album, as it shows how good the band is at producing power ballads.

A synthesizer driven track follows this, with a very 80’s feel. This is another of those cringe worthy tracks and I’m afraid I can’t say anything good about it!

Track 16 is a demo of ‘Neverending Love’ which sounds slightly like the original, only slightly stripped down. It’s hard to describe, but it sounds like a slightly tweaked version of the original, with fewer instruments.

Track 17 sounds almost like something you’d hear around a campfire! It’s a demo of ‘Secrets that she keeps’ that simply consists of a guitar backing and vocals. The addition of a second guitar adds a slight dimension, but overall, it’s a simple, but surprisingly effective track.

Track 18 starts in a similar way. This is a remix of ‘I call your name.’ As before, I think the simple guitar backing works with this track. I actually prefer this version!

Track 19 is a somewhat deformed version of ‘Neverending Love.’ It sounds as though someone’s taken the original and added random bursts of guitars.

The album finishes with another version of ‘I call your name’ which sounds like the original with the addition of a few extra guitars. This is one of the few remixes that seems to work, then again, it does sound very like the original!

Overall, I think this album will only appeal if you’re a big fan of the band. Overall, for a debut album, there are few tracks that really stand out, and a lot of what seems like album fillers. All the remixes too don’t work either, as it just sounds like someone’s added a few bits here and there to make a slightly different sound and passed it off as a remix.