Look Sharp! (Roxette album)

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Look Sharp!
Studio album by Roxette
Released October 19, 1988
Recorded EMI Studios, Stockholm (March-June 1988)
Trident II Studios, London (June 1988)
Genre Pop/Rock/New Wave/Dance
Length 54:19
Label EMI
Producer Clarence Öfwerman,
Adam Moseley
Professional reviews
Roxette chronology
Dance Passion
(1987)		 Look Sharp!
(1988)		 Joyride
(1991)
Singles from Look Sharp!
  1. "Chances"
    Released: 1988
  2. "The Look"
    Released: 1989
  3. "Dressed for Success"
    Released: 1989
  4. "Listen to Your Heart"
    Released: 1989
  5. "Dangerous"
    Released: 1989

Look Sharp! is the second studio album by the Swedish pop and rock duo Roxette. It was recorded at EMI Studios in Stockholm between March and June 1988 and at Trident II Studios in London in June 1988. The album was released on October 19, 1988, two years after their debut Pearls of Passion, and, unlike its predecessor which wasn't successful anywhere except Sweden, became a worldwide bestseller. Look Sharp! is often considered as Roxette's breakthrough.

"The Look", "Chances", "Dressed for Success", "Listen to Your Heart" and "Dangerous" were released as singles. In native Sweden, "Dressed for Success" and "Listen to Your Heart" were chosen as the first two singles, as Gessle and EMI Svenska chose to highlight Fredriksson's singing. The singles reached #2 and #3 on Swedish chart respectively. But despite huge popularity in their homeland Roxette were still unknown globally. Everything changed when the third single The Look was released in Sweden. While studying in Sweden, an American exchange student from Minneapolis, Dean Cushman, heard "The Look", then one of the most frequently played songs on radio (peaked at #6), and thought it was great so brought a copy of Look Sharp! home for the 1988 holiday break.

Until 2009 Look Sharp! has sold nearly 10 million copies worldwide including over 1 million copies in US alone, which gave the album platinum certification by RIAA in January 1990 (it has sold 402,000 since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991). Look Sharp! peaked at #4 in UK, where stayed on charts for 53 weeks and eventually was certified platinum by BPI in UK in December 1990 for sales in excess of 300,000. It is also the second best selling album in Swedish music history (only behind ABBA's Arrival) where it held spot for 14 weeks and has gone 6x platinum. Furthermore Look Sharp! collected gold and platinum certifications all around the world.

Contents

[edit] Track listings

[edit] CD

Lyrics by Per Gessle except where noted

  1. "The Look"
  2. "Dressed for Success"
  3. "Sleeping Single"
  4. "Paint"
  5. "Dance Away" (Marie Fredriksson, Gessle)
  6. "Cry" (Fredriksson, Gessle)
  7. "Chances"
  8. "Dangerous"
  9. "Half a Woman, Half a Shadow" (Fredriksson, Gessle)
  10. "View From a Hill"
  11. "(I Could Never) Give You Up"
  12. "Shadow of a Doubt" (Fredriksson, Gessle)
  13. "Listen to Your Heart" (Gessle, Mats MP Persson)

[edit] LP/Cassette

Side A

  1. "The Look"
  2. "Dressed for Success"
  3. "Sleeping Single"
  4. "Paint"
  5. "Dance Away"
  6. "Cry"

Side B

  1. "Chances"
  2. "Dangerous"
  3. "Half a Woman, Half a Shadow"
  4. "View From a Hill"
  5. "Shadow of a Doubt"
  6. "Listen to Your Heart"

[edit] Singles

  • "Chances"
  1. "Chances"
  2. "Silver Blue" (Demo Version)
  • "The Look"
  1. "The Look"
  2. "Silver Blue" (Demo Version)
  • "Dressed for Success"
  1. "Dressed for Success"
  2. "The Voice"
  • "Listen to Your Heart"
  1. "Listen to Your Heart"
  2. "(I Could Never) Give You Up"
  • "Dangerous"
  1. "Dangerous"
  2. "Surrender"/"Neverending Love" (Live)

[edit] Charts

Country Chart Peak Certification
Australia ARIA Top 100 Albums Chart 2
Austria 2 2x platinum
Canada Canadian Albums Chart 8 6x Platinum
Germany Media Control Charts Top 100 Albums 7 2x Platinum
New Zealand RIANZ Albums Chart 12 2x Platinum
Norway VG-lista Top 40 1
Sweden 1 6x Platinum
Switzerland 2 2x Platinum
UK UK Albums Chart 4 Platinum
U.S. Billboard 200 23 Platinum

[edit] Credits

  • Vocals — Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson
  • Drums — Pelle Alsing
  • Programming and bass — Anders Herrlin
  • Saxophone — Erik Häusler
  • Electric and acoustic guitars — Jonas Isacsson
  • Harmonica — Jalle Lorensson
  • Slide guitar — Janne Oldaeus
  • Spanish guitar — Erik Borelius
  • Main programming and keyboards — Clarence Öfwerman
  • Production — Clarence Öfwerman (except "Cry", "Chances" and "View From A Hill" produced by Adam Moseley)

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Roxette
Per Gessle · Marie Fredriksson
Studio albums
Compilations
Live albums
Remix albums
Videography
Related articles
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