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what´s wrong with HAND?
47 replies
tavo said on December 19, 2005 17:34:
i have spent quite a long time trying to figure out why Have a nice day turned out to be a flop. it was designed to be a kind of “joyride part 2”, with power ballads and some great stuff. however, when i heard the whole album i felt something was missing. here is a list of the possible reasons (in my opinion) why Hand didn´t work:
- releasing another ballad as the second single.
-not releasing Crush on you as the 2nd single.
-more uptempo songs were needed
-more promotion was needed
-not releasing the album in the states
now you tell me: what do you think?
Majdy said on December 19, 2005 20:00:
I personally think they should release up-tempo song as first single. wish I could fly is a bit “weak” to gain attention. the song is too grown up, and the most people who buy the albums are young people. Crush on you should be the first single.
chrisjankunas said on December 19, 2005 20:39:
WICF went no.11 in the Uk - quite a big hit. All the others floped big time! Stars was like 56 or something ridiculous! WICF was fine!
Nox1983 said on December 19, 2005 22:43:
Wish I Could Fly wasn´t a flop. It even charted better than SMT, which is considered one of the greatest Roxette ballads.
I fully agree about Crush On You as 2nd single. That song was played in a European Fashion Event in 1999, which made me think that it had been already released as single in some parts of Europe. But it was not: just a top model that liked Roxette :D
Anyone and Salvation are great ballads, but they sound old. Anyone sounds very sixsties, and Salvation is like a new version of The Rain.
Stars is something very difficult to understand. A friend of mine, who is Dj, told me that was hard to mix it with other songs, like it did not fix with any style...
To me the only songs that had hit potential, were: Wish I Cold Fly, Crush On You, It Will Take A Long Long Time and 7 twenty 7. And I can´t go without saying that Happy Together was another mistake!!! That one is much better than most of HAND songs!!
Well, HAND is a good album, not the best, not the worst but a “strange feeling” when you hear it, because sometimes you love it, and sometimes you hate it...
tevensso (moderator) said on December 19, 2005 23:41:
Single choices are always weird in the EMI world. Who knows what they go on??
My very valid theory is: always go out with two fast singles, then a ballad. Rox does the other way around. Or should I say EMI... :(
LoneGunman said on December 20, 2005 00:03:
What´s wrong with HAND ?
Easy... it´s Roxette trying to sound like a dance teenager band, but releasing most boooring ballads as singles (“Anyone” and “Salvation”)... so, the problem is... HAND is not Roxette... it´s VengaRox !! That´s why it deserved to be a huge flop... Hate everything about it... from the stupid cover to “Stars” singing DUCKS !!!
This album is a joke... a very bad joke.
WICF on the other hand, has it´s moments... it´s a great song.
roxtexanet said on December 20, 2005 00:44:
Nothing was wrong with the album at all, and of course it can hardly be considered a flop. I think people dislike it because it mixes too many styles together (including “Happy Together” would have only made it even more of a mishmash - not to mention, IMHO it’s Rox’s weakest song, ever), so there isn’t really a mood that the album suits well. 3 ballads and especially LEADING with two ballads as singles was a horrible idea, and by the time “Stars” came along, it was too late (although “Stars” did send “HaND” back up the charts in Sweden after it tumbled down thanks to “Anyone”, so there’s something to be said for that song for sure). Live and learn I guess, “Room Service” led with two delicious pieces of pop pie which served that album a lot better, I think.
coyboyusa said on December 20, 2005 05:44:
what wrong with hand
1.) as good a first single was they proimised Crush as a single it was even a mastered single then nothing.
2.) soon as they decieed against a tour emi seemed to pull the plug on all european promotion
3.) BAD videos, no offense but sometimes ackerlund needs his head checked
and compared to hand roomservice was the flop hand outsold it
Room_service said on December 20, 2005 07:48:
The singles from HAND didn’t work THAT bad. They charted better than the singles from RS (except TCOTH, in Sweden) in Germany, Austria, Switzerland. The videos are awesome: WICF is one of the most sensual videos I’ve seen; Anyone is simple but effective (Marie looks goorgeous, and I love the green-tinted sea), and Stars is very funny!. I love Marie playing the queen, trying to get the attention of her man! It’s a dance track, what did u want? Another video like SDLHA? (in my opinion, their worst video ever) It wouldn’t fit the mood of the song.
On the other hand, I don’t like the video of Salvation. I love the song, but the video is awful. I don’t understand it, specially that scene of Per and Marie holding fishes and pumpkins.
I like the minimalistic style of the design: just pictures superimposed to colorful backgrounds. The effect is shocking, it gets your attention. Like Marie crying on the front sleeve. The single sleeves are brilliant too. I like the face of Per on WICF, and Marie’s expression in the single of Stars.
This album is not a joke. It was real attemp to make something different, but the typicall Roxette sound is still recognisable. But as I said before, some fans are still stuck in the Joyride days. They pretend Roxette are a garage-rock band, but they never was and they never will! Roxette is a POP band. And HAND is a fantastic pop album, with breath-taking ballads (WISH, Anyone, Salvation, Beautiful Things) and clever up-tempo numbers (Crush On You, Stars, 7Twenty7).
RS was a step back. That album is short and bland, like hospital food. They tried to get back to the “old style”, but it failed. I prefer the “evoluted” Roxette in HAND instead.
RobS said on December 20, 2005 11:18:
There’s nothing wrong with HAND. Only that the wrong singles were chosen by EMI to promote the album. Some superb ballads and some great pop songs on the album. If only COY was released as a single.
That’s my take on it anyway...
tevensso (moderator) said on December 20, 2005 11:20:
AND, to add to its misery, Stars was a farily big radio hit in Sweden, BUT you couldn’t get it in the stores until weeks after it was a hit...
BadMoon said on December 20, 2005 12:03:
nothing wrong with HAND, it’s my fave rox album, maybe without it now I woudn’t be here...
harriej said on December 20, 2005 14:58:
The album is ok, although not so strong as CBB, LS! or Joyride.
Still, this album has great songs as well.
In my opinion the biggest mistake made here is that EMI or Roxette (whoever decides what single to release) didn’t release Crush On You as a single.
The majority of the people (at least the fans on this website) like this song very much.
Maybe an idea for the future:
Let the members of this website hear the new album, before it is released and let them judge what songs they like best to be released as a single.
Just as an advise (whether they follow this advise is up to EMI/Roxette, but if they follow the advise of the fans, they can not be blamed anymore).
Debora said on December 20, 2005 17:32:
Personally, I don’t like this album at all, it’s too... dance?
But I have to recognize that is one of Marie’s best performances.
marcusvandeursen said on December 20, 2005 18:28:
@Room-Service: can only agree with u that ’I prefer the “evoluted” Roxette in HAND instead’ of the trying-to-be-old-fashioned Roxette presented themselves as on the Room Service album.
harriej said on December 20, 2005 18:50:
1 more thing to add to the discussion:
Reading the replies I indeed get the idea that EMI is making the decision what the singles should be and not Roxette themselves.
That is of course not good.
It should be up to the artist which single has to be released, in this case Roxette!
Message for the future is thus: Let Roxette self choose what single to release ands not EMI (or Capitol or whatever recordcompany).
realsuga said on December 20, 2005 18:59:
wot’s wrong with HAND? Notathing! It’s my fave Rox album. I actually adore the ballads but I do think not releasing COY was career-suicide! Salvation to me is an uber-ballad and I just loved the originality of Anyone.....plaintive yet it swings along......and that video is just gorgeous.
I always considered Beautiful Things, Salvation and COY to be Rox’s finest moments......some weak moments on the album I’ll agree.....however as an overall work it ranks up there with the best Rox. So good I own 4 copies!
LoneGunman said on December 20, 2005 21:13:
@ RoomService - No, I don´t agree... no one is stuck in any “era”... in fact I just don´t see the point of some people to define “dance” as “evolution”. “Dance” is not “evolution” of Roxette´s sound... who created this idea ?
And if Roxette is not a garage rock band, definitely it´s not a dance techno group either.
Face the reality... this album was made by EMI to please the stupid teenagers from that time. Even Per said that he prefered some of the demo versions than the ones recorded for HAND.
And I don´t think “Stars” is a funny video... it´s a stupid video... I had to hide myself in the closet when it was aired for the first time in MtvBrazil cos my friends that watched the premiere with me were making jokes about it nonstop (both video and children choir)... pathetic.
My final definition is : “an album that puts TOGETHER in the SAME RECORD a classic song as “Anyone” and a crappy dance pop as “Stars” must be something so scary as Michael Jackson´s moonwalking... wew !”
Anyway... it´s a matter of taste. I don´t like it... but that´s just me.
roxtexanet said on December 20, 2005 21:32:
I just don’t get it... we hear repeatedly that “HaND” is a teen-dance album, that it failed because Roxette were trying too hard to sound like a teenaged dance band... and yet... there are only 3 songs out of 14 that even come close to dance music... and only one of these was a single! And the only one that people repeatedly rip on is “Stars”... “Crush On You” is probably closer to a techno song than “Stars” is, but most fans seem to love it anyway. Strangely enough, “HaND” has more ballads on it than anything else (and the singles are representative of this) but still it gets branded as Roxette’s failed attempt to appeal to the kids... the teenagers’ stations would never play most of the songs on “HaND”!! AND the album with the big dance hit that DID appeal to the kids was “Room Service”!!! Strange.
Anyway, off to go listen to “HaND” now... (-:
RobS said on December 21, 2005 11:10:
I’m also confused at the whole “dance” album comments. Three slightly dancy songs to me doesn’t make it a dance album.
If you take out them three songs, what type of album would it be then?
marque said on December 21, 2005 11:15:
i like this album...maybe less then Joyride,or Tourism....but i like it,such everything Per and Marie did.Adore emotional “I was so lucky” and “Salvation”...
ncurran said on December 21, 2005 11:17:
One of their best albums, that seemed to only get the appreciation it deserved years after it was released. It was probably just too much of a departure from their normal sound for fans to cope with at the time
pwbbounce (moderator) said on December 21, 2005 11:22:
I think Crush on You is one of their best ever songs. YCPYAAWAG is a bit of a filler in my view though. Beautiful Things is always a personal favorite of mine. Love the way Marie sings it.
Debora said on December 21, 2005 17:29:
What I feel when I listen to HAND is that it’s not natural, it seems to me like if a group of machines were playing instead of a group of people.
Anyway, even it’s not my favourite album I have it twice because there’s an Southamerican edition that include 3 songs in Spanish (again by Escolar)
sandyam said on December 21, 2005 17:52:
HAND absolutely does not belong to my favorites.
I must say that I ADORE It Will Take A Long Time,
but I think that’s just because that’s a real Roxette song. The music fits Roxette’s style. Can’t say that about songs like 7twenty7, Pay The Price & Crush On You for instance.
I am not saying that a group should never try a new style but in this case it totally worked out in the wrong way. (at least in my opinion)
I hardly ever listen to this album. And when I do, I skip a lot of songs....
Room_service said on December 21, 2005 19:05:
It Will Take A Long Long Time is, with Staring At The Ground, my least favourite track on this album. I find it rather boring.
And about the machines... Roxette’s albums are plenty of machines and synthesizers. Just play Pearls Of Passion, Look Sharp, Room Service. Even in some tracks on Tourism and Joyride (Silver Blue, Knockin’ On Every Door...) That’s not unusual. It doesn’t bother me.
animalkingdom said on December 21, 2005 20:35:
@ coyboy
“3.) BAD videos, no offense but sometimes ackerlund needs his head checked”
What’s wrong with Wish I Could Fly & Anyone videos?
The “weird” ones, Stars & Salvation were done by Corbijn, as discussed here many times.
roxtexanet said on December 22, 2005 01:52:
IMHO=”In my humble opinion” (-: Sorry for the confusion.
I have to say that I think “Pay the Price” is one of the most Roxette-ish songs in their entire catalogue... I wouldn’t lump it in with the dancier tracks like “Crush On You” and “Make My Head Go Pop” at all. And as Room_Service points out, technology has always been a major component in Roxette’s music... just look at “The Look” or “Half a Woman, Half a Shadow” for instance!
girl7twenty7 said on December 22, 2005 10:22:
HAND as album is ok. There are fantastic tracks, one of the best of Rox, like WICF, COY, Beautiful Things along with crappy Stars and I Was So Lucky. So the balance can be found :)
The problem was in single choice. One of the main mistakes was not releasing Crush On You as one of the first singles. It should have been released as the 1st or 2nd single.
Wish I could fly was a brilliant song with a great video, great choice for a single. Anyone as a single also was good, they shot a beautiful video.
The rest of the singles... Salvation - the third ballad and a single, not the best song and a strange video. And Stars. This one was at least successful but it didn’t fit Roxette trademark.
Quote “The music fits Roxette’s style. Can’t say that about songs like 7twenty7, Pay The Price & Crush On You for instance.”
I agree with roxtexanet that Pay The Price is 100% Roxettish. I think COY is very Roxettish, too, no matter of the electronic production.
dazzarama said on December 23, 2005 00:11:
@RobS totally agree. I don’t know why a lot of you are calling this a “dance album” when it certainly is not.
Sure, Stars, COY and 7Twenty7 are dance songs, but what about the other 11 songs?
Also, I think the whole “appealing to the kids” thing that some of you are talking about is not really accurate. I was 28 when HAND came out and I absolutely loved it. Unless you consider being in your late 20’s still very young, I think you people are underestimating the appeal of this album.
I read an interesting interview with Phil Oakey from The Human League who spoke about how their synth style of music never gets played because record companies have decided that if it’s not rock, it’s not taken seriously and radio won’t touch it. Perhaps he was mostly referring to the UK, but in hindsight perhaps this was partly why HAND was doomed to not be a complete success, compared to Joyride for example.
I also think that the difference in the style of the album compared to previous albums was just too hard to swallow for some die-hard fans. Personally, I loved the diversity that the album presented and I consider it one of their greatest achievements. On which other album can you be deeply moved (Beautiful Things / It Will Take A Long Long Time) and want to wave your hands int he air like you just don’t care (Stars) at the same time?
For me, HAND was great because as each song revealed itself, you never knew what was in store. Would the strings kick in? Would there be a great guitar riff? Would there be some great beats? What would the bridge be like? On other albums (though I love them dearly) like CBB, you always knew what was coming.. guitars and more guitars, which doesn’t really allow them to fully express their creative potential.
Wow talk about getting on my high horse! I guess we all have our opinions.. that was mine. I hope you enjoyed it :)
coyboyusa said on December 23, 2005 18:04:
hand had something tourism and cbb to some degree didn’t ENERGY...the album made me want to belt it out with marie at the top of my lungs, and songs like salvation had a spiritual energy that for a while was gone from some of pers work..they had gotten stale and HAND said hey wait just cause I:m 40 doesnt mean I can’t still make top 40 music. There was this unmitigated backlash by ” fans” that I think convinced both emi and per to pul in the reigns and make Room service which no offense was too short and frankly too bland, the biggest hit off the album was supposed to be on hand...that tells you tons about why Hand is a bewtter album
ThePopHits said on December 23, 2005 22:06:
nothing wrong with HAND. Hello! It´s their best album ever. Very catchy and dynamic music.
I don´t think it was a flop. It sold millions didn´t it?!
Debora said on December 24, 2005 16:43:
About the machines: I know that they used many in other albums, but what I said is that they sound as machines (robots if you prefers that word) not that they used machines to make music.
Sparvogamarie said on December 25, 2005 00:28:
http://www.geocities.com/frieswiththat_99
Here’s a nice website that explains your question...
alexandre100 said on December 29, 2005 12:57:
The only wrong thing with “Have A Nice Day” album is the fact that it looked like Per Gessle, Roxette or EMI didn’t take it serious... Let me explain: in my humble opinion, it’s a very different album compared to the others from Roxette: it’s fresh, with a new music conception... just listen to “Crush On You”, “You Can’t Put Your Arms...”, “Waiting For The Rain”, “Stars”, “7 Twenty 7” and others... If that was clearly intentional, they should had chosen singles on that way; it looked like they thought that this new music conception was a wrong idea...
The single choices should had been on this way, I think:
1. Crush On You (to let pretty clear to all of us what is that album about...)
2. Wish I Could Fly (to let pretty clear to all of us that the album includes songs that we’re used to...)
3. Stars
4. It Will Take A Long Long Time
5. Cooper or Beautiful Things or You Can’t Put Your Arms...
Rich-UK said on December 29, 2005 16:47:
To answer the question, “nothing”, but the single choices were a bit poor – I would have liked to see this:
1. Wish I Could Fly
2. Crush On You
3. It Will Take A Long Long Time
4. Stars
5. Anyone or Beautiful Things
All the best, Rich ;-)
Room_service said on December 19, 2005 18:54:
HAND is, along Look Sharp! and CBB, my favourite Roxette album. I have had some *arguments* with other fans because I am always defending HAND! In my opinion is excelent. Maybe the singles were not totally accurated, but the album has superb quality. The singles should be:
- Wish I Could Fly
- Crush On You
- Anyone
- Stars
Salvation is a great ballard (in the same vein of IMHBL) and I love it. But it has no single potential. Crush On You was originally scheduled as the 5th single, and later cancelled. Anyway, I think releasing that as the 5th single would be TOO late, but it deserved to be a single because has hit potential.
If you consider HAND was a *flop* (it sold about 3 million copies), what should you say about Room Service, that sold just 1.5. Room Service is poorer than HAND, it’s a bit bland. HAND is sharper, I like that.