Tony Balogh has written a review of the new album on Hallandsposten, the local newspaper of Roxette’s home ground, Halmstad.

Balogh refers to Roxette’s online chat and to Norwegian Ketil’s (Hi Ketil! :-) question about if the album sounds too fresh and too little Roxette. Balogh thinks this is a very good question. “Those who have followed Roxette through the years - from ’Pearls Of Passion’ to the latest studio album ’Crash! Boom! Bang!’ about 40 million records later - know that they’ve at the same time got a short lecture about what rock-pop sounded like when the albums were released.”

Balogh says it’s never wrong to get new influence and ideas, but it can also be disastrous if the band loses something from their identity at the same time.

Balogh notices that there are very few guitars on this album, but that Marie sings better than ever. He thinks “Crush On You” is almost techno, “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around What’s Already Gone” is a classic 80’s dance track and “7twenty7” a song á la Depeche Mode in 1986. “But is this Roxette?” he asks.

“’Stars’ tries to be like a Prodigy song, but it has become an E-type eurotechno track. However, the chorus with the children’s choir and quiet piano saves the song.” Balogh thinks that “Cooper” sounds a bit like Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue’s duet “Where The Wild Roses Grow”, just like I’ve also said.

In the end of his review he answers to Ketil’s question: “It sounds a lot of 1999, it sounds Roxette, but everything isn’t as top-ranking as it was 10 years ago.”