EDITOR'S NOTE - The following opinion piece by Neil Currran is indicative of the maelstrom of mostly negative comments that we've received today, mostly about the track listing for the upcoming Rox Box. The opinions expressed are those of the author. – LEO



DUNDEE, Scotland – A celebration of surviving 20 years in the fickle world of showbiz… and a career that has included 4 US Billboard #1 singles, world tours, over 45 million albums sold. This should be a time when those of us who have supported two humble musicians from Sweden should be united in celebrating what has been an amazing career, and the fact that after a worrying and turbulent time in Marie's private live, that she once again feels able to work with Roxette again, even in this small way.


  It is rare that Roxette fans agree on anything. The Daily Roxette's forum and reader's comments sections will always be places where we enjoy lively debate and discussion. But, it seems that today we are almost united… yet not in a positive way.


  There has been bickering in the pages of TDR ever since the Rox20 celebrations were announced. Some fans had steam coming from their ears at the thought of yet another "greatest hits," while others rejoiced at the return of Roxette. There were also others that did both at the same time, myself included.


  We have been dealt a double whammy today. Firstly the cover for the new single "One Wish". As it was unveiled there was an audible gasp of air as we simultaneously proclaimed that this "can't be the real sleeve"…"it looks fan made"…"a bad attempt at Photoshop". However, soon afterwards it was announced that this amateur, tacky picture will indeed be gracing record stores all over the world in October. What remains to be seen is who will actually actually buy it. Never mind though, us Roxette lovers have a tough skin, and it is only a cover after all.


  Our second snippet of news on the other hand was a little harder to swallow. The much anticipated Rox Box, for "the fan who thinks they have everything," has been a talking point ever since the concept was first thought of in the '90s. What exactly would we get in this box that we don't already have? When Per mentioned to TDR that there would be 14 unreleased songs, the fans could hardly contain their excitement (though many of us did think at the time that this was too good to be true).

While it is much better to be an optimist in most circumstances, as a Roxette fan it is often less heartbreaking to expect the worst, so then at least we cannot be disappointed.


As the tracklist to the Box was unveiled, it was quickly apparent that there certainly weren't 14 unreleased songs. There are some songs that most fans have bootleg versions of but that are indeed unreleased. However, songs such as "Always Breaking My Heart (demo)", "Help (Abbey Road)" and "7Twenty7 (demo)" have indeed been released before.


Some things on our wishlists leading up to the release have included the "Crush on You" remixes, "Stars" demo and "The Big L" demo. Others have requested some other live tracks and remixes. Instead, we have just some of the hits (which was expected) and lots of album tracks which we already own.


What the Rox world is asking EMI and Per now is "Is this really a fitting tribute and celebration of Roxette's career?"


Reading all the comments to the news articles that have been posted today, I think we already have an answer to that question.