Borrowing the phrase from Motown founder Berry Gordy — a man who knew a thing or two about hitmaking — Roxette’s 1995 compilation is both a victory lap and a masterclass in melody.  Released at the height of the duo’s fame, it’s a glittering reminder of how two Swedes conquered global radio with choruses that could level stadiums.

A chorus-driven legacy

By the time Don’t Bore Us – Get to the Chorus! arrived on 23 October 1995, Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson had already cemented themselves as pop royalty.

Four U.S. Billboard No. 1s — “The Look,” “Listen to Your Heart,” “It Must Have Been Love,” and “Joyride” — headline the collection, while “Dangerous” and “Fading Like a Flower” round out their American chart dominance.

Each track is a precision-tooled slice of melodic genius: Gessle’s hooks sparkle, Fredriksson’s vocals soar, and every chorus lands like a sunbeam.

“Every song’s a gem… a comprehensive collection of great contemporary music from overlooked and underrated pros.”
— AllMusic, 1995

The album hit the sweet spot between reflection and reinvention, adding four new songs to the mix: “You Don’t Understand Me,” “June Afternoon,” “She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and “I Don’t Want to Get Hurt.”  Three of them became singles, proving Roxette weren’t just trading on nostalgia — they were still crafting hits worthy of their own anthology.

Commercially, the compilation was a juggernaut — two million copies sold in two months, and over six million to date. Not bad for a “greatest hits” that somehow left out half a dozen or so singles.

The hits that missed the cut

For all its brilliance, Don’t Bore Us was also an exercise in selective memory.

“Roxette’s back-catalogue was bursting with chart material by 1995. Even with 18 tracks, choices had to be made.”

The 1986 debut single “Neverending Love” — a summer smash in Sweden — is nowhere to be found, as is the entire Pearls of Passion era.

Fans also scratched their heads at the absence of “Church of Your Heart,” “Queen of Rain,” and “Run to You” — all very strong singles, and arguably more deserving at the time than for instance “Vulnerable,” which limps along where “Queen of Rain” might have soared.

Omitted singles from the period 1986 – 1995:

Neverending Love
Soul Deep
Goodbye to You
It Must Have Been Love (Christmas for the Broken-Hearted)
I Call Your Name
Chances
Church of Your Heart
(Do You Get) Excited? (The scrapped final single from ‘Joyride’)
Queen of Rain
Fingertips ’93
Fireworks
Run to You
The Look ’95 

Should it have been a double hits album?  Accurately recording the entire singles?
Regardless, what remains is a lean, radio-ready experience that fires hit after hit, living up to its title in spirit if not in completeness.

New gems among familiar jewels

The newly recorded material was far from filler, and now considered Roxette classics.

“You Don’t Understand Me,” co-written with Desmond Child, marked the first time an “outsider” had co-written a Roxette song.

Originally intended for another artist, it blossomed into one of their most soulful ballads — a haunting blend of American pop craft and Scandinavian melancholy. Fredriksson’s vocal is vulnerable yet powerful, her delivery proof that emotion doesn’t need volume to make an impact.

 “June Afternoon” – a The World According to Gessle left-over – and “She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” saw Gessle reuniting with his Gyllene Tider bandmates, injecting the songs with a breezy, jangly joy that recalled Roxette’s earliest roots.

Meanwhile, “I Don’t Want to Get Hurt” quietly became a cult favourite in Brazil thanks to a primetime telenovela — proof that Roxette’s reach was truly global.

Pop without apology

The album plays like a sugar rush:

🎧 The Look struts in early

💔 Listen to Your Heart swells with emotion

🌈 Joyride bursts with technicolour pop

💭 Spending My Time aches with bittersweet polish

Even soundtrack standouts — “It Must Have Been Love” from Pretty Woman and “Almost Unreal” from Super Mario Bros.— feel perfectly placed. 

“By the mid-’90s, their shiny, radio-friendly aesthetic was out of step with grunge and Britpop, but Don’t Bore Us was unapologetically glossy.”

Listening now, that refusal to follow trends makes it feel timeless rather than dated. Even more so, with “It Must Have Been Love” having now been played on US Radio a staggering 7 million times!

Roxette didn’t chase cool — they defined it on their own terms.

Critical notes

Contemporary reviews at the time praised the duo’s effortless pop craftsmanship.

Sweden’s Aftonbladet admired the new songs’ melodic strength, even if some felt some of the older songs and production had “aged badly.”  AllMusic’s Bryan Buss hailed it as “pop perfection,” while Billboard, reviewing the delayed 2000 U.S. version, reflected:

“It’s ironic how some acts rack up hit after hit under the radar of pop culture. During their early-’90s heyday, no one took Roxette seriously — and yet the masses happily consumed one tasty treat after another.”

The U.S. edition dropped five years later with reshuffled tracks and a new cover, reminding American listeners what Europe already knew:  Roxette were masters of melody hiding in plain sight.

“The Look ’95” and Other Curiosities

In the UK, EMI attempted some ill-thought out promotion with “The Look ’95.” A remixed single that didn’t quite connect — peaking at No. 28 in the UK and quickly fading.

The remix’s absence from the album only reinforced what Don’t Bore Us already proved: Roxette didn’t need updating. Their pop was already engineered for eternity — bright, bold, and bulletproof.

Roxette went on to further promote the album in the UK, hitting the famous Abbey Road Studios in November 1995, recording four acoustic songs that captured the duo at their most organic – “The Look,” “Listen to Your Heart,” “You Don’t Understand Me,” and The Beatles classic “Help,” this time as a sad ballad.

The set was broadcast on BBC Radio in the UK, with the three Rox classics going on to be included as B-sides to singles at the time. 

The Joyride that never ends

Three decades later, Don’t Bore Us – Get to the Chorus! remains one of the definitive greatest hits collections of the CD era — right up there with ABBA Gold and Queen’s Greatest Hits.

Every track a solid single; every chorus feels familiar; every listen is a reminder of how effortlessly Per and Marie turned emotion into melody.

“The definitive greatest hits record to own above all others.”
— Renowned for Sound, 2016

In an era ruled by algorithms and short attention spans, Don’t Bore Us stands as a reminder that true pop brilliance doesn’t age — it just keeps playing.

A 30th-anniversary encore  

Now, as the album approaches its 30th anniversary this very month, fans can celebrate in style. Don’t Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! will be reissued in November 2025, bringing one of pop’s finest collections back into the spotlight.

The anniversary release will arrive in both double-vinyl/double-CD and digital editions, expanding on the original with long-awaited bonus material.

While the final tracklisting of bonus material remains unknown, listeners are likely to hear the four original demos of the four new at the time songs — “June Afternoon,” “You Don’t Understand Me,” “She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and “I Don’t Want to Get Hurt” — offering another glimpse into Roxette’s creative process at the time.  

Will we finally get to hear the other Desmond Child demo “Only You” that was recorded at the same time as “You Don’t Understand Me”?  Doubtful considering Per’s major dislike for the “bad Bon Jovi” sounding track.

The reissue could also include the Abbey Road Sessions, although, these were recently issues as part of the Bag of Trix – Music from the Roxette Archives compilation.

Perhaps best of all, this re-release finally solves a long-standing frustration for collectors: the original 1995 double vinyl has been notoriously hard to find, commanding eye-watering prices on resale sites.

The 2025 edition ensures fans old and new can once again own a physical slice of pop history — without needing a second mortgage.  It’s a fitting celebration for an album that never bored us, never stopped delivering the chorus, and never really left our hearts.