"Vulnerable" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Roxette | ||||
from the album Crash! Boom! Bang! and Rarities | ||||
B-side | "The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" | |||
Released | 23 February 1995 | |||
Recorded | April 1993 | |||
Studio | Mayfair (London, England) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
| |||
Label | EMI | |||
Songwriter(s) | Per Gessle | |||
Producer(s) | Clarence Öfwerman | |||
Roxette singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Vulnerable" on YouTube |
"Vulnerable" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released in February 1995 by EMI as the fifth and final single from their fifth studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994), while simultaneously acting as the lead single from the duo's 1995 compilation album, Rarities . [1]
"The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" had previously been released as the B-side on the duo's 1991 single "Spending My Time". Earlier that year, in April, it had been released as the lead single from Thomas Anders' (of Modern Talking fame) second solo album, Whispers .
The song was written by Per Gessle in December 1990, although it would not be recorded by the band until April 1993 at Mayfair Studios in London. In the liner notes of their 1995 greatest hits compilation Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! , Gessle indicated that the song was "written a week too late for the Joyride album and it didn't really suit the Tourism sessions, so we kept it in the drawer until we started the Crash!-project in London." [2]
According to Ultimate Guitar, the track is an alternative pop ballad with a moderate tempo of 134 beats per minute. The verse is composed of two repetitions of an E–G♯m–A–F♯m–B sequence, with the final note amended to a C♯ on the second repetition. The chorus consists of three repetitions of a F♯–F♯maj7–B–C♯ sequence, followed by one shortened bar of F♯–C♯–F♯. [3]
AllMusic editor Bryan Buss described the song as "apathetic". [4] Music Week gave it two out of five, noting that "Per Gessle takes over vocal dutied for the new ballad from the Swedish duo." [5] Ian McCann from NME wrote, "She's coloured all the secrets of my soul, sings Sven or whatever he's called. Ah, soul." [6]
The music video for the song was directed by Jonas Åkerlund. [7]
"Vulnerable" became the second-biggest hit from the parent album in the duo's native country, peaking at number 12 and spending almost three months on the Swedish Singles Chart. Although lead single "Sleeping in My Car" debuted at number one in Sweden, the title track stalled at number 17, and "Fireworks" spent a sole week on the chart, peaking at number 34. The album's fourth single, "Run to You", became the duo's first single since 1988's "I Call Your Name" to not enter the Swedish top fifty. [8]
The song spent almost three months on the German Singles Chart, eventually peaking at number 71 on its sixth week. [9] In the UK, "Vulnerable" peaked at number 44, ending a run of seventeen consecutive top forty singles on the UK Singles Chart. [10] It performed marginally better in Scotland, peaking at number 41. [11]
All songs were written by Per Gessle.
Personnel are adapted from the liner notes of Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus! [2]
Chart (1995) | Peak position |
---|---|
Germany (Official German Charts) [9] | 71 |
Iceland (Íslenski Listinn Topp 40) [12] | 20 |
Scotland (OCC) [11] | 41 |
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [8] | 12 |
UK Singles (OCC) [10] | 44 |
Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
Europe | 23 February 1995 | CD | EMI | [8] |
United Kingdom | 27 March 1995 |
| [13] |
Pearls of Passion is the debut studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, originally released on cassette and vinyl on 31 October 1986 in Scandinavia and Canada. The album was remastered and released on CD on 31 October 1997, with several previously unreleased bonus tracks. It was remastered and re-released again in 2009.
Don't Bore Us - Get to the Chorus! Roxette's Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 30 October 1995 by EMI. The record contains the duo's four number ones from the US Billboard Hot 100 chart: "The Look", "Listen to Your Heart", "It Must Have Been Love" and "Joyride", and a further two which reached number two on the chart: "Dangerous" and "Fading Like a Flower ". It also includes four newly recorded tracks, three of which were released as singles: "You Don't Understand Me", "June Afternoon" and "She Doesn't Live Here Anymore". The album's title is based on a quote from Motown-founder Berry Gordy.
Rarities is a compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released from 10 February 1995 by EMI exclusively in Southeast Asia and South America. The record is composed of previously released b-sides, demos, single mixes and remixes, as well as several songs from the duo's 1993 performance for MTV Unplugged. As of 2001, the compilation has sold in excess of a million copies worldwide.
"Sleeping in My Car" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 7 March 1994 by EMI as the lead single from the duo's fifth studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994). The song was composed by Per Gessle in under an hour, and was the final song the band recorded for the album. It is a pop rock song containing elements drawn from pop punk. Marie Fredriksson's vocal range on the track spans over three octaves. The band performed the song at the inaugural 1994 MTV Europe Music Awards.
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"Wish I Could Fly" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 1 February 1999 as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Have a Nice Day (1999). An orchestral pop ballad containing elements of electronica, the song was written as an experiment by Per Gessle, who was attempting to establish if a prominently-placed drum loop would fit alongside a large orchestra. The track became a sizable hit for the duo, peaking inside the top twenty of Billboard's European Hot 100 Singles, and was the most-played song on European radio of 1999. It would also become their final top 40 hit on the UK Singles Chart.
"Chances" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 28 December 1988 by EMI as the first international single from their second studio album, Look Sharp! (1988). The single was issued on 7" and 12" vinyl formats exclusively in West Germany, France and Italy, where it failed to chart. The single was followed two weeks later by "The Look", which became their breakthrough international hit.
"How Do You Do!" is a pop rock song by Swedish pop duo Roxette. It was released as the lead single from their fourth studio album Tourism on 3 July 1992. The track was a commercial success upon release, topping the Norwegian Singles Chart and peaking at number two in several countries, including Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland. The single was backed by several remixes created by Swedish production duo BomKrash, which consisted of Jacob Hellner and Carl-Michael Herlöfsson.
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"Run to You" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 21 November 1994 by EMI as the fourth single from the duo's fifth studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994). Written by Per Gessle and produced by Clarence Öfwerman, the song charted moderately in several territories, peaking at number 20 in Finland, while reaching the top forty in Belgium, Scotland, Switzerland and the UK. "Run to You" was the duo's final single to chart in the top fifty of the Australian Singles Chart, peaking at number 49. The song's music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund.
"Almost Unreal" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 10 May 1993 as the lead single from the soundtrack of the 1993 live action film Super Mario Bros., which starred Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, and Samantha Mathis. The song became a top-20 hit in numerous territories, including Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK. It would also be the duo's final top ten hit in the latter two countries, excluding a re-release of "It Must Have Been Love" two months later. The song proved to be unsuccessful in North America, peaking at number 94 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it performed better in Canada, where it peaked within the top 30. It appeared as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their next studio album, Crash! Boom! Bang! (1994), mistitled "It's Almost Unreal".
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"The Sweet Hello, The Sad Goodbye" is a song by Swedish pop duo Roxette, written by Per Gessle and recorded in the spring of 1990 for their third studio album Joyride. However, the song was excluded from the album, and was instead recorded by former Modern Talking vocalist Thomas Anders, who in April 1991 issued his version as the lead single from his solo album Whispers. Six months later, Roxette released their original recording as a limited edition promotional single exclusively in Sweden. In 1993, a version produced by Phil Ramone was recorded by American singer Laura Branigan for her seventh studio album, Over My Heart. The same year, Phil Thornalley produced a version for Jason Donovan, which was included as a b-side to his single "All Around the World".
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