THIS ALBUM ROX!!!

I have listened this album over and over and I absolutely LOVE IT... It has two of my favorite roxette songs on it, 'Neverending Love' and the title track, 'Pearls of Passion' are to die for... I also like the songs 'Soul Deep' and 'Secrets That She Keeps'...

I am an avid Rx fan and have been since I was 12. If you love Rx and want a taste of the 80's I recommend this item..

Showing promise, but not there yet.

It's always a crapshoot when you go back to find early works by artists you like. More often than not, they simply don't measure up to their later efforts. Once in a while, however, you uncover a gem that's as good or even better.
Pearls of Passion, unfortunately, isn't one of them.
Oh, it shows definite promise of what was to come. The voices and production values are pretty much the same. However, the caliber of the writing just doesn't measure up. It might be because Per wrote most of these for his own third solo album and then recorded them with Marie.
In any case, I just didn't find they same quality as subsequent efforts. Also frustrating is the fact that most of the songs I DID like were released on other CDs, albeit not necessarily the same mix. And why the heck is the title song considered one of the "Xtra Trax"?
An interesting note is how subdued the guitar work is here. I guess it wasn't until Look Sharp that they started to "love the sound of crashing guitars."

Except for "Must Have Been Love," which I don't believe has ever been on a Roxette CD before, the bonus tracks are throw-aways. It's somewhat interesting to hear different mixes, but it would have been much more so if the songs were good!
I'm a completist, so I'm glad I bought PoP. Even though I didn't add too many good new songs to my Roxette collection, even one is more than I had before.
I obviously didn't really care much for this CD. If I was only comparing it to this duo's other works, I would have only given it two stars. But hey, this is Roxette. I can't possibly give them less than three!
But all this doesn't mean you won't like PoP. If you're a big Roxette fan, I would give it a shot.

Music's Version Of Bubblegum

Yeah I can really relate this album to eating bubblegum. Tastes sugary and sweet but loses its charm after a few minutes and definately something you could live without.

I know many fans love this album, but like Look Sharp! Roxette of the 80s was really little more than a trite pop group. Musically this album can be categorized alongside Bananarama, Wham, Debbie Gibson, Paula Abdul...hardly a compliment. Bright, sparkly keyboards merges with the occasional guitar and a slightly danceable drumbeat. Lyrically Pearls Of Passion consists almost entirely of cliched of love metaphors, that becomes trite very quickly, especially when the line 'my heart is spinning round the wire' is repeated more than too often.

PoP is rescued by several VERY good songs, however, that at least make this a more stronger offering than Look Sharp. Surrender and Call Of The Wild are two of the most seductive and atmospheric tunes ever made, perfect background music for some serious pashing. Voices is Roxette's most haunting offering ever, also offering some of their smartest lyrics ('I've closed the last picture/and painted the windows inside and out.) So Far Away, the album's best track, perfectly evokes the anguish of post-love loneliness. This SERIOUSLY should have been a single.

Secrets That She Keeps and Neverending Love, while nothing special, at least are infectiously catching and hummable, the remix version of the latter song being a perfect candicate for the retro dancefloor.

Then there are the stinkers...I Call Your Name is an uninspired rehash of Martha and the Muffin's 'Echo Beach'... VERY boring. 'Goodbye To You' is in the same league as Wham's most notorious number 'Call Me Up' while Joy Of A Toy and Like Lovers Do are just downright annoying. Don't get me started on 'Soul Deep.' Soul music with the soul surgically removed.

The Xtra tracks on the album are a mixed bag. The Remixes generally improve upon the original songs (hey there's a first time for everything) and while Pearls Of Passion (the song) is nice in a wistful bittersweet style, Turn To Me is just awful.

Yeah, I'd chose Pearls Of Passion over Look Sharp any day, mainly because of several fantastic songs, but it also contains the worst material Roxette have churned out, and the general flavour of the album is sugary and trite. I can only barely reccomend it.