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Charm School XL

Slim pickings is one word I can use to describe the contents of this imagined album. At 39 tracks, it sounds impressive, but I feel slightly let down by the content. Of everything I could find, only two tracks would be entirely new for most fans. Hopefully, there are some more demos left in the drawers. There are also some unknown tracks since we know they recorded fifteen or sixteen tracks for the album and only used twelve.

Charm School: XL Edition

This album is where the design started being heavily influenced by the handmade/scrapbooking type design that is a signature of Per’s later Swedish albums. While I don’t mind the trend, it felt like everything was converging, and Roxette was losing a part of their identity. I think it works much better as a poster than an album cover.

Album

It’s not the strongest or weakest Roxette album, but it felt slightly more cohesive than their previous outing — which is probably down to Per penning it all again.

  1. Way Out (2:44)
  2. No One Makes It on Her Own (3:42)
  3. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (3:34)
  4. Speak to Me (3:42)
  5. I’m Glad You Called (2:48)
  6. Only When I Dream (3:50)
  7. Dream On (3:09)
  8. Big Black Cadillac (3:05)
  9. In My Own Way (3:30)
  10. After All (3:15)
  11. Happy on the Outside (3:37)
  12. Sitting on Top of the World (3:55)

Demos

Most songs were written for the album, so the demos are all similar in sound. I wish we get to hear the “Only When I Dream” demo from the Have a Nice Day recordings at some point, though. I also find it very interesting that “Drowning in You” was dusted off as a potential option for this album.

  1. In My Own Way (demo, 15 September 1987: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:15)
  2. Only When I Dream (demo, 1998) — Per Gessle
  3. Happy on the Outside (demo, 17 August 2005: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:57)
  4. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (demo, 7 August 2009: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:30)
  5. Only When I Dream (demo, 7 August 2009: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:33)
  6. In My Own Way (demo, 7 August 2009: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:52)
  7. Charm School (demo, 10 September 2009: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:52)
  8. Drowning in You (demo, 13 October 2009: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:18)
  9. I’m Glad You Called (demo, 19 November 2009: The Westin Hotel, Rotterdam, Netherlands) (2:40)
  10. Way Out (demo, 25 January 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:22)
  11. Dream On (demo, 25 January 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:53)
  12. Big Black Cadillac (demo, 2 July 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:02)
  13. Speak to Me (demo, 13 July 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:33)
  14. Sitting on Top of the World (demo, 13 July 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (2:45)
  15. No One Makes It on Her Own (demo, 26 July 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:18)
  16. After All (demo, 27 July 2010: Tits & Ass) — Per Gessle (3:22)

Outtakes, B-sides and non-album tracks

There’s one known outtake and three B-side live tracks. That’s it. I know, I’m disappointed as well. What the other outtakes were is anyone’s guess. I didn’t include the live tracks from the Deluxe Edition since those were released separately as a live album afterward.

  1. Touched By the Hand of God
  2. Wish I Could Fly (live, 12 September 2010: Ice Palace, Saint Petersburg, Russia) (4:51)
  3. Stars (live, 24 October 2001: Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain) (4:07)
  4. Crash! Boom! Bang! / Anyone (live, 22 October 2001: Forest National, Brussels, Belgium) (6:21)

Mixes and edits

Things are slightly better on the remix front, with seven remixes. Most fans didn’t take to them, but everyday folks would enjoy at least three of them.

  1. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (Adrian Lux remix) (5:34)
    Remixed by Adrian Lux
  2. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (Adrian Lux remix – radio edit) (2:41)
    Remixed by Adrian Lux
  3. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (Adam Rickfors remix – radio edit) (3:36)
    Remixed by Adam Rickfors
  4. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (Adam Rickfors dub edit) (7:23)
    Remixed by Adam Rickfors
  5. She’s Got Nothing On (But the Radio) (Adam Rickfors power edit) (3:29)
    Remixed by Adam Rickfors
  6. Speak to Me (Bassflow remake) (3:35)
    Remixed by Peter Böstrom
  7. Speak to Me (Bassflow remake – instrumental) (3:35)
    Remixed by Peter Böstrom

The critics weren’t fond of this album, but it’s got a few good tracks. This one and Travelling were much more organic, which also came through in the much less produced demos. The remixes weren’t stellar, but they were of their time, with the “Speak to Me” Bassflow remake being the strongest. Sadly, we’ll need to get used to the lack of extras with the last few albums.