Opportunity Nox

"Opportunity Nox" is a song by Swedish pop music duo Roxette, released on 25 February 2003 as the lead single from the duo's third greatest hits compilation album, The Pop Hits (2003).

"Opportunity Nox"
Single by Roxette
from the album The Pop Hits
Released25 February 2003
RecordedMarch; October 2002
Studio
Genre
Length2:59
Label
Songwriter(s)Per Gessle
Producer(s)
Roxette singles chronology
"A Thing About You"
(2002)		 "Opportunity Nox"
(2003)		 "One Wish"
(2006)
Music video
"Opportunity Nox" on YouTube

Background and recording

The song was originally recorded at Per Gessle's Tits & Ass Studios in Halmstad on 4 March 2002.[1] Further recording took place later in October at EMI Studios in Stockholm, a month after vocalist Marie Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour.[2] Due to her illness, the song features practically none of her vocals: she sings just two line fragments during the song's final chorus.[1]

Release and promotion

The song was issued as the compilation's first and only single on 25 February 2003.[2] Following Fredriksson's diagnosis, neither Roxette or Gessle himself publicly promoted the track,[2] although an animated music video was directed by the duo's longtime collaborator Jonas Åkerlund, as well as Kristoffer Diös.[3] The animation for the video was created by South African animation director Murray John.[4] Despite the lack of promotion, the song became a substantial hit in the duo's native Sweden. It spent two weeks at number 2 on Sveriges Radio P3's Tracks chart, held off the top spot in both weeks by The Cardigans' "For What It's Worth".[5] It also spent two weeks at number 9 on Svensktoppen, becoming the first Roxette song to enter that chart.[6] The single peaked at number 11 on the national Sverigetopplistan sales chart.[7] It was also a minor hit in Germany,[8] Spain,[9] and Switzerland.[10]

The song received positive reviews from various Swedish publications. Per Bjurman of Aftonbladet called it "one of Gessle's strongest songs", and praised the chorus as a "classic distillate of the hardest power pop Per Gessle had knocking around in his Guaranteed-Gold-Disc-Collection—and it hits like a pissed-off hornet's nest." He went on to describe it as their best song since "Dangerous" (1989).[11] Anders Nunstedt of Expressen called it their best up-tempo single since "Joyride" (1991).[12]

Formats and track listings

All songs written by Per Gessle.

  • CD Single (Europe 5518972)
  1. "Opportunity Nox" – 2:59
  2. "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)" (Live from Forest National, Brussels on 22 October 2001) – 4:08
  3. "Breathe" (Tits & Ass Demo, 10 January 2002) – 4:33

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Pop Hits.[13]

  • Recorded at Tits & Ass Studio, Halmstad in December 2001 and Polar Studios, Stockholm in March and October 2002.
  • Mixed by Ronny Lahti, Clarence Öfwerman and Per Gessle at Polar Studios, Stockholm.

Musicians

Charts
Chart (2003) Peak
position
Germany (Official German Charts)[8] 69
Spain (AFYVE)[9] 31
Spanish Airplay (AFYVE)[9] 18
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[7] 11
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[10] 87
gollark: Yes. It's a great way to mildly infuriate people, like causing APocalypses.
gollark: Best use of CB prizes: only pair them with dragons people don't like, but then give out offspring very cheaply.
gollark: I prefer shimmerscales.
gollark: Er, egg trees.
gollark: Aren't they basically just magic money trees?

References
  1. "The Roxette Demos, Vol. 1, Disc 2 – 01: "Opportunity Nox" (Conversation with Sven Lindström)". The Per Gessle Archives (A Lifetime Of Songwriting) (liner notes). Per Gessle and Sven Lindström. Stockholm, Sweden: Elevator Entertainment. 2014. 334 43503.CS1 maint: others (link)
  2. Thorselius, Robert (May 2003). The Look for Roxette: The Illustrated Worldwide Discography & Price Guide (1st ed.). Sweden: Premium Förlag Publishing. ISBN 978-9197189484.
  3. Ballad & Pop Hits - The Complete Video Collection (DVD liner notes). Roxette. EMI. 2003. 7243 4 90946 9 7.CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Murray John (11 June 2016). "Murray John on Vimeo". Vimeo. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  5. "Tracks: 1 March 2003". Sveriges Radio P3 (in Swedish). Nostalgilistan. 1 March 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  6. "Svensktoppen: 9 March 2003". Sveriges Radio (in Swedish). Nostalgilistan. 9 March 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  7. "Swedishcharts.com – Roxette – Opportunity Nox". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  8. "Offiziellecharts.de – Roxette – Opportunity Nox". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  9. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  10. "Swisscharts.com – Roxette – Opportunity Nox". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  11. Per Bjurman (6 February 2003). "Aftonbladet: En av Gessles starkaste låtar" [One of Gessle's strongest songs]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 6 February 2003. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  12. Anders Nunstedt (6 February 2003). "Roxette har en hit igen - med Marie i bakgrunden" [Roxette has a hit again - with Marie in the background]. Expressen (in Swedish). Retrieved 25 August 2017.
  13. Lindström, Sven (2003). The Pop Hits (CD liner notes). Roxette. Capitol Records. 72435 8215-0 1.
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