The Ballad Hits is the second greatest hits compilation album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 4 November 2002 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol Records. It was the first of a two-part series of "best of" albums released by the duo in quick succession, and was followed by The Pop Hits in March 2003. Two new songs were recorded specially for The Ballad Hits: lead single "A Thing About You" and "Breathe". The album was a commercial success upon release, and has been certified gold or platinum in a number of territories.
Release and promotion
The album contains two newly recorded songs: "Breathe" and "A Thing About You", which was issued as the album's lead single on 14 October 2002. CD versions of the album released on mainland Europe, as well as Brazil and Russia, feature copy protection. A limited edition of the compilation containing a bonus EP of previously unreleased tracks was also released in select territories. The EP contained "The Weight of the World", "It Hurts" and "Every Day", along with a fourth song, "See Me", which had previously been released as a b-side on the duo's 1999 single "Salvation". Its release in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States was timed to coincide with Valentine's Day of 2003. The album was due to be promoted by Roxette performing with an orchestra at the pan-European concert series Night of the Proms. However, Roxette had to be pull out of the event when singer Marie Fredriksson was diagnosed with a brain tumour.
Critical reception
The compilation received generally positive reviews. William Ruhlmann of AllMusic described Roxette as a "much bigger act in Europe than in America. Indeed, as far as the United States is concerned, there are only five chart entries [on the album], and only three real hits. ... Americans may have lost interest at about the time that Nirvana came roaring in from the Northwest, but Roxette has been consistent, scoring hits throughout the 90's and beyond with their usual practice of attractive pop hooks and Marie Fredriksson's emotive vocals." He summarised by writing that the album contained "plenty of ear candy" and rated it 3 stars out of 5. It also reached the top ten in Belgium, before rising to its peak of number 11 on its second week.
It peaked even higher on the Scottish Albums Chart, reaching number seven there.
- Roxette are Per Gessle and Marie Fredriksson
- Recorded in various studios in Sweden, Italy and Spain between November 1987 and June 2002.
- All songs produced by Clarence Öfwerman, except tracks 1 and 15 by Öfwerman and Per Gessle, tracks 11, 12 and 13 by Fredriksson, Gessle, Michael Ilbert and Öfwerman, and track 14 by Fredriksson, Gessle and Öfwerman.
- Mixed by Ronny Lahti, Clarence Öfwerman and Per Gessle at Polar Studios, Stockholm in June 2002.
- Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound Studios, New York City in July 2002.
Musicians
- Marie Fredriksson – lead and background vocals; piano ; keyboards ; mixing
- Per Gessle – lead and background vocals; acoustic guitar ; 12-stringed acoustic guitar ; string arrangement ; engineering; programming; mixing
- Per "Pelle" Alsing – drums
- Anders Herrlin – bass guitar ; engineering and programming
- Jonas Isacsson – acoustic and electric guitars; additional bass guitar
- Christer Jansson – drums ; percussion
- Christoffer Lundquist – background vocals ; acoustic guitar ; bass guitar ; extended-range bass ; zither
- Mats "MP" Persson – electric guitar ; string arrangement ; engineering
- Clarence Öfwerman – keyboards ; Synclavier ; tambourine ; synthesizer and tubular bells ; string arrangements ; programming
Additional musicians
- Micke Andersson – 12-stringed acoustic and Rickenbacker guitars
- Milla Andersson – background vocals
- Vicki Benckert – background vocals
- Magnus Blom – alto saxophone
- Hasse Dyvik – trumpet and flugelhorn
- Bo Eriksson – oboe
- Anders Evaldsson – trombone
- Staffan Öfwerman – background vocals
- Stockholm Session Strings – orchestration
- Stockholms Nya Kammarorkester – orchestration
Technical personnel
- Jonas Åkerlund – photography and art direction
- Marie Dimberg – management
- Mattias Edwall – photography
- Humberto Gatica – mixing
- Mats Holmquist – string arrangements ; conducting
- Michael Ilbert – string arrangement ; engineering, programming and mixing
- Ronny Lahti – engineering
- Sven Lindström – liner notes
- Sarah Sheppard – photography and art direction
- Shooting Star – programming
- Alar Suurna – engineering and mixing
Charts
Weekly charts
{|class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
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!scope="col"|Chart (2002–03)
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!scope="row"|Scottish Albums (OCC)
| align="center"|7
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!scope="row"|Spanish Albums (Promúsicae)
| align="center"|20
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
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!scope="col"|Chart (2002)
!scope="col"|Position
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!scope="row"|Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)
|49
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!scope="row"|Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
|44
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!scope="col"|Chart (2003)
!scope="col"|Position
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!scope="row"|Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)
|64
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