Tourism: Songs from Studios, Stages, Hotelrooms & Other Strange Places is the fourth studio album by Swedish pop duo Roxette, released on 28 August 1992 by EMI. Despite often being mistaken for a live album, the record was described by Roxette in its liner notes as a "tour album": the band recorded the majority of its material in numerous recording studios in between live dates of their worldwide Join the Joyride! Tour. The album contains three live concert recordings, while another track was recorded live in an empty nightclub in São Paulo. A further two songs were recorded in Buenos Aires' Alvear Palace Hotel.
The album received mixed reviews from American publications upon release, with several of them confused over its concept and incorrectly describing it as containing just five previously unreleased songs. It also underperformed on the Billboard 200, peaking at number 117 on the chart and selling approximately 278,000 copies—far short of the million-selling Joyride. Nevertheless, the album was a commercial success in Europe and was certified platinum in numerous territories. As of 2001, Tourism had sold over six million copies worldwide.
Background and recording
Tourism was described by Roxette in the album's liner notes as a "tour album, [...] not a live album". It consists of songs recorded by the band in various locations during the "Join the Joyride! Tour". The idea was to "create and collect material along the way; to record our music in different environments in different parts of the world; to take advantage of the excitement and the energy within the band on a tour like this." It does contain several live recordings, including versions of "The Look" and "Joyride" taken from their 13 December 1991 performance at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, as well as an acoustic version of Joyride album track "Things Will Never Be the Same" from a November 1991 concert in Zürich. A portion of a live performance of "It Must Have Been Love" from their 25 April 1992 concert at San Carlos Stadium in Santiago, Chile is used as an intro to a new studio recording of the song. This new version was recorded in Ocean Way Recording Studios in March 1992, and features k.d. lang guitarist Greg Leisz performing pedal steel guitar. Also recorded there was new song "The Heart Shaped Sea", which again features Leisz.
The band recorded several songs while touring in Latin America in May 1992. Two songs were recorded in Brazil: the album's third single, "Fingertips", was recorded in Nas Nuvens Recording Studio in Rio de Janeiro; "Never Is a Long Time" was recorded live in an empty nightclub in São Paulo. "Here Comes the Weekend" and a new version of "So Far Away" – originally released on their 1986 debut Pearls of Passion – were recorded live in room 603 of the Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 4 May 1992. Two other previously released studio recordings are included on the album: "Silver Blue" was originally released as a b-side to "The Look" in 1988; "Come Back (Before You Leave)" appeared on the "Joyride" single in 1991.
Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews upon release. A review for Billboard complimented the album for abandoning the "production glitz" of past work, The album had little impact on American music charts, peaking at number 117 on the Billboard 200—in stark contrast to Joyride, which peaked at number 12 on the same chart. It peaked at number 18 on the national RPM albums chart in Canada, and was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in September 1992, denoting shipments in excess of 100,000 copies.
| total_length =
| title1 = Fingertips '93
| length1 = 3:40
| title2 = 2 Cinnamon Street
| length2 = 5:06
| title3 = How Do You Do!
| note3 = T&A Demo, 4 April 1992
| length3 = 3:16
| title4 = Never Is a Long Time
| note4 = Torsgatan Piano Demo, 24 September 1987
| length4 = 4:12
| title5 = Here Comes the Weekend
| note5 = T&A Demo, 30 March 1988
| length5 = 4:12
| title6 = Fingertips
| note6 = T&A Demo, 28 January 1992
| length6 = 3:26
| title7 = Silver Blue
| note7 = T&A Demo, 21 May 1987
| length7 = 3:58
| title8 = The Heart Shaped Sea #1
| note8 = T&A Demo, 25 April 1991
| length8 = 4:19
| title9 = Never Is a Long Time
| note9 = EMI Demo, 26-30 May 1987
| length9 = 3:50
| title10 = The Rain
| note10 = T&A Demo, 29 December 1991
| length10 = 4:43
| title11 = Keep Me Waiting
| note11 = T&A Demo, 18 August 1990
| length11 = 3:14
| title12 = Come Back (Before You Leave)
| note12 = T&A Demo, 8 April 1990
| length12 = 3:27
| title13 = Queen of Rain
| note13 = T&A Demo, 2 January 1990
| length13 = 4:27
| title14 = Cinnamon Street
| note14 = T&A Demo, 2 January 1992
| length14 = 4:45
| title15 = Never Is a Long Time
| note15 = T&A Demo, 11 November 1987
| length15 = 3:48
| title16 = Silver Blue
| note16 = EMI Demo, 26-30 May 1987
| length16 = 4:12
| title17 = The Heart Shaped Sea #2
| note17 = T&A Demo, May 1991
| length17 = 4:08
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Tourism.
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! scope="row"| Danish Albums (Hitlisten)
| 1
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! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 1
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! scope="row"| Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 1
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! scope="row"| Greek Albums (IFPI)
| 10
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! scope="row"| Japanese Albums (Oricon)
| 13
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! scope="row"| Portuguese Albums (AFP)
| 5
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ Year-end chart performance for Tourism
! scope="col"| Chart (1992)
! scope="col"| Position
|-
!scope="row"|Argentina Foreign Albums (CAPIF)
|6
|-
! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 40
|-
! scope="row"| Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)
| 30
|-
! scope="row"| Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 96
|-
! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 49
|-
! scope="row"| European Albums (Music & Media)
| 21
|-
! scope="row"| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 22
|-
! scope="row"| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)
| 29
|-
! scope="row"| UK Albums (OCC)
| 72
|}