majesty

Every now and again, in a sea of musical blandness, comes a release that reinforces my belief that Rock will save the world, and "Gessle Over Europe" fits this bill perfectly.

The Roxette frontman is a pop genius. No, that's too little a statement. PER GESSLE IS A POP GENIUS!!!! And, boy, can the man rock when he's in the humour for it.

Gessle's recent releases, in my opinion anyway, have failed to match the Power Pop majesty of his 1997 "The World According To..." masterpiece. But backed by punk-poppers' Brainpool, Per pulls out all the stops on his tour across the continent during 2009.

Away from the inane warbling of Marie Frederiksson, Per performs a selection of Roxette favourites hopefully as intended. "Dressed For Success" away from its' computerised-origins becomes a piece of noisy guitar Rock and thunders along at a deafening volume. "Listen To Your Heart" is stripped down, mainly acoustic, but performed with a gusto that belies Gessle's 51 years. "Do You Want To Be My Baby" and "Are You An Old Hippie, Sir?" owe so much to The Who, and are performed accordingly.

There's so many highlights here, that I could wax lyrical for a good couple of hours. Instead, I will go back and bury my head in the speakers until my ears bleed. Hopefully.