"Opportunity Nox" is a song by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

pop music duo

Roxette Roxette is a Swedish pop rock duo originally consisting of Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle, both of whom were already established musicians in Sweden prior to the band's formation. Fredriksson had released a number of successful solo albums, ...

, released on 25 February 2003 as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

from the duo's third

greatest hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, ''

The Pop Hits ''The Pop Hits'' is the third greatest hits album, greatest hits compilation album by Swedish Pop music, pop duo Roxette, released on 24 March 2003 by Roxette Recordings and Capitol Records. It was the second in a two-part series of "best of" albu ...

'' (2003).

Background and recording

The song was originally recorded at

Per Gessle Per Håkan Gessle (; born 12 January 1959) is a Swedish singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the male half and primary songwriter of the pop rock duo Roxette, which he formed with Marie Fredriksson in 1986 and which was disbande ...

's Tits & Ass Studios in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational urban areas of Sweden, city at the mouth of the Nissan (river), Nissan river, in the provinces of Sweden, province of Halland on the Sweden, Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat ...

on 4 March 2002. Further recording took place later in October at EMI Studios in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, a month after vocalist

Marie Fredriksson Gun-Marie Fredriksson (; 30 May 1958 – 9 December 2019) was a Swedish singer, songwriter, pianist, and lead vocalist of pop-rock duo Roxette, which she formed in 1986 with Per Gessle. The duo achieved international success in the late 1980s an ...

was diagnosed with a

brain tumour A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cancero ...

. Due to her illness, the song features practically none of her vocals: she sings just two line fragments during the song's final

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

Release and promotion

The song was issued as the compilation's first and only single on 25 February 2003. Following Fredriksson's diagnosis, neither Roxette or Gessle himself publicly promoted the track, although an

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by the duo's longtime collaborator

Jonas Åkerlund Hans Uno Jonas Åkerlund (; born 10 November 1965) is a Swedish filmmaker and musician who is best known for his work in music videos. Åkerlund was a member of the Swedish black metal band Bathory. He has directed well-known videos for artists ...

, as well as Kristoffer Diös. The animation for the video was created by South African animation director Murray John. 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 Sveriges Radio P3 (P3) is a Contemporary hit radio, semi-mainstream CHR/CHR Alternative-formatted station operated by Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcasting organization Sveriges Radio. The P in P3 originally stood for Program (''Pro ...

's Tracks chart, held off the top spot in both weeks by

The Cardigans The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden in 1992. The main lineup of the band consisted of guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead sing ...

' "

For What It's Worth "For What It's Worth (Stop, Hey What's That Sound)", often referred to as simply "For What It's Worth", is a song written by Stephen Stills. Performed by Buffalo Springfield, it was recorded on December 5, 1966, released as a single on Atco Reco ...

". It also spent two weeks at number 9 on

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing on Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982–1985. In the years leading up to the January 20 ...

, becoming the first Roxette song to enter that chart. The single peaked at number 11 on the national

Sverigetopplistan Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, based on sales data from IFPI Sverige. It was formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and has been known by its current name si ...

sales chart. It was also a minor hit in Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. The song received positive reviews from various Swedish publications. Per Bjurman of ''

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

'' called it "one of Gessle's strongest songs", and praised the chorus as a "classic distillate of the hardest

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

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). Anders Nunstedt of ''

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

'' called it their best up-tempo single since " Joyride" (1991).

Formats and track listings

All songs written by Per Gessle. * CD Single (Europe 5518972) # "Opportunity Nox" – 2:59 # "

Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave) "Fading Like a Flower (Every Time You Leave)" is a power ballad by Swedish pop duo Roxette from their third studio album, '' Joyride'' (1991). Written by Per Gessle and produced by Clarence Öfwerman, the song was released as the second single fro ...

" (Live from

Forest National Forest National (French language, French) or Vorst Nationaal (Dutch language, Dutch) is a multi-purpose arena located in the municipality of Forest, Belgium, Forest in Brussels, Belgium. The arena can hold more than 8,000 people. It hosts indoo ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

on 22 October 2001) – 4:08 # "Breathe" – 4:33

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''

''. * Recorded at Tits & Ass Studio,

in December 2001 and

Polar Studios Polar Studios was a recording studio in Stockholm, Sweden, which operated from 1978 through 2004. The studio was formed by ABBA musicians Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson and the band's manager Stig Anderson, owner of the Polar Music recording l ...

in March and October 2002. * Mixed by Ronny Lahti, Clarence Öfwerman and Per Gessle at Polar Studios, Stockholm. Musicians *

–

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

and

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

, acoustic,

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...

and

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

s, production *

– background vocals and production * Ronny Lahti –

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

Christoffer Lundquist Carl Christoffer Lundquist (born 16 January 1970) is a Sweden, Swedish musician and producer. He was once in the band Brainpool (band), Brainpool, where he started as a bass player and backing vocalist, but moved to play both the bass and the g ...

–

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and electric guitars *

Clarence Öfwerman Clarence Öfwerman (born 22 November 1957) is a Swedish record producer and musician, best known as the longtime producer of Roxette, having been with the band from their debut album, ''Pearls of Passion'', in 1986, through to 2016's '' Good Ka ...

– electric guitars,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

and production * Mats "MP" Persson – electric guitars and engineering * Shooting Star – programming

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2002 songs 2003 singles Roxette songs Capitol Records singles Songs written by Per Gessle Song recordings produced by Clarence Öfwerman Music videos directed by Jonas Åkerlund