[size=12][b][color=red]ALPHAVILLE[/color][/b] Alphaville is a German synthpop group which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. The band was at first named Forever Young before changing to Alphaville. They are best known for their two biggest hits, "Big in Japan" and "Forever Young". As of 2010 they have sold over 6,000,000 albums. The current core stage members of Alphaville are Marian Gold (vocals), Martin Lister (keyboards), David Goodes (guitars) and Jakob Kiersch (drums). [b][color=red]CATCHING RAYS ON GIANT[/color][/b] The album "Catching Rays On Giant", the first commercial studio album in 13 years, was released on November 19th, 2010 and entered the official German album charts at number 9 in its first week of release. It is available in two formats, one as a 12-track CD and the other a deluxe edition with CD plus 4 bonus tracks and DVD. It is also available digitally from various download platforms. The DVD in the deluxe package includes the video to the first single "I Die For You Today" and a documentary titled "Audiovision" which is there in a normal version and also in a 3D version. The package contains 3D glasses to enable the viewer to enjoy this. The band held an album release party, where they played a short unplugged set, at the Quasimodo Club in Berlin on the evening of 18th November, 2010 to which their closest fans and friends were invited. [b][color=red]CD TRACKLIST[/color][/b] 01 - Song For No One 02 - I Die For You Today 03 - End Of The World 04 - The Things I Didn't Do 05 - Heaven On Earth (The Things We've Got To Do) 06 - The Deep 07 - Call Me 08 - Gravitation Breakdown 09 - Carry Your Flag 10 - Call Me Down 11 - Phantoms 12 - Miracle Healing Bonus Tracks 13 - I Die For You Today (Original Demo Version) 14 - Call Me (Original Demo Version) 15 - Fallen Angel (Orchestral Demo Version) 16 - Forever Young (Factory Mix) [b][color=red]DVD TRACKLIST[/color][/b] 01 - Audiovision (Documentation) 02 - Audiovision (3D Documentation) 03 - I Die For You Today (Music Video) [b][color=red]REVIEWS[/color][/b] [quote=Angus McTavish "AMT" at amazon.com] It's been 13 years since they've had a release from a major distributor (Salvation, WEA), and seven years since their last release of any kind (CrazyShow box set), but thanks to Universal, Alphaville is back and giving us more great music! Traces of their '80s roots can be easily detected by those who follow them, but for the most part, the music is fresh and lively. It should be pointed out, even though the site already makes mention of it, that the DVD in the deluxe edition is in PAL format. And since one of the features on that DVD is in 3-D, you get a pair of glasses for viewing it, too. There are two tracks from the original CD listings that had seen earlier mixes and releases. "Miracle Healing" was also featured in the CrazyShow box set (2003), and "Carry Your Flag" was featured on both that and the 1999 Dreamscapes collection. Regardless, both songs have been given fresh mixes and sound great, though some of the lyrics in "Miracle Healing" are now missing. One highlight is their first hit single from this album, "I Die for You Today." Fantastic song, with a great beat. Actually, to say the band is "back" is not entirely true. They had been performing all over Europe and elsewhere, while the frontman, Marian Gold, had been writing many other songs over the years. Only thing that really changed during that time is the lineup.[/quote] [quote=Cair Paravel "goodspace" at amazon.com] I admit up front I love this band. This new album is straight up electronic dance music, not to be confused with "club" music that is all made on computers - this is good old euro synth vocal dance music. It has a somewhat 80's flavor, and is delivered with Marian's impeccable voice and vocal styling. I was slightly disappointed at first because the layering of the sounds and depth of the songs are not really there - leaving it (for me) to be quite simple. But sometimes simple can be good, and in this case these songs have more hooks that a tackle box and I'll say again Marian's voice (he's over 50!) is flawless. This isn't headphones music where you want to hear every nuance... this is CRANK IT in the car, bouncy stuff that is great for the treadmill too. Hours later I find myself still singing these songs.[/quote] [quote=Streetside Romeo at alphaville.org forum, 12/10] "All the years Alphaville didn't have a contract, Marian made quite experimental music and came up with innovative and creative concepts such as using a Web site as central means not only for communication but also for music discussion (distribution and discussion of demos) and music distribution (sales of Dreamscapes and CrazyShow)...remember, most of this was well before the age of myspace and iTunes and is still quoted as early mover / best practice in the industry today! In chats and interviews, he always expressed by how lame, commercial and purely evil the industry was, how much freedom Alphaville's autonomous situation gave them, and Alphaville really got increasing credit as an alternative/underground project that is more about art than about business. Now he is back to a) a major label, b) the standard distribution channels, c) the standard production processes (little fan input, little to no demos or online previews, etc.), d) a VERY commercial sound (by the way, Sputnik Roadhouse, the long-announced all-star art project with Klaus Schulze, Effjot Kr?ger, et al, is officially dead by now...the Web site is redirected to the Catching Rays On Giant-part of Alphaville's site) and e) tells everyone in interviews that the whole independent / alternative thing of the last thirteen years was not so much an artistic decision but one out of sheer need because nobody would give Alphaville a new contract, while he praises the major label(s) for the "great creative and working conditions". Also, he tells everyone that he doesn't care much about success when writing/producing songs, while 'Catching Rays On Giant' is so obviously made for the charts that it seems to prove this wrong."[/quote] [b][color=red]LINKS[/color][/b] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YODEHhumDTM]Catching Rays On Giant (Promo Video)[/url] [b][color=red]COMMENTS[/color][/b] This one is for Pedro's only, please do not upload elsewhere. Please avoid overseeding. Remember that uploaders are doing a hard job to provide you with fine music, which you might acknowledge by leaving comments or at least pushing the thank you button. [b][color=red]ENJOY![/color][/b][/size]
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