Product Description

Named after Godard's 1959 science-fiction masterpiece and heavily influenced by '80s synth bands like Depeche Mode, Alphaville was the Munich-based trio of Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd and Frank Mertens. Their 1984 debut, FORVER YOUNG, features sombre but catchy synth-pop not unlike late Ultravox. Three songs-- the title track, "The Jet Set" and "Sounds LikeA Melody"--were sizeable hits, and a fourth, the brooding and atmospheric "Big In Japan" (ostensibly about heroin addiction) was a worldwide Top Ten smash. Unfortunately, by the time of Alphaville's 1986 follow-up, synth-pop was no longer a chart concern, and the trio quickly faded from sight.

Track Listing

1. Victory Of Love
2. Summer In Berlin
3. Big In Japan
4. To Germany With Love
5. Fallen Angel
6. Forever Young
7. In The Mood
8. Sounds Like A Melody
9. Lies
10. Jet Set

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4756 in Music
• Released on: 1984-11-23
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

perfect
just only listen to the tracks :forever young,big in japan and souns like a melody...what can i say ..the best electro melodic songs of the 80s...it stands out

The sound of '84
Known in the UK solely for the hit 'Big In Japan' (included here), Alphaville here present songs in English about life in their German homeland. 'Forever Young' is the archetypal pop album of its time, slotting in alongside Ultravox, Visage, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode and the Thompson Twins to name but several. It's a solid, confident and expertly-made effort with rhythms that mark it out as continental. The melodies, however, tend to be all of one type and by the time you get halfway through the album you can pretty much predict the rest.

There are little highs here and there, notably the harmony vocals on 'In The Mood' and 'Jet Set' which they might have made more of elsewhere and frequently infectious rhythms. Even so, much of what they do here has been done at least as well already by other artists and it is perhaps ironic that a German band appear to ape British bands that take their cues from earlier German bands such as Kraftwerk. A decent album, but only essential for lovers of synth pop of the era.

Fantastic New Wave
Alphaville one of my Favourites Bands,the Great voice Marian Gold with his Bandmates were the best German band pre-Modern Talking era.