Album title: Strange Attractor
Artist: Alphaville
Genre: Synthpop
Nationality: German
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Ninth
Estimated Rating:
Familiar with this artist? I've heard the singles
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Not really no
Average RYM Score: 2.91
I know of Alphaville only from the charts: “Big in Japan” and “Forever Young” being their two big hits that I remember, and I've never listened to an album from them. It actually came as a surprise to find they're German! Interesting opener, quite sort of darkwave to a degree (or it would be, if I fully understood what that entailed!) then it bops on with an uptempo rocker which reminds me very much of Bowie's “Fashion”. I mean, very much. “House of Ghosts” on the other hand has a very a-ha feel to it with some very eighties sounding synth lines, then “Around the Universe” has very much the ghost of Morten Harkett flitting through it; if the previous track was reminiscent of a-ha, they might actually have a case against Alphaville for this one! Not that that makes it a bad track; far from it. When these guys do dark ballads they really shine, if that's not a contradiction, which it is. Appropriately, “Enigma” is a good example of this.
It's really, really hard to get away from the a-ha comparisons though. The singer sounds so much like Morten most of the time, and even the rhythms, the melodies, the structure all remind me of Norway's most famous pop export. It's not quite a criticism, as I adore a-ha, but it does come across as slightly less original, though of course Alphaville have been going almost as long as Morten, Pal and Mags. “A Handful of Darkness” would definitely stand out, though, as being not only different but also my favourite track so far. I have to say, I'm a lot more impressed with this than I had expected to be. Good stuff.
Check out more from this artist? I think I will
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
Actual Rating:
