Strange Attractor - New Album

[Halfnelson]

Well, for once, that was a short-lived enigma! Congrats Kaz & thank you HR

[wii]

Everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion, whether it's positive or negative, as long as it's written in respect to Alphaville and everyone else around here.

I like all the albums, but they are all different, and I don't mind that, and Strange Attractor is certainly different from the other albums, and that's probably why so many people different opinions are posted here and on other websites.

As I already said, I like 50% of the album very much, the other 50% is just not me, and I will probably never listen to that other 50%. As everything else in life, it's about personal preference, and I'm not into that style. I for sure prefer the sound of Handful of Darkness than Fever, which for me doesn't sound like Alphaville at all, but hey, if someone else loves Fever, great :)

It's also interesting to notice that the songs I like best from Strange Attractor has Martin Lister involved, no doubt that he loved synths more than Marian :)

To compare, the new Depeche Mode album is only 10% good for me, and I was the biggest DM fan you can possibly imagine, I just don't like their new sound, and it's been like this for years now, will probably never change.

[hajak]

Originally Posted by Streetside Romeo

Hajak - I am not saying anything at all against not liking, or complaining about, SA. What I spoke out against was pretending to judge the quality of an Alphaville album not based on any at-least-somewhat-"objective"-or-interpersonally-reliable criteria but solely on whether or not one likes the sound.

For my part, I was quite disappointed by CROG and I voiced that opinion here several times - but I don´t think I ever wrote that CROG is "bad" therefore...it is, actually, a really efficient pop album and while I didn´t understand (nor endorse) why Alphaville would board the 80s/90s retro train after they had spent the bigger part of the 90s and 00s breaking out of those niches, the album seems to perform its intended function very well - probably the reason why it was rather successful. And I really like some songs on it. What I did point out back then was that the complexity of the songwriting and production (arrangements, dynamics after mastering) had decreased in comparison with its predecessors, and that I thought this was a real loss. This is not just "I don´t like it" reasoning, but something factual to start a debate...and I remember several people back then arguing that they thought I was right but that they liked CROG precisely because of this simplicity and straightforwardness.

And this is just what I would like to propose: Let´s discuss and debate SA, but please let´s not overgeneralize our own tastes. "I don`t like it" is perfectly ok..."I don´t like it so it`s a weak album" is somewhat presumptuous. "I think it`s a weak album" certainly is a legitimate proposition to start a debate, but then it should be followed by an argumentation to explicate and substantiate this verdict, not just with "because it doesn`t sound like the 80s" or "because I hate guitars".

I guess we can agree on one thing and thats that we like totally different things about AV.

When you said that CROG was retro I suppose you meant 80s retro,I thought CROG sounded very fresh because not many bands released an album like that in 2010.

I Think Strange Attractor is retro not 80s retro,it sound like the early 90s to me when there were a lot of Heavy rock and sad Music on the hitlists.
In the early and mid 90s I had almost given up on Alphaville TBB was out and I didnt like It at all
then Prostitute its Ok but not more,and those albums sounds like sadness not so poppy.
Then came Salvation ,great with a sound that makes you happy,Crog the same.
Now with SA AV went back to the sadness,a sound I hoped AV left for good Its ok to play sad Music I Think thats what the slowpaced songs are for but there has to be some danceable funny tracks on an album.

You said that the production is so great on this album,I dont agree,Marian is one of the Worlds
best singers why use vocoders and make him sing falsetto
In my opinion 3 of 4 vinyltracks is better than the albumversions(A handful of darkness is a masterpiece on the album).
Hertbreak CIty has a great Chorus on the album version but the rest I feel is destroyed with Heavy guitars and falsetto song,It would have been a great song if that had used the verse from the vinyl version and the Chorus from the albumversion that would have been a great production.

[hajak]

Originally Posted by wii

It's also interesting to notice that the songs I like best from Strange Attractor has Martin Lister involved, no doubt that he loved synths more than Marian :)

.

I it is like you say then it probably will be Heavy guitars and funk and stuff like that from AV in the
future,really sad not much to look forward to

[Kaz]

Oh well, you can't please all of the people all of the time.

[tarirodecai]

Funny reading all the opininons. We're all so different... For example, I LOVE Prostitute, i think it's a very very very good album, and most of you don't like it very much...

[humanracer]

Bands like Alphaville who vary their sound from album to album are always going to cause disagreements amongst their fans. The only two albums that all fans agree are good are FY and Salvation but even the latter has some detractors who accuse it of being too techno. One of the reasons bands like ABBA were so successful is that they never deviated from their core sound. If you bought an ABBA album, you knew exactly what to expect. For artistic reasons, Alphaville wants to try different things. You will get people who love CROG but hate SA and vice versa. Personally I love all the albums. I don't mind falsetto either as I like disco and I am even partial to a bit of the Bee Gees or Earth Wind & Fire on occasion. I know what you mean about the "sadness" aspect but I find SA quite upbeat. I probably feel more "sadness" on the new Depeche Mode record. Songs like Heartbreak City and Sexyland make want to dance.

I like TBB but again I am a fan of jazzy music too. Also I like Prostitute but felt that it's a bit too long.

[humanracer]

Originally Posted by hajak

Of course its OK to be critical.
Concerts doesnt interest me at all anymore because its the same setlist as Always.
Why cant AV do like other bands release an album and then go on tour.
I would love to see a Concert with the new songs

Money. Tours cost money. Alphaville does not have enough fans to do a major tour. This is the reality. Many other smaller bands are in the same boat. They are not Depeche Mode.

It's been the same CROG setlist for a little while now but this will change with the release of SA.

[humanracer]

Originally Posted by poul e

Of course it's out of our control. But I still think it's ok for fans to be critical....

For me....Alphaville have turned into a live band....in my opinion it's a dangerous way to go....they risk ending up being "that 80s band who had hits with BIJ and FY" and losing most of their hardcorefans...

"Just give us some news that hasn't got anything to do with concerts....that's the least you can do!!!"

Most bands today make their money through touring due to the high level of music piracy. This is the harsh reality. Besides if Alphaville had not become a live band, people would have forgotten about them totally. Performing live is one way of keeping themselves in the public eye.

At their concerts Alphaville only actually play 7-8 songs from the 80s. The rest is from the 90s and beyond.

[humanracer]

Originally Posted by hajak

[I just think it should be possible both to do concerts and release new songs regularly....

That should definately be possible for any band...

After Strange attractor is released,I Think AV should consider release EP:s
instead of album if its so hard to set 10-14 songs together.
In that case we should have something to look forward to instead of nothing[/QUOTE]
They are going back into the studio early next year so there might be another album sooner than you think.