Listening to Catching Rays On Giant - Page 10 - Alphaville Forum

Avil · 23 Nov 2010, 21:10

Since I haven't received the album yet, I have been listening to the album on Spotify every day since it was released there...

I don't want to give a statement on the whole album yet, but songs I really liked were Heaven on earth (the best so far), Song for no one (it's really catchy and happy), Phantoms (no feeling for it yet, but it's good), Call me (it's nice as well)...I love I die for you today, but I have listened to it for years now so it's not so exciting anymore even though it's good.

I don't have an opinion on Carry your flag and Miracle healing, I don't feel they belong on this album. They already have a history and CROG must create its own!

Streetside Romeo · 25 Nov 2010, 12:26

Glib, I could not agree more! I miss the subtlety and surprise, also some edgy touch in the songs on CROG and the delicacy in the lyrics. To me, those have always been defining parts of the Alphaville experience.

Sure, Alphaville has started as a mainstream-pop group and it's a side of them that has never gone away...which is good, because it has graced us with some unforgettable songs. But even on the most "pop" albums - FY, AIU, Salvation - , there were always songs with a more experimental touch (e.g. To Germany With Love, 20th Century, Dangerous Places), with sublime lyrics and/or intriguing stories (e.g. In the Mood, Carol Masters, Pandora's Lullaby) and sophisticated, surprising arrangements / architecture under the pop surface (e.g. Sounds Like a Melody, The Voyager, Point of Know Return).

All of this I miss on CROG. The songs are (mostly) beautiful (and most of them are far better than at least 50% of Salvation), have a fantastic sound quality, good production, cool sounds/effects, gripping grooves, a catchy chorus, rousing mood --- but they are all fairly obvious, fairly linear, fairly conventional, somewhat superficial and utterly predictable (the only exception, to some degree, might be The Deep). I miss the surprises, the secret rooms you only discover in a certain mood or when you listen to it for the 22nd time. I miss the tension, the unusual.

It surely is a truly great pop album with considerable hit potential, but it is the first album in Alphaville history that can be accessed and understood pretty much instantly, with little involvement, little habituation and little surprise. Thus, it may also be the first Alphaville album of which one tires fairly quickly as well...it's far less interesting than former albums. Even the songs I really love (mostly Call me Down, Gravitation Breakdown, but also Song for Noone, Call me...) are starting to bore me already and I have to reduce the frequency of listening to them in order to keep enjoying them. Exception remains The Deep.

While I wish Alphaville huge success with this (and think that they have good chances to score top positions in the German charts), I both secretly and explicitly hope that the boys will rediscover subtlety and sublimeness for the ventures to come.

Kaz · 25 Nov 2010, 12:47

You have to think, though, that songs such as To Germany With Love, Summer In Berlin and so on were created during a different time period and during a time when those kind of things interested Marian. He's a 56 year old father now. Maybe he's melllowed with time. I do agree with what you say but I can also see it from a different perspective.

Starman · 25 Nov 2010, 16:02

Its Marian. Its Alphaville. Need I say more?
Enjoy the album and appreciate the fact that it is finally here!

Mr. Picard · 25 Nov 2010, 16:04

I thought Crazy Show was truly awful (for the most part) and I'm really happy to hear Alphaville go back to the "pop roots", even if it's truly VERY mainstream what they published. It's refreshing to have some pop again after the... umm... whatever the style was that we got with Crazy Show, lol. We all have one or two albums we can't stand, I assume. (I, for one, can't stand most songs from Crazy Show or The Breathtaking Blue and I don't want them to go into THAT direction again. Uuuuugggghhhh.) I'd say that it's, as always, a matter of taste. I expected quite a few fans to dislike CROG, actually. Which is fine, of course.

What I do agree with is that neither Carry Your Flag nor Miracle Healing should have been on the new album. (I read that somewhere here, forgot who said it and where.) They just don't belong with the rest of the songs somehow. I find myself skipping them on a regular basis.

Andreas · 25 Nov 2010, 17:37

First today I received the album and I have not wanted to listen to the songs available on YouTube or anywhere else before I got the album in my hands. In order not to blur my own impressions, I have not read yours yet - but I will as soon as I have written this. So here are my impressions after listening to it once:

The album is good - of course - otherwise it would have been a big surprise... I also find it quite even.
I die for you today was a good choice of first single, since it is one of three songs with a hit potential. The others are Phantoms (probably my favourite track on the album) and Call me. The lyrics of The things I didn't do I find really funny, maybe because I can recognize myself in the refrain but absolutely not in the verses. We should all try to live like the lyrics in the refrain of Heaven on Earth. Don't you think so??? The deep is a nice ballad and Song for no one is a nice uptempo song. Call me down is very un-AV, but still nice. The least good song is the one with the best title (at least for someone working with gravity), Gravitation breakdown.
I am very surprised they left out Gallery, but I don't cry for it since it is in my opinion the least good of the five songs they started to perform in 2004. The new versions of Carry your flag and Miracle healing are not better than the old ones and especially the first mentioned should have been left out.
But still, a good album that I am sure will grow! I hope it will take much less years until AV release a new album than it did this time.

Krapplund · 25 Nov 2010, 19:09

Heaven On Earth grow all the time....GREAT!!

@Andreas: Nice that you got your record, i´m still waiting for my

FallenAngel · 25 Nov 2010, 19:10

AV - The Deep

pekurovsky · 26 Nov 2010, 08:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaz

He's a 56 year old father now. Maybe he's melllowed with time.

Absolutely, yeah. But at the same time - is it too worthy for 56 year old father to sing jolly teenage pop songs as if he's youngster? This is truly return to the roots then - 'cause he appears to be Forever Young [spin][smile2]

Kaz · 26 Nov 2010, 09:08

Well, Rod Stewart does it. On the other hand, Marian could grow old disgracefully like Mick Jagger...

Funny, he's actually said in recent interviews that one thing he hates is growing old and he wishes he could be 25 years younger. He says the writing and recording process is a lot slower nowadays.

25 Nov 2010, 12:26	#92
Streetside Romeo Strange Attractor Join Date: 18 Mar 2001 Location: Dötlingen, Germany Posts: 742	Glib, I could not agree more! I miss the subtlety and surprise, also some edgy touch in the songs on CROG and the delicacy in the lyrics. To me, those have always been defining parts of the Alphaville experience. Sure, Alphaville has started as a mainstream-pop group and it's a side of them that has never gone away...which is good, because it has graced us with some unforgettable songs. But even on the most "pop" albums - FY, AIU, Salvation - , there were always songs with a more experimental touch (e.g. To Germany With Love, 20th Century, Dangerous Places), with sublime lyrics and/or intriguing stories (e.g. In the Mood, Carol Masters, Pandora's Lullaby) and sophisticated, surprising arrangements / architecture under the pop surface (e.g. Sounds Like a Melody, The Voyager, Point of Know Return). All of this I miss on CROG. The songs are (mostly) beautiful (and most of them are far better than at least 50% of Salvation), have a fantastic sound quality, good production, cool sounds/effects, gripping grooves, a catchy chorus, rousing mood --- but they are all fairly obvious, fairly linear, fairly conventional, somewhat superficial and utterly predictable (the only exception, to some degree, might be The Deep). I miss the surprises, the secret rooms you only discover in a certain mood or when you listen to it for the 22nd time. I miss the tension, the unusual. It surely is a truly great pop album with considerable hit potential, but it is the first album in Alphaville history that can be accessed and understood pretty much instantly, with little involvement, little habituation and little surprise. Thus, it may also be the first Alphaville album of which one tires fairly quickly as well...it's far less interesting than former albums. Even the songs I really love (mostly Call me Down, Gravitation Breakdown, but also Song for Noone, Call me...) are starting to bore me already and I have to reduce the frequency of listening to them in order to keep enjoying them. Exception remains The Deep. While I wish Alphaville huge success with this (and think that they have good chances to score top positions in the German charts), I both secretly and explicitly hope that the boys will rediscover subtlety and sublimeness for the ventures to come. I prefer to walk with my own feet I prefer to dance to my own beat I prefer to sing my own song I prefer to live - do you wanna come along? (Ephemere - Eternal Travelers pt. III) NEW ALBUM RELEASED: Check out my synth-rock band EPHEMERE's latest, the wonderfully synth-heavy LP "Hobos & Architects": www.ephemere.de Last edited by Streetside Romeo; 25 Nov 2010 at 12:29.

25 Nov 2010, 12:47	#93
Kaz Her... Join Date: 22 Jan 2003 Location: Bucharest, Romania Posts: 12,459	You have to think, though, that songs such as To Germany With Love, Summer In Berlin and so on were created during a different time period and during a time when those kind of things interested Marian. He's a 56 year old father now. Maybe he's melllowed with time. I do agree with what you say but I can also see it from a different perspective. Before you judge me, make sure you're perfect.

25 Nov 2010, 16:02	#94
Starman Forever Canada Join Date: 15 Dec 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 423	Its Marian. Its Alphaville. Need I say more? Enjoy the album and appreciate the fact that it is finally here! Love Life. Everything else is just details... [star]

25 Nov 2010, 16:04	#95
Mr. Picard Streetside Romeo Join Date: 27 Dec 2000 Location: Karlsruhe, Germany Posts: 1,307	I thought Crazy Show was truly awful (for the most part) and I'm really happy to hear Alphaville go back to the "pop roots", even if it's truly VERY mainstream what they published. It's refreshing to have some pop again after the... umm... whatever the style was that we got with Crazy Show, lol. We all have one or two albums we can't stand, I assume. (I, for one, can't stand most songs from Crazy Show or The Breathtaking Blue and I don't want them to go into THAT direction again. Uuuuugggghhhh.) I'd say that it's, as always, a matter of taste. I expected quite a few fans to dislike CROG, actually. Which is fine, of course. What I do agree with is that neither Carry Your Flag nor Miracle Healing should have been on the new album. (I read that somewhere here, forgot who said it and where.) They just don't belong with the rest of the songs somehow. I find myself skipping them on a regular basis. ~And as for love... we need to be strangers from now on. ~

25 Nov 2010, 17:37	#96
Andreas Snömodd Join Date: 03 Dec 2000 Location: Gävle, Sweden Posts: 353	First today I received the album and I have not wanted to listen to the songs available on YouTube or anywhere else before I got the album in my hands. In order not to blur my own impressions, I have not read yours yet - but I will as soon as I have written this. So here are my impressions after listening to it once: The album is good - of course - otherwise it would have been a big surprise... I also find it quite even. I die for you today was a good choice of first single, since it is one of three songs with a hit potential. The others are Phantoms (probably my favourite track on the album) and Call me. The lyrics of The things I didn't do I find really funny, maybe because I can recognize myself in the refrain but absolutely not in the verses. We should all try to live like the lyrics in the refrain of Heaven on Earth. Don't you think so??? The deep is a nice ballad and Song for no one is a nice uptempo song. Call me down is very un-AV, but still nice. The least good song is the one with the best title (at least for someone working with gravity), Gravitation breakdown. I am very surprised they left out Gallery, but I don't cry for it since it is in my opinion the least good of the five songs they started to perform in 2004. The new versions of Carry your flag and Miracle healing are not better than the old ones and especially the first mentioned should have been left out. But still, a good album that I am sure will grow! I hope it will take much less years until AV release a new album than it did this time. Last edited by Andreas; 25 Nov 2010 at 17:46.

23 Nov 2010, 21:10	#91
Avil The dream Join Date: 12 Nov 2000 Location: Malmö, Sweden Posts: 8,154	Since I haven't received the album yet, I have been listening to the album on Spotify every day since it was released there... I don't want to give a statement on the whole album yet, but songs I really liked were Heaven on earth (the best so far), Song for no one (it's really catchy and happy), Phantoms (no feeling for it yet, but it's good), Call me (it's nice as well)...I love I die for you today, but I have listened to it for years now so it's not so exciting anymore even though it's good. I don't have an opinion on Carry your flag and Miracle healing, I don't feel they belong on this album. They already have a history and CROG must create its own!

25 Nov 2010, 19:09	#97
Krapplund Dream Keeper www.krapplund.com Join Date: 09 Nov 2000 Location: Emmaboda, Sweden. Posts: 17,539	Heaven On Earth grow all the time....GREAT!! @Andreas: Nice that you got your record, i´m still waiting for my "Alphaville ohne Bernhard ist wie eine Apfelstrudel ohne apfel" 17'04'2003 www.krapplund.com

25 Nov 2010, 19:10	#98
FallenAngel Some Kind Of Angel Join Date: 11 Apr 2003 Location: In the middle of the riddle... Posts: 23,740	AV - The Deep You can do just what you wanna You can kill or you can die Be a beggar or a princess But you'll never lose your style Ephemere - Fallen Angel

26 Nov 2010, 09:08	#100
Kaz Her... Join Date: 22 Jan 2003 Location: Bucharest, Romania Posts: 12,459	Well, Rod Stewart does it. On the other hand, Marian could grow old disgracefully like Mick Jagger... Funny, he's actually said in recent interviews that one thing he hates is growing old and he wishes he could be 25 years younger. He says the writing and recording process is a lot slower nowadays. Before you judge me, make sure you're perfect.