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Gruppo tedesco di genere elettronico nato nei primi anni '80 e formato da Ralf Dorper, Andreas Thein (che lascia la band quasi subito) e Michael Mertens. Al terzetto, che pubblica in Germania qualche singolo autoprodotto, si aggiungono le vocalist Claudia Brucken e Susanne Freytag.
Nel 1985 pubblicano, per l'etichetta ZTT di Trevor Horn, il loro primo album "A Secret Wish" preceduto di qualche mese (1984) dal singolo "Dr. Mabuse" che ottiene discreto successo in Gran Bretagna.
Le atmosfere del microsolco sono basate sull'ampio utilizzo di elettronica e sperimentazioni industrial-percussive ai sintetizzatori ma anche di interessanti ritmiche basso-chitarra. Il vago intellettualismo del synth-pop che sta nel mezzo tra il l'elettronica e la wave oscura accontenta sia il pubblico più esigente che quello più commerciale. Anche i testi sono ricercati (ben rappresentati dalle foto di Anton Corbjin) e svariano tra visioni d'orrore, paure, duelli d'amore tutti stesi su un piano dall'area sempre minacciosa. Oltre alle particolari stesure musico-testuali è degna di nota anche la particolarissima voce nasale della vocalist solista Claudia Brucken, non eccessivamente curata ma sicuramente intrigante nelle sue estensioni ed inclinazioni.
L'apertura è data da "Dream Within a Dream" una parafrasi musicalmente drammatica e minimale di un testo di Edgar Allan Poe. In "Murder Of Love" si scorgono le dure e spigolose venature elettriche tedesche con linee di basso e percussioni simil-militari dall'enfasi molto accentuata. "Frozen Faces" è un pezzo più accessibile strutturato su due parti ben distinte simmetricamente: la prima più scogliosa ed elettrica, la seconda più tenue e leggera. Il già citato primo estratto "Dr. Mabuse" è un ottimo e lunghissimo (10:41) esempio di ammiccamenti orecchiabili misti a misteriose ed inquietante trame al sintetizzatore dall'inflessione industrial soprattutto nelle percussioni. "P-Machinery" si staglia come pezzo cardine dell'intero disco. Corroborato da un ottimo successo di classifica, il pezzo è una collezione pirotecnica e coinvolgente di pop-elettronico di eccellente fattura. Straordinaria addirittura la versione extended che valorizza appieno lo sforzo artistico del gruppo.
Molto famosa ma forse meno interessante è "Duel" strutturata in modo troppo commerciale e senza i picchi e le variazioni tematiche del resto della produzione; l'economia però è sempre importante nel mondo discografico. Molto più interessante è la versione del pezzo denominata "Jewel", più cattiva e grezza. Altro gran pezzo è "Sorry For Laughing" sincopata e terribilmente piena di suoni percussivi intrecciati, volutamente stesa su un tappeto ritmico ondeggiante e cantata quasi in cadenza stonata dalla vocalist. Chiudono il lavoro la finta leggerezza di "The Chase" e la rilettura in chiave ancor più onirica e sontuosa del pezzo d'apertura rinominato in questo caso "Strenght To Dream".
Disco molto interessante e spesso trascurato se riferito al singolo "Duel" con il quale la band è conosciuta ai più.
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
01 Dream Within A Dream (08:04)
all that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream
take this kiss upon the brow
and in parting from you now
this much let me avow
you are not wrong who deemed
that my days have been a dream
yet if hope has flown away
in a night, in a day, in a vision, or a memory
is it therefore the less gone?
all that we see or seem
is but a dream within a dream
I stand amid the roar
of the surf tormented shore
and I hold within my hands
grains of golden sand
how few yet how they creep
through my fingers to the deep
while I weep, while I weep
oh god can I not grasp them with a tighter clasp
oh god can I not save one from the pitiless wave
is all that we see or seem
but a dream within a dream
02 The Murder Of Love (05:18)
I've, I've been a victim of your love
like many before, so many before
You, you strangled me with all your charms
I yearned for more, I'm yearning for more
I'm charging you with murder
the fire of love's dying down
but in the face of the verdict
I'm feeling all jealousy drown
plead for mercy
You, you've been convicted by a kiss
you share too much, you share too much
I, I was a witness of your crime
Now I'm the judge, I am the judge
I'm charging you with murder
the fire of love's dying down
but in the face of the verdict
I'm feeling all jealousy drown
plead for mercy
I'm charging you with murder
the fire of love's dying down
but in the face of the verdict
I'm feeling all jealousy drown
I'm charging you with murder
the fire of love's dying down
but in the face of the verdict
I'm feeling all jealousy drown
I'm charging you with murder
the fire of love's dying down
but in the face of the verdict
03 Jewel (03:10)
ONE TWO THREE FOUR
Eye to eye stand winners and losers
Hurt by envy, cut by greed
Face to face with their own disillusion
The scars of old romances still on their cheeks
And when blow by blow the passion dies sweet little death
Just have been lies the memories of gone by time
Would still recall the lie
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding i start screaming
It's too late the decision is made by fate
Time to prove what forever should last
Whose feelings are so true as to stand the test
Whose demands are so strong as to parry all attempts
And when blow by blow the passion dies sweet little death
Just have been lies the memories of gone by time
Would still recall the lie
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start screaming i start bleeding
The first cut
The second cut
The third cut
Ah!
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding, i start screaming
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding I start screaming.
04 Duel (04:48)
Eye to eye stand winners and losers
hurt by envy, cut by greed
Face to face with their own disillusions
The scars of old romances still on their cheeks.
And when blow by blow
the passion dies sweet little death
just have been lies.
Some memories of gone by times would still recall the lies.
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder.
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding I start screaming.
It's too late the decision is made by fate
Time to prove what forever should last.
Whose feelings are so true as to stand the test?
Whose demands are so strong as to parry all attempts?
And when blow by blow
the passion dies sweet little death
just have been lies.
Some memories of gone by times will still recall the lies.
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder.
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding I start screaming.
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder.
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding I start screaming.
The first cut won't hurt at all
The second only makes you wonder.
The third will have you on your knees
You start bleeding I start screaming.
05 Frozen Faces (04:25)
one box for optimism
forget the world, take this break
and dance
the drums are stained with blood
don't look at this disaster
if you want my advice, take this break
and dance
sweet secret sense of sin
sweet secret sense of rhythm
sweet secret sense of sin
sweet secret sense of rhythm
if your pure emotions
ich fuerchte keine Einsamkeit [I fear no loneliness]
provoke these frozen faces
es gibt keine Warmherzigkeit [there is no warm-heartedness]
take this break and dance
you can't stay away from this
you listen to this hellish crash
you can't stay away from this
the war has just begun
frozen faces can always melt
sweet secret sense of sin
frozen faces can always melt
push this echo in the outside world
sweet secret sense of sin
one box for optimism
forget the world
sweet secret sense of sin
sweet secret sense of sin
push this echo in the outside world
sweet secret sense of sin
frozen faces can always melt again
06 P-Machinery (03:50)
Motor
Power - force - motion - drive
Power - force - motion - drive
Power - force - motion - drive
Power - force - motion - drive
Propaganda
On joyless lanes we walk in lines
a calm but steady flow.
Accompanied by loud commands
our strength is running low.
Another hope feeds another dream
another truth installed by the machine.
A secret wish the marrying of lies
today comes true what common sense denies.
Rotating wheels of destiny inflame the city lights.
Machines call out for followers far out into the night.
The calls of the machines drowning in the steam.
Another hope feeds another dream
another truth installed by the machine.
A secret wish the marrying of lies
today you find is true what common sense denies.
The calls of the machines drowning in the steam.
On joyless lanes we walk in lines
a calm but steady flow.
Our strength is running low.
Another hope
another dream
another truth
installed by the machine
installed by the machine.
07 Sorry For Laughing (03:27)
it took ten years to realize
why the angel stopped crying
when you sail on down the lane
your happy smile, your funny name
it's so hopeless to define
when you jump to close the blinds
you know I'd help you if I could but
both my arms are made of wood
I just don't mean the things that I say
it's only cause you're made that way
sorry for laughing
there's too much happening
sorry for laughing
there's too much happening
when we grooved on into town
Charles Atlas
stopped to frown
cause he's not made like me and you
just can't do the things we do
i'm not being mean so don't take it hard
when I ask you to run round the yard
sorry for laughing
there's too much happening
sorry for laughing
there's too much happening
at times like these you don't have to say
so sorry it turned out that way
sorry for laughing
there's too much happening
sorry for laughing
there's too much happening
09 The Chase (04:05)
chasing after passing visions
chasing after passing visions
and traces buried by the tide
chasing after passing visions
and traces buried by the tide
hunting for the bygone picture
reviving phantoms of the past
hunting for a bygone picture
chasing after passing visions
of this magic of your touch
and traces buried by the tide
your secret smile, I can't forget
chasing after passing visions
we could turn back the pointers of the clock
and traces buried by the tide
oh if I could and if you would
Carico i commenti... con calma
Altre recensioni
Di Dislocation
"Tutto quello che vediamo o che sembriamo non è che un sogno dentro un sogno?"
"Quale gruppo al suo primo disco potrebbe ospitare David Sylvian e Steve Howe ed inizierebbe un album con un brano cadenzato ed ipnotico, che per testo ha il 'Sogno Dentro a un Sogno' di Poe? Questi non sono normali, diventeranno grandissimi!"
