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Rating:
It's a terrible thing to be remembered as a one-hit wonder or as a fleeting phenomenon tied to a specific moment: mainstream-popular radios dig you up from time to time, always and only with THAT same piece, almost on par with "Anima Mia", and in the minds of radio/TV-dependent people, the conviction forms that you, a serious, talented, and quality artist, are a sideshow phenomenon capable of crafting only one or two songs. This happened to Alphaville too, who, perhaps because they were German and not English/American, were quickly forgotten after the initial success of "Big In Japan" and "Forever Young". But did this Western-teutonic combo, one of the last to be classified as a pop-group with full dignity before the term became associated with low-grade boybands, really deserve this fate? A rhetorical question to which the answer is obviously no: why, for example, do the Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, or even worse, Duran Duran still enjoy good/great visibility and they don't? Who knows, mysteries and idiocies of the music biz.
To avoid misunderstandings, "Forever Young" truly was the album of a lifetime for Marian Gold and crew: absolutely perfect, without a misplaced song, ennobled by synth-pop masterpieces among which "A Victory Of Love", "Summer In Berlin", "In The Mood", and "Sounds Like A Melody" shine. The subsequent years received a warm welcome for the sophomore "Afternoons In Utopia", inferior to the debut but still interesting and rich in excellent ideas, then oblivion comes with "The Breathtaking Blue", a little gem that broadens Alphaville's horizons by proposing varied styles that occasionally wink at other artists, like Falco in "Middle Of The Riddle", Marc Almond in "Summer Rain", and even Leonard Cohen (listen to believe) in "Heaven Or Hell". Yes, the plethora of critics and music press in 1989 was too busy dissecting every single detail of the "Like A Prayer" video to notice Alphaville's artistic growth and maturation, and thus the group took a break that allowed Marian Gold to debut as a solo artist, then, five years later, they returned with an album that, starting from the title and cover, seemed to want to repel distracted and occasional listeners; yes, because "Prostitute" appears decidedly distant from the radio standards of the mid-90s, a period when unknown pop starlets like Alanis Morissette suddenly discovered they had a rock soul, and even Kiss and Motley Crue dabbled in parroting grunge, Alphaville managed to proudly impose their personality, creating the most complex, eclectic, fascinating, and ambitious album of their entire career.
Seventy minutes of duration is a challenging length, but "Prostitute" manages to fill nearly all of them with great style: the album does not follow a specific stylistic thread other than quality: it moves nonchalantly from the Pink Floyd-esque suggestions of an intriguing and declamatory "The Paradigm Shift" to the carefree and laid-back reggae of "Faith", managing to amaze with a breathtaking power-ballad like "The Impossible Dream", complete with a final guitar solo, showcasing a musical and stylistic taste and emotion completely unknown to the insipid ballads of many groups who call themselves rock-bands. "Prostitute" also develops a musical discourse already started in 1989 with masterful and poignant piano-ballads like the anguished and anti-militarist "Parade" and the intimate, enveloping drama of "All In The Golden Afternoon", proving to be much more than a mere synth-pop group.
But the surprises don't end there, "Prostitute" also explores funk/urban territories bordering on hip-hop with "Beethoven" and especially the fantastic "Ain't It Strange", all bass & brass featuring a rap interlude without forgetting Alphaville's origins: the electronics-based pop that had established them is well represented in this kaleidoscopic album, in various forms: the sonorous and martial "Ascension Day", the epic refrain of "Iron John", perhaps the most distinctly '80s point of the work, "Ivory Tower", an enchanting concatenation of retrospective self-references on a wonderfully danceable and slightly gothic base, the hypnotic atmosphere of "Euphoria" that unfolds over seven minutes introduced by a majestic bluesy guitar solo only to culminate in an enthusiastically choral finale, and finally "Apollo", a sparkling synth-gallop sealed in the best way by whirling electronic beats (many dance-oriented Muse tracks echo much of this style), marking the absolute pinnacle (and unfortunately de facto also the swan song) of Alphaville.
Indeed, after this marvelous achievement, Marian Gold and compatriots lost their way; in 1997 came the merely decent "Salvation", then nothing more until the recent and mediocre "Catching Rays On Giant", thus adding the name Alphaville to the list of children devoured by the Saturn of the music industry, but their legacy remains extraordinary, "Prostitute" remains a perfect example of noble Pop, artisanally crafted, art and not an artificial product, aimed at listeners and not customers, if not for a couple of mere fillers, it would be a full 5-star, but even so, it remains a truly superlative product.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
02 Fools (03:56)
we waste our time with big illusions
talking to the walls
but jericho will never fall
we sold our trumpets long ago
exchanging all the best we had
into atomic masterplans
we read the books we had our chance
we spend the world for just one dance
so keep on dancing, all you fools
the cups of fury have been filled
so keep on dancing, all you clowns
lets have sip before we're killd
so keep on dancing
these politicians make me sigh
democracy is just a lie
as long as we are rich enough
each gouvernment will do for us
we feed like vampires on the world
we are the first, they are the third
there ain't no hope, we had our chance
we spent the world for one last dance
7 seals
7 trumpets
7 plagues
7 cups
7 angels
the scarlet beast
mother of harlots
faithful and true
03 Beethoven (05:38)
there's a tremor in the city but it looks all quiet
there is something awful brewing but there ain't riots
beethoven
you can read between the lines that there must be more
you're alarmed but you don't know what you're waiting for
beethoven
beethoven, the boots are back in town
when ignorance and fear are closing mouths and ears
the skins are on their way when it gets dark in europe
it's just a state of mind, the blind leading the blind
beethoven
there's a scrawling on a tombstone
judenschweine raus
once again the racial fury is burning down the house
beethoven
there's a bleeding yellow man lying in the streets
but there isn't anybody doing anything
beethoven, the boots are back in town
when ignorance and fear are closing mouths and ears
the skins are on their way when it gets dark in europe
it's just a state of mind, the blind leading the blind
and one grey day shall rise the flood no dikes will stem the heavy tides
when cold pierced feathered bodies scream
they fall as if the monstrous scythe of clouds had smashed them from the sky
the scattered squadron of mankind stabs right into the churned up ether
of long forgotten birdless flights
beethoven, the boots are back in town
the demons of the past will be replaced at last
there are smarter ones to stay, how can you stay away
from the order of disgrace, how can you close your eyes
beethoven, the boots are back....
04 Ascension Day (05:47)
these are the days of evil perfection
this is the world of torture and fame
this is the age of most vicious infection
these are the times of terror and pain
let them inside and they build you a nightmare
show them, you fool, it'll not be in vain
here is your costume of deepest surrender
these are the times of terror and pain
i wanna ride on a crest of sensation
i wanna scream in the whirlpools of love
i wanna drown in a climax of thunder
i wanna be with the fools in the storm
do what you want and then die when you want to
we're gonna walk on the blood of the meek
we're gonna sail through the oceans of wonder
we're gonna live in the dreams that we seek
send in the parasite clowns on their horses
send in the idiots and let them advance
send in the monsters of your own creation
send them all in and give them a chance
we're gonna dance to the sweetest of music
we're gonna play with the whores in the rain
we'll dissipate the lord's last temptations
all in a crossfire of torture and fame
15 Euphoria (07:05)
kind of thunder from my heart
flooding my eyes
flooding my eyes
kind of armies marching through my head
sombre soldiers
from nowhere
kind of someone's moving out of me
have no fear
have no fear
kind of someone's moving out of me
going somewhere
going somewhere
ship is leaving right on time
empty harbour, wave goodbye
evacuation of the isle
caveman's paintings drowning
famous last words on the air
i stay here and you are there
while our city softly sinks
cavemen's paintings drowning
drowning
drowning...
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