September 08, 2019

Nena - Eisbrecher (1986)

Country: Germany
Language: German (Deutsch)
Genre: Pop Rock
Label Number: CBS 450267 2

© 1986 CBS
AllMusic Review by Alan Severa
The intention was clear. Bringing an "icebreaker" to bear on the shock of the 1985 cool-down of the Nena success story. Producing themselves for the first time (with help from Klaus Voormann, famous for his collaborations with various ex-Beatles in the early '70s), Nena and her band succeeded in returning to the warmth of atmosphere that the previous album had somewhat lacked. In fact, the fourth album's songs turned out to be a mixture of the energy of the debut album and the subtlety of the second. Released in the pre-Christmas season of 1986, it nevertheless could not overturn the audiences decision of deeming Nena no longer relevant, and thereby shunning a very good album in spite of the general lack of high quality music in the mid-'80s. Although not quite as strong an album as the first two, the majority of the ten songs hold up very well in comparison, with all band members contributing songs as usual. However, Nena's voice has a marked pleading tone throughout the album, which possibly corresponds to the hurt she might have been feeling due to the unwarranted audience rejection she experienced in 1985. That in itself gives the album a slightly more downbeat atmosphere than it might have otherwise had. The timeless lyrical themes, the melodic inspiration from the early '60s, the classic Beatles/Stones-oriented rock arrangement, plus the prominent use of synthesizer sounds were all in place as ever, but after releasing two strong singles from the album ("Mondsong" and "Engel der Nacht") which did not bring about a turn of fortunes, the band quietly decided to split in late 1987. Nena herself made a brand new start on her own in late 1989.

tags: nena, eisbrecher, 1986, flac,

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