Nena "Eisbrecher"

Eisbrecher (German for "Icebreaker") is the fourth and final album by German pop rock band Nena and the fifth studio album of its singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. After the band split the following year, Kerner went on to a solo career. "Mondsong" and the remix of "Engel der Nacht" were released as singles.

The Eisbrecher album came out when the fortunes of the band were decidedly on the wane. The concert tour to promote its predecessor, Feuer und Flamme, had been poorly attended and the band had parted company with their manager Jim Rakete. In his 2014 memoirs, the band's drummer Rolf Brendel described the idea behind the album:

We wanted to remember our beginnings, what had made us great. Eisbrecher was meant to be a clear, uncompromising album, without technical bombast. ... He [Klaus Voormann, the album's producer] had to tear it out, to inspire Nena's new old life and to tap into the success of the first two albums.

The album was recorded in studios at Castello di Carimate in Italy. Brendel wrote of the recording sessions, "There was throughout a real melancholy about us, the recordings and the castle. Without it ever being said, each of us felt that another Nena album would not follow this one." In contrast to the three previous albums (two No. 1s and one No. 2 in the German charts), Eisbrecher only managed No. 45 in the German charts.

Track listing

1. "Engel der Nacht" (Angels of the Night) Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges 3:51
2. "Mondsong" (Moon Song) Nena Kerner 3:47
3. "Frei wie der Wind" (Free as the Wind) Jürgen Dehmel, Kerner 4:38
4. "Schön wär es doch" (Wouldn't It Be Nice) Rolf Brendel, Karges 4:08
5. "Tokyo" Kerner 4:28
6. "Jetzt bist du weg" (Now You Are Gone) Fahrenkrog, Kerner 4:53
7. "Sonnenaufgang" (Sunrise) Fahrenkrog, Kerner 3:41
8. "Ring frei" (Ring Free (For the Next Round)) Karges 3:56
9. "Zusammen" (Together) Karges 3:36
10. "Eisbrecher" (Icebreaker) Karges 4:39

Nena "Feuer und Flamme"

Feuer und Flamme (German for "Fire and Flame", with the additional figurative meaning of "great enthusiasm"), released in 1985, is the third album by German pop band Nena and the fourth studio album of its singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. The album was a success, reaching No. 2 in Germany.

Prompted by the success of 99 Luftballons (1984), which included English-language versions of songs from the band's first two albums, Nena recreated Feuer und Flamme in English as It's All in the Game (1985), with lyrics by Canadian singer Lisa Dalbello. The experiment failed commercially and was not repeated with the band's next album. Gabriele Kerner recorded a new bilingual German-English version of "Anyplace, Anywhere, Anytime" with Kim Wilde in 2002. The duet became a big hit in many European countries, including Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

The fifth and final single from the album was "Du kennst die Liebe nicht", however, for the single release, the song was completely re-recorded. The single version was restructured and features different vocals as well as a different instrumental that just sporadically borrows motifs from the album version. It was later included on the compilation Nena die Band (1991).

Feuer und Flamme track listing

1. "Utopia" 3:40
2. "Haus der drei Sonnen" ("House of the Three Suns") 4:46
3. "Jung wie du" ("Young as You") 4:22
4. "Es wird schon weitergeh'n" ("It'll Keep Going On") 3:38
5. "Feuer und Flamme" ("Fire and Flame") 3:31
6. "Gestern Nacht" ("Last Night") 5:18
7. "Das alte Lied" ("The Old Song") 4:27
8. "Du kennst die Liebe nicht" ("You Don't Know (What) Love (Is)") 4:14
9. "Ein Brief" ("A Letter") 4:52
10. "Irgendwie, irgendwo, irgendwann" ("Somehow, Somewhere, Sometime") 7:15

This track list represents the CD version of Feuer und Flamme. The LP edition has tracks 4 and 9 swapped. Length of track 10 on LP is 5:14 due to the much shorter (partly edited out) instrumental intro. On some CD releases, length of track 3 is 5:09.

Nena "? (Fragezeichen)"

? (Fragezeichen) (German for "Question mark") is the second album by German pop rock band Nena and the third studio album to feature its lead singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. It was released on 27 January 1984, just a few months before the band's first international album 99 Luftballons, which contains songs from their debut album Nena (1983) and this album, some of them re-recorded with English lyrics.

Like its self-titled predecessor, this album was produced by Reinhold Heil and Manne Praeker of Spliff.

The album's title track was co-written by Nena and the band's keyboard player Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and is so called since, having written the song, Nena was unable to settle on a title and so indicated its spot in the band's live set list with a question mark. It reached No. 3 in the German charts in 1983. The lyrics – written by Nena – comprise the thoughts of someone racked by indecisiveness ("Today I'm coming, today I'm also going... Perhaps I'll stay, yesterday that wasn't for me, today I need endless love") but still adamant that they know what's best for them ("No-one can tell me what is best... and who is best... because I know exactly"). The song is a mainstay of Nena's live concerts and seems to be particularly popular with female fans although it is not uncommon for Nena to interrupt her performance of the song, apparently to laugh at the absurdity of the lyrics. In the middle of the version recorded for the 2004 album Nena Live Nena she says, "I felt so small when I wrote this".

Like most of the band's greatest hits, "? (Fragezeichen)" was anglicised for the international album 99 Luftballons and then updated for the Nena feat. Nena album, which reignited Nena's solo career in 2002.

Track listing

Side A contains tracks 1 to 6 and Side B contains tracks 7 to 12.

1. "Rette mich" (Rescue Me) 3:17
2. "? (Fragezeichen)" (Question Mark) 4:28
3. "Das Land der Elefanten" (The Land of the Elephants) 3:42
4. "Unerkannt durchs Märchenland" (Unrecognized Through Fairyland) 3:21
5. "Küss mich wach" (Kiss Me Awake) 2:43
6. "Lass mich dein Pirat sein" (Let Me Be Your Pirate) 4:51
7. "Ich häng' an dir" (I'm Hangin' on You) 4:13
8. "Sois bienvenu" (French: Welcome) 3:22
9. "Keine Antwort" (No Answer) Karges 3:18
10. "Der Bus is' schon weg" (The Bus Has Already Left) 0:15
11. "Es regnet" (It's Raining) 4:45
12. "Der Anfang vom Ende" (The Beginning of the End) 3:53

Total length: 42:16

Nena "99 Luftballons"

99 Luftballons (German for "99 Balloons"), also known as International Album, is a compilation album by German pop band Nena, released in 1984. It was their first album released worldwide following the success of "99 Luftballons" and also the first with English lyrics. The album had moderate success in America.

The most widely known cover of this album is identical to the one used for most versions of the single "99 Luftballons" or "99 Red Balloons". The album was also released as Nena or International Album; this version used the same cover, but with "99 Luftballons" removed, and sometimes with additional sticker at upper left that says "International Album incl. Club-Mix ›99 Red Balloons‹". The Japanese version was released as 99 Luftballons: First America. The alternate cover features the band pictured on a white background, which photo in various releases is the same or similar to the one on the single "Rette mich".

The album is composed of tracks released on the band's two previous albums, Nena (1983) and ? (Fragezeichen) (1984), five of which are English-translated versions. "99 Red Balloons" ("99 Luftballons"), "Just a Dream" ("Nur geträumt"), "Kino", "Leuchtturm" and "99 Luftballons" were taken from Nena (1983), while "? (Question Mark)" ("? (Fragezeichen)"), "Hangin' on You" ("Ich häng' an dir"), "Let Me Be Your Pirate" ("Lass mich dein Pirat sein"), "Das Land der Elefanten", "Rette mich" and "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" were taken from ? (Fragezeichen) (1984).

The lead single, "99 Luftballons", is the band's or even Nena's most successful song to date. It reached number one in several countries worldwide, but is considered a one-hit wonder as other singles and albums performed poorly outside of Europe. "Just a Dream" reached number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. "Kino" was initially released on the album in German, but was translated into English titled as "Kino (At the Movies)". Like its predecessor, "? (Question Mark)", the single failed to chart. The song was later included as a bonus track on a re-release of the band's second English album It's All in the Game (1985).

Track listing

Side A contains tracks 1 to 5 and side B contains tracks 6 to 11.

1. "99 Red Balloons" Kevin McAlea (English), Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges "99 Luftballons" 3:50
2. "? (Question Mark)" Roy Brown (English), Fahrenkrog, Nena Kerner "? (Fragezeichen)" 4:26
3. "Hangin' on You" Brown (English), Fahrenkrog, Kerner "Ich häng' an dir" 4:13
4. "Just a Dream" Julian Dawson (English), Fahrenkrog, Kerner, Rolf Brendel "Nur geträumt" 3:30
5. "Let Me Be Your Pirate" Brown (English), Kerner, Brendel "Lass mich dein Pirat sein" 4:51
6. "Kino" (At the Movies) Brendel 2:42
7. "Das Land der Elefanten" (The Land of the Elephants) Fahrenkrog, Karges 3:42
8. "Leuchtturm" (Lighthouse) Fahrenkrog, Kerner 3:14
9. "Rette mich" (Rescue Me) Karges 3:17
10. "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" (Unrecognized Through Fairyland) Jürgen Dehmel, Kerner 3:21
11. "99 Luftballons" (99 Balloons) Fahrenkrog, Karges 3:50

Total length: 40:55

Some releases erroneously printed "Das Land der Elefanten" as "Das Lang der Elefanten" and "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" as "Unerkannt durch's Marchenland"

The spelling of "durch's" instead of "durchs" in title that should be "Unerkannt durchs Märchenland" is an obvious error, too

The track list of the Spanish version is translated into Spanish

The track list of the Japanese version is partially written in katakana

CD versions of the album replace the single version of "99 Red Balloons" (Track 1) with a "Club Mix" (length 4:44). This change has been noted on some international pressings, but not on others. The correct version is available on the iTunes Store.

Nena "Nena"

Nena is the first album by German pop rock band Nena and the second studio album of its singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. Released on 14 January 1983, it's been part of the music genre called Neue Deutsche Welle (meaning "New German Wave") movement in the German music.

The album was a great success in West Germany and the second single "99 Luftballons" successfully reached No. 1 in the music charts worldwide including Australia, Austria, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The single is largely considered a "one-hit wonder" by many, including VH1. It was produced by Manfred Praeker and Reinhold Heil of the German band Spliff.

The album has been initially released as a vinyl LP, cassette and CD.

The first single from the album, "Nur geträumt", was released a year earlier, in 1982. "99 Luftballons" was the second single, released in 1983. The third and final single was "Leuchtturm", released in 1983, a few months after "99 Luftballons".

The three singles released from the Nena album have enjoyed particular prominence in Nena's career. Although "99 Luftballons" is by far the most well known globally, the other two ("Nur geträumt" and "Leuchtturm") have for more than 30 years been ever-present features of the live concerts of firstly the band and then Nena in her subsequent solo career.

Track listing

Side A contains tracks 1 to 6 and Side B contains tracks 7 to 12.

Vinyl LP, cassette and CD

1. "Kino" (Cinema, aka At the Movies) Rolf Brendel 2:42
2. "Indianer" (Indians) Carlo Karges 3:16
3. "Vollmond" (Full Moon) Karges 3:04
4. "Nur geträumt" (Just dreamed, aka Just a Dream) Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Nena Kerner, Brendel 3:41
5. "Tanz auf dem Vulkan" (Dance on the Volcano, aka Living on the Edge) Karges, Jürgen Dehmel, Kerner 3:18
6. "99 Luftballons" (99 Balloons, aka 99 Red Balloons) Karges, Fahrenkrog 3:53
7. "Zaubertrick" (Magic Trick) Fahrenkrog, Brendel 4:15
8. "Einmal ist keinmal" (Once is Not at All) Manfred Praeker 2:45
9. "Leuchtturm" (Lighthouse) Fahrenkrog, Kerner 3:16
10. "Ich bleib' im Bett" (I Stay in Bed) Karges 2:42
11. "Noch einmal" (Once Again) Karges 3:56
12. "Satellitenstadt" (Satellite Town) Karges, Dehmel 4:31