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