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.