VARIOUS ARTISTS
WE HEARD THE CALL
COMPILATION DOUBLE ALBUM EARTHBOUND RELEASE: DECEMBER 12, 2000 REVIEW: FEBRUARY 23, 2001

Back in 1984, Alphaville released their first album "Forever Young", and I immediately fell in love with it. I was 13 years old and had just discovered the synthesizer-based music. Bands like Depeche Mode, Kraftwerk, Yazoo, Duran Duran - and Alphaville formed a new musical revolution in Europe after the great punk-wave of the late 70's and early 80's. Experimental electronic pop music took a new shape and suddenly appealed to the masses.
"Forever Young" was packed with sparkling radio hits like "Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody", "Forever Young" and the ironic "Jet Set". Alphaville climbed the charts and the future looked promising. Unfortunately, they didn't manage to repeat the success of the first album. The second album "Afternoons in Utopia" were only a mediocre follow-up and my, and most people's, interest in Alphaville took a quick ending.
That was then, this is now. "We Heard the Call" is a compilation from no less than 34 artists and fans. The interpretations are of very varied style and mood, and the music has been contributed from many parts of the world. A fantastic project for a band well worth a tribute! If it hadn't been for the poor quality of most of the songs...
I am aware of that this is mainly a fan project and I respect that. Therefore, I am sorry to have to say this; "We Heard the Call" may very well be the worst tribute album ever made. The interpretations are boring, the sound is poor, the vocalists' are bad and the lyrics wrong in many of the songs. The album is low quality with only a few exceptions.
One of the two songs worth mentioning are Americans Third Option & the Outsider with their version of "Ain´t It Strange". They manage to deliver a very direct and atypical version of the song. The second are Germans Clara Braun Connection feat Strukoff. They interpret "Sounds Like a Melody" in a very attractive way with great vocals in a mellow melody. The other 32 songs on the album does not bring me any new or different perspectives concerning the music of Alphaville, and it's highly unlikely that I will ever listen to it again.
I'd rather live with my memories from the 80's. A time when Alphaville were the greatest and Nena was the love of my life.

ANDERS WIIK