Customer Reviews

99 Luftballons

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This was the first compilation album of the Nena band and includes not only six selections from the Nena band's first two albums[ i.e. NENA and ?( FRAGEZEICHEN )] but also English translations of five selected songs from these albums. For those of you who do not understand German, the original German titles of the translated songs are "99 Luftballons"( "99 Red Balloons" ), "?( Fragezeichen )"[ "?( Question Mark ) ], "Ich haeng' an dir"( "Hangin' on You" ), "Nur getraeumt"( "Just a Dream" ), and "Lass mich dein Pirat sein"( "Let Me Be Your Pirate" ). Just in case you might not know it yet, the cd album version of "99 Red Balloons" is actually the longer "Club-Mix" version, which is 4 minutes and 43 seconds long. This is not the same version of the song "99 Red Balloons" found in the vinyl lp album, the audiocassette album, and the 7" vinyl single, which is 3 minutes and 50 seconds long. Should you wish to have that version, you may have to purchase the audiocassette of this album in order to obtain it. Another interesting difference involves the song "Just a Dream". Although the lengths of the cd album version on the one hand and the lp and audiocassette version on the other are both 3 minutes and 29 seconds, the two versions have very clear differences, so, once again, one might also wish to obtain the original version by getting the audiocassette of this album. As a pretty good selection of songs from the first two albums of the Nena band, this album is something very much worth having, especially for having five of the Nena band's songs translated into English.

I was just beginning to learn German when 99 Luftballoons came out. It was like a secret club; I could understand the lyrics but none of my friends could (then the English version came out). In fact, I have found that lyrical music is an easy way to learn the cadence and rhythm of a language. Nena is an exemplary performer who can temper her voice to the needs of the song. This album, her first (of only two) entries into the American market, contains some wonderful German songs prefaced by some (at times) very good English renditions of songs that were originally written in German as well. If you listen closely to the English lyrics you can tell that the cadence is off just a little; enough to tell you this was once a GERMAN song. By all means start with this album and work your way up to her '98 Live album... you can hear the development of her voice and the maturation of her style. You can also hear the beginnings of jazz influences in the form of a guest appearance by David Sanborn on a couple of tracks. This deveops over time into a blues influence by the late '90s. It all starts with this album; pop mixed with German jazz. Besides, it is SO enjoyable at stop lights to drown out the nearby cars blaring rap (that is, crap) with a song being sung in German! If you hate rap, BUY EVERY NENA ALBUM YOU CAN AND PLAY THEM AT TOP VOLUME! Start with this one, but remember: this is 80s rock, so be in an eighties frame of mind.

Great CD for fans of Nena. Has both the English and German versions of 99 Luftballons. The rest of the album contains some songs in English and some songs in German as well.
Amazon.com had the album and got it to me in a very reasonable period of time. Other music outlets (stores, online, etc.) didn't carry the album.

I liked the album but the 1st track has been redone. its not the same as it was on the original recording. I was kind of disappointed as this song (99 red balloons) was the reason I bought the album. the rest of the english tracks are still as I remember.

Track one [99 red balloons] was redone and it's an awful redo..the first time i heard it I thought I got a bad disc...it's almost like it skips in the middle and some mix genious added a 'slow motion effect' to the guitars in the middle of the track and a bunch of crap right after Nena finishes her solo at the beginning...don't buy it..the german version of the song is good but damn..they ruined the English one. It's not the radio version or the MTV version you remember.

Update: 2009
Speaking with another Amazon member I had run 99LB through Adobe Audition and was not able to clean the track up, so warning audiophiles, it's hopeless you can't edit out what the album producer did. Though I did find a nice clean copy of 99 LB {english version} on Greatest Hits of the Eighties, Vol. 1-3 at a very nice price. ($4)

This is a really awsome cd. Nena is a remarkable artist. I think she deserves more credit in the U.S then she got. I loved every single song. Even her bad english at times can be very attractive.

Oh yeah, from a time long ago this music emerges to me and reminds me of some wonderful moments I had while listening to it. Founded in the NDW (Neue Deutsche Welle,the German new wave) era at the beginning of the 80s, when German songwriting reached its peak of popularity and with the massive introduction of analog (the all-time classic Oberheim OBX) and later digital(Yamaha DX7) synthesizer technology, Nena and band reached a level of popularity in Germany, which by then was only topped by Herbert Grönemeyer("Männer"),who is the most successful contemporary German singer/songwriter. Up to now I only knew the German versions of the songs on this CD, although I knew that there existed English versions of some of the songs, too. For those who are disgusted by the bad English pronounciation, just listen to the original German versions to be found at www.amazon.de, where such wonderful lyric and touching songs with this "we are young and no one can stop us" - feeling like "Vollmond"(full moon),"Zaubertrick" (Magical trick) and "Irgendwie ,irgendwo,irgendwann" (Any time ,any place,anywhere) can be found. The latter song recently experienced a remarkable success topping the German charts, when Nena and the English singer Kim Wilde(I adore her!) joined for a remake.
I'm from the east of Germany and if anyone is interested in GDR
all time classics, one should listen to City's "Am Fenster" (At the window) which contains one the most beautiful,haunting violin solos one has ever listened to(I'm stunned every time again) or IC Falkenberg's "Traumarchiv"(Archive of dreams) (he was our version of Nik Kershaw, hehe).
So Nena clearly is no one-hit-wonder as one stated above, in fact her other chartbreakers in Germany didn't make it in the US, because they were never released as English versions.
Thanks for taking the time reading these humble remarks :-)

Nena really gives us a top-notch album with this one. Chances are, if you are like me, you're only familiar with the title song "99 Red Balloons." This album is nice in that it gives both the English and German versions of this fun little song.

I really enjoyed the second side of this one (I have the cassette). All the songs there kept my interest, even though my German is not really all that strong. The great music was enough for me. It's too bad at least now that these songs aren't available for you to listen to. Hopefully Amazon will work to remedy that. There are some gems there.

Great voice, nice background, and it sure doesn't sound like it's over 15 years old.

As one who enjoys music with German and Scandanavian origins , this was and is a truly brilliant album. Sure 99 Red Balloons is good , if not overplayed . 99 Luftballons is even better . How sad it is that 99 Luftballons had to be desecreated by translating it into English , just so it can break the American charts. Once the German version is heard , anything else will be just not enough ! In fact ,the song has quite a deep underlying meaning, the German version that is . Note "Luft" in the title , synonomous with Hitlers "Luftwaffe" . The rest of the album though blew my socks off! It's powerful , rythemic and melodious all at once . "Leuchtturm" is by far the best of the lot . Where was this album 10 years ago ?

I recommend this cd to anyone who wants to buy some German music. It's a great cd, fun to listen to and fun to dance to.