Customer Reviews

The Best Of Berlin: 20th Century Masters - Millennium Collection

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Terri Nunn kicked around Los Angeles in search of a film career for several years. Berlin was an interesting but unknown band that had a small following but nothing tangible to show for it. In 1979, however, Nunn and Berlin found each other--and the result would be one of the more interesting bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s "New Wave," and by the time Nunn and the members of Berlin called it a day around 1988 they had created not only a solid body of work but several truly memorable international hits.

Berlin's best known single would be "Take My Breath Away," a slow but musically intense piece with music by Giorgio Moroder and lyrics by Tom Whitlock recorded for the film TOP GUN. (The song proved considerably more memorable than the film itself, picking up a 1986 Oscar for best song.) A runaway hit, the song nonetheless sowed the seeds of the band's destruction: band members were torn between their experimental roots and pop music success, and Berlin self-destructed less than two years later.

BEST OF BERLIN 1979-1988 collects the major recordings, including the famous "Take My Breath Away." Like all best of collections, one can argue over what should have been included and what should have been left, but by and large this collection does a very good job of gathering the major recordings, and it gives you a very good idea of what the band did. And what it did was contrast Nunn's unexpectedly powerful voice and flair for emotional dramatics against a increasingly pop-inflected New Wave sound to truly remarkable effect.

The earlier recordings like "The Metro" show the band at their edgy New Wave semi-punk best, a strange but intriguing mix of cold electronic sound and emotionally hot lyrics. "Sex (I'm A...)" was perhaps the band's highwater mark in this style, featuring Nunn reciting disconcertingly explicit lyrics against an icy yet sensual sound; it was enough to have the record banned from most radio stations. But it was with more pop-edged songs like "Now It's My Turn" that Berlin really began to make a widespread impression.

Terri Nunn has been frequently compared to Debbie Harry, but there is much less grounds for it than you might think: where Harry tended to work in a throw-away style, Nunn has a hardrock belter's voice more akin to the likes of Heart's Ann Wilson. It is directly into the microphone in a roundhouse punch, a sharp, at times strident voice that would have been perfectly at home in a heavy metal girl band with the likes of Lita Ford and Joan Jett. Songs like "Sky High" and "Like Flames" prove the point.

Berlin has lately reunited, and fans of the band--and I'm certainly among them--are hoping they can capture the same lightening all over again. They were a knock-out band and their recordings are presently very under appreciated; it would be a very good thing to see them at the top of the charts again.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer

This CD was originally released in 1988, and was recently re-released as part of the Millennium Collection series. According to the heading here on Amazon, and the sticker on the front of the CD wrapper, this recording has been remastered. You could have fooled me.

The sound quality is mediocre at best. I hate it when I have to turn my stereo up to 12 before any punch is evident. I own a budget compilation CD from 1992 with The Metro on it, and it sounds much better there than on this new collection. Also, the liner notes do not say anything about remastering, which is unusual for these collections. I do not own a copy of the 1988 CD, but I can't imagine it sounded much worse than this.

Bottom line -- if you're just looking for a low-cost selection of Berlin songs, then this will do fine. All the hits are here. But if you were hoping for a sonic upgrade, then you will likely be disappointed.

An excellant collection from one of the 80's most underrated bands.This cd contains a fine blend of ballads[Take My Breath Away],rockers[Blowin Sky High],and synth pop[Matter Of Time]to satisfy any musical taste.A must have for old fans and those who are tired of bland commercial groups[you know them!|that rule our airwaves today.Let Terri Nunn and co. into your ears,you wont be dissappointed.

t

Easy to describe this CD. If you love "Take my Breath Away" and hope the rest of the CD is such , you will be dissappointed. This is a fantastic CD , reflecting the true "BERLIN" so few of us actually know. Berlin is a high- energy true 80's style group and that's what this album reflects. Its powerful elegent rock. Terry Nunn, has one of the most powerful female voices I've heard which can sing the sweet smooth tones of "The Metro" and "Masquerade" and be able to still deliver the power and weight required for tracks like "Like Flames" and "Do you really understand me". A note for those who like Euro-German pop of the 80's, This CD will satisfy you, even though the group hails from the USA, and has a German name. In fact, it was the movie "Innerspace" that prompted me to give this album a closer look. I wasn't dissappoined.....

This is as huge a helping of danceable rock as you could ask for. I only knew "The Metro" (great track, pure New Wave) and "Take My Breath Away" (the big hit ballad, for sure). But my local New Orleans radio station (a Katrina survivor, like me) kept playing "No More Words" and I could not get that song out of my head, so I bought this CD. It's heavy on synths and beats, with just enough metal guitar thrown in. And of course, there's Terri Nunn, who can put out a rock tune right up there with the best of them. My favorite cut is "No More Words", but 2 other interesting ones are "Sex (I'm A...)", which plays with your head sonically and lyrically, and "Matter Of Time", which is experimental, heavy and haunting. But all the tracks are good. If you like 80's music along the lines of The Eurythmics and/or Heart, you'll like this.

When I first heard "Sex (I'm A...)" on a college radio station in 1983, I was immediately interested in this group. I already loved anything new wave, and this was even better because of the risque subject matter. Then came "The Metro". I bought the 45 and played it over and over and over. The video was played heavily on WTBS' "Night Tracks". I also liked the follow-up, "Masquerade". The following year, the group finally broke through and scored a Top 40 hit with "No More Words". Once again, I also liked the follow-up, "Now It's my Turn". 1986 saw the group have it's biggest success with "Take my Breath Away". Much was made at the time that many members of the group saw the huge success of "Take my Breath Away" as a mixed blessing because it was not really representative of the kind of music they played. The group scored one final minor chart hit with "Like Flames" and then faded from view. All 7 of the band's Billboard Hot 100 hits are included on this CD. However, since 7 songs does not really fill a CD, the record company padded out the song list with 5 album cuts.

If you did not watch video channels or listen to alternative radio during the 80's, you may be unfamiliar with this group other than "Take my Breath Away" and possibly "No More Words" since those were the only 2 songs to hit the Top 40 and receive widespread airplay. However, all 7 of the band's Hot 100 hits are awesome and should have been bigger hits than they were.

The Hot 100 hits are the best (especially "The Metro"). The other songs aren't bad, they just don't stand out like the familiar songs on this disc. Since this was released, I remember in the early 90's a few radio stations playing a dance remix version of "Take my Breath Away" that was either credited to Berlin or lead singer Teri Nunn. In my opinion, it was better than the original version, but I have never been able to find it on CD. I assume it was just a promotional disc sent out to promote her solo CD (although the remix is not on her solo disc).

Anyway, I recommend this CD for the awesome 7 songs that were hits.

I loved Berlin when they first came out back in the early '80s. I remember first seeing them on a show called MV3, hosted by Richard Blade from the L.A. radio station KROQ (back when KROQ was worth listening to). I fell in love with "The Metro" and with a song that I wish were on this Best-Of collection: "Pleasure Victim."

Well, after all these years, I still like these songs. I just saw Berlin tonight on the "Happy Hour" show on VH-1. Terri Nunn still looks fantastic, and sounds even better. The last song that they sung on the show was "Take My Breath Away," which is still a great slow ballad.

Some of the other songs might not quite measure up to the more well-known ones, but nevertheless they are enjoyable and a lot better than most recent releases from '90s bands.

The best of Berlin 1979-1988 is such a perfect and rockin' album. I bought it for Christmas last year and I love it to pieces. Every song is amazing especially The Metro, Sex, No More Words, Blowin' Sky High, Masquerade, and Matter of Time. Frontwoman Terri Nunn has a beautiful and powerful voice, she's got some pipes!The song, Take my Breath Away ultimately caused a riff between the band and their creative process became threatened due to the popularity of that song. Even so this short-lived band made some incredible, heartfelt, weighty songs and all that matters. Berlin was a gift from God, great band, coy songs, and awesome frontwoman, eat your heart out Gwen Stefani, Terri was the real deal!

This album is a great mix of Berlin, but my favorites are "No more words", "You don't know, (my absolute Berlin favorite)" & "Masquerade" all of them are very different. Terri Nunn had an excellent voice & still does! This album & Fleetwood Mac's "Mirage" are my favorites!

Berlin was pretty popular in the '80's and are still touring today. Terri Nunn and John Crawford have been the creative force behind this band. With Nunn's trademark feminine attitude vocals, and Crawford's songwriting and playing, there was no other band like Berlin. This is definately a good collection of the bands greatest...and most recognizable songs. Yes, of course it has the popular "Take My Breath Away" from the movie "Top Gun" which was one of the biggest songs during the summer of 1986. It was Berlin's 15 minutes of fame, but it wasn't really representative of the band. But they did deserve those 15 minutes. But anyways, there some great songs here, that are all on one disc so you don't have to go through the trouble of collecting all of their sometimes bland albums. Songs like "The Metro," "No More Words", and the playful "Sex (I'm A...)" also deserve attention. There also are some songs on here that you can't get anywhere else the rockin' "Blowin' Sky High" and a new(a more dramatic) version of "All Tomorrows Lies" which the cheesy version appears on their 1984 hit album "Love Life". Over all, this is a worth while purchase! Hot songs from a Hot Band! And Terri Nunn rocks!!!