Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Longtime Favorite, December 30, 1999
By A Customer
This album was my absolute most favorite for around ten years until only recently. The break away from the traditional 80's techno-pop sound in their previous albums is very noticeable and refreshing. The lyrics sound like poetry, not the characteristic whining of today's alternative. From the jazzy Summer Rain, to the mellow neo-swing sound of Anyway, more than five years ahead of it's time; the fantastic, without being obnoxious, electric guitar solo of Blacky Schwarz Ruszczynski on Romeos, and the laudable attempt to emulate 50's rockabilly on Ariana. I fell in love with it the first time I heard it, but even if you don't, it will still grow on you. One of the few albums I have where every song actually sounds different. This is the one by Alphaville that shouldn't have to be imported.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underestimated - this is a very special album, August 22, 2005
Frequently, TBB is said to be Alphaville's weakest album (as far as one can call an AV-album "weak" - these guys have never sucked with anything they did & always gotten good reviews). This is because TBB is not as accessible as most other AV-works. However, it is worth the effort to spend a little time with it and let it grow on you. Because it is a pretty darn good album. Actually, I think it is one of the best 80s albums. As in their previous album, Afternoons in Utopia, Alphaville tell metaphoric stories from an own, occasionally detached, cosmos. The lyrics are powerful, well-chosen and full of intriguing allusions. But what makes TBB truly outstanding is the music and the singing. Produced by Tangerine Dream - guru Klaus Schulze, the trio goes on an experimental journey through rock, jazz, swing, and classic ballads that is unparalleled on any '80s album I know. Every song is in a different style, and yet they are all clearly Alphaville, with elaborate synth-arrangements, attention to the details and Gold's fantastic, smooth voice which is particularly grand on this album. Except from the ironic but still quite silly Ariana (which I usually skip) every song is a piece of art provoking thoughts and deeper feelings. The compositions have so many facets that this is truly an album you can listen to again and again and still find it inspiring.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
AlphaJazz, December 12, 2003
This is a great album, yes it is different than the previous two albums but it holds it's own. I fell in love with this album so much that I named my daughter after one of the tracks on the album. No not Patricia, but Ariana. One of the wierdest tracks but fun to say the least. Marian Gold of Alphaville told me he wrote it for his business manager named Ariana "who was very sexy". Every track is standout Romeos is probably my favorite track on the album. My version of the CD even has CD+G features that can display the lyrics and some graphics on a CD+G karaoke machine or similiar type system. I'm not sure if they all have that or not.
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