Sunday, November 21, 2010

album 46: mensch (herbert grönemeyer)

this album is trully remarkable. it was grönemeyer's first release of new music after his wife's and brothers death in the same week. grönemeyer had already been germany's most successful artist, but this album gave him his first number one single, the great title track "mensch". in midst of a summer crisis in germany (natural causes, floods) and his personal suffering, the song brought hope to a whole country. with this, the album was released and became the most successful to date, in 2002. in sales, but also in critical acclaim. it is a really good overall album, with two highlights: his homage to his deceased wife is the most beautiful peace of music i've ever heard, for that particular situation. his lyrics are once again beyond words, and the song is exactly what it should be. and the final track, "zum meer", uses the sea once again as an emotional platform and produces a very strong closing track, a mix of melancholy and hope. this album is rightly in my top 50 of all time.

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