99 Luftballons | ||||
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Compilation album by | ||||
Released | April 1984 | |||
Recorded | 1983–84 | |||
Studio | Spliff Studio, West Berlin | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 40:55 | |||
Language | English, German | |||
Label | Epic | |||
Producer | Reinhold Heil, Manfred Praeker | |||
Nena chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Singles from 99 Luftballons | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
99 Luftballons (German for "99 Balloons"),also known as International Album,is a compilation album by German pop band Nena,released in April 1984. It was their first album released worldwide following the success of "99 Luftballons" [2] [3] and also the first with English lyrics. The album had moderate success in America. [3]
The most widely known cover of this album is identical to the one used for most versions of the single "99 Luftballons" or "99 Red Balloons". [4] The album was also released as Nena or International Album;this version used the same cover,but with "99 Luftballons" removed,and sometimes with additional sticker at upper left that says "International Album incl. Club-Mix - 99 Red Balloons". [5] In Japan the first release was the original German language version,which was followed in April by the international version,which featured the extended Club Mix version of "99 Red Balloons" and was retitled as 99 Luftballons:First America. This had an alternate cover which featured the band pictured on a white background, [6] which photo in various releases is the same or similar to the one on the single "Rette mich". [7]
The album is composed of tracks released on the band's two previous albums, Nena (1983) and ? (Fragezeichen) (1984),five of which are English-translated versions. "99 Red Balloons" ("99 Luftballons"),"Just a Dream" ("Nur geträumt"),"Kino","Leuchtturm" and "99 Luftballons" were taken from Nena (1983),while "? (Question Mark)" ("? (Fragezeichen)"),"Hangin' on You" ("Ich häng' an dir"),"Let Me Be Your Pirate" ("Lass mich dein Pirat sein"),"Das Land der Elefanten","Rette mich" and "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" were taken from ? (Fragezeichen) (1984).
The lead single,"99 Luftballons",is the band's or even Nena's most successful song to date. It reached number one in several countries worldwide, [2] but is considered a one-hit wonder [8] as other singles and albums performed poorly outside of Europe. "Just a Dream" reached number 70 on the UK Singles Chart. "Kino" was initially released on the album in German,but was translated into English titled as "Kino (At the Movies)". Like its predecessor,"? (Question Mark)",the single failed to chart. [2] [3] The song was later included as a bonus track on a re-release of the band's second English album It's All in the Game (1985). [9]
Side A contains tracks 1 to 5 and side B contains tracks 6 to 11.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | German title | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "99 Red Balloons" | Kevin McAlea (English), Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, Carlo Karges | "99 Luftballons" | 3:50 |
2. | "? (Question Mark)" | Roy Brown (English), Fahrenkrog, Nena Kerner | "? (Fragezeichen)" | 4:26 |
3. | "Hangin' on You" | Brown (English), Fahrenkrog, Kerner | "Ich häng' an dir" | 4:13 |
4. | "Just a Dream" | Julian Dawson (English), Fahrenkrog, Kerner, Rolf Brendel | "Nur geträumt" | 3:30 |
5. | "Let Me Be Your Pirate" | Brown (English), Kerner, Brendel | "Lass mich dein Pirat sein" | 4:51 |
6. | "Kino" (At the Movies) | Brendel | 2:42 | |
7. | "Das Land der Elefanten" (The Land of the Elephants) | Fahrenkrog, Karges | 3:42 | |
8. | "Leuchtturm" (Lighthouse) | Fahrenkrog, Kerner | 3:14 | |
9. | "Rette mich" (Rescue Me) | Karges | 3:17 | |
10. | "Unerkannt durch's Märchenland" (Unrecognized Through Fairyland) | Jürgen Dehmel, Kerner | 3:21 | |
11. | "99 Luftballons" (99 Red Balloons) | Fahrenkrog, Karges | 3:50 | |
Total length: | 40:55 |
Notes
Credits adapted from Allmusic [11] and Discogs. [6]
Chart (1984) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australia (Kent Music Report) [12] | 25 |
German Albums Chart [13] | 23 |
Norwegian Albums Chart [14] | 16 |
Swedish Albums Chart [15] | 2 |
UK Albums Chart [16] | 31 |
US Billboard 200 [3] | 27 |
Country (Provider) | Certification |
---|---|
Canada (MC) [17] | Gold |
Region (Alternate release title) | Year | Label | Format | Catalog |
---|---|---|---|---|
Japan (First America) | 1983 | Epic | CD | 35•8P-42 |
1984 | Epic/Sony | LP | 25•3P-501 | |
United States | Epic | FE 39294 | ||
BFE 39294 | ||||
cassette | BET 39294 | |||
FET 39294 | ||||
United Kingdom | EPC 402592 5 | |||
India | LP | EPIC 10106 | ||
Portugal | EPC25925 | |||
Europe (Nena: International Album) | ||||
New Zealand | ELPS 4425 | |||
Venezuela | EPIC 270 | |||
Canada | FE 39294 | |||
Brazil | CBS | 144.818 | ||
Spain (99 Red Balloons) | S 25925 | |||
South Africa (99 Red Balloons) | ASF 2966 | |||
United States | 1990 | Epic | CD | EK 39294 |
Japan (First America) | 2009 | Sony Music Entertainment Japan | SICP 2279 |
Gabriele Susanne Kerner, better known by her stage name Nena, is a German singer who rose to international fame in 1983 as the lead vocalist of the band Nena with the Neue Deutsche Welle song "99 Luftballons". In that same year, the band re-recorded this song in English as "99 Red Balloons". Nena's re-recording of some of the band's old hit songs as a solo artist, produced by the co-composer of most of them, her former Nena band colleague and keyboard player Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen, rekindled her solo career in 2002. Combined with the success of the Nena band years, she has sold over 25 million records, making her the most successful German pop singer in chart history.
"99 Luftballons" is a song by the West German band Nena from their 1983 self-titled album. An English-language version titled "99 Red Balloons", with lyrics by Kevin McAlea, was also released by Nena on the album 99 Luftballons in 1984 after widespread success of the original in Europe and Japan. The English version is not a direct translation of the German original and contains lyrics with a somewhat different meaning. In the US, the English-language version did not chart, while the German-language recording became Nena's only US hit.
? is the second album by German pop rock band Nena and the third studio album to feature its lead singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. It was released on 27 January 1984, just a few months before the band's first international album 99 Luftballons, which contains songs from their debut album Nena (1983) and this album, some of them re-recorded with English lyrics.
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