| Fading Shades | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 12 June 1995 | |||
| Recorded | 1994–1995 | |||
| Studio | A.R.T. (Ibiza, Spain) | |||
| Genre | Pop | |||
| Length | 40:11 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Sandra chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Fading Shades | ||||
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Fading Shades is the sixth studio album by German singer Sandra, released on 12 June 1995 by Virgin Records.
Sandra recorded Fading Shades while pregnant with twins and was having to sit during the recording sessions. The album saw a new collaborator Jens Gad working alongside Michael Cretu as a writer, arranger, programmer and producer. [1] Again, Andy "Angel" Hart performed all the male vocals on the album.
The first single released from the album was a cover version of The Moody Blues song "Nights in White Satin", which reached number 34 in New Zealand and 86 in Germany, becoming one of Sandra's lowest-charting singles in her home country. [2] It was more successful in Israel and Finland. The song's music video featured only close-ups of Sandra's face as she was heavily pregnant at the time. A still from the video served as the album cover. "Won't Run Away" was released as the second and final single, and was Sandra's first single since 1984's "Japan ist weit" not to receive a music video. The CD single included three remixes of the song. [3] It was commercially unsuccessful and did not enter any charts, apart from reaching lower regions of the German airplay top 100. [4]
The album is one of Sandra's least successful releases, reaching number 42 in Germany and number 37 in Switzerland.
| Chart (1995) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [5] | 42 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [6] | 37 |
Sandra Ann Lauer, commonly known under her stage name Sandra and Sandra Cretu, is a German pop singer who enjoyed mainstream popularity in the 1980s and early 1990s with a string of European hit singles, produced by her then-husband and musical partner, Michael Cretu, most notably "(I'll Never Be) Maria Magdalena" (1985), "In the Heat of the Night" (1985), "Everlasting Love" (1987), "Secret Land" (1988), "Hiroshima" (1990) and "Don't Be Aggressive" (1992). Her albums Into a Secret Land (1988) and Close to Seven (1992) have won Sandra high critical acclaim.
"Nights in White Satin" is a song by the Moody Blues, written and composed by Justin Hayward. It was first featured as the segment "The Night" on the album Days of Future Passed. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number 103 in the United States in 1968. It was the first significant chart entry by the band since "Go Now" and its recent lineup change, in which Denny Laine and Clint Warwick had resigned and both Hayward and John Lodge had joined.
The Art of Love is the eighth studio album by German singer Sandra released in 2007 by Virgin Records.
The Wheel of Time is the seventh studio album by German singer Sandra, released in 2002 by Virgin Records.
"Heaven Can Wait" is a 1988 song performed by German singer Sandra and written by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr and Klaus Hirschburger. It was arranged by Michael Cretu and Markus Löhr, and produced by Cretu. The song was released as the lead single from Sandra's third studio album Into a Secret Land in mid-1988. The single reached the top 10 in Austria and France, the top 20 in Germany and Switzerland and was one of Sandra's few singles to break into the UK Top 100. In Austria, it was also a top 10 airplay hit. It was Sandra's fourth and last silver-certified single in France.
"Secret Land" is a 1988 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Uwe Gronau, Hubert Kemmler, Michael Cretu, Mats Björklund, Susanne Müller-Pi, Klaus Hirschburger and Michael Höing, and produced by Cretu. It is an adaptation of the 1987 Kemmler-produced song "Trenchcoat Man" recorded by the short-lived German band Fabrique, the members of which were Gronau and Höing.
"Little Girl" is a 1985 pop song performed by German singer Sandra. It was composed by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler, and Markus Löhr to lyrics written by Klaus Hirschburger. Cretu also produced the track. The song was released as the third and final single from Sandra's debut album The Long Play in early 1986. It did not repeat the commercial success of the two previous singles, but still managed to reach the top 3 in Greece, the top 10 in Italy and the top 20 in Germany and Switzerland. It also reached no. 12 and no. 13 on the German and Austrian airplay charts, respectively.
"Innocent Love" is a 1986 synthpop song performed by German singer Sandra. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Ulrich Herter, Susanne Müller, and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Michael Cretu and Armand Volker. The song was released as the first single from Sandra's second solo album, Mirrors. The single was commercially successful, reaching the top 10 in Norway and France, and the top 20 in Germany and Switzerland.
"Hi! Hi! Hi!" is a 1986 song performed by German pop singer Sandra. It was written by Michael Cretu, Hubert Kemmler and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu and Armand Volker.
"Loreen" is a 1986 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Frank Peterson, Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu and Armand Volker. The song was released in November 1986 as the third single from Sandra's second album Mirrors. The contents of the 7" and the 12" single are identical, with "Loreen" being the only Sandra single from the 1980s or 1990s to lack an extended version. The song was a moderate success in Germany and Switzerland.
"Midnight Man" is a 1986 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu and Armand Volker. The song was released as the fourth and final single with added synthesizers from Sandra's second album Mirrors in early 1987, and was a moderate chart success in Germany and Belgium.
"Stop for a Minute" is a 1987 pop song by German singer Sandra, written by Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu. It was released as the second single from Sandra's first greatest hits compilation Ten on One in early 1988, and reached the top 10 on the German sales and airplay charts. The song was used in the German crime TV series Tatort, in the episode "Salü Palu", where Sandra performs it in a club scene. The show was set in Saarbrücken, Sandra's hometown, and aired on 24 January 1988.
"I Close My Eyes" is a 2002 pop ballad by German singer Sandra. It was released on 11 November 2002 by Virgin Records as the third and final single from her seventh studio album The Wheel of Time. The song was written by Andy Jonas who has performed male vocals on her fifth and sixth studio albums, and produced by Michael Cretu and Jens Gad. The song performed poorly on the charts and peaked only at number ninety-three in Germany.
"We'll Be Together" is a 1988 pop song performed by German singer Sandra from her third studio album Into a Secret Land. It was written by Hubert Kemmler, Markus Löhr, Klaus Hirschburger and Sandra Cretu, and produced by Michael Cretu. This is the only song along with "When the Rain Doesn't Come" that was written or co-written by Sandra herself, prior to the 2007 album The Art of Love.
Everlasting Love is a compilation album by German singer Sandra, released in 1988 by Virgin Records.
"One More Night" is a pop ballad performed by German singer Sandra. The song was written by Michael Cretu, Klaus Hirschburger and Frank Peterson, and produced by Cretu. It was released as the third and final single from Sandra's fourth studio album, Paintings in Yellow, in September 1990. The single became only a moderate top 40 hit in Germany.
Close to Seven is the fifth studio album by German singer Sandra, released on 17 February 1992 by Virgin Records.
"Don't Be Aggressive" is a 1992 pop song by German singer Sandra. It was written by Michael Cretu and Klaus Hirschburger, and produced by Cretu. The song uses a sample of the 1990 track "Daydreaming" by Massive Attack, which in turn samples "Mambo" (1984) by Wally Badarou. It was released in January 1992 as the lead single from Sandra's fifth studio album Close to Seven, reaching the top 10 in Norway and Finland, and the top 20 in Germany.
"Johnny Wanna Live" is a pop song by German singer Sandra, written by Michael Cretu, Klaus Hirschburger and Frank Peterson, and produced by Cretu. The song was originally released on Sandra's fourth studio album Paintings in Yellow in 1990 and was subsequently remixed for her 1992 compilation 18 Greatest Hits. The new version was released as a single to promote the album, backed with "Mirrored in Your Eyes" from Sandra's most recent album at that time, Close to Seven, and only met with minor chart success.
My Favourites is the third greatest hits album by German singer Sandra, released on 4 June 1999 by Virgin Records.
