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Afternoons in Utopia

Afternoons in Utopia is the second album by German synth-pop band Alphaville, released in 1986 via Warner Music. The album was recorded between September 1985 and May 1986.[1]

A remastered and re-released version of the album, on both CD and vinyl, was released on 7 May 2021.[2]

Background

Afternoons in Utopia is the follow-up to Alphaville's successful first album, Forever Young.[3] Singer/songwriter Marian Gold said of these albums, "our first album emerged from the smut of the Here and Now and our second led back to our roots in Sugar Candy Mountain",[3] and the band employed no less than 27 guest musicians and singers to record the songs.[1] Alphaville released five singles from the album: "Dance with Me", "Universal Daddy", "Jerusalem", "Sensations" and "Red Rose", with all but "Sensations" charting internationally.

The album was remastered and re-released in May 2021 and includes the original album, plus "14 remastered B-sides, 12-inch and seven-inch remixes, demos and a rare live version of the single 'Dance With Me'.[2] The release was overseen by original band members Gold and Bernhard Lloyd, and was remastered by Lloyd and Stefan Betke.[4]

Reviews

Reviews for this album were again generally positive, with one reviewer saying "at points things are just bad yup-funk for wine bars, but a couple of misfires aside, Afternoons in Utopia holds up well" and "in retrospect it's actually a successful endeavour, perfectly evocative of a mainstream style."[6]The album finished in the Top 20 in five European countries and at #174 the US. Another reviewer points out that "by the time of this album's 1986 release, synth-pop was no longer a chart concern."[7]

Album notes

The album's lyrics make several references to cosmic entities ("sci-fi" as one reviewer called it),[6] including comets, the planet Mars and its landscape, and a starship. When the word "smile" is used in the songs "Afternoons in Utopia," "Lassie Come Home," and "Red Rose," it's printed in the liner notes as the acronym S.M.I².L.E., a reference to Timothy Leary, which stands for "Space Migration, Increased Intelligence, [and] Life Extension."[1]

Marian Gold, singer and songwriter for the band, acknowledged that the message of their music was different from their previous album with this comment which accompanied the song "Sensations" in the liner notes for the 1992 release First Harvest 1984-92: "Sometimes people used to say, 'Have they gone crazy now? Talking with dolphins and all that!!' But I think that once we've learned the language of the dolphins - this mutual approach - that could be the moment of significant change in our messed up civilization.[8]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd and Ricky Echolette, except as noted

2021 Remaster

The first disc of the 2021 remaster is the same as the original 1986 release.

The first song on the album, "IAO" ("International Aquarian Opera"), begins with the word "night" and fades into the short IAO chorus, which itself is a lyric from the song "Afternoons in Utopia". The album ends with the song "Lady Bright", a limerick about relativity, wherein the Lady Bright leaves one day and returns "the previous ...[night]", with the word "night" omitted, thus the album loops back to its beginning.

The song "Afternoons in Utopia" is dedicated "For Inka" in the liner notes for the album.

Chart positions

Album credits

Afternoons in Utopia was composed by Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Ricky Echolette. All songs produced by Peter Walsh except where noted.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Afternoons in Utopia (CD liner notes). Alphaville. Warner / Atlantic. 1986.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ a b Sinclair, Paul (5 March 2021). "Alphaville / Afternoons in Utopia and The Breathtaking Blue reissues". Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Alphaville announce new remastered Deluxe Editions". 25 March 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  4. ^ Afternoons in Utopia (2021 remaster) (CD liner notes). Alphaville. WEA / Rhino. 2021.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  5. ^ Allmusic review
  6. ^ a b "All Music Guide". answers.com.
  7. ^ "MusicFolio". musicfolio.com.
  8. ^ First Harvest 1984-92 liner notes
  9. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alphaville". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 15.
  10. ^ "German chart". Charts-Surfer. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Norwegian albums chart". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  12. ^ "Swedish albums chart". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  13. ^ "Swiss albums chart". Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  14. ^ "Artist Chart History: Albums". Billboard charts. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  15. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2021. 19. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved May 21, 2021.