History Music / Alphaville

->...night!\\
\\
''"Let us die young or let us live forever.\\
We don't have the power but we never say never.\\
Sitting in a sandpit, life is a short trip.\\

They are best known for their two biggest hits, "Big in Japan" [[note]]No relation to the Tom Waits song of the same name[[/note]] and "Forever Young,"[[note]]Not the Rod Stewart one, nor the Bob Dylan one[[/note]] both released in 1984. While "Forever Young" and "Big in Japan" managed to peak at 65 and 66, respectively, on the US's Billboard Hot 100, Alphaville have always been best appreciated in Europe, releasing a few top ten singles in several countries throughout the 80s. "Forever Young" has seen a new appreciation in recent years through several covers, remixes, and appearances in movie soundtracks and TV shows.

* TheMovie: ''Songlines,'' a music video compilation featuring a video for every song on ''The Breathtaking Blue.''[[note]]Except for "Anyway," which plays during the end credits.[[/note]] [[Film/TheCrow Alex Proyas]], [[{{Film/Koyaanisqatsi}} Godfrey Reggio]], and even [[{{Film/Stalker}} Aleksandr Kaidanovsky]] directed videos for the movie, as did bandmember Ricky Echolette.

* StageNames: Marian Gold = Hartwig Schierbaum; Bernhard Lloyd = Bernhard Gößling; Ricky Echolette = Wolfgang Neuhaus; Frank Mertens = Frank Sorgatz. Martin Lister, David Goodes, and Jacob Kiersch go by their real names.

* LiveAlbum: ''Stark Naked and Absolutely Live,'' recorded in Salt Lake City in 1999, and ''Live at the Whiskey a Go Go,'' recorded in Los Angeles in 2018.

* CoverVersion: On ''Dreamscapes'': "High School Confidential," "Roll Away the Stone," "The Shape of Things to Come," and "Peace on Earth." On ''Crazyshow'': "Do the Strand," "Something," and "Diamonds Are 4 Eva."

* ''Live at the Whiskey A Go Go'' (2019)

* ''Eternally Yours'' (upcoming 2022)

->''"Let us die young or let us live forever.\\

And returned on the previous night!

* NewSoundAlbum: ''The Breathtaking Blue,'' the first full album recorded in a brand new studio the band designed themselves: Luna Park Studios in Berlin. Klaus Schulze of Tangerine Dream co-produced the album. Yet, for an album made by musicians usually associated with synthesizers, the synthesizers exist mostly in the background, and is definitely a strong deviation from the synthpop style of Alphaville's previous two albums.

* ''Alphaville (The Amiga Compilation)'' (1988)

* ''Stark Naked and Absolutely Live'' (1999)

* SoloSideProject: Marian Gold's two solo albums, ''So Long Celeste'' (1992) and United (1996). ''So Long Celeste'' was recorded in the aftermath of the ''The Breathtaking Blue'' when the band members weren't speaking to each other (see TroubledProduction). ''United'', however, is something of a "lost" Alphaville album. Alphaville member Bernhard Lloyd was one of the mastering engineers and some tracks were co-written by Alphaville member Ricky Echolette and frequent Alpahville collaborator Rainer Bloss.

SoloSideProject: Marian Gold's two solo albums, ''So Long Celeste'' (1992) and United (1996). ''So Long Celeste'' was recorded in the aftermath of the TroubledProduction of ''The Breathtaking Blue'' when the band members weren't speaking to each other. ''United'', however, is something of a "lost" Alphaville album. Alphaville member Bernhard Lloyd was one of the mastering engineers, and some tracks were co-written by Alphaville member Ricky Echolette and frequent Alpahville collaborator Rainer Bloss.

The founding members were Bernhard Lloyd, Frank Mertens, and singer Marian Gold. Frank Mertens left the band after the release of their first album, ''Forever Young'', and was replaced by Ricky Echolette. This lineup produced the bulk of Alphaville's studio material, responsible for ''Afternoons in Utopia,'' ''The Breathtaking Blue,'' ''Prostitute,'' and ''Salvation.'' Echolette left the band during the production of ''Salvation''. Alphaville existed for a while as just Bernhard Lloyd and Marian Gold, during which they released the anthology box sets ''Dreamscapes'' and ''Crazyshow''. Lloyd officially left Alphaville in 2003[[note]]His involvement in Alphaville as a band member was basically finished after ''Dreamscapes'' released in 1999, though he still did managerial and promotional work until his official departure[[/note]]. The lineup for 2010's ''Catching Rays on Giant'' is Marian Gold, Martin Lister on keyboards, David Goodes on guitar, and Jakob Kiersch on drums. Fifth member, bassist Maja Kim, joined the band the following year. Martin Lister passed away in May of 2014. After his death, Carsten Brocker took over on keyboards. Maja Kim left the band in July, 2016. She was replaced by Alex Merl.

* LiveAlbum: ''Stark Naked and Absolutely Live,'' recorded during a concert in Salt Lake City.

[[caption-width-right:350: From left to right: Marian Gold (vocalist), Bernhard Lloyd (keyboard player) & Frank Mertens (ditto).]]

** "Beyond the Laughing Sky" is named after a song that was written for, but cut from Disney's [[Disney/AliceInWonderland Alice in Wonderland]].