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Forever Young Forever Young is a synthpop classic, with a few big hits, and several other wonderful songs that never hit the radio waves. It also had a few experiments that didn't quite work, but it's still one of my favorite synhtpop albums ever. Marian Gold has a wonderful voice with an incredible range, comparable to Morten Harket, the other synthpop vocalist who is in the running for "most naturally talented." Gold stayed in the lower registers more often, although he demonstrated on numerous occasions that he didn't have to. His voice was also wonderfully evocative, ranging from powerful, strong sounds to airy, wistful breathing. The album starts out with "A Victory of Love," a song that is difficult to classify because of the slow, quiet start but strong, intense finish. It's a really good song, though, and it's a shame that it's not better known. "Summer In Berlin" touches on the Cold War theme that worked for several songs on this album. It's also slow, dreamy yet with some energy. The next song was a single release, and supposedly a "big" hit for Alphaville, "Big In Japan." I've always wondered if the lyrics are gay, or if they just reflect an unfamiliarity with English. Be that as it may, the song is very nice with a beat that's on the slow side of dancey, and with cold and dark atmospheric sounds that have a vaguely "oriental" feel to them. "To Germany With Love" is Cold War again, with a little more frantic energy than "Summer" and without quite the same dreaminess. "Fallen Angel" is one of my favorite songs on the CD, with very cheerful sounds, a dancey beat and sophisticated lyrics. The classic "Forever Young" is next, and it's the slow ballad version of this beautiful masterpiece. Interestingly enough, the fast re-recorded version is also quite good, but alas, not available here. There are overtones of the Cold War here again ("Are they going to drop the bomb or not?") but the nostalgic yearning for the possibilities of youth is an emotional tour de force. "In the Mood" is an experiment that didn't work for me. The lyrics are somewhat strange (a constant with Alphaville's work, but here they actually jar me a little) and the song is somewhat boring as well, with no catchy melody. "Sounds Like a Melody" is also one I skip on occasion, but it's a better song, with a nice finishing coda. Unfortunately, it doesn't have much life during the main part of the song, so it's kindof an endurance trial to get to the coda. The last two songs, "Lies" and "The Jet Set" are probably my two favorite songs. Both are fun, slick and energetic. Unlike the dance songs of many contemporary groups, these two are filled with lots of little artistic touches and surprising sounds and vocal acrobatics. I think the strong appeal of this album, and Alphaville in general, is the artistic sensibilities of the songwriters. Not only are they pop-worthy, the songs are almost uniformly made to a higher artistic standard than most expect from this genre, with lots of surprising and interesting technical twists. Overall, I still think this album has dated well; it still sounds good and is one of the best examples of what the genre is capable of.