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Klaus Lage – Je wahrer die Liebe

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Klaus Lage - Je wahrer die Liebe

Klaus Lage - Je wahrer die Liebe
4.8

Rating

 4.8/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Really good mixture of rock with soul and Americana elements
  • Great lyrics
  • Very versatile album

70 years of Klaus Lage – the rock singer-songwriter is one of the most iconic artists of the German music scene. On 18th February 2020, he is releasing a new album, Je wahrer die Liebe (“The more true love is”). The album coming with a strong soul touch on top of Lage’s typical rock sound. Here is my review.

 

Klaus Lage – About The Artist

Klaus Lage was born on 16th June 1950 in Soltau. Lage however grew up in Dusseldorf and later even moved to West Berlin. Even though he aimed to go there as a social worker, he also had a first major band, the Berliner Rock-Ensemble (BRE). In the late 1970’s, Lage rather focused on his solo career and released his first single Alle ham’s geschafft außer mir (“Everybody made it except me”) in 1978. His first two albums did not come with too much success. However, the single Mit meinen Augen paved the route to success for his third long-play release, Stadtstreicher (1983). The album made it to the Top 20 in Germany in early 1984.

Lage’s most successful album has been Schweissperlen (“Beads of Sweat”). The album had multiple big hits like Wieder zuhaus and Monopoli – but also Lage’s most successful track of all times, 1000 und 1 Nacht (Zoom!). The album went platinum and the single climbed up to the fifth spot in the German charts. Another big song by Lage has been the 1985 Faust auf Faust, which has been a key track of the German Tatort TV crime series. Lage so far released almost twenty studio albums.

 

Klaus Lage – Je wahrer die Liebe – Track by Track

The thirteen track album lasts 49 minutes.

1. Je Wahrer die Liebe

Pure soul sound. The song feels as if Klaus Lage wants to emphasize that this is a special, different album with a new Klaus Lage sound. Great work on the instruments as well as on the microphone. The title track is full of emotions, full of love. It is almost needless to say that the lyrics are great.

Je höher du fliegst
Desto ferner das Ziel
Je heikler der Einsatz
Desto ernster das Spiel
Je falscher das Lachen
Desto schlechter der Scherz
Je wahrer die Liebe
Umso tiefer der Schmerz

(“The higher you fly
the more far away is the goal.
The more delicate the bid
The more serious is the game.
The wronger the laughing
The worse is the joke.
The more truthful love is
The deeper is the pain.”)

2. Nadel im Heu

After the title track demonstrated that Klaus Lage is great in soul music as well, the second track also adds a touch of rock and folk music to the sound of the album. A song full of social critic, nicely arranged strings and a great focus on the lyrics and the message of the track.

3. Lass Dir Zeit

The howling harmonica and the nice groove of Lass Dir Zeit (“Take your time”) gives a clear Americana touch in this song. Klaus Lage doing country music? He is able to do so. This song is masterous, at least.

4. Fragen

The song is a nice blend between soul and blues elements. The very rhythmic, accentuated vibe of Fragen (“Questions”) leads to a special and catching listen. Ich hab’ einfach so viele Fragen, doch eine Antwort krieg’ ich nie – “I have simply so many questions – but I never receive an answer”.

5. Morscher Ast

This song is about a “Rotten branch”, if you translate the song title literally. The song is about bad luck. Again, Klaus Lage is working with great melodic elements, including a backing choir. A bit of a dark country rocker.

Jetzt sitz’ ich auf nem morschen Ast
Seit Du mich verlassen hast
Ein schweres Herz, mein Dauergast
Ich sitz hier auf ‘nem morschen Ast.

(“Now I am sitting on a rotten branch,
since you left me,
A heavy heart, my permanent guest
I am sitting here on a rotten branch”)

6. Jammertal

Jammertal translates to something like “Valley of sadness”. The song is slower and connects back to the soul character, but is also a bit of melancholic. Nice.

7. … und dann wird’s wieder schön

After some darker moments, the seventh track comes with happy sounds and brass instruments as one of the leading melodic elements. A touch of swing and big band. Entertaining.

8. Ich bin viele

This track has been the title track of Klaus Lage’s 2019 album. For Je wahrer die Liebe, Lage is doing a re-recording. The same deep meaning, but maybe a bit of an easier sound. I loved the track three years ago – and I still like it in both versions.

9. Da kommt doch Freude auf

Da kommt doch Freude auf means something like “That’s where the fun starts”. And, indeed, this one is fun to listen. A happy vibe with a bit of rock, swing and big band elements. Very rhythmic song which makes you move while listening.

10. Wie lang

After this fun epsiode, Klaus Lage does what he does best: describing social problems. This time, he is attacking terrible management, sexual abuse by the church and destroying nature. The chorus is appealing to the listener:

Wie lang soll das noch so gehen?
Das kann doch keiner mehr verstehen.
Wann gehen wir den nächsten Schritt
Und machen einfach nicht mehr mit?

(“How long shall it go on like that?
Nobody can understand that any more!
When are we taking the next step
and just no longer contribute to that?”)

11. Entfernter Verwandter

One of the key reasons that this album is a great listen is the wide range of songs and sounds it is featuring. This “distant relative” is soul-ish with a happy sound again. A song about being honest to yourself and standing for your values.

12. Wenn aus Spaß Ernst wird

There is one kind of song, which is still missing on this album: a ballad. The twelfth track is taking over this duty. Emotions, truthful words with the typical Klaus Lage signature. Just a really nice listen.

13. Wenn’s mal wieder so wär

Another kind of song missing is a single release. Indeed, this is the only track Klaus Lage released as a single before the album. The single is catching. Finally, it does not need too many tracks to make people believe that this album listen will be great again.

Klaus Lage – Je wahrer die Liebe – Spotify

Here is the album on Spotify:

 

Klaus Lage – Je wahrer die Liebe – My View

It’s a Klaus Lage album. You expect good music. This time, your receive even better. What a versatile bunch of songs, touching rock, pop, folk, country, soul, even blues. Great lyrics as well. Klaus Lage is a German rock music legend – and this is another proof, published in February 2022.

 

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