Monarchie und Alltag
Encyclopedia
Monarchie und Alltag was the 1980 debut album of German
rock band Fehlfarben
, released on the Welt-rekord-label, a subsidiary of EMI
. The album was not initially well-received, but developed a following over time, entering the charts
seven months after its release and gradually climbing to peak at #37. The album belatedly spawned a hit single in 1982, "Ein Jahr (Es geht voran)", and certified gold in 2000, after a re-release during the post-punk revival
.
The poor initial reception of the album and a scheduled lengthy tour prompted the departure of vocalist and songwriter Peter Hein, who did not return to the band until following a 2000 reunion. Guitarist Thomas Schwebel took over as lead vocalist for the tour and subsequent releases.
The album is regarded as highly influential in the Neue Deutsche Welle
movement of Germany and the German punk
scene. It secured a position for the band and its first lead singer as prominent figures in the German punk movement.
described the album as a "revolutionary monument". Telepolis
described it as "an unsurpassed masterpiece". It has been variously termed "a cornerstone of modern German rock", "the most important German punk album", and "the best German-language album overall". Bayerischer Rundfunk
states that the group and the album were the "epicenter of the German punkscene in the early 1980s" and that with the release of Monarchie und Alltag the band became "the first volume in the German new wave".
At the time of release, the album did not secure any hit singles, but two years after the album was released label EMI
issued "Ein Jahr (Es geht voran)" to capitalize on the rising popularity of the German new wave (Neue Deutsche Welle) movement. The song reached the top 20 in the charts.
According to Der Tagesspiegel, the album has lost nothing of its appeal over the years, to those who were punk at the time or even those who were not yet born, as it retains its forcefulness, directness and relevance.
band with other prominent members of the Düsseldorf
punk community: Thomas Schwebel, Michael Kemner, Frank Fenstermacher and Uwe Bauer. Influenced by the ska-punk music of London
, they brought their interpretation of the style to live performances in Germany and to a 7" single released on their own independent label, Welt-Rekord-Label. In summer of 1980, the band's label was purchased by EMI
, who gave them studio space to record Monarchie und Alltag, which was released in October of that year.
Although many of the band's members had a hand in composing material, much of the album was penned by vocalist Peter Hein during free time at his job at Xerox
. Der Spiegel
credits the best compositions of the album to Hein and guitar
ist Thomas Schwebel, who wrote the iconic song of the German "No-Future" generation, "Paul Ist Tot" ("Paul is Dead"), one refrain of which translates, "What I want, I cannot get. And what I can get, I don't like." The album, at the cutting edge of musical styles, pushed Fehlfarben to the forefront of the German punk movement and made Peter Hein its point figure, even though he had quit the band three days before the lengthy Monarchie und Alltag tour to dedicate himself to his job at Xerox.
In an interview years later with die tageszeitung
, Hein indicated that he found the then-security of his job preferable to the stressful life of a musician on the road and that returning to work felt almost like a vacation. It was a decision that puzzled the press at the time. Questioned about his work ethic in that interview, Hein stated that he was puzzled by the "arrogance" of those who looked down on the working class.
The band continued performing with Schwebel on vocals and releasing albums after Hein's departure, but reunited with its first vocalist in 2000 after the belated receipt of a gold record for the album
Except where otherwise noted, lyrics by F. Fenstermacher, G. Nicolaidis, M. IKemner, P. Hein, T. Schwebel and U. Bauer.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
rock band Fehlfarben
Fehlfarben
Fehlfarben is a German post-punk band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The band name is from a German printing term referring to erroneous colors in prints: singer Peter Hein was in this line of work at Xerox while in the band...
, released on the Welt-rekord-label, a subsidiary of EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
. The album was not initially well-received, but developed a following over time, entering the charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
seven months after its release and gradually climbing to peak at #37. The album belatedly spawned a hit single in 1982, "Ein Jahr (Es geht voran)", and certified gold in 2000, after a re-release during the post-punk revival
Post-punk revival
The post-punk revival was a development in alternative rock of the late 20th and early 21st centuries in which bands took inspiration from the original sounds and aesthetics of garage rock of the 1960s and post-punk and New Wave of the late 1970s...
.
The poor initial reception of the album and a scheduled lengthy tour prompted the departure of vocalist and songwriter Peter Hein, who did not return to the band until following a 2000 reunion. Guitarist Thomas Schwebel took over as lead vocalist for the tour and subsequent releases.
The album is regarded as highly influential in the Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle is a genre of German music originally derived from punk rock and New Wave music...
movement of Germany and the German punk
German punk
Punk rock and punk subculture have created a popular scene in Germany since punk music became popular in the 1970s.- The beginning :When bands like the Sex Pistols and The Clash became popular in West Germany, a number of Punk bands were formed, which led to the creation a German punk scene...
scene. It secured a position for the band and its first lead singer as prominent figures in the German punk movement.
Response
The album was not critically well received on its release, but in spite of line-up changes the band managed to increase public interest over time through live performance and the release of new material. Months after its October 1980 release, in May of 1981, the album entered the German album charts where it gradually climbed to #37, only earning gold status in 2000 after a reissue coincident with the post-punk revival. Over time, however, the album has developed a tremendous reputation. Die ZeitDie Zeit
Die Zeit is a German nationwide weekly newspaper that is highly respected for its quality journalism.With a circulation of 488,036 and an estimated readership of slightly above 2 million, it is the most widely read German weekly newspaper...
described the album as a "revolutionary monument". Telepolis
Telepolis
Telepolis is the name of a German Internet magazine, published by the Heinz Heise Verlag since the beginning of 1996. It was founded by journalists Armin Medosch and Florian Rötzer and deals with privacy, science, culture, internet-related and general politics and media.Telepolis received the...
described it as "an unsurpassed masterpiece". It has been variously termed "a cornerstone of modern German rock", "the most important German punk album", and "the best German-language album overall". Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk
Bayerischer Rundfunk [Bavarian Broadcasting] is the public broadcasting authority for the German Freistaat of Bavaria, with its main offices located in Munich. BR is a member of ARD.- Legal foundation :...
states that the group and the album were the "epicenter of the German punkscene in the early 1980s" and that with the release of Monarchie und Alltag the band became "the first volume in the German new wave".
At the time of release, the album did not secure any hit singles, but two years after the album was released label EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
issued "Ein Jahr (Es geht voran)" to capitalize on the rising popularity of the German new wave (Neue Deutsche Welle) movement. The song reached the top 20 in the charts.
According to Der Tagesspiegel, the album has lost nothing of its appeal over the years, to those who were punk at the time or even those who were not yet born, as it retains its forcefulness, directness and relevance.
Background
The band was formed from two former members of foundational German punk band Charley's Girls—Peter Hein and Markus Oehlen—who had gone on to play in the influential punk group Mittagspause. The pair decided to form a post-punkPost-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band with other prominent members of the Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
punk community: Thomas Schwebel, Michael Kemner, Frank Fenstermacher and Uwe Bauer. Influenced by the ska-punk music of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, they brought their interpretation of the style to live performances in Germany and to a 7" single released on their own independent label, Welt-Rekord-Label. In summer of 1980, the band's label was purchased by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, who gave them studio space to record Monarchie und Alltag, which was released in October of that year.
Although many of the band's members had a hand in composing material, much of the album was penned by vocalist Peter Hein during free time at his job at Xerox
Xerox
Xerox Corporation is an American multinational document management corporation that produced and sells a range of color and black-and-white printers, multifunction systems, photo copiers, digital production printing presses, and related consulting services and supplies...
. Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel
Der Spiegel is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. It is one of Europe's largest publications of its kind, with a weekly circulation of more than one million.-Overview:...
credits the best compositions of the album to Hein and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist Thomas Schwebel, who wrote the iconic song of the German "No-Future" generation, "Paul Ist Tot" ("Paul is Dead"), one refrain of which translates, "What I want, I cannot get. And what I can get, I don't like." The album, at the cutting edge of musical styles, pushed Fehlfarben to the forefront of the German punk movement and made Peter Hein its point figure, even though he had quit the band three days before the lengthy Monarchie und Alltag tour to dedicate himself to his job at Xerox.
In an interview years later with die tageszeitung
Die tageszeitung
die tageszeitung , was founded in 1978 in Berlin. It is a cooperative-owned German daily newspaper which is administrated by a workers' self-management...
, Hein indicated that he found the then-security of his job preferable to the stressful life of a musician on the road and that returning to work felt almost like a vacation. It was a decision that puzzled the press at the time. Questioned about his work ethic in that interview, Hein stated that he was puzzled by the "arrogance" of those who looked down on the working class.
The band continued performing with Schwebel on vocals and releasing albums after Hein's departure, but reunited with its first vocalist in 2000 after the belated receipt of a gold record for the album
Track listing
Music by F. Fenstermacher, G. Nicolaidis, M. Kemner, P. Hein, T. Schwebel, U. Bauer.Except where otherwise noted, lyrics by F. Fenstermacher, G. Nicolaidis, M. IKemner, P. Hein, T. Schwebel and U. Bauer.
Side one
- "Hier und Jetzt" – 2:44
- "Grauschleier" – 2:25
- "Das sind Geschichten" – 3:21
- "All That Heaven Allows" – 3:37
- "Gottseidank nicht in England" – 2:40
- "Militürk" (lyrics by Delgado-Lopetz) – 5:22
Side two
- "Apokalypse" – 3:11
- "Ein Jahr (Es geht voran)" – 2:51
- "Angst" – 2:16
- "Das war vor Jahren" – 2:35
- "Paul ist tot" – 7:56
Personnel
- Uwe Bauer – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Kurt Dahlke (aka Der Pyrolator) – synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
- Fehlfarben – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
- Frank Fenstermacher – saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
- Rolf Hanekamp – recording and mixing
- Peter Hein – vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
- Michael Kemner – bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
- Harald Lepschies – recording and mixing
- Horst Luedtke – producer
- George Nicolaidis – synthesizer
- Thomas Schwebel – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...