Alphaville's 1984 debut, Forever Young, deserves to be viewed as a classic synth pop album. There's no doubting that Germans are behind the crystalline Teutonic textures and massive beats that permeate the album, but vocalist Marian Gold's impressive ability to handle a Bryan Ferry croon and many impassioned high passages meant the album would have worldwide appeal. Indeed both "Big in Japan" and the touching, sad change-of-pace "Forever Young" raced up the charts in multiple continents…
Dreamscapes is a limited edition eight-CD set of rare Alphaville recordings, released in 1999. It features 124 tracks with a total playing time of around 9.5 hours. 43 of the songs had never been available before, and all of the remainder had been remixed…
When the British art school punk band the B-Sides changed their name and direction to become Adam & the Ants, guitarist/vocalist Bid and guitarist Lester Square opted out to form their own group, the Monochrome Set. Founded in London in 1978, the band (also comprised of ex-Gloria Mundi and Mean Street bassist Jeremy Harrington and former Art Attacks drummer J.D. Crowe) was quickly snapped up by the Rough Trade label, and during 1979 issued three singles "He's Frank," "Eine Symphonie des Grauens," and their signature number, "Monochrome Set" all completely different in content and stylistic approach.
London post-punk band The Monochrome Set's third album Eligible Bachelors re-issued, completed with a huge amount of bonus tracks and additional hard to find material. Contains the original album, the live album Fin (aka The Good Life), plus a number of lead singer and songwriters Bid's solo tracks.
At the end of the 70s, The Monochrome Set were part of the first wave of "post punk" bands. Right from the beginning, the band earned a solid reputation as purveyors of fine pop, gaining praise from the 80s contemporaries such as Morrissey and Edwyn Collins. Importantly, in later years this praise has continues with artists such as Franz Ferdinand, The Divine Comedy and Graham Coxon, all citing the band as a key influence on their own work. The Monochrome Set sound has often been described as "timeless", and that alone explains why, over the years, the band has continues gaining admirers.