| Review by racerguy January 20, 2004 (5 of 5 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
Believe it or not, this SACD is solely responsible for convincing me to upgrade from a mid-fi "universal" player to a hi-fi SACD player (Sony SCD-1).
For those people unfamiliar with non-English pop/rock music (especially Americans), Herbert Grönemeyer has been a Big Name on the German music scene since the mid 1980s. He is a German-language performer, and all of his successful releases have been in German. There have been a few attempts at English-language versions, but they weren't successful.
Grönemeyer's music ranges from straight-ahead rock'n'roll to some dabbling in electro-pop (mostly his mid-80s stuff) to well-crafted ballads.
In Germany, Herbert was a Rock Star of the first order prior to this release, but Mensch catapulted him to Superstar status. Mensch, released toward the end of 2002, was #1 in Germany for much of 2003.
Mensch is the result of tragedy and struggle - personal tragedy for Herbert Grönemeyer, and the struggles of modern Germany, a country that is split in two economically, socially, and politically. Emotions on this release run the gamut from intense sorrow, burning frustration, blazing anger, wistful sadness, grief and mourning, and rather sarcastic humor.
If you understand German, the depth of feeling in the music and lyrics will tear your heart out. If you don't understand German you can still feel the emotion, and the music is first-rate. Some of Grönemeyer's songs have political messages, and some people may be put off by them (if you understand German). Over the years Grönemeyer has shown little fondness for American global politics, and he is considered to be far Left even by Germany's standards. So, if politics in music bothers you and you understand German, you've been warned!
The sound quality of this SACD is absolutely fabulous. I consider it to be one of the best in my collection from a sonics standpoint. Full-range loudspeakers are a must to get the full effect of this release. Compared to the CD version the SACD has more depth, and more detail is apparent during loud/fast passages.
I've listened to the multi-channel tracks a few times on a universal player in my and others' well-set-up MC systems. Overall I find most pop/rock MC mixes to be rather gimmicky, and this one is no exception. Consistency in instrument placement from track to track is a bit lacking, and on some tracks it is clear that the engineer either didn't know exactly what to do, or just decided to play around. People who enjoy these types of effects will probably like the MC tracks - I prefer to stick with the stereo tracks.
In conclusion - I highly recommend this release, even to Americans! I sincerely hope that Grönemeyer's next release will also be on SACD.
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| Review by vonwegen April 9, 2005 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
I have to agree with Marc P--this release sounds great, especially in surround. The songs are very good indeed, with great lyrics. The soundstage is very diverse--no two 5.1 mixes are the same as far as placing instruments, except for Grönemeyer's vocals, which occupy the center speaker.
For those of you unfamiliar with Herbert Grönemeyer, the music sounds like a cross between mid-period Talking Heads ("Remain In Light") crossed with "So"-era Peter Gabriel, but with a deeper, more resonant baritone than either PG or David Byrne.
A great demonstration disk for surround sound.
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