No! With the 14th album from BETONTOD, the spark just doesn’t ignite, which really surprises me. Even after listening to it 8 times, the spark has only reached me with a few songs, even though I’ve loved the punk rockers since their 4th album "GlaubeLiebeHoffnung" (see for example my review: https://ramtatta.de/reviews/9794/betontod-zeig-dich).
But this time, there’s no earworm like "Nie mehr St. Pauli ohne dich", "Regenbogen", "Freunde" or "Küss Mich", unfortunately... Maybe the 5 guys from Rheinberg are really starting anew, as the name of the album suggests, "Wir fangen jetzt erst an".
But let me start by saying something about the 13 songs on the album. With the first song, which was also released as a pre-single and can be seen on YouTube, "All die schönen Menschen", it took me several listens before it clicked with me. The same goes for "Du killst mich" and "Eine letzte Runde" with a catchy => döp-döp-döp -dödödö- döp-döp-döp -dödödö- döp-döp- döp -dödödö- ohh-ohh-ohh-ohh, that will at least be a great sing-along part at concerts.
I didn’t understand "Alles für den Content", "content" means "content" and the lyrics of the song, aside from the spoken part, have nothing to do with content or should the song tell me to screw the lyrics / the content, as long as the melody is right?
With "Keep Calm and Carry On", thankfully the lyrics are in German and it’s about "wiping your mouth and moving on", but the song hardly hits me. Even less does the next song "An Deiner Seite" resonate with me, with that typical Udo Lindenberg dödödüm dödödüm and acoustic guitar... a ballad as it’s written in the book... - Boring -
"Das schöne Leben ist vorbei" is already better, although it strongly reminds me of the current TOTEN HOSEN songs. Maybe also because the lyrics say: "...On some days, it drove us to the beach in Mexico, but we would have been better off staying in Düsseldorf...". "Für Dich" is then the second rather sluggish, uh, slow song. A quite nice text about love, but wrapped in a boring milk carton.
In "Weltuntergang", the BPM (beats per minute) pick up a bit more, but the song doesn’t grab me either. The spark just passed me by. And with "Küchentisch", we now have the third slow, melancholic song. It could also come from the house of Grand Hotel van Cleef or from the pen of CAMPINO.
Things really pick up with "Vielleicht sind wir die Letzten", my favorite song on "Wir fangen jetzt erst an". Everything fits here, lyrics, music, riffs, and speed. I also like "Abwesenheitsnotiz", nicely featuring brass and the chorus "...You can all lick my ass, keep your problem to yourself today...".
To conclude, the fourth ballad comes with "Wir fangen jetzt erst an", the song after which the album is titled. Snooze....
1-2 songs on an album with 13 songs that are a bit slower, slowing down the tempo a bit, is okay in my opinion, but 4 of them?!?
No, sorry BETONTOD, but "Wir fangen jetzt erst an" only touches me with a few songs and that only after multiple listens. If you are now "starting" with "something like this", it could also be the "end" for some.
