[.ca] Die Grossen Erfolge

not so great:
The last 3 or 4 songs are old, good recordings. The other songs were more recently recorded and it sounds like an old lady with a 2 pack-a-day habit of no-filter camels was singing. Yuck. So I ripped the last few songs and burnt them onto another CD.

Where have all the flowers gone?:
This is an all-German CD of Marlene's. The German version of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" (Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sin) is on this CD; the French version (my favorite) and the English are on "The Essential Marlene Dietrich" CD available from Amazon.com UK.

SUPERB!:
This CD is absolutely awesome. Dietrich is for sure an acquired taste, but for those of you that are worldly and have exquisite taste this is for you! This CD is very mysterious and sensual. I recommend it over a candelight dinner with a lover or maybe for later on that evening with your lover-if you get my drift. The only complaint I have about this CD is that there are a few tracks that are a little out of place and ruin the continuity of the whole CD. There are 2 tracks that sound very 1960's, and then at the end of the CD there are 3 tracks from the 1920's which are fun to listen to but are totally opposite from the rest of the CD. Still I recommend this CD highly. Just forward past the tracks that are a little out of place, and you have some beautiful, distinctly European music that is extremely intimate and mysterious! The entire CD is in German, which only makes it all the more wonderful! ENJOY!

Nostalgia in black and white:
Don't think of « Lili Marlene » only as a popular song among german soldiers during World War II. It's mainly the story of a girl standing under a street lamp in front of barracks, while the fog is darkening the streets of a little town ; and who will stand with her when the night falls and the shadows are swirling around? Although there are a few « modern » songs on the CD, most of the songs recorded here are nostalgic of bygone days, of men who wan't come back, of flowers on the graves. The voice of Marlene Dietrich is a bit hard and hoarse, a voice in black and white. It reminds you of all these fascinating movies in black and white of the thirties (think of Lang, Murnau,...). Technically speaking, the rythm, here and there, is too fast, and the recording is not very good, but it's not so important. Just listen and and take a dive in the crooked and foggy (and disturbing) streets of pre-war Europe and the smoky cabarets of Berlin.

• Sag Mir Wo Die Blumen Sind (Where Have All the Flowers Gone)
• Lili Marleen
• Die Welt War Jung (Le Chevalier de Paris)
• Die Antwort Weiss Ganz Allein Der Wind (Blowing in the Wind)
• Wenn Ich Mir Was Wünschen Dürfte
• Johnny, Wenn du Geburtstag Hast
• Allein
• Peter
• Paff, Der Zauberdrachen (Puff)
• Wenn Der Sommer Wieder Einzieht (A Little on the Lonely Side)
• Marie-Marie
• Ich Hab' Noch Einen Koffer in Berlin
• Cherche la Rose
• Ich Werde Dich Lieben (Theme for Young Lovers)
• Nimm Dich in Acht Vor Blonded Frauen
• Ich Bin Von Kopf Bis Fuss Auf Liebe Eingestellt
• Ich Bin Die Fesche Lola
• Kinder, Heut' Abend Such Ich Mir Was Aus