Review Summary: as far as she can take it... crazy boys
This album does indeed go hard. It’s undoubtably heavier than the debut album, mostly because of two pieces of extreme music that bookend the record, consisting of the opening track, "Nur geträumt", and the closing track, "Verrückte Jungs". Here is where most of the fun to be had, not just on this record, but in the entire genre of Happy Hardcore. With hard, fast pumping beats, blazing pianos, Jasmin’s playful adlibs, and of course, the interesting melodies that are as fresh as you could ever wish for. It’s between these two tracks where things can get a bit questionable, a bit of hit and miss.
Gone are the reprises of "Herzfrequenz", and the meandering melodies and trances are taken down a level as well. Hearty filler takes their places in the form of throwaway tracks like "Eisblumen", "Engel der Nacht", and "Reise durch die Zeit". Fortunately, there are other songs worthy of the Blümchen name outside of the bookends. "Achterbahn" and "Schmetterlinge" are gems with plenty of signature energy glazed pulsing beats and overly charming melodies that will sprinkle sweetener all over your brain. "Er liebt mich" and "Übermorgenland" are pep incarnate, and whimsically anthemic. The general production is cleaner than the previous record, with tracks becoming more streamlined as a result of songs sounding a bit more produced and focused. The imaginative side of things just aren’t as apparent as they were before, where tracks felt like they had more room to breathe and evolve. There is a certain special spark missing here once found within the production of "Herzfreqenz", a spark that is mostly resolved by the mesmerizing power and brilliance of the first and last tracks, and partly by the gems between them.
"Gib mir noch Zeit" gets its own paragraph. Why? Because it marks Blümchen’s first ballad. It’s delicate, soft, contains heartfelt lyrics, and lacks speed outside of a fun little piano segment with nice chord progressions near the end. It’s very good song and fits the general sound and feel of the record despite its lack of “happy” or “hardcore”. It is the best example of the record’s already decent variation. And it was a single, proving Jasmin could release successful music without solely relying her previous tricks.
This would be the last Blümchen album to exemplify the genre that Jasmin Wagner perfected. A major shift in style was to come with the release of her next record simply titled “Jasmin”, perhaps induced by Jasmin’s desire to breathe life into a different vision. The cracks of exhaustion were just beginning to show on “Verliebt...”, and the shift in the direction, although not entirely well received by some fans, may have been necessary before efforts grew tiresome.
