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Review Summary: rave on Jasmin Wagner, also known as Blümchen, was one of Germany’s best selling and biggest music stars of the nineties. Which strikes me as a bit strange considering the music contained within this record, which I would categorize as Eurodance taken to an extreme, or “Happy Hardcore”. And if your current journey is to find the best “Happy Hardcore” album in existence, you’ve gone the complete distance.
A recurring gimmick of this album, and the entire genre mentioned, is plopping ethereal pop melodies over abrasive, hard, fast, pulsing beats with a distinct intensity to them. Jasmin was only fifteen or sixteen during this, which could have contributed to the whole record being fuzzy wrapped in a pillowy pre-teen sleepover atmosphere, decorated with lyrics about pink flowers and loving men. Now obviously Jasmin probably had minimal creative control over most of the production, but that reality is swiped from your mind the moment you hit play. The Blümchen persona and spirit of Herzfrequenz are entirely inseparable.
Herz an Herz is beautiful along with being the best song on the album. The shifting song structure and sparkling melody twist around heart-pulsing consistency at a peak. The intro and reprises to the track add up to an overstayed welcome though. Rosa Wolke adds to the fun with Jasmin’s bum-dee-dum vocalizing and a breakneck beat. Kleiner Satellit is more straightforward pop, and comes off undeniably fantastical with a wonderous ending of ecstasy. It’s a standout, and, unfortunately, it’s the best example of variation on the album, which is the glaring downfall of the record, variation. While most of the tracks here are extremely pleasant treats thanks to the bizarre novelty of the sweet melodies contrasting brutal beats, most of them also tend to lack portioned variation. Herzen haben Flügel with its six and a half minutes of shifting strong structure takes on a progressive edge. But from an objective standpoint, not all of the recurring “dance” segments forcibly sprinkled throughout most of the tracks lend to a good listening experience. Du und ich is intensely cute. Boomering is a worthy final burst, but also takes strongly to the “you should be dancing to this right now”, even sampling audience cheer and applause.
I adore this record. That something so contained and uniquely abrasive could also be so marvelously spectacular. Worth a listen solely for the novelty factor of it all. People who stay will in fact discover the greatest album of its… genre. Blümchen forever.
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Album Rating: 4.0
didnt need a review but what else am i here for
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Wie ein Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boomerang
Komm' ich immer wieder bei dir an
Wie ein Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boomerang
Komm' ich immer näher an dich ran
oh fuck fuck fuck ... Hell No ! urgh....
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Small typo in first paragraph: She's called Jasmin Wagner.
Otherwise, it's a nice review.
HÖRST DU MICH?
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
thank you! i wanna review the other two albums but i havnt had the courage to listen to Jasmin all the way through yet
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This looks weird, will check
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Fun review! It's not that odd though, In western Europe happy hardcore was one of the biggest rages of the late 90's/early 00's. The 'gabbers' are still a thing 20 odd years later over here, although they are a small minority and have mostly moved on to the less melodic genres like hardstyle, hardcore and terror. If you like this stuff check out Paul Elstak or Mental Theo. Those were really big back in the day.
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I would prob like this
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
yea idk why I didn't rate this before lol crazy product of its time
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Blumchmen
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Good review. I have an embarrassing love for Eurodance, so this album is like crack for me.
There's a melody in Kleiner Satellit that I'm almost certain I've heard in another song (possibly from the 80s), but I can't place it. If any of you goons would like to take a shot at recognizing it, it's the melody in the verse (or chorus? it's hard to tell with these songs) immediately before she sings the words Piep Piep. Thanks.
| | | Album Rating: 5.0
Thanks for a fantastic review! I fully agree with your judgements, and I seriously recommend her follow-up albums as well. However, the third and especially fourth album contain less happy hardcore. But still mostly good songs.
I very recently went back and listened to Blümchen's entire discography on Spotify, after not listening to any happy hardcore since the early 00's. It left me feeling very nostalgic and deeply impressed! I must say the production is technically and musically fantastic for its time. The melodies and layering are awesome in their straight-forwardness. I agree with the reviewer that the entire genre of happy hardcore was perfected with Blümchen's first and second albums.
I sort of regret translating the lyrics though. So banal, cliché, and aspartame sweet! Better leave it as unintelligible German :-)
BlondeGuardian, yes Kleiner Satellit is a cover just like many of her songs. Look up the German 80's band Paso Doble, they are the original performers of many of her songs, including e.g. Herz an Herz and Kleiner Satellit. Other of her songs that are covers include Ich bien wieder hier, Nür getraumt, Blaue Augen, etc.
My favorites Blümchen songs (incidentally mostly corresponding with the ones with highest bpm :-)
Verrückte jungs
Nür getraumt
Detektive
Liebe liebe
Der beste von allen
Rosa wolke
Er libt mich
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Thanks, Faragon! Glad to hear I wasn't imagining things.
Her first and second albums really are something special. You know an album is good when you can play a song from it for someone for the first time and they're left looking as if their brain shut down in self-defense.
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