NACH UNS DIE FLUT

With Fred Mühlböck gone after a decade as the enthused voice of NOVALIS, one would have at least expected the group to acknowledge their long life and legacy by bowing out, but they soldiered on for precisely one more album. Ernst Herzner sings on a collection of dispensable pop tunes that sound like MEATLOAF served to MEN WITHOUT HATS and TOTO, and look about as ugly. I had hoped that "Flut" in the title referred to the beloved woodwind and possibly its resurgence at this late date, but alas, it means "flood", which is also a fair description of the end result. The production is much more "modern" as well, even compared with the immediately prior releases.

Being soft-hearted, I can't claim to be entirely unmoved by NOVALIS' reckless abandon and turbocharged new look, but ultimately this is tepid 1980s AOR that takes very few chances. I'm not blaming Herzner who actually acquits himself quite well with the poor material. The hooks are predictable and dramatic in an overwrought sort of way, with "Im Neonlich Der Nacht", "100 Tage Und Nächte Verloren In Altona", ".. Und Wenn Die Gitarren Brennen" and "Heute Oder Nie" being the best/worst examples. "Drachem im Wind" and "Applaus Applaus" don't even that much appeal unless BRYAN ADAMS is your thing, while the title track seems to come out of the "Against All Odds" soundtrack. Probably the best song is "Wohin Willst Du Gehn" which reminds me of some folky turned electric and I can't think of whom.

It is with some trepidation that I demote this waterlogged NOVALIS finale to the lowest rating possible. Perhaps it was "Nach uns die Flut " that Noah and the animals were fleeing.

Okey, let me say this first! Despite my two lonely stars I don't think this album was bad and I think it's underrated. Though could I understand that the interest for this album isn't big at all at a prog forum, that is understandable. "Nach uns die flut" is Novalis' eleventh and final album and it was released 1985, twenty-nine years ago and twelve years after the band's debut album. We could really say that this was a productive band.

Beside the drummer Hartwig Biereichel, the guitarist Detlef Job and the keyboardist Lutz Rahn who have played in the band since the start this album features Hinrich Schneider on bass and a new singer in Ernst Herzner. Fred Mühlböck was gone and then I of course is curious about the new star and my opinion about him is good. It was a great vocalist they found in Herzner, he isn't the problem here. The album is longer than every other Novalis record and I like the cover too.

Musically this is quite well produced German rock with no intentions to do innovative music. The songs are nice, the instruments are played just as they should but the band had lost their soul. For example do I consider Rahn's keyboards one key ingredient but here I almost don't notice them. The songs are short and here is there no "epics". Well I love the German language so a song i German can nearly never be bad. I like "...und wenn die Gitarren brennen"(6/10) and "Heute oder nie"(6/10) rocks the house. "Im neonlicht der nacht" is another one(6/10) that I think holds a high standards. Otherwise is the music very average and mediocre. Perhaps I think this album was better than Sterntaucher but why didn't Novalis end their carreer with "Neumond". I think they should have done that.

There are still some musical aspects that are similar to the Novalis I like and that together with a relatively even record makes this a two and not a one star record!

To sum Novalis deed I would say this. Novalis did seven impressing albums of which six are very good and four are amazing. I'd rank them all in this way:

1. Brandung(5/5) 1977 2. Vielleicht bist du ein clown(5/5) 1978 3. Sommerabend (5/5) 1976 4. Novalis (5/5) 1975

5. Flossenengel(4/5) 1979 6. Bannished bridge (4/5) 1973 7. Augenblicke (3/5) 1980

8. Neumond (3/5) 1982 9. Bumerang (3/5) 1984 10. Nach uns die flut (2/5) 1985 11. Sterntaucher (2/5) 1983