release date: Apr. 1982
format: vinyl (MdLP 6105) / cd (1994 reissue)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Nils Henriksen
label: Medley Records - nationality: Denmark
Track highlights: 1. "Mød mig i mørket" - 2. "Lev stærkt" - 3. "Missing Link" - 4. "Tæt på" - 9. "Midnatsmanden" - 10. "Vi ses igen"
3rd studio album by Malurt following Vindueskigger (Mar. 1981) is like the predecessor with Henriksen as producer, however, the line-up has markedly changed. The band was initially a quintet and that set-up seems just right for Falch and Co. As the band was preparing the upcoming recording sessions tensions between lead-guitarist Peter Viskinde and keyboardist Henrik Littauer on one side and undisputed songwriter Michael Falch on the other side culminated in Viskinde and Littauer's abrupt farewell. A dispute that alledgedly had its origin in one about royalties. Anyway, Viskinde and Littauer left the band to form the band Doraz, and new members meant a return of guitarist Christian Arendt - he had been a founding member until of the band but left before they got around to record the debut - and keyboardist Pete Repete (aka Peter Sørensen) (of Repeat Repeat).
A first listen may seem like an unchanged style from the predecessor but there's a prevalent tone towards more mainstream-appealing tunes, i.e. full arrangements with piano / keyboards and less guitar-fused melodies. I recall purchasing this when it was released, as my first vinyl copy with the band, although, I perfectly knew and was pretty fond of both Kold krig and Vindueskigger - the latter being an immediate favourite - and I also remember how I quickly settled with a feeling that it wasn't quite up there with their first two albums. In retrospect, I find it betting the debut, though, but it's also clear that the band's second album is in a league of its own. Still, the band's popularity only grew on a national scale. Beforehand, they fought with Warm Guns in being the second-best new Danish rock act as competitors to more settled names like C.V. Jørgensen and Gnags - with Sort Sol still being an upcoming cult punk rock band - but at this point Malurt surely had a growing public on their side, and with Falch's gift as a Danish Springsteen clone, he understood to enter the stage with a rock & roll revivalist attitude.
Imo, the album may stand as their overall second-best but with songs that are more or less arranged and written with an American idol as an ever-present part of their music, it doesn't really settle as something with a strong original character. The best part is without doubt that they stick to songs with Danish lyrics, which in the end still distances their songs from their biggest inspiration.
