Camouflage - Greyscale

by Dave Goodwin

published: 14 / 3 / 2015

Label: Bureau B
Format: CD

First-rate Krautrock-influenced eighth album from German electronic outfit, Camouflage

Review

In Bietigheim-Bissingen, Germany in 1983, Heiko Maile, Marcus Meyn, Oliver Kreyssig, and Martin Kähling formed a band and called it Licenced Technology but very shortly after Kähling left and the remaining three members renamed themselves Camouflage, inspired by a Yellow Magic Orchestra song of the same name. Their only hit of any ilk was ‘The Great Commandment’ which climbed to No. 59 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1988, and went on to be No. 1 on the US dance chart not long after with two additional minor dance hits in 1989. In their time they have recorded at Black Barn Studio in England with producer Colin Thursten (who worked with David Bowie, Talk Talk and Duran Duran), in New York with the US label Atlantic and at Synsound Studio in Brussels. Oliver Kreyssig left the band for personal reasons in 1991 rejoining the band as an official member in 1999 after years of what must have seemed like being cast into the wilderness. Camouflage, then signed a new contract with Virgin Records and the band attempted a comeback with the release of a new version of ‘The Great Commandment’ but it only reached No. 85 and the band then went with Polydor for a while with only limited success. Throughout all the years together they have recorded many albums and toured extensively, and now Camouflage record and release their eighth studio album, 'Greyscale'. I was anticipating something a little special with his album, and I was not disappointed at all. ‘Shine’, the first track and the first single, is reminiscent of Depeche Mode in its content. The album apparently, if you listen to other critics, lends itself to Depeche all the way with a splatter of Kraftwerk thrown in for good measure but there is more to it than that There are smatterings of other sounds in there , but most of all to me it sounds like Camouflage. The second track ‘Laughing’ is like a full-on Beloved number. ‘Count on Me' features Peter Heppener, the former lead singer of the German electronica/synth pop band Wolfsheim. The title track kicks in with lots of synth drum and percussion , but then in a lovely twist it combines beautiful woodwind with steel -like foundry clankings. ‘Misery’ is about as close to Kraftwerk as it gets on here, but it combines this with swaying John Foxx keys that drift along in the background. My favourites on here are ‘Leave Your Room Behind’ which is a proper 80's headnodder and ‘End of Words’ which starts out as a Japan-esque number and then flitters in and out of Numan industrialis, with expert timing. The first edition of the ‘Greyscale’ CD will be released worldwide in a limited 6 panel high-gloss printed digipack with a 20 page booklet. The ‘Greyscale’ LP will be released worldwide on heavy 180g vinyl. Due to the time limitations of the vinyl, the track listing is somewhat different from that on the CD Version. The exact details for the different tracklists and track order is available on the Camouflage website. Draw your own comparisons with this whole album if you like and disguise it as other bands but one thing's for sure – it is drenched in wonderful Camouflage. Splendid.

Track Listing:-

1 Shine
2 Laughing
3 In the Cloud
4 Count On Me
5 Greyscale
6 Still
7 Misery
8 Leave Your Room Behind
9 Light Grey
10 If ...
11 End of Words
12 Dark Grey
13 I'll Find