What is the best And One album ever?

We rated every studio album track by track

To find out which is the best And One album, I did the work and rated every single album track by track. I sum­mar­ized the res­ult in a rank­ing that you can find here. At the end of the art­icle, the val­ues are again clearly arranged, shown chro­no­lo­gic­ally in a curve graph.

German machine music on the test bench

My first act­ive memory of And One is the club uber­hit 'Für' from the fourth stu­dio album 'I.S.T.' (1994). A track that every­one in my favour­ite club at the time (Stahlwerk, Düsseldorf) was just wait­ing for. A guar­an­teed hit for a full dance floor. Since then I've been a fan of the band and own all their albums in phys­ic­al form.

However, there are also phases of 'And One' that are really scary. The time when 'And One' was signed to Virgin was, in my opin­ion, the biggest mis­take in their career. Everything was smoothed out to please the main­stream and the suit­ab­il­ity for radio was not a good decision. But at least even this time has gen­er­ated a few gems.

'And One' is the epi­tome of typ­ic­al German EBM paired with Synth Pop and has a sol­id stand­ing in this niche and fans world­wide. Even if I make crit­ic­al judge­ments here in the art­icle and some album pro­duc­tions def­in­itely have to lose ground, I love 'And One'. But enough fore­play for now. Discover now what the best And One album ever is.

The best And One album charts

12. Virgin Superstar

Release: 2000
Overall Rating: 2.81 ★★★☆☆
Great tracks: (None)
Weak tracks: Mr. Jenka

'Virgin Superstar' is just a mediocre elec­tron­ic Pop album. The ori­gin­al DNA that made up 'And One' has dis­ap­peared from the album almost without a trace. When the album came out, this album was an abso­lute 'And One' low point to me. Sorry guys, this album sucks!

1. Virgin Superstar 3
2. Wasted 3.5
3. You Don't Love Me Anymore 2.5
4. Goodbye Germany 2.5
5. Wet Spot 3.5
6. Panzermensch 3.5
7. My Story 3
8. Life To Lose 2.5
9. Not The Only One 3
10. Don't Need The Drugs 3
11. Mr. Jenka 1.5

11. Anguish

Release: 1991
Overall Rating: 2.88 ★★★☆☆
Great tracks: (None)
Weak tracks: Devil Airlines, Menschen, Synthetik, Geld

The debut album 'Anguish' is a sol­id first work that 'And One' can be proud of. In terms of sound, it was at the abso­lute top of the under­ground EBM / Industrial scene in 1991. Of course there are a few gaps on here that shouldn't have been there, but I think Steve Naghavi and the rest of the band just liked to exper­i­ment play­fully. Personally, I think 'Second Front' is the strongest song on the album, oth­er­wise there are many mediocre tracks through­out the album.

1. Devil Airlines 2
2. Second Front 4
3. Metalhammer 3.5
4. Menschen 2
5. And One 3
6. Only One 3
7. Crimetime 3
8. Synthetik 2
9. Geld 2
10. Second Voice 3.5
11. Exit 3.5
12. Anguish 3

10. Aggressor

Release: 2003
Overall Rating: 3.13 ★★★☆☆
Great tracks: (None)
Weak tracks: Kein Anfang, Einstieg, Kein Ende

The album art­work and the title aroused great hope in me that 'And One' had returned to their old strengths. However, after the first listen, all my hopes were mer­ci­lessly shattered. In con­trast to their pre­de­cessor 'Virgin Superstar', the sound is def­in­itely more typ­ic­al of 'And One'. But an album com­pletely in German? The prob­lem with German lyr­ics in this scene is that they quickly become embar­rass­ing because they sound cheesy and like com­mon Pop music. Or even worse, when the lyr­ics are just clichéd cal­en­dar slo­gans. But I guess that on 'Aggressor' the concept was above everything. One good thing about it: It was the last album to be released on the major label Virgin.

1. Kein Anfang 2
2. Schwarz 3
3. Krieger 4
4. Sternradio 4
5. Speicherbar 4
6. Fehlschlag 3.5
7. Für Immer 4
8. Einstieg 2
9. Strafbomber 4
10. Fernsehapparat 2.5
11. Tote Tulpen 2.5
12. Kein Ende 2

9. Flop!

Release: 1992
Overall Rating: 3.14 ★★★☆☆
Great tracks: Techno Man
Weak tracks: G.U.S. Airlines. Erste Liebe, Kindergarden, Rosario

Is it a good idea to call the second album 'Flop!'? I mean because of self-ful­filling proph­ecy and all that. In my opin­ion, there are also too many gap fillers on the second album. That is a great pity. But what I really love are those fant­ast­ic old ana­logue syn­thes­izer sounds. They all sound so rich and metal­lic cold. The album also con­tains the first big club hit 'Techno Man', which is still a con­stant part of many playl­ists in nightclubs. The song 'Die Stille Vor Dem Ton' sounds to me like a love let­ter to 'Kraftwerk'.

1. G.U.S. Airlines 2
2. Loser 4
3. Erste Liebe 2
4. Techno Man 5
5. Years 4
6. Kindergarden 2
7. Die Mitte 3
8. Secret Boy 4
9. Die Stille Vor Dem Ton 4
10. Rosario 2.5
11. Yesterday 2

8. Tanzomat

Release: 2011
Overall Rating: 3.33 ★★★☆☆
Great tracks: (None)
Weak tracks: (None)

I def­in­itely think the album 'Tanzomat' is weak­er than its pre­de­cessor 'Bodypop'. However, I have to admit with humil­ity that I was a bit harsh in my choice of words and my judge­ment in my review of 'Tanzomat' at the time. Now that I have listened to all the albums in a very short time, I notice the great pro­gress com­pared to the albums from Nordhausen to Aggressor. But it's nev­er too late to admit mis­takes and apo­lo­gise, which I do here­with. I have adjus­ted the rat­ing in the ori­gin­al review upwards again.

1. Save The Hate 4
2. Shining Star 4
3. Only Your Dreams 3.5
4. Dancing In The Factory 3.5
5. Angel Eyes 2.5
6. Seven 4
7. The Aim Is In Your Head 3
8. Electrocution 3.5
9. Sex Drive 4
10. Playing Dead 3
11. No Song For You 2.5
12. And I Love 2.5

7. 9.9.99 9 Uhr

Release: 1998
Overall Rating: 3.4 ★★★☆☆
Great tracks: Get You Closer
Weak tracks: (None)

The open­er and first single 'Get You Closer' point to a first-class Synth Pop album. However, the crux of the mat­ter is again the forced, radio-friendly com­plais­ance, which prob­ably came from the major label Virgin. It can be assumed that to smooth the waters, the EP 'Maschinenstürmer' was added in the lim­ited first edi­tion for the old fans.  The 5 tracks are all not aimed at the main­stream, but also not par­tic­u­larly worth mentioning.

1. Get You Closer 5
2. Michael Caine 3
3. Evil Boys 2.5
4. Pimmelmann 3
5. Und Wieder 3
6. Love & Fingers 4
7. Pray 4
8. Men In Uniform 4
9. Hypnotize 3
10. Der Erste Schritt 2.5

6. S.T.O.P.

Release: 2012
Overall Rating: 3.5 ★★★★☆
Great tracks: Shouts Of Joy, Killing The Mercy, Memory, S.T.O.P. The Sun
Weak tracks: Everybody Dies Tonight, No Words

One thing in advance. I still stick to my opin­ion in our review that the album cov­er of 'S.T.O.P.' is the ugli­est And One cov­er ever. However, the album is quite sol­id and also offers a few high­lights. The lim­ited edi­tions of the album include the EP 'Treibwerk'. Two note­worthy artists appear as guest vocal­ists on this release. On the song 'Get It!' it is 'Douglas McCarthy' and on the track 'Low' it is 'Eskil Simonsson' from 'Covenant'. It simply belongs on the CD shelf.

1. Shouts Of Joy 5
2. Killing The Mercy 4.5
3. Memory 4.5
4. You Without A Me 4
5. Don't Get Me Wrong 4
6. Aigua 2.5
7. S.T.O.P. The Sun 4.5
8. The 4 3
9. Back Home 3
10. Everybody Dies Tonight 2
11. The End Of Your Life 3
12. No Words 2

5. Nordhausen

Release: 1997
Overall Rating: 3.54 ★★★★☆
Great tracks: Sometimes, Sitata Tirulala, Friends In Heaven
Weak tracks: Und Dafür, Schluss Mit Lustig

In Germany, the mid 90s were par­tic­u­larly marked by the so-called "Fun Society". There is even an entry on this in the German Wikipedia: Spaßgesellschaft in the German Wikipedia. Somehow I always had the feel­ing that this had influ­enced the album. Especially I include the tracks 'Movie Star' and 'Sweety Sweety'. How far the new label Virgin has some­thing to do with it I can't say. But maybe these tracks are meant to appeal to more main­stream radio listen­ers. But for­tu­nately there is also enough dark coun­ter­bal­ance, with songs like 'Sometimes', 'Friends In Heaven' or 'Mirror In Your Heart' that will melt every black heart.

1. Und Dafür 2
2. Sometimes 5
3. Movie Star 3
4. Uns Geht's Gut 4
5. My Warrior 4
6. Creatures 4
7. Sweety Sweety 3
8. Schluss Mit Lustig 2
9. Sitata Tirulala 4.5
10. Friends In Heaven 4.5
11. Mirror In Your Heart 4.5
12. Nordhausen 2

4. Bodypop

Release: 2006
Overall Rating: 3.58 ★★★★☆
Great tracks: Military Fashion Show, Enjoy The Unknown, Body Company
Weak tracks: Mein Anfang, Dein Ende

The album 'Bodypop' is the first album on the Out Of Line label. With a few excep­tions, the album is a real banger. After many years of con­cep­tu­al exper­i­ment­a­tion, the mel­low way to please the main­stream (Virgin era), 'Bodypop' finally fea­tures EBM / Synth Pop club hits for the scene again. With the lim­ited edi­tion, fans also receive the EP 'Frontfeuer'. Here the band proves that they can still do really good, stomp­ing old­school EBM. Absolutely recommendable!

1. Mein Anfang 2
2. Military Fashion Show 5
3. Enjoy The Unknown 4.5
4. So Klingt Liebe 3
5. The Sound Of Believer 4
6. Body Company 5
7. Traumfrau 3
8. Stand The Pain 4
9. Sexkeit 3.5
10. Love You To The End 4
11. The Dream 3
12. Dein Ende 2

3. I.S.T.

Release: 1994
Overall Rating: 3.83 ★★★★☆
Great tracks: Murder Murder, The Only Guest, When The Feet Hurt, The Secret, Für, Body Nerv
Weak tracks: Second Day, Ghama Voodoo

The album 'I.S.T.' is the last album that was released on the label Machinery Records. With 'I.S.T.', 'And One' has cre­ated a mile­stone along­side 'Spot' that is bey­ond com­pare. The syn­thes­izer son­ics sound beau­ti­fully warm and mech­an­ic­ally hard. The lyr­ics hit the Zeitgeist of the black scene with a tar­geted pre­ci­sion. In con­clu­sion: An album that every EBM / Synth Pop fan must have in his or her collection!

1. Ego 2.5
2. Murder Murder 4.5
3. Driving With My Darling 4
4. The Only Guest 5
5. Dein Duft 3.5
6. It Happened Last Night 3.5
7. When The Feet Hurt 4.5
8. The Secret 4.5
9. Für 5
10. Second Day 2
11. Body Nerv 4.5
12. Take Some More 4
13. Deutschmaschine 4
14. Heart Of Stone 4
15. Ghama Voodoo 2

2. Magnet (Trilogie I)

Release: 2014
Overall Rating: 4.08 ★★★★☆
Great tracks: Zeit Ohne Zeit, Love Is Always On Your Side, Unter Meiner Uniform, Fake Of Pleasure, Black Generation, Synchronizing Bodies, An Alle Krieger!, Before I Go, U‑Boot-Krieg In Ost-Berlin, My Angel, She's Triple 6
Weak tracks: (None)

As I said in our 2014 review when sum­mar­ising it, "This is a true mag­num opus!", I still agree today. No mat­ter what made Steve Naghavi and his band release such a mas­ter­piece with­in only 2 years after the pre­vi­ous album 'S.T.O.P.', please more of it. In 2016, Steve Naghavi has already announced 'Vibrator (Trilogy II)'. But now many years have passed since the announce­ment. A friendly tip: "Don't build up the fans' hopes if you don't have any­thing in hand. That only leaves hearts bleed­ing and dis­ap­point­ment".

Magnet

1. Love Needs A Saving Hand 4
2. Zeit Ohne Zeit 5
3. Love Is Always On Your Side 5
4. Unter Meiner Uniform 5
5. The Other Side 3
6. Love Me 4
7. Keiner Fühlt’s Wie Wir 4
8. Everybody Lies At Night 3.5
9. Fake Of Pleasure 4.5
10. Dead Love 3

Propeller

1. Black Generation 5
2. Männermusik 4
3. Synchronizing Bodies 4.5
4. An Alle Krieger! 5
5. Nyctophiliac 3.5
6. Zwei Tote 4.5
7. Before I Go 5
8. U‑Boot-Krieg In Ost-Berlin 5
9. Up & Down 4
10. New Wave Mother 2.5

Achtung 80

1. Let’s Get Higher 4
2. My Angel 5
3. She's Triple 6 5
4. Somebody’s Song 3
5. Bad Girl 3
6. The Fighter 4.5
7. Girls On Girls 4
8. Why Don’t You Let Me Go 3.5
9. Love Trashing Girls 3.5
10. Your Pet Is A Ticking Bomb! 3

1. Spot

Release: 1993
Overall Rating: 4.14 ★★★★☆
Great tracks: Wild Pain, Life Isn't Easy In Germany, Consequence Of Time, Spontanverkehr, Hall Of Souls, Recover You, Tanz Der Arroganz
Weak tracks: Der Erste Stein, The And

During the pro­duc­tion of the 1993 album 'Spot', 'And One' finally got the trick. The album con­tains one club hit after anoth­er. The fusion of EBM and clas­sic Synth Pop is per­fectly achieved here. No won­der this mag­ni­fi­cent mas­ter­piece made it into our list of '20 Synth Pop mile­stones and col­lec­tion must-haves'. In prin­ciple, I could go on to praise almost every song, but that would go bey­ond the lim­its here. So I thank 'And One', in full rev­er­ence for this great album. If there is actu­ally a vis­it­or who doesn't know the album, then listen to 'Spot' right now. And that is an order!

1. Wild Pain 5
2. Life Isn't Easy In Germany 5
3. Consequence Of Time 5
4. Spontanverkehr 4.5
5. Friend Of Stars 4.5
6. Hall Of Souls 5
7. Recover You 5
8. Der Erste Stein 2
9. Tanz Der Arroganz 5
10. The And 2
11. Spot 2.5

All And One albums in a chart overview

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