Proud like a God

Proud like a god
Studio album by
Publication (s)	October 6, 1997
Label (s)	Super Sonic
Format (s)	CD
Genre (s)	Nu metal , alternative rock
Title (number)	12
running time	51:45
occupation	Singing : Sandra Nasić Guitar : Henning Rümenapp Bass : Stefan Ude Drums : Dennis Poschwatta
production	Wolfgang Stach
Studio (s)	Horus Sound Studios , Hannover (Germany)
chronology - Proud like a god Don't Give Me Names (2000)

Proud Like a God is the debut album by the German rock band Guano Apes . It achieved platinum status in Germany and gold in Austria and Switzerland . In 1999, the RCA album was also released in the United States .

Emergence

In 1996, Guano Apes won the “ Local Heroes ” competition for young talents organized by Radio ffn and VIVA . With the prize money of 70,000 DM they were able to finance a studio and produce their debut album themselves. In addition, by winning Local Heroes, Contra Promotion GmbH became aware of the band and, as the new management, got them a record deal with BMG sub-label Gun Records . The album was recorded in the Horus Sound Studio in Hanover, where guitarist Henning Rümenapp became managing director and partner in 1999.

Music genre

The album joins the very successful crossover style in Germany in the mid-1990s . The voice of the singer Sandra Nasić is an outstanding feature for the sound of Proud Like a God . Compared to later albums, Proud Like a God is much more experimental. The Guano Apes on this album cover the spectrum between both heavier, energetic songs and more melodic ballads. This mixture runs through the whole album. Examples of heavier songs on Proud Like a God are Open Your Eyes and Lords of the Boards . As ballads, for example, Maria and Rain should be mentioned, in which Nasić's voice comes more to the fore.

Track list

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Proud like a God   DE 5 01/19/1998 (76 weeks)   AT 5 02/01/1998 (36 weeks)   CH 13 03/08/1998 (33 weeks)

Singles

Open your eyes   DE 5 02/09/1998 (24 weeks)   AT 10 04/19/1998 (14 weeks)   CH 11 03/22/1998 (17 weeks) Lords of the Boards   DE 10 09/21/1998 (28 weeks)   AT 10 11/08/1998 (19 weeks)   CH 34 01/10/1999 (2 weeks) Rain   DE 76 05/18/1998 (4 weeks)

All titles are written by Guano Apes.

1. Open Your Eyes - 3:09
2. Mary - 3:46
3. Rain - 4:37
4. Lords of the Boards - 3:44
5. Crossing the Deadline - 3:26
6. We Use the Pain - 2:32
7. Never Born - 5:18
8. Wash It Down - 3:06
9. Scapegoat - 3:23
10. Get Busy - 3:23
11. Suzie - 2:56
12. Tributes - 9:12

The song Lords of the Boards was not available on the first edition of the album and was only added in late 1997. The last track is followed by five empty tracks, each four seconds long, and then the bonus track Move a Little Closer .

Singles

Open your eyes

Open Your Eyes was the first single from Proud like a God and was released on August 22, 1997. Placement on part 6 of their label's successful “Crossing all over” series shortly before the album was released made a larger target group aware of the song and band for the first time. Thanks to the massive broadcast of the video by VIVA , the single reached number 5 in Germany six months later, number 10 in Austria and number 11 in Switzerland. In Germany, the song remained in the charts for 30 weeks and reached over 250,000 copies in April 2008 Gold status. In the American alternative charts, the song took 4th place. Plattentests.de described the song in retrospect as the "still most successful and best song" of the band, according to rock.de it is a "cracker" . Additional songs on the single are We Use the Pain and Wash It Down . The original version appeared on a 4-track cassette demo in 1995.

Lords of the Boards

The album's second single was Lords of the Boards and was released on December 12, 1997. The highest chart placement in Germany was 10. Additional songs on the single are Crossing the Deadline and Suzie . This song was written for the snowboard world championship in Fieberbrunn , Austria , which is why the band perceived it as a "commissioned work". Although the band was rarely on the snowboard themselves, the song is considered a “boarder hymn”, but has also been referred to as a “freaky skater hymn”.

Rain

The third single is Rain , which was released on January 15, 1998. The highest chart position in Germany was 76th place. Additional songs on the single 360 Degrees are Aliendrop and Rain (album version) . Plattentests.de describes Rain as "actually a pretty cute ballad", while rock.de criticizes the song as "at best a mediocre ballad".

reception

Reviews

According to EMP , the album is a mixture of hard sounds with catchy melodies and an impressive voice. Claus Böhm from punksite.de described Proud Like a God as a “made-to-measure career start”. laut.de criticized the record for the fact that "some beating [nerves] that chopped up the song, which is good in itself, into many small slices" ( Alexander Cordas )

Commercial win

Proud Like a God is considered "the best-selling English-language debut of a German rock band of all time". Worldwide at least 1.5 million copies were sold, even in the USA six-digit sales figures were achieved. Gold and platinum awards were received for the album across Europe.

Awards

• Comet for Proud like a God
• Echo for the Lords of the Boards video
• Platinum record for Proud like a God

Individual evidence

1. ↑ On the way to world fame! ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Metal Hammer 8/1999, guanoapes.org; Retrieved November 11, 2008 
2. ↑ Animal Sandra . ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: FOCUS , 14/1999; guanoapes.org; Retrieved November 11, 2008 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} biography in the Allmusic Guide (English)
4. ↑ Press release 98 ( Memento of the original dated August 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on guanoapes.com 
5. ↑ Music is freedom . ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. mymercury.de; Interview with Sandra Nasić 
6. ↑ ^{a b} Company history of Contra Promotion GmbH ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on contrapromotion.com 
7. ↑ Discogs entry for "Proud like a God"
8. ^ Horus website
9. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH
10. ↑ Review on amazon.de
11. ↑ Review of Don't Give Me Names on Plattentests.de
12. ↑ Artist Profile - Guano Apes ( Memento of the original from November 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on emimusicpub.com (English) 
13. ↑ ^{a b c d e} biography ( memento of the original dated November 21, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on musicline.de 
14. ↑ Review of Live on Plattentests.de
15. ↑ ^{a b} Review of Planet of the Apes  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on rock.de  
16. ↑ ^{a b} Sophia-Therese Fielhauer: Guano Apes ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in: GQ, September 1998 (quoted from guanoapes.org) 
17. ↑ Review of Planet of the Apes on vampster.com
18. ↑ ^{a b} Review of Planet of the Apes on Plattentests.de
19. ↑ Review of Proud like a God  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on emp.de  
20. ↑ Audio CD: Proud like a God .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. punksite.de  
21. ↑ Review of Don't Give Me Names on laut.de.
22. ↑ Guano Apes on elektrolurch.com
23. ↑ Guano Apes “Proud like a God” in the IFPI database DE AT CH