So wanted

chronology
So wanted
Studio album by Thomas Godoj
Publication ; (s)	October 14, 2011
Label (s)	SPV (company)
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	skirt
Title (number)	13 + bonus track
occupation	All songs arranged, recorded and sung by: Christian Bömkes, Jörg Weisselberg , Carsten "Cani" Nickels, Mic Schröder, Golo Schulz, Thomas Godoj; Children's choir: Kölner Jugendchor Sankt Stephan under the direction of Michael Kokott near Niemandsland ;
production	SPV (company)
Studio (s)	Valicon Studio, Berlin

This is how the third studio album by Thomas Godoj is intended . It was released on CD on October 14, 2011 by the record company SPV Recordings . The title alludes to the development of Thomas Godoj, who with his first album Plan A! from 2008 had to make a lot of compromises. His second album in the direction of G from 2009 already clearly bore his signature and the current album is simply so willed . It is Thomas Godoj's first album that he wrote almost entirely with his long-time companion and bassist Christian Bömkes .

Emergence

The two albums Plan A! and Direction G were released under the major label of Sony Music Entertainment . However, Thomas Godoj had not signed the option extension contract for a third album. The songs were mainly created with Christian Bömkes, with whom he wrote down everything that moved him both now and in retrospect. The topics are mainly love, relationship, but also society and his own recent past as a singer. This album was pre-financed by himself, which is why he was able to start looking for a new label with a finished album. The decision to publish the third album under SPV was not difficult for him, because in his opinion they had the reputation of "giving their artists the freedom to develop creatively", which he attaches great importance to.

Cover

The cover, like the entire booklet, was designed by Jan Scheibeck. It shows a Thomas Godoj leaning on an old television, wearing an oversized paper mache helmet on his head. This idiosyncratic retro still life is rounded off by an old alarm clock placed next to it and an old pattern wallpaper in the background. With this, he self-ironically uses the cliché that “nothing is going on with the guy from the television”.

The paper mache helmet was actually just a few joke photos taken while shooting the cover. However, Thomas Godoj later decided that one of these should be on the cover. In keeping with the album title So Willing , he wanted to distance himself from the usual photos. This helmet subsequently not only became the album's trademark, but was also an integral part of the concerts.

Subjects and title list

Track list

A day in someone else's life - 2:50
(Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

No man's land - 3:12
(Music: Christian Bömkes / Text: Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

It's not my world - 3:57
( ACBoutsen , D.Wirtz)

Roofs of a whole city - 3:25
(Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

We count the days - 3:28
(Christian Bömkes)

Herzblut - 3:12
(Music: Axel Bosse , Jochen Naaf / Text: Bosse, Bömkes, Godoj, Naaf)

Legendensommer - 3:24
(Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

Don't you miss anything - 3:27
(Music: Christian Bömkes / Text: Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

As intended - 4:39
(Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

When I go - 3:32
(Music: ACBoutsen / Text: Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

Being able to complete - 3:25
(Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

One Rain Long - 3:20
(Music: Christian Bömkes / Text: Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

So far so good - 3:18 Michel van Dyke
Bonus track: Something of everything - 4:10
(Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj)

It is Thomas Godoj's first album that consists entirely of German-language songs. The texts are socially critical, deal self-critically with their own past or describe in pictures some love relationships they have experienced themselves.

society

A day in someone else's life is a song that tells of a listless guy who finally manages to motivate himself anew every day: "... the view that still keeps you alive, on your table is the mail, and leftovers from microwave food, you know very well what has to change here ”.

The following song, No Man's Land , deals with the indifference of society. Musically, a children's choir has given this song a special note. He himself says: “In principle, it is about responsibility towards other people. In addition, the song has metaphors from everyday life. "

love

The song Roofs of a Whole City describes a love affair which, however, gives the listener plenty of room for interpretation.

Refrain from The Roofs of a Whole City audio sample ^?^/ⁱ

There is something mysterious about the night, going to the roofs of a city and looking at the sky at night can trigger a wide variety of moods. In the video for his earlier song Clock Without Hours , he sat at the window at night and looked over the roofs of a city.

He sings of his love for his homeland Recklinghausen with all his heart .

Don't you miss something is another song that reaches into the relationship box. He says himself

"Sometimes you have to write certain things from your soul"

and it reads like this: “Say why do we learn to walk when we run to walk? Why do we have tears when we have eyes to see ahead? Why can we hear when we no longer understand each other? "

When I go and it's not my world , both songs were written in 2005/2006. At that time Thomas Godoj was still the singer in the band Wink , to which his current band members Christian Bömkes, Torsten Bugiel and Sebastian Netz belonged. They were written with the assistance of Matthias Hoffmann (who also writes under the pseudonym ACBoutsen). When I go describes a love affair: "When I go I leave traces in the sand for you, get ahead of the waves if you can." The song It's not my world is a very melancholy song that makes use of many metaphors. like for example "sometimes I look up, the world seems to lose its colors because it does it that way on days like this".

Review and lifestyle

Being able to conclude, as he himself says , deals with "that one often clings to old things for too long, that negative aspects hold back too long". Much better would be: “Now you have to be able to finish and start over. What does life go forward for? "

The up-tempo song So willingly addresses one's own past: "There has to be light and shadow - not everything we touch turns into gold, that would be far too easy - it is already so willed, so willed - not everything, what we give up leaves us cold ”.

Publications

Singles

The single Roofs of a Whole City was released on October 7, 2011 before the album. After an appeal by Thomas Godoj on August 19, 2011, the first single from five songs could be selected via Facebook . Another single was released with Herzblut on March 30, 2012, some with live versions that were recorded on the So wollt tour at the end of 2011.

Roofs of a whole city

Roofs of a whole city
Day in someone else's life

Heart and soul

Heart's Blood - 3:27
Herzblut (picnic version) - 3:13
Herzblut (Live Version) - 3:29
One Rain Long (Live Version) - 3:32

Music videos

The music video for the roofs of a whole city was filmed on September 26, 2011 on the roofs of an apartment block in the Friedrichshain district of Berlin, directed by Golo Schultz and his team Golo Media. The viewer alternately sees Thomas Godoj singing over the rooftops of Berlin and a couple playing the story to the song. The young man, played by Franz Schönberger , whose passion is jumping over the roofs, and she, who is aware of the dangers of this hobby and who obviously wants to bring him to his senses. Ultimately, both of them sit on the roof and enjoy.

The music video belonging to Herzblut was created from recordings of the live recordings made in Recklinghausen in early December 2011.

trip

from left: Wolfdieter Hieke, Sebastian Netz, Christian Bömkes, Thomas Godoj, Torsten Bugiel and Jörg Weisselberg

The band opened the tour of the same name for the album So Wollt on December 3rd and 4th, 2011. He chose this date for the start of the tour, since he has been a regular guest at Nikolaus in Recklinghausen since 2008. During these concerts, film recordings were made for a live DVD / CD. The ten dates in December 2011 were sold out. Like the previous tours, this was also organized and advertised by the booking agency Four Artists. However, before the actual tour started, Lichtblicke eV, the auctions for a good cause, for families and children from North Rhine-Westphalia who were in need through no fault of their own, auctioned off one of the So-willed concerts. This auction of a “living room concert with Thomas Godoj” brought in 8,100 euros.

Press reviews

The opinions about the album are mostly benevolent. The online magazine Albumcheck.de evaluates the long player as authentic and unpolished, which is beautiful to listen to with numerous facets of sound and fascinates entertainment-base.de. So intentionally with its blunt language and impresses with its musical urgency.

Even metalblaze.at writes a review of So wanted : The offer is pretty straightforward Pop-Rock from the Sunrise Avenue brand , which would be beautifully produced for radio and certainly wouldn't hurt anyone. All songs turned out to be pretty calm and also annoyingly catchy for hardened ears made of steel , except for the really fast title track So wollt. For the evaluation, those who love to listen to Ö3 and pop stuff should add at least 2 points to the evaluation and be happy about an album that is 'tough' for their genre.

The album received negative criticism from showbiz.de. They miss the ups and downs, and the element of surprise was missing. Simple truths, catchy melodies without ever seeming flat: That would be Thomas Godoj's recipe for success. But showbiz.de sees it as a dead end to keep repackaging simple truths from life. Musically, his music is still well crafted, solid pop rock.

Cdstarts.de perceives it completely differently: Thoughtful and charismatic texts about the imponderables of life, of love and the certainty that it always goes on, meet pop-rock arrangements, solid musicality and the position as an underdog, despite the rough everyday life the delicate side is not lost. Among other things, Roofs told an entire city about the feeling of weightless bliss and would do everything with his euphoria to reach the listener in this way. Finally, they sum up Thomas Godoj's music and lyrics on his third album in a quality that would be fun and, by the way, spread the certainty that, despite the DSDS past, you will not end up in musical nowhere soon. If things are fresh and quick-witted, as on So Wanted , then that would be a real stroke of luck.