Böhse Onkelz, although virtually unknown outside of Europe, were a phenomenally popular punk rock band in Germany. But in 2004, after many years of success including an incredible 14 studio albums, the band announced they would split up after their last tour concluded. About 120,000 fans showed up for their last 2 farewell concerts in the summer of 2005, and the band members each went their own way. Or so that was the plan.
The Onkelz are back together now, and have just completed work on an updated version of their third studio album Onkelz Wie Wir, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. In the same vein as Joachim Witt and Die Krupps, a simple remastering was not good enough for this old album. The band actually re-recorded the entire album with the modern technology that is available today to make the sound much better than the original.
You can read a lot more detail about the album and the reasons behind its creation on the Onkelz Wie Wir page of Onkelz.de, although the text is entirely in German. There, you can also listen to some samples of the reworked songs on the Hörproben page. Unfortunately, they’re not allowing people to actually listen to them all at once, but rather 2 at a time on a rotating basis, so you’ll have to check back often to hear more.
As far as the release date goes, there seems to be some discrepancy. The Böhse Onkelz website is telling us Onkelz Wie wir will be released at the end of the week on November 2nd, but every online retailer I have seen is releasing it a week later on the 9th. I’d trust the stores, personally. It comes down to them in the end.
Böhse Onkelz - Onkelz Wie Wir tracklist:
01. Onkelz wie wir
02. Von Glas zu Glas
03. Erinnerungen
04. Bomberpilot
05. Dick & durstig
06. Falsche Propheten
07. Am Morgen danach
08. Schöner Tag
09. Heut’ Nacht
10. !
