? () (German for "Question mark") is the second album by German pop rock band Nena and the third studio album to feature its lead singer, Gabriele "Nena" Kerner. It was released on 27 January 1984, just a few months before the band's first international album , which contains songs from their debut album Nena (1983) and this album, some of them re-recorded with English lyrics.
Like its self-titled predecessor, this album was produced by Reinhold Heil and Manne Praeker of Spliff.
Title track
The album's title track was co-written by Nena and the band's keyboard player Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen and is so called since, having written the song, Nena was unable to settle on a title and so indicated its spot in the band's live set list with a question mark. It reached in the German charts in 1983. The lyrics written by Nena comprise the thoughts of someone racked by indecisiveness ("Today I'm coming, today I'm also going... Perhaps I'll stay, yesterday that wasn't for me, today I need endless love") but still adamant that they know what's best for them ("No-one can tell me what is best... and who is best... because I know exactly"). The song is a mainstay of Nena's live concerts and seems to be particularly popular with female fans although it is not uncommon for Nena to interrupt her performance of the song, apparently to laugh at the absurdity of the lyrics.See "Made in Germany Live" 2009 DVD In the middle of the version recorded for the 2004 album Nena Live Nena she says, "I felt so small when I wrote this".
Like most of the band's greatest hits, was anglicised for the international album and then updated for the Nena feat. Nena album, which reignited Nena's solo career in 2002.
Track listing Side A contains tracks 1 to 6 and Side B contains tracks 7 to 12.
Personnel Credits adapted from Allmusic and Discogs.
Nena Nena Kerner – main vocals, arrangement Jörn-Uwe Fahrenkrog-Petersen – keyboard, backing vocals, lead vocals on track 3 Carlo Karges – guitar, backing vocals Jürgen Dehmel – bass Rolf Brendel – drums, percussion
"? (Fragezeichen)" and "Lass mich dein Pirat sein" David Sanborn – saxophone Ollie Cotton – engineering Stanley Wallace – engineering
Technical personnel Imre Sereg – engineering (on all tracks, except "? (Fragezeichen)" and "Lass mich dein Pirat sein") Manfred "Manne" Praeker – production Reinhold Heil – engineer (on all tracks, except "? (Fragezeichen)" and "Lass mich dein Pirat sein"), production Jim Rakete – cover design Roman Stolz – cover design Rico Sonderegger – mastering
Charts Chart (1984) Peakposition Austrian Albums Chart 1Dutch Albums Chart 2German Albums Chart 1Norwegian Albums Chart 17Swedish Albums Chart 11Swiss Albums ChartClick on "Charts"→"Alben": 1
Certifications and sales
Release history Region Year Label Format CatalogWest Germany1984CBSLP CBS 25 870BertelsmannCBSCL 40383-2 (Club edition)NetherlandsCBS CBS 25 870YugoslaviaCBS, SuzyWest GermanyCBScassetteCBS 40–25870CDCDCBS 25870JapanEpic/Sony35.8P-55YugoslaviaCBS, SuzycassetteCBS 40–25870Europe1993ColumbiaCDCOL 47365 2 (reissue)Germany1998COL 47365 9 (reissue)
References
External links ? (Fragezeichen) at the official Nena website