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<album>
  <review>The Breathtaking Blue is the third album released by the German band Alphaville in 1989. A companion video, Songlines was released in 1990. The Compact Disc release of this album was one of the first commercial CD+G format discs. In addition, about 400,000 copies of the album have been sold.

Reviewers tended to be less enthusiastic about Alphaville's third album than their previous two. One reviewer called the album "somewhat disappointing" compared to their previous releases, and notes that "the production, by Klaus Schulze and Alphaville ... is met with mixed success." In particular the reviewer found that the songs suffered due to the band's "experiments with a somewhat richer instrumentation, adding strings, saxophone, trumpet, double bass, electric and even acoustic guitars." That said, reviewers did like some of the individual tracks on the album, calling "Heaven or Hell" "interesting," and saying that "For a Million" was "as genuine as the band gets." A separate reviewer was more positive, calling the album "a highly polished cluster of glimmering technopop" and saying that "the overall effect is accessible and often breathtaking."

The cover of the album is a composite of two works: the first being The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel; the second being the blue sun. The face in the blue sun is credited to Michelangelo, from a sibyl on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The halo of sunrays is of unknown origin4. The year '1989' (the year the album was released) is displayed in Roman numerals across the bottom of the cover. The back cover has a drawing of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.</review>
  <outline>The Breathtaking Blue is the third album released by the German band Alphaville in 1989. A companion video, Songlines was released in 1990. The Compact Disc release of this album was one of the first commercial CD+G format discs. In addition, about 400,000 copies of the album have been sold.

Reviewers tended to be less enthusiastic about Alphaville's third album than their previous two. One reviewer called the album "somewhat disappointing" compared to their previous releases, and notes that "the production, by Klaus Schulze and Alphaville ... is met with mixed success." In particular the reviewer found that the songs suffered due to the band's "experiments with a somewhat richer instrumentation, adding strings, saxophone, trumpet, double bass, electric and even acoustic guitars." That said, reviewers did like some of the individual tracks on the album, calling "Heaven or Hell" "interesting," and saying that "For a Million" was "as genuine as the band gets." A separate reviewer was more positive, calling the album "a highly polished cluster of glimmering technopop" and saying that "the overall effect is accessible and often breathtaking."

The cover of the album is a composite of two works: the first being The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel; the second being the blue sun. The face in the blue sun is credited to Michelangelo, from a sibyl on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The halo of sunrays is of unknown origin4. The year '1989' (the year the album was released) is displayed in Roman numerals across the bottom of the cover. The back cover has a drawing of Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti.</outline>
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  <dateadded>2026-03-09 19:08:05</dateadded>
  <title>The Breathtaking Blue</title>
  <year>1989</year>
  <runtime>43</runtime>
  <genre>Synthpop</genre>
  <studio />
  <audiodbartistid>113964</audiodbartistid>
  <audiodbalbumid>2127831</audiodbalbumid>
  <musicbrainzalbumid>df6b58c6-2fe7-47e0-accb-baada380c7fb</musicbrainzalbumid>
  <musicbrainzalbumartistid>31aa6f87-8d00-4ae9-a5cc-6d7eeea109d2</musicbrainzalbumartistid>
  <musicbrainzreleasegroupid>65fc96e6-55c9-306e-b559-11a33209fe6c</musicbrainzreleasegroupid>
  <art>
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  </art>
  <artist>Alphaville</artist>
  <albumartist>Alphaville</albumartist>
  <track>
    <position>1</position>
    <title>Summer Rain</title>
    <duration>04:10</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>2</position>
    <title>Romeos</title>
    <duration>05:29</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>3</position>
    <title>She Fades Away</title>
    <duration>04:57</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>4</position>
    <title>The Mysteries Of Love</title>
    <duration>04:55</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>5</position>
    <title>Ariana</title>
    <duration>03:42</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>6</position>
    <title>Heaven Or Hell</title>
    <duration>03:27</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>7</position>
    <title>For A Million</title>
    <duration>06:09</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>8</position>
    <title>Middle Of The Riddle</title>
    <duration>03:19</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>9</position>
    <title>Patricia's Park</title>
    <duration>04:12</duration>
  </track>
  <track>
    <position>10</position>
    <title>Anyway</title>
    <duration>02:48</duration>
  </track>
</album>