Element of Crime is a German

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band that plays melancholic

chanson A (, ; , ) is generally any Lyrics, lyric-driven French song. The term is most commonly used in English to refer either to the secular polyphonic French songs of late medieval music, medieval and Renaissance music or to a specific style of ...

, pop and rock music with guitar, bass guitar, drums and voice/trumpet.

Band history

Element of Crime - Leverkusener Jazztage 2019-5641984

The band was founded in 1985 by

Sven Regener Sven Regener (born 1 January 1961) is a German musician and writer living in Berlin. In 1982 he recorded his first LP with the band ''Zatopek'' and in 1984 he joined ''Neue Liebe''. In 1985 he founded the Berlin band Element of Crime together ...

who subsequently became known as the author of the books '' Herr Lehmann'' (2001) (English title ''Berlin Blues''), '' Neue Vahr Süd'' (2004) and '' Der kleine Bruder'' (2008) and as the screenplay writer of the film adaptation of '' Herr Lehmann'' (2003). Regener sings and plays

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz musical ensemble, ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest Register (music), register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitche ...

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

and

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

. While various members of the band contribute music to the songs, Regener writes most of the lyrics – in English for the first few albums and then in German. The band's name is borrowed from the title of the movie ''

The Element of Crime ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'' by

Lars von Trier Lars von Trier (né Trier; born 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. Beginning in the late-1960s as a child actor working on Danish television series ''Secret Summer'', von Trier's career has spanned more than five decad ...

Discography

Albums

* ''Basically Sad'' (1986; Polydor) * ''Try to Be Mensch'' (1987; Polydor) * ''Freedom, Love & Happiness'' (1988; Polydor) * ''The Ballad of Jimmy & Johnny'' (1989; Polydor) * ''Live: Crime Pays'' (1990; Polydor) * ''Damals hinterm Mond'' (1991; Polydor) * ''Weißes Papier'' (1993; Polydor) * ''Dicte-moi ta loi'' (limited international version of ''Weißes Papier'', 2,000 pressings; 1993;

Polydor Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

* ''An einem Sonntag im April'' (1994; Motor Music) * ''Die schönen Rosen'' (1996; Motor Music) * ''Psycho'' (1999; Motor Music) * ''Romantik'' (2001; Motor Music) * ''1985–1990'' (''Best Of''; 2002; Motor Music) * ''1991–1996'' (''Best Of''; 2002; Motor Music) * '' Mittelpunkt der Welt'' (2005; Universal) * ''Robert Zimmermann wundert sich über die Liebe'' (Original soundtrack; 2008; Universal) * ''Immer da wo du bist bin ich nie'' (2009; Universal; GER: #2, Gold) * ''Fremde Federn'' (2010; Universal; GER: #28) * ''Lieblingsfarben und Tiere'' (2014; Universal; GER: #3) * '' Schafe, Monster und Mäuse'' (2018; Universal; GER: #2) * ''Morgens um vier'' (2023; Universal)

Singles

* ''Something Was Wrong'' (1987; Polydor) * ''Nervous and Blue'' (1987; Polydor) * ''Long Long Summer'' (1988; Polydor) * ''Murder in Your Eyes” (1988; Polydor) * ''The Ballad of Jimmy and Johnny'' (Promo-Single; 1989; Polydor) * ''Satellite Town'' (1990; Polydor) * ''Surabaya Johnny (live)'' (1990; Polydor) * ''Mach das Licht aus, wenn Du gehst'' (1991; Polydor) * ''Damals hinterm Mond'' (1992; Polydor) * ''Blaulicht und Zwielicht'' (1992/1993; Polydor) * ''Immer unter Strom'' (1993; Polydor) * ''Schwere See'' (1993; Polydor) * ''Sperr mich ein'' (1993; Polydor) * ''Mehr als sie erlaubt'' (1993; Motor Music) * ''An einem Sonntag im April'' (1994; Motor Music) * ''Mein dein Tag'' (1994; Motor Music) * ''Die schönen Rosen'' (1996; Motor Music) * ''Wenn der Morgen graut'' (1996; Motor Music) * ''Element of Crime playing the fantastic Bee Gees classic “I started a joke”'' (1998; Motor Music) * ''Jung und schön'' (Promo-Single; 1999; Motor Music) * ''Du hast mir gesagt'' (1999; Motor Music) * ''Michaela sagt'' (1999; Motor Music) * ''Irgendwo im Nirgendwo'' (2000; Motor Music) * ''Seit der Himmel'' (Promo-Single; 2001; Motor Music) * ''Die Hoffnung, die du bringst'' (Promo-Single; 2001; Motor Music) * ''Delmenhorst'' (2005; Universal) * ''Straßenbahn des Todes'' (2006; Universal) * ''Ein Hotdog unten am Hafen'' (2008; Universal) * ''Immer da wo du bist bin ich nie'' (2009; Vertigo) * ''Am Ende denk ich immer nur an dich'' (2009; Vertigo) * ''Der weiße Hai'' (Promo-Single; 2010; Vertigo) * ''Lieblingsfarben und Tiere'' (2014; Vertigo)

Sampler and soundtrack contributions

* “Heimweh” on the soundtrack of “ Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei” (2004) * “Leider nur ein Vakuum” on “Hut ab! Hommage an

Udo Lindenberg Udo Lindenberg (born 17 May 1946) is a German singer, composer, and painter. Career Lindenberg started his musical career as a drummer. In 1969, he founded his first band Free Orbit, and also appeared as a studio and guest musician (with Micha ...

” * “Auf der Espressomaschine” on “The Return of the Furious Swampriders” * “Motorcycle Song” on “Furious Swampriders” * “My Bonnie Is Over the Ocean” and “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue” on the soundtrack of “ NVA” (2005) * “Und du wartest” and “Wenn der Morgen graut” Sex II. Sibylle Berg, Audio-CD, Reclam, Leipzig (1999),

Cover versions

Polish singer MI-JA Aga (Agnieszka Zgrzywa) released Polish versions of eleven songs from Element of Crime in September 2023 under the title To Wszystko Bierzemy (All that comes with)

References

External links

* (German)
Portrait at “www.laut.de”
(German)
Interview with “Crazewire Deutschland”
(German)
To Wszystko Bierzemy (Polish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Element Of Crime German rock music groups Musical groups from Berlin