''Bel Air'' is the fourth studio album by the German

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

Guano Apes Guano Apes are a German rock band formed in 1994 in Göttingen. The band consists of Sandra Nasić (vocals), Henning Rümenapp (guitars, backing vocals), Stefan Ude (bass, backing vocals), and Dennis Poschwatta (drums, backing vocals). AllMusic ...

, and the first released after the band's reunion in 2009. It was released on 1 April 2011 on Columbia Europe, eight years after their previous album ''

Walking on a Thin Line ''Walking on a Thin Line'' is the third studio album by Guano Apes. It was released on 3 February 2003 by BMG. Title of the album comes from a line in the song "Kiss the Dawn". The album reached #1 on the German album charts and was certifi ...

''.

Background

The album marked a notable change in style for Guano Apes, as it shows the band leaving their alternative rock roots behind and incorporating elements of

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

in their songs, with

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s and electronic drum loops fulfilling prominent roles in multiple songs. ''Bel Air'' entered the

German album charts The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...

at No. 1. Single " Oh What a Night" reached No. 37 on the German charts. The album is available in four different editions: a standard edition (one disc), deluxe edition (one disc and poster), gold edition (two discs), and a vinyl edition (two records and poster).

Music videos

Four music videos were filmed for songs off of ''Bel Air'': "Oh What a Night", "Sunday Lover", "This Time" and "When the Ships Arrive".

Track listing

Personnel

*Mastered by – Kai Blankenberg *Mixed by – Arne Neurand (tracks: 5, 6, 8, 10 to 14),

Randy Staub Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs "How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008). ...

(tracks: 2),

Terry Date Terry Date (born January 31, 1956) is an American record producer and audio engineer specializing in rock genres, especially heavy metal. He is well known for his work with Metal Church, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Overkill, Pantera, Dark Ange ...

(tracks: 7),

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1963) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at The Hit Factory in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground f ...

Background

Music videos

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links