PARANOIA - 1984 [2020]

Now a DDR legend from Dresden with old original recordings and for the first time on vinyl! Paranoia was founded in Dresden in 1982 and consisted of Fleck (vocals), Olaf (guitars), Jörg (bass), Oliver (drums) and quickly became the focus of the small underground scene in Dresden and played concerts throughout the GDR. The group maintained contact with the west punkscene through fanzines and letters. In December 1984 they recorded the Here We Are for Everyone Who Needs A Cult Band tape and a friend from Bremen spread the demo in her city. One copy also came to Weird System, but they refused to sell the sixty minute tape due to the quality of the sound. Further demos and live recordings were made, which were distributed in the GDR scene via tape trading. 

In 1948 George Orwell completed his novel "1984". An impressive work, which is fascinating and frighteningly outlines the emergence of a totalitarian state structure. The sole ruler rules omnipresent "Big Brother" through total surveillance, manipulation, disinformation, monopoly on force & true to its proclamations: War means peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength. Orwell's novel had a long history in what was then the GDR oppressive reflection found in reality.  Conditions as described by Orwell half a century ago long before the era of the so-called "other bands" were the breeding ground for bands like Namenlos, Schleim-Keim or Paranoia. These groups radically expose theirs of anger, dissatisfaction and a hopeless message was transformed into rough and unpolished punk music with the same texts. Things were called by their name in an unadorned and uncompromising way. Soon followed by fines for appearing without permission to play and an operational process by the Stasi, which took place in 1985 the imprisonment of two band members led to the "smashing of the illegal band Paranoia". Some members then founded the band Kaltfront, whose repertoire still includes some Paranoia songs.

"From the original tapes were seventeen best pieces selected and re-mastered and released in 2007, of course in an authentic and usable sound (not for high-tech cyberpunx). The album title "1984" consciously connects the band biography with Orwell's novel, and unfortunately that makes more sense today than ever."

- Great Thx to Fredrik -

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