Out of the Dark (Into the Light)

Out of the Dark (Into the Light) is the eighth album by Austrian singer Falco. It was released in Europe three weeks after his death on 6 February 1998.

Out of the Dark (Into the Light)
Studio album by
Released27 February 1998 (Europe)
2 March 1998 (worldwide)
Recorded1995–1997
Genre
Length41:00
LabelEMI Electrola
Producer
  • Torsten Börger
  • George Glück
Falco chronology
Nachtflug
(1992)
Out of the Dark (Into the Light)
(1998)
Verdammt wir leben noch
(1999)
Singles from Out of the Dark (Into the Light)
  1. "Mutter, der Mann mit dem Koks ist da"
    Released: 1995 (as T»MA)
  2. "Naked"
    Released: 1996 (as Falco featuring T»MB)
  3. "Out of the Dark"
    Released: 1998
  4. "Egoist"
    Released: 1998
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]

Background information edit

In 1995, the techno-styled song "Mutter, der Mann mit dem Koks ist da" ("Mother, the man with the coke is here") by T»MA ("T»MA" as Falco's pseudonym) hit the market and brought the artist back into the charts of all German-speaking countries. In the song Falco plays with the ambiguity of the German word "Koks" which, as the English word "coke", is used for both cocaine and the carbon fuel coke. Although Falco's band leader found "Out of the Dark" good enough to be released as the second single, Falco himself wanted it to be released on the album only. The follow-up single became "Naked" which was quite successful in Austria but did not meet Falco's expectations in Germany, leading him to postpone the album release. It is known that Falco was unsure about the perfect order of the CD tracks, so that he often changed it, and he also planned to record a track called "Tomorrow Never Knows" as a cover from the Beatles (this is shown on the facsimile attached to the CD). In the time shortly before his death, Falco also removed some songs that were eventually released on further albums, 'Best Of's and single CDs.

On 6 February 1998, Falco made one of his last phone calls. He told his guitarist, Milan Polak, to come over to the Dominican Republic because he wanted to record some songs with his band, but this never took place as Falco died in the afternoon of that day.

Three weeks after Falco's death in a car accident, the album was officially released in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. The worldwide release was on 2 March 1998. Its previous title had been "Egoisten" ("egoists").

The album turned out to be a big success in German-speaking countries, resulting in another No. 1 in Austria, No. 3 in Germany and No. 4 in Switzerland; it also reached No. 35 in Hungary.[2][3][4][5]

The posthumous singles charted quite well in most countries in comparison to those from his previous three albums. The single "Out of the Dark" was especially successful, climbing to No. 2 of the Austrian and the German charts respectively and also had very good airplay. Furthermore, it came under the Top 5 of the Latvian airplay charts and even reached the Argentine Airplay Charts of Buenos Aires with #98. Most of the posthumous success is credited to the song "Out of the Dark".

"Out of the Dark" contains the line "...muss ich denn sterben, um zu leben?" ("...do I have to die in order to live?"). This made many people think Falco felt that he was going to die soon, though he had already performed the song live a year before his death. The actual inspiration for this line remains unknown.

"Egoist" and also "The Spirit Never Dies (Jeanny Final)" became his last notable hits in Germany and Switzerland.

Ten years after Falco's death, the album re-entered the Austrian charts again.

Track listing edit

  1. "No Time for Revolution" – 3:52
  2. "Out of the Dark" – 3:37
  3. "Shake" – 3:42
  4. "Der Kommissar 2000" – 3:48
  5. "Mutter, der Mann mit dem Koks ist da" – 3:39
  6. "Hit Me" – 3:47
  7. "Cyberlove" – 3:34
  8. "Egoist" – 3:27
  9. "Naked (Full Frontal Version)" / "Geld" (hidden track) – 11:29

2012 remaster bonus disc edit

  1. "Egoist" (Remix) – 3:37
  2. "Push! Push!" (Jeo Radio Mix) – 3:46
  3. "Push! Push!" (Dee Jay Sören Radio Mix) – 3:31
  4. "Push! Push!" (Jeo Extended Mix) – 5:31
  5. "Push! Push!" (Dee Jay Sören Extended Mix) – 5:00
  6. "Out of the Dark" (Remix) – 3:25
  7. "Out of the Dark" (Instrumental) – 3:38
  8. "Naked" (Original Mix) – 3:49
  9. "Naked" (Sweetbox Short Mix) – 3:08
  10. "Naked" (Sweetbox Filter Mix) – 6:50
  11. "Naked" (Sweetbox Club Mix) – 6:16
  12. "Naked" (Beam's Devil Dance) – 6:56
  13. "Naked" (D-Syndroma House Mix) – 5:28
  14. "Naked" (D-Syndroma Night Mix) – 6:02
  15. "Naked" (D-Syndroma Radio Mix) – 4:00

Singles edit

"Out of the Dark" and "Egoist" were released posthumously after Falco's death.

Title Year Peak position
AUS
[6]
GER
[7]
SWI
[8]
HUN CZE
[9]
SLO
[10]
"Mutter, der Mann mit dem Koks ist da" (as T»MA) 1996 3 11 30
"Naked" (as Falco feat. T»MB) 4 50
"Out of the Dark" 1998 2 2 3 3 7
"Egoist" 6 4 19 5
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Charts edit

Sales edit

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria 110,000[18]

References edit

  1. ^ Out of the Dark at AllMusic
  2. ^ Album Charts of Hungary
  3. ^ Austrian Album Charts
  4. ^ Swiss Album Charts
  5. ^ German Album Charts
  6. ^ Austriancharts.at – Austria Top 40 – Hitparade Österreich
  7. ^ Charts-surfer.de Interpret: "Falco"
  8. ^ Die Offizielle Schweizer Hitparade und Music Community
  9. ^ 1998 Media Hits TOP 100
  10. ^ Okeychart.sk Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Falco – Out Of The Dark (Into The Light)" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Falco – Out Of The Dark (Into The Light)" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – {{{year}}}. {{{week}}}. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
  14. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Falco – Out Of The Dark (Into The Light)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  15. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1998". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  16. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1998". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 29 November 2020.
  18. ^ Pride, Dominic (23 May 1998). "Global Music Pulse: Austria". Billboard. p. 63. Retrieved 3 August 2023.