I bought this LP on the strength of the earlier review. I wasn't disappointed. It's classic "dark disco". The LP maintains its own personality throughout, even though individual tracks are quite varied. And she has an unexpectedly good voice as I discovered when I tried to sing "Nebel" in the bath. As to the 'political' angle, I'm not so sure. A whiff of controversy always helped get your record noticed, didn't it?

Inka Bause, daughter of the prolific musician and composer Arndt Bause has turned to Schlager by now... but her albums recorded in the communist part of Germany are another story. "Schritte" is her second effort, released in the last months of the German Democratic Republic. The music is up to date for the late 80s, mostly orchestrated with synths and drum machines. Styles range from pure pop to italo disco cuts and one track has a distinct Stock-Aitken-Waterman feeling: the backing track of "Uhlala" could be taken right from Dead Or Alive's Mad, Bad And Dangerous. What really sets this apart from 80s Schlager music from the western part of Germany are lyrics with depth and ideas, some tracks clearly reflect the feelings of people in a communist system, always being watched by the state's secret service. The title track "Schritte" ("Steps") is one such paranoia track, with the singer waiting frightfully for a lover and listening to steps outside of her flat and asking herself who it might be, walking around in the hallway. There is no flat-out criticism here, as it simply wasn't possible to release an album in the GDR with critical lyrics. Nowadays, this is what keeps the music listenable as a "protest" album would be boring now as the state GDR is gone forever.