Master Series

Berlin reached their commercial peak -- and their creative low point -- with "Take My Breath Away" in 1986. While it's really not a bad song, the Top Gun hit removed the group from their new romantic roots, straying into adult contemporary territory. Master Series is an enjoyable career summary that collects nearly every track from Berlin that is worth collecting. Like many American new wave groups, Berlin was a superb singles band, but their albums were somewhat inconsistent. And their earliest work is the best, especially MTV classics like "Masquerade," "Dancing in Berlin," and "The Metro." On the naughty "Sex (I'm A...)," singer Terri Nunn shocked pop radio years before Madonna with its pornographic moans and groans and racy lyrics. "The Metro" encapsulates Berlin's affection for European new wave music with its somber, swirling synthesizers and sad, cold-as-ice vocals. The spiteful "No More Words" rips away the saccharine layers of "Take My Breath Away." Nunn is a better singer than she is given credit for; her combination of Playboy bunny sexiness and post-punk anger was perfect for the '80s, a decade in which female rockers were finally given space on radio stations. However, she never received the adoration that Annie Lennox and Chrissie Hynde acquired. Anybody with a nostalgic yearning for seductive '80s pop should look no further than Berlin's Master Series. ~ Michael Sutton|