Element Of Crime

Element of Crime, a German rock outfit, formed in 1985 once the Berlin band that had previously included Sven Regener on vocals, guitar, and trumpet alongside guitarist Jakob Ilja came to an end. Rather than abandon music altogether, the pair recruited bassist Paul Lukas, drummer Uwe Bauer, and saxophonist Jürgen Fabritius, adopted the name Element of Crime, and began performing locally. Their first album, Basically Sad, appeared in 1986 on the independent ATA TAK imprint, prompting Polydor to express interest. Bauer and Fabritius exited before recording could begin on a follow-up, yet Richard Pappik stepped in on drums that same year; the band chose to proceed without saxophone and released Try to Be Mensch in 1987 under John Cale’s production. Freedom, Love & Happiness arrived in 1988, followed by The Ballad of Jimmy and Johnny in 1989 and, in 1991, Damals Hintern Mond—their initial fully German-language effort. Mainstream recognition arrived only with 1992’s Weißes Papier; the group sustained that momentum via 1994’s Einem Sonntag im April, though Lukas soon departed. Christian Hartje assumed bass duties, and the resulting 1996 release Die Schönen Rosen marked a partial return to the new-wave approach of their earliest work, contrasting the more direct alternative-rock direction adopted in subsequent years. After a brief hiatus spent on solo endeavors, the remaining members reconvened for Psycho in 1999 and Romantik in 2001. Hartje left shortly thereafter, and London-born engineer and musician David Young—already familiar from his engineering contributions to Freedom, Love & Happiness plus intermittent studio and touring guitar work with the band dating back to 1996—joined as his replacement, leading to the 2005 album Mittelpunkt Der Welt.