PROPAGANDA A SECRET WISH (reissue, 1985)

9/10 Underappreciated, immaculate synth-pop milestone

Though its release found them overshadowed by ZTT labelmates Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Propaganda’s 1985 debut has consistently risen in status among synth-pop fans, thanks partially to previous reissues marking both its 20th and 25th anniversaries. Formed in Düsseldorf by Die Krupps’ Ralf Dörper, they maintained his former band’s industrial aesthetic in the sustained brutality of the vicious “Jewel”, but its twin sibling, the sophisticated, poppy “Duel”, earned their biggest hit. Despite the former’s manic howls protesting otherwise, “Duel”’s elegance can be credited to the icy cool yet impassioned Claudia Brücken, whose Teutonic accent is equally beguiling on gloriously melodramatic debut single, “Dr Mabuse”, named after a Fritz Lang character whose monochrome, mysterious existence is encapsulated in its grim grandeur. Classically trained Michael Mertens’ presence helps ensure the playfully sinister “p.Machinery” – plus an improbable, intense reinvention of Josef K’s “Sorry For Laughing” – boast a determined Wagnerian quality, but it’s Brücken’s foil, Susanne Freytag, who steals the show, reciting Edgar Allan Poe on epic, eight-minute opener “Dream Within A Dream”. Though short of bonus tracks, the stirring potency of this remastered edition – courtesy of Trevor Horn’s SARM Studios, its formats reflecting their original, differing tracklistings – is undeniable. Extras: 4/10. Extensive liner notes by ZTT archivist Ian Peel.