Last Berlin

## History

### Early Years: 1989 - 1991

In 1989 Kurist Lennox, Karl Fox, and Kenney Turner would come together to form Last Berlin whilst they were still in Secondary School, which they promptly left after only a few months after the formation of the band. In a 1995 interview Kurist explained that the meaning behind the name of the band linked to the fall of Berlin from the perspective of the Nazis. The idea was that Nazi Berlin was the only Berlin and if it fell to the Soviets then it would become the Last Berlin.

During the first few months of the band they would quickly begin recording their first album which was titled "Ms. Aphrodite." They began recording the album in April 1989 in Los Cantas Studios in Sator where they began recording their first grunge songs. Around June the band had finished recording all of their songs sent it to their producer who finished up the album and in September 1989 the album would be released. The album was not that successful but instead was important for another reason; that was giving the band a place in music and their album was listened by people working at Sheaman Rock Record who approached the band in an effort to sign them. They initially failed to do so and pursued the band once again in January 1990 where they secured a deal to release 8 albums in the span of ten years.

By summer of 1990 the band were already working on their next album and began recording songs in Ritual Studios, near Ritual Park in South Shriel. As requested by their label the band would release their first single "Anatomy" in September 1990 which turned out to be a massive success, reaching number 1 in Sheaman Charts, number 12 in the UK Charts, and 49 in the US Billboard. Last Berlin did not expect the success of the song and immediately began being offered to play in local venues in South Shriel and Greater Shriel which they began accepting. In November 1990 the band would release their second single called "Worship the Faejian" for their upcoming album. The single was another success for the band, reaching number number one in Sheaman Charts, number 6 in the UK Charts, and number 10 in the US Billboard, bringing even more attention to the band throughout the rest of 1990 and the beginning of 1991.

### Mainstream Success: 1991 - 1995

In February 1991 they released their second album titled “Gland infection” that would skyrocket in sales with the band being pushed into the mainstream immediately from the album. Around this time in May as well they would take on a new band member called Kara Kenneth who would become backup vocalist & backup guitarist (bass). The album was considered very unfriendly to the public however capturing things like rape, suicidal experiences of Kurist, abuse and drug abuse. The album was criticized for not appealing to the mainstream audience but Karl Fox responded to these claims as “a bunch of horseshit made up by old conservative cronies,” which was not accepted well by the media. However, public opinion for the album was overwhelming and the claims that that it was too edgy may have been true but it didn’t seem to upset anybody that they had made a genuinely good album.

*To Be Reviewed*

Many tours around Sheaman happened in ’92 and in summer however in Autumn and winter they would find themselves in Europe & North America and saw massive success in other continents especially the United States.

Around 1992 the band felt that their music was very dry and couldn’t produce more than a couple songs until they found the content bad and gave up. This failure to meet each other’s expectations leads to the use of drugs including, pills, Heroin, Weed and sometimes cocaine.

In summer 1993 the band would release their third album called “An Artist’s Perspective” that saw another massive wave of mainstream success and this album was known for being rawer which was unexpected and at the same time hid the lyrical meaning being most of the songs. However, between 1994 and 1997 the songs would be decoded by the band members and was known for being horribly depressing and extremely personal about Kurist.

Later that year they would release a single called “I’ve given all I can and it’s not enough” which would massive sales alongside their newest album.

The band released a new album called “Hang me out to try” that was a massive success and once again boosted the band’s popularity across the world. This would lead to them releasing a new Album live in New York called the “Last Berlin Covers” including songs from Nirvana, Radiohead, Pixies and Fleetwood Mac which saw immense success alongside their album.

### Band Troubles, Kurist Leaving the Band & His Suicide: 1995 - 1997

1995 was a year focused on the band’s touring and rethinking their band’s genre as band members slowly fought against Kurist’s depressive grunge sound and wanted to push a more pop rock or at least punk rock sound. Kara Kenneth was among the most prominent of them who wanted to push for a more pop-like sound believing it would push them into the mainstream if they did so. Kurist greatly disapproved of it when in mid-1995 the band would have an argument about the band’s direction. Due to the death of Kurt Cobain, it was seen by the band that grunge was to fall and that Kurist should give it up. He continued to push for a grunge sound to their next album but after months of arguing and some even physical band member, Kurist Lennox left the band in August 1995. He issued a statement to the Sheaman Music Television (SMT) stating that he had no desire to continue his work in the band for unknown reasons. Later it was proved that Kurist had no intention of leaving the band but was instead kicked of the band which was made as a final decision by Kara Kenneth which was revealed in 2006.

After Kurist leaving Last Berlin it was spread all across the news and there was a public cry for his return but Kurist decided to remain silent giving all the power for the reason why he left to the band. The band issued a statement that said that they would not release a reason for Kurist leaving the band and instead pointed at bringing a new musician into the band as they were in need for somebody who could play piano or guitar. Kara had taken on the role as lead singer and dropped her previous roles.

Kurist would end up falling into a dark place and would further take drugs including, Adderall, Heroin, Cocaine, Methamphetamine & morphine. Kurist almost never left his apartment in Sator and on the 17th of December 1995 would be admitted to the hospital after an overdose of Heroin. He survived the overdose but this hospitalisation would go public and cause an outrage in the media.

Last Berlin would see a new band member called Nate Manson join the band as the pianist and they would release a new Pop Rock album called I don’t Care ‘bout that which ended up not being a very popular album and grunge fans were immensely upset by the new sound of the band. The album was expected to revive grunge after Kurt Cobain’s death and was highly anticipated but instead grunge lovers were met with a boring pop rock album. Alternative rock fans who had also enjoyed their grunge music were left disappointed by the band’s new approach. Some praised to album as it varied the music that the band made but the album itself was mostly disappointing and started a slow decline in the popularity of Last Berlin.

In March, Kurist Lennox who had never taken an interview in more than a year now began writing and releasing new songs. He released an album called “Decline” that which was described as Indie Grunge because of its low budget, do it yourself feel to it. It was an extremely raw album that sounded like it was recorded on a phone (a modern one obviously) but saw massive commercial success. This was the first time that Kurist put himself into the public eye in a year and only a month later would start dating Elizabeth Swanstaen.

In January 1997 Karl Fox would leave the band because he felt lost and unwilling to push pop-like music forward as he preferred a heavier metal, noise rock sound. He went on to have a solo career between 1997-2001 until forming the band Kat sound with his friend, Joseph Warst.

Last Berlin would release an album in April 1997 called “Hippie-Faced” that would perform better than their last album in 1996 but would inevitably fail to see commercial success and the band would unofficially split up at this time with Kara saying in 2000 that they needed time as a band to figure things out.

On the 10h of November 1997, Kurist Lennox would buy a pistol from his local gun store which was quite easy as in 1997 in Jose & Sator (it was very easy to buy a gun and even rifles and shotguns were legal back then). Kurist would then go back to his apartment and breakup with his girlfriend who would leave his house on the 12th of November 1997. Kurist would write about this in his suicide note saying that he didn’t want his girlfriend to hear the shot as it would hurt her more than it would hurt him. Kurist would then shoot himself the following day on the 13th after writing his suicide note. His ex-girlfriend attempted to contact Kurist on the 14th to check up on him but was given no response. She didn’t think anything of it at the time as she imagined that he was having a really bad time and didn’t want to talk. On the 18th however she contacted him again and got no response and at midnight she called the police and asked them to check his apartment. The police arrived at his house at 12:10 and he gave no response so they broke in and found him dead on the floor and with a suicide note on his bedside table. The police tried to keep the investigation a secret but neighbours of Kurist noticed the immense amount of police and gave interviews to the news. Between the 20th and 22nd it was speculated that Kurist had had an accident or could even be dead and on the 23rd of November the police confirmed that after examination and investigation that Kurist had killed himself. The rest of the year was filled with condolences to the Lennox family and Last Berlin issued a statement on the 25th stating that they were deeply saddened by his death and couldn’t’ve imagined how horrible his life had been.

Last Berlin held a concert on the 20th of December 1997 in Sator to commemorate Kurist and they only played the grunge albums they made in the early 90s. The concert was viewed live 5 million times and was one of the most viewed events in Sheaman history at the time.

### Failing Success: 1997 - 2005

Last Berlin would release a new alt-rock album called “Shortminded” which got its name from the condition called Shortmindedness which was the condition that Kurist had. The album was a massive success and the band had never seen such a success since their album Hang me out to try. Although it wasn’t a grunge album it still felt more like their songs in the early 90s and would lead to them having tours around Europe, Asia, Oceania and the Americas between Autumn 1998 & Summer 1999.

In 2000 they released two singles which were both progressive rock songs which further reached different genres in the band.

In 2002 Kenny Turner would leave Last Berlin and join Kat Sound with his older band mate, Karl Fox.

### Scandals & Breakup: 2005 - 2007

In 2005 they would release an album after 4 years called “The One and Only” which performed poorly as a Pop Rock album but their 1st song “Kennedy” was considered a pretty good song and was a motive for the band to continue. Some believed that this showed promising results for a pop rock career for the band.

In 2006 after the release of the real reason why Kurist left Last Berlin came to light the band announced that they would no longer be producing music but would still attend concerts, etc.

In 2007 the band officially split up and was sold to a music company later in 2009 for 60 million (GBP).

## Discography

### Studio Albums

Kurist Albums

* Ms. Aphrodite - 1989
* Gland Infection - 1991
* An Artist's Perspective - 1993
* Hang Me Out to Try - 1994
* Last Berlin Covers - 1994
* I Don't Care About That - 1995

Post-Kurist Albums

* Hippie-faced - 1997
* Shortminded - 1998
* Methamphetamine - 2001
* The One and Only - 2005

### Live Albums

* Last Berlin MTV Unplugged - 1991
* Live at the Opera - 1993
* Live at he Emerald Theatre - 1995
* Live at the Capital Opera House (1994) - 1998
* Live at Unison Opera House
* Live at the Grand Rooftops (1995) - 2006
* Live at the Jackonian Theatre (1991) - 2006

### Singles

Kurist Singles

* Anatomy - 1990
* Worship the Faejian - 1990
* I've Given All I Can and It's Not Enough - 1993

Post-Kurist Singles

* Face to Face - 2000
* The Seller of Worlds - 2000