Their first full-length self-titled album Masterplan was released in 2003, produced by Andy Sneap. The band then consisted of Grapow and Kusch with Jørn Lande. The main part of the keyboard lines on the album were arranged and programmed by Roland and Uli. Keyboardist Janne "Warman" Wirman recorded some sessions for the album, but could not stay on as a full-time member due to his commitments to Children of Bodom. Axel Mackenrott replaced him on tour and soon after as a permanent member. Studio bassist Jürgen Attig (Casanova) helped with some bass lines on the recordings, but Grapow was the main bassist for the album. For tour and subsequent recordings, Jan-Sören Eckert was hired as a permanent member. The band received the "European Border Breakers Award" from the European Commission in 2004, for the debut album success around Europe.
In January 2005, Masterplan released their second album, Aeronautics once again produced by Andy Sneap and the band. After two successful albums and their respective tours, during the writing of the third album the band parted ways with vocalist Jørn Lande, citing "musical differences" as the reason for the split. The split was amicable enough that Jørn agreed to perform four previously arranged live appearances before departing although two of these were eventually cancelled by the promoters.
On 4 October 2006, Uli Kusch announced his departure from the band in an interview with Darkside.ru. Although not discussing the details of what had happened, he mentioned the democratic principles of making decisions in the band as one of the reasons of his leaving – according to him, it often made getting a consensus nearly impossible. Three days later, Masterplan announced their new line-up through their official web site: Grapow, Mackenrott, Eckert, with new members Mike DiMeo (Riot, The Lizards) and Mike Terrana (ex-Artension, ex-Rage, Metalium, ex-Axel Rudi Pell). The band toured with Saxon as an opening act for Saxon's Inner Sanctum tour.
The band's third album, suitably titled MK II, was released on 26 February 2007. It was produced this time by the band's actual leader, Roland Grapow himself, at his own studio in Slovakia. It was recorded in September and October 2006.
On 11 January 2009, Mike DiMeo confirmed on his MySpace page that he had parted ways with Masterplan. On 25 July 2009, the band finally revealed that Jørn Lande has made his return to Masterplan. On 16 April 2010, a single titled Far From the End of the World was released to precede the band's new fourth album, Time to Be King, once again produced by Roland Grapow. On 13 July 2011, the band announced on their official website that they were writing songs for a new album. The album was set to be released in March 2013.
In July 2012, it was announced that Martin Marthus Skaroupka (Cradle of Filth drummer) will play on the new Masterplan album. In early November, it was announced that Rick Altzi and Jari Kainulainen would replace Jorn Lande and Jan Eckert on the upcoming album. In November 2012, during an interview with Metal Shock Finland's Chief Editor, Mohsen Fayyazi, when talking about Jorn's departure from the band, Roland stated the following: "Everybody always expects something special from Jorn, but it's a very unstable situation. To keep happy it's not easy and to be honest I've not heard from him for 2 years. Don't get me wrong, we're still friends but we just don't have much contact."
On 21 February 2013, the new album was announced. The title of the album is Novum Initium and it was released on 14 June 2013 through German record label AFM Records.
In an interview made in Italy, on 16 September 2016, Roland Grapow confirmed the addition of At Vance member Kevin Kott as the drummer of the band replacing Martin Marthus Škaroupka whose commitments with his other band Cradle of Filth prevented him for playing shows with Masterplan.
They also announced the release of a new album consisting of re-recordings of Helloween songs written by Roland Grapow from the time he was in the band. The album, PumpKings, was released on 28 July 2017. Grapow stated that the album was not any kind of revenge for being fired from Helloween, or not being invited to their Pumpkins United World Tour in 2017: [fans] all thought it was kind of a revenge or something... now I remember. To me, it's just a relaxing situation [...] I never had this in my mind. It's just a bit coincidental because I delayed this album for two years and it came out at the same time when the reunion tour came.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masterplan_(band)
Studio albums
Masterplan (2003)
Aeronautics (2005)
MK II (2007)
Time to Be King (2010)
Novum Initium (2013)
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In the 1970s, a soul combo called Masterplan recorded "Clinton Park" and other tunes on the De-Lite label.
After This War
Masterplan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You know you shouldn't want to stay
Tell me why you disappeared
And why you've come back here
It hurts to have you here
The roaring silence fills the air
I gotta get myself out of here
My heart turns black and blue
How can I be with you after this war
My feelings are sour, baby
Why did you come back to hurt me some more
This is after the war
Now in this war I can't pretend
And our souls can never mend
This has to be the end
I've got to leave it all behind
On my way to another life
My new life
I have to go oh baby
How can I be with you after this war
My feelings are sour baby
Why did you come back to hurt me some more
This is after the war
Why did you come back
Please let me know, I don't understand
Why did you hurt me again
This is after the war and I can't let you go
The Masterplan's song "After This War" portrays a situation where a past love returns to the singer's life, but their presence is causing pain and confusion. The lyrics suggest that the love that once existed between them has faded, and the singer is struggling to move on. The chorus, in particular, highlights the frustration and uncertainty that the singer is feeling when he says, "How can I be with you after this war? My feelings are sour, baby. Why did you come back to hurt me some more? This is after the war."
The second verse adds further detail and reveals that the relationship had ended before, and the singer had begun to rebuild his life. However, the sudden return of his past love has now disrupted this happy new chapter in the singer's life. The line "spilling coffee on my shoe, I shiver cause of you" is a powerful metaphor that shows the visceral impact their reunion is having on him.
The track's emotional depth and raw lyrics allow the listener to empathize with the singer's pain and confusion. "After This War" is a poignant reminder of how much relationships can impact our lives, even long after they've ended.
Line by Line Meaning
I felt your love slip away
I noticed that your love was slipping away from me
You know you shouldn't want to stay
You are aware that you shouldn't stay with me
Tell me why you disappeared
Explain the reason why you disappeared from my life
And why you've come back here
Tell me the reason behind your return
It hurts to have you here
Your presence here hurts me
The roaring silence fills the air
The air is crowded with a deafening silence
I gotta get myself out of here
I have to leave this place
Spilling coffee on my shoe, I shiver cause of you
I shiver because of you as I spill coffee on my shoe
My heart turns black and blue
My heart has turned dark and bruised
How can I be with you after this war
I'm questioning how we can be together after all the conflict we've been through
My feelings are sour, baby
My emotions are bitter, my dear
Why did you come back to hurt me some more
I wonder why did you came back just to hurt me again
This is after the war
This comes after the battles we had
Now in this war I can't pretend
I can no longer pretend during this conflict
And our souls can never mend
Our spirits can't be fixed
This has to be the end
This has to be the finale
I've got to leave it all behind
I must forget everything and leave it behind
On my way to another life
I'm heading to a new life
My new life
The new life I'm heading towards
I have to go oh baby
I need to go, my dear
Why did you come back
I'm asking why you came back
Please let me know, I don't understand
Please enlighten me, I don't understand why you came back
Why did you hurt me again
I can't comprehend why you chose to hurt me again
This is after the war and I can't let you go
This is after all the struggles we've been through, and I can't move on from you
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAN S. ECKERT, JORN LANDE, PETER SIELCK, ROLAND GRAPOW, ULRICH KUSCH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind