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Die Chinesische Mauer is Michael Cretu's third solo album, released in 1985. The literal English translation of the title is "The Chinese Wall", or as it is better known, "The Great Wall of China". Like his previous album Legionäre, this had German lyrics, was sung by Michael and was co-produced by Armand Volker. The album was also released separately with English lyrics and a different track listing under the name "The Invisible Man". Several of the tracks on "The Invisible Man" were edited slightly and therefore last for a different length than the German versions on Die Chinesische Mauer and sides 1 and 2 were swapped for a more commercial running order. The song Samurai was released as a single and became a hit in Europe (#1 Greece, #2 Switzerland, #4 Italy, #4 Sweden, #12 Germany), but its success was mostly with the English version. In 1986, after the success of the single "Gambit", the English version of the album was re-released on LP in Germany only, to feature this new song, but with the track "Carte Blanche" removed due to groove space. This edition featured a whole new cover and package design by Mike Schmidt at Ink Studios, whom at this point had designed nearly all of the artwork and design for Cretu and related productions. The album was recorded entirely at Cretu's then-studio "Data Alpha Studio" alongside recording The Long Play by Sandra. The studio resided in the basement of Sandra and Cretu's home.
