Einstürzende Neubauten Albums (16)
What The Critics Say
The 15 tracks that eventually comprised the 2008 release The Jewels were first made available one at a time only as website downloads at various points between 2006 and 2007 before being compiled onto a standard CD release. Using a game (called "DAVE," for the record) that had both deliberate and enigmatic instructions on each card, the band generated ideas -- without telling each other what their cards were inscribed with -- that were then used to construct and complete tracks within a day or two. Adding another unconventional element to the process, the lyrics were based on dreams. Yet while the methodology might have been unusual, all told the results really aren't uncharacteristic of Einstürzende Neubauten, if perhaps not as noisy as what listeners familiar with their most celebrated work might anticipate. There's not much in the way of conventional pop or rock song melody, of course, but there's a fairly even and creative spread of textures both ambient and clamorous, with both English and (more often) German lyrics that are more spoken than sung in nature. The combination of elements is starker and sparer than in most electronic or ambient music, however, and while the unpredictable and incongruous elements are suggestive of dreams, those dreams are sometimes fairly serene as well as fairly disturbing. Perhaps the most memorable soundbite of the lot is the eerie quasi-prayer chant "am I only Jesus, I am only Jesus" that underscores "Am I Only Jesus?" The CD also includes a 40-minute Quicktime video in which the band, in German, discuss and illustrate the making of the album and the various unusual devices/instruments they used in its creation. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
If Einsturzende Neubauten's 2007 effort Alles Wieder Offen ("All Open Again") seems to be more of a follow-up to 2000s Silence Is Sexy than 2004's Perpetuum Mobile, it could be because it delivers on EN's 2002 dream of a listener-supported official album. Mobile appeared on the band's usual home label Mute so a tour could be financed. Even if it was hardly a throwaway album, the group's hunger for progress seemed undercut by the use of air horn blasts, metal crashes, and other devices that referenced the sound that made early Neubauten so infamous. Alles, on the other hand, was paid for by "supporters" who received interim recordings and an expanded final product different from the general release with bonus tracks and a DVD. As such, it's free to explore the more difficult and subtle side of the band's music. There are moments on Alles where tension escalates into something approaching chaos, and other moments where the rhythms are mechanical, but most of the album sounds like sophisticated modern composition-meets-downtrodden pop song, as if leader and head writer Blixa Bargeld was working on a Threepenny Opera for the 21st century. Displaying Blixa's love of irony and wordplay, the title "All Open Again" refers to something less positive than it might sound. Being "open" to a different way of thinking comes at a cost in his songs, as if it's a burden. Key track and single "Weilweilweil [Becausecausecause]" questions the "endless set of appeasements" society offers in lieu of answers and represents them with zombie-like chanting of the song's title. "Don't take the advice of those/who've long since frittered their winter fat/of opportunities" it continues, but if principles aren't sacrificed in this unforgiving world one gets stuck in the land of "Nagorny Karabach," where Blixa lives "up on my mountain/in my black garden/the enclave of my choice." His lyrics are matched by the equally vivid music. Making great use of basslines, strumming guitars, and sometimes even breathing, Neubauten create something rhythmic instead of just percussive and drive home the solitude theme with stretches of silence. The big eruption of noise comes during the lone sociable song "Let's Do It a Dada," and then it's a slow slide down to the insular closer "Ich Warte [I'm Waiting]." "Ich Warte" waits for proof that "life is not an error, not error and music" and receives none, but when Blixa declares, "I'm waiting for the new language/That will be of use to me" he only needs to look as far as the wonderfully unique album he and his fellow musicians have created. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
'9-15-2000 Brussels'
Release Date 1/28/2003
Tracks 22
Label Underground Inc
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Odds are no one banked on Einstürzende Neubauten lasting 20 years. What were the odds of such a destructive band surviving two decades? Did the Stooges ever stand a chance of writing a song called "1989"? More importantly, who would have thought that the milestone year would see the release of one of Neubauten's finest records? Though Silence Is Sexy might retain some of the band's recent song-based developments that have left some fans puzzled, its closest touchstone is 1987's Richterskala. They might not be as unsettling or destructive as they were in their early days, but they still know how to capture the imagination and warp the senses. As with Richterskala, restraint is a key element. The schlock of recent outings is done away with to focus more on stark restraint. Bargeld doesn't really let his vocal chords rip often, and their trademark clangorous overload isn't resorted to much. "Sabrina" is one of the tracks that brings to mind their excellent album from 1987. Swaying strings and plaintive percussive taps frame Blixa Bargeld's whispers as he waxes like a bawdier Bryan Ferry. Those who reveled in Neubauten's familiar undead bass sound will find the record goes down a treat. At nearly 70 minutes, it's a bit sprawling, but it allows the gang to represent every element that has made them vital and influential to experimental music throughout the last twenty years. Irregardless of your pickiness with Neubauten's material -- what you like/hate about them -- anyone could piece together 40 minutes of the record for an ace Cliff's Notes version. [Early editions came with a second disc, consisting solely of the 19-minute long "Pelikanol." A scraping, hypnotic track, Bargeld uses his voice as a drone instrument to great effect.] ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On their 1996 release Ende Neu (ending-new), the quintessential scientists of the post-avant-garde abstain from focusing on listener disintegration tactics as they did on prior albums, but opt instead to hone their craftsmanship in new compositional areas. Some followers of their earlier material might object to the obvious and comparatively conventional song structure and style that is displayed on Ende Neu -- picking up a power tool to highlight a piece rather than centering the entire work around it, or leaving a stage before setting it ablaze -- but the destruction has already been performed, and now they are erecting the brave new anti-building of musical art. Exploring intricate processions of time and toying with melodious harmonies, Blixa Bargeld and Co. seem to have matured gracefully. The opening cut, "Was ist ist," is a furious, fast-paced slander on the constant wanting of mankind while simultaneously serving as a tongue-in-cheek remark on how absolute, scientific power overrules impossibility. From there, Ende Neu continues to musically rewrite the band's style, using familiar topics such as ethereal chaos ("Die Explosion Im Festspielhaus"), cosmic complacency ("The Garden"), revolt ("Installation No.1"), and even a Kafka-esque piece, "Der Schacht Von Babel." This is the first release since the departure of founding band member Mark Chung, and it is obvious that the remaining members have taken the time to contribute to the void left by his departure. Ende Neu delivers a precision-fed matrix of audio-encrypted knowledge in a manner not like the chaotic Neubauten of the early '80s, but more strategic, and more mature. ~ Greg Matherly, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
One of the more curious works in Einstürzende Neubauten's long and varied career, 1996's Faustmusik is a close relative of 1991's Die Hamletmaschine, their score for an avant-garde reinterpretation of Shakespeare's play. This play, by Werner Schwab, is more of an oratorio than an opera, with the focus entirely on the recitation and singing of Schwab's German verse by Einstürzende Neubauten's lead singer, Blixa Bargeld (as Mephistopheles, appropriately enough!) and other actors. Einstürzende Neubauten's musical contribution is entirely incidental, and sounds at times like they're merely playing rehearsal tapes for a low-key, nearly ambient album behind the actors. Those who aren't fans of experimental European theater, don't speak German, and are interested primarily in hearing Einstürzende Neubauten's familiar industrial power should look elsewhere, but there's a certain creepy beauty to much of this album, particularly the nightmarish "Das Orchestrion," a slowly building cacophony of voices and drones. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
The final Einsturzende album of the 1980s found the group wrapping up that decade on a high note; while Haus der Luege barely lasts over half an hour, it's designed for maximum impact, and that it creates. The seasoned five-person lineup clatters and bangs away with fire, though the focus is more on straightforward industrial-tinged rock, as opposed to full-on industrial banging and relentless sonic experimentation. Things fully fire after an alternating voice/noise "Prolog" with "Feurio!," one of the band's strongest singles. With an ominous death-disco rhythm stop-starting under it all, swirling wails and cries in the mix, and sudden guitar lines filling out the sound, Bargeld's declamatory vocal approach in full effect. It's perhaps one of the most "industrial dance" songs the group's ever done, but it feels like a logical conclusion of their sound rather than a sudden embrace of Wax Trax! esthetics. Equally impressive is the title track, starting with a soft chime before turning into a dangerously funky aggro-crawl. Much of the album's second half is taken up by the lengthy "Fiat Lux," broken into three separate sections. Low in volume and astonishingly subtle until its final, overtly rhythmic conclusion, it's a testament to Einsturzende's abilities at the opposite end of where they are most often stereotyped as working, ambient instead of full-on noise. Bargeld's singing and a soft, central keyboard loop provides the main hooks for the piece, even when an array of random samples and noises starts surfacing about halfway through the track. Add in some blunt, interesting cover art and an appreciative essay from writer Biba Kopf, and Haus der Luege is another Einsturzende success. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
