Five on the Open-Ended Richter-Scale (1987)
01 - Zersoerte Zelle
02 - Morning Dew
03 - Ich Bin's
04 - Modimidofrsaso
05 - 12 Staedte
06 - Keine Schoenheit Ohne Gefahr
07 - Kein Bestandteil Sein
08 - Adler Kommt Spaeter
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Imagine a child that's been given a toy with detailed directions. Frustrated with its complexities, the child throws out the directions and chucks the toy against a wall, proceeding to step on it, bite it, smash it, and ultimately break it into as many pieces as he can. Bored with merely making as much noise as possible with the toy, the child begins to examine its parts and how it works. Though the child puts it together in a way that was not intended, the child becomes enamored with the new toy. Funf Auf Der Nach is where Neubauten truly grab hold of their broken elements and fashion them into something completely unique and (relatively) contemporary at the same time. Take their sleazy, spaghetti-westernized cover of Tim Rose's "Morning Dew" for instance, and the structured manner in which the record glides by. Very subdued and darkly ambient throughout, it's nowhere near the aural riots of yesteryear. For its lack of cacophony, and as restrained and formed as it is, Neubauten are just as unsettling, gripping, and tension-ridden as ever -- they're just finding a new way to be all of that. You expect the big release during the closer, "Kein Bestandteil Sein," but you don't get it. Funf auf der Nach is like watching a stalker cleverly follow its prey for miles, only to watch it shy away just short of lodging a knife into the back of the followed. (allmusic.com)
Haus der Lüge (1989)
01 - Prolog
02 - Feurio!
03 - Ein Stuhl in der Hölle
04 - Haus der Lüge - Epilog
05 - Fiat Lux- A) Fiat Lux B) Maifestspiele C) Hirnlego
06 - Schwindel
07 - Der Kuss
08 - Feurio (Caffery,Einheit Remix)
09 - Partymucke
10 - Feurio (Turen offen)
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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. (allmusic.com)
Tabula Rasa (1993)
01 - Die Interimsliebenden
02 - Zebulon
03 - Blume
04 - 12305(te Nacht)
05 - Sie
06 - Wüste
07 - Headcleaner I
08 - Headcleaner II
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Neubauten's '90s productions may not have been anything like the old fans might have expected, but Tabula Rasa tries somehow to keep up the tradition, without falling into repeating and instead bringing something new to their music. Tabula Rasa is, for our good, a very diversive album. Even though only songs "Die Interimsliebenden" and "Headcleaner" seem to have any character, every song has a catch that keeps the interest on. The keyword for Tabula Rasa is "ambience." Neubauten hold their aggression long way to the end of the album, and all the power and noise unbends as a 15-minute magnum opus, "Headcleaner." Before that there's 22 minutes of quiet but tight dark ambient. The opener, "Die Interimsliebenden," may be the only relaxed song on the album, and that's why Tabula Rasa may feel like a very pressuring album to listen all way thru. The tracks as single songs are very good indeed, but as a whole they form a very tight -- and maybe too tight -- whole. And Blixa Bargeld's weird lyrics don't ease the pressures. But Tabula Rasa is not a bad album, but just not a masterpiece like Kollaps either. When thinking about the rest of the works this group has done over the '90s, this is a good shot anyway. (allmusic.com)
Ende Neu (1996)
01 - Was Ist Ist
02 - Stella Maris
03 - Die Explosion im Festspielhaus
04 - Installation N°1
05 - NNNAAAMMM
06 - Ende Neu
07 - The Garden
08 - Der Schacht von Babel
09 - Bili Rubin
link (part_1 part_2)
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. (allmusic.com)
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