21
Neu!
Neu! '75
"Isi" – (5:06) (phonetically: "Easy")
"Seeland" – (6:54) ("Sea Land"; also the name of various locations)
"Leb Wohl" – (8:50) ("Bye Bye")
"Hero" – (7:11)
"E-Musik" – (9:57) ("Serious Music" (a contraction of ernste Musik) as opposed to "entertainment music", Unterhaltungsmusik)
"After Eight" – (4:44)
A lot of people believe the self titled debut is Neu!'s best album, indeed its very good, but '75 takes it for me, it's one of the best albums to come out of the 70s in my opinion.
Having taken a break from the band, Rother and Dinger got back together to start work on the third album. However, Rother wanted to take a more ambient approach whilst Dinger was interested in a more aggressive, rock-orientated style. So as a compromise the album is split into two sections, and **** me does it work.
The first half consists of Rother's ambience. It begins with the excellent Isi, a track that trundles along to Dingers trademark motorik beat as a synth twists and weaves playfully through ethereal sound effects. Seeland begins on a sombre, ominous note. Its a slow, atmospheric piece that launches a lumbering drumbeat to a whirl of sampling and lingering guitar chords. The third track, Leb Wohl, is amazing. This due mainly to the fact it samples natural sounds such as waves and wind to create a lush, deep atmosphere. Its supposedly a love song, and the emotions it evokes are as rich and fulfilling as you can possibly get i think. A piano plays over the top as the track delicately ambles on.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, a guitar chops in aggressively and that driving motorik beat hammers out of the speakers. Hero is definately one of the albums best tracks, Dinger snarls over the driving rythm as the relentless aggression of the song shakes away the tranquility tenderly carressed upon the listener from the first half of the album. That pounding ryhtm continues with E-Musik, as the guitar and synth aggressively fight for space amongst the composition. Another sample of natural sound interrupts the constant barrage of motorik, the sanguine sound of wind flows effortlessly out of the speakers as what i can only describe as one of them growling conveys an utterly otherwordly mood. After the welcomed break the album kicks into overdrive with the final track - the closest thing Neu! get to writing a punk song. After Eight is highly decent song to finish on, the sudden silence that greets the listener at the end after listening to 25 minutes of relentless motorik is a strange, numbing experience.
This album isnt for everyone, it takes a good few listens to really appreciate it i'd say, but the transition from ambient, soothing krautrock to highly unconventional, aggressive 'rock' music is both startling and highly innovative for the time. Its an album that needs to be listened to as a whole, the sampling and phasing gives it a deep, lushious texture that, coupled with the transition in musical thematics, makes it a rewarding listen IMO