Neu! '75
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Pitchfork Media | (8.5/10)[2] |
| Rolling Stone |  [3] |
Neu! '75 is an album by Krautrock band Neu!.
It was recorded and mixed at Conny Plank's studio between December 1974 and January 1975. It was released in 1975 by Brain Records, and officially reissued on CD on May 29, 2001 by Astralwerks in the US and by Grönland Records in the UK. Illegal bootleg CDs (derived from vinyl) had been available in the latter half of the 1990s on the 'Germanofon' label.
This album saw Neu! re-group after a few years' break, during which time Michael Rother had worked together with Cluster in the krautrock 'super group' Harmonia.
By this time, Rother and bandmate Klaus Dinger had somewhat diverged in their musical intentions for the band, Dinger preferring a more aggressive, rock-influenced style than Rother's ambient predilections. As a result, they agreed to a compromise: side one of the record was recorded in the old Neu! style, as a duo, with Dinger playing drums. However for the pieces of side two, Dinger switched to guitar and lead vocals, recruiting his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe to play drums (simultaneously).
The result is essentially a split record, subtly melodic in the first half and boldly unconventional in the second. On both sides the use of keyboards and phasing is increased compared to earlier records. Dinger's rock song "Hero" was an inspiration for many musicians of the time, including John Lydon of the Sex Pistols, and is since considered an example of proto-punk. David Bowie alludes to the album in his "Heroes" album.[4] The band Negativland (named after a song on their first album) named their record label Seeland after the song on '75.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Isi" (phonetically: "Easy"; also an abbreviation commonly used in German-speaking countries for the name Isabella) | 5:06 |
| 2. | "Seeland" ("Sea Land" or "Lake Land"; also the name of various locations) | 6:54 |
| 3. | "Leb' Wohl" ("Farewell") | 8:50 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | "Hero" | 7:11 |
| 5. | "E-Musik" ("Serious Music", a contraction of ernste Musik, as opposed to "entertainment music", Unterhaltungsmusik) | 9:57 |
| 6. | "After Eight" | 4:44 |
Personnel
- Konrad "Conny" Plank – producer, engineer
- Michael Rother – guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Klaus Dinger – guitar (side 2), drums (side 1), vocals (side 2)
- Thomas Dinger – drums
- Hans Lampe – drums
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ Rolling Stone review
- ^ Snow, Mat (2007). MOJO 60 Years of Bowie, "Making Heroes". p. 69.
External links
- Neu! '75 ⚠ "
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