NEU! '75

One thing that really fascinates me about this record in particular is how ahead of their time this duo was. While Kraftwerk is praised as one of the pioneers in the ambient/eletronic/pop combination, Neu! is hardly ever mentioned. This record in particular had a great impact, not in terms of popularity, nor sales, but to several different artists (Bowie and Eno being the msot obvious ones). I can still remeber how different this album was at the time: one side of gentle, ambient/eletronic soundscapes; one side of low fi punkish rock. It was punk before punk! Even the vocals are much on the latter´s style.

While I´m not really a fan of the genre, I think that anyone interested in the history of music, its major influences and even for plain curiosity should listen to this CD. Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother couldn´t be musically more different and yet they released three seminal (although quite low budget) records in the first half of the 70´s. Neu!´75 is regarded as their best ever, and I believe it, even fi I haven´t heard the others. Well, you dont´have to, to find out that this is one of the most interesting and influential records of that decade. Groundbreaking. Rating: not one of the records I hear a lot, but it deserves at least four stars for its historical importance.