NEU! '75

Yet another problematic Neu! album. Not only is it inessential to prog rock, it's also not much good. Still, it has a couple of interesting moments. Of course, it is not to say that now Neu! are more focused on mediocrity, because it may not be true. However, I must admit that it is very difficult to review an album most of whose tracks either barely work or don't work for me at all. I'm talking about the first five tracks.

"Isi" is a powerless instrumental with a song structure. "Seeland" is a mild ambient track that also seems to possess a kind of a song structure, only it sounds more like just a series of repetitions of a chorus all the way through. "Leb' Wohl" is another mild ambient track; a piano, the sound of crashing waves, and signals in the air is all there is. The second side opens with "Hero", a puzzling punky song with a verse and a chorus that just drag on for six minutes. "E-Musik" definitely sounds like a product of human waste for the most part because it features flanged-up drums going on for minutes and minutes. What I mean is that the track lacks emotion and blazing energy ? just the thing I would usually expect from this duo. The reprises in the end are quite interesting, though. Yet still, the drums just bug me.

All of the aforementioned shortcomings emphasize the closing track as quite a surprise. "After Eight" sounds like a precursor to the things to come in US and UK, a.k.a. the punk movement. Yes, it does sound like the bland fourth track on the album, but it features certain little things that made all the difference for me. The song is shorter than "Hero". Plus, it has Klaus Dinger trying out different things with his vocal. Sometimes he goes higher in pitch and louder when he sings with that grotesque worn voice (thanks to his smoking habit). The song also features some hellish backing vocal accompaniment and experimental synth sounds veering through the texture. The guitar timbre has a good amount of that crunch and richness in tone. This is experimental industrial punk at its absolute best.

There is something I would like to add here: even though most of these tracks sound like simplistic dross, they also show that Neu! did not seem to be willing to strive in music-making beyond their abilities. They were not in the least bit pretentious. They demonstrated their limitations and were very sincere about it, and I must give them credit for that.

To sum up, this is not a completely worthless record. As it always has been, I'm just one person, and you just might be one of those people who would regard it as a kind of an obscure sonic triumph. But, as it has been implied in the text above, innovation does not seem to be prevailing here, and don't even dream about abundance of melody on this record.

Ratings/comments (if you have to ask):

1. 'Isi' - * ; 2. 'Seeland' - ** ; 3. 'Leb' Wohl' - ** ; 4. 'Hero' - ** ; 5. 'E-Musik' - * ; 6. 'After Eight' - ***** ;

Stamp: "Try it yourself."