Tracks
- Krautrock
- The Sad Skinhead
- Jennifer
- Just a Second / Picnic on a Frozen River, Deuxieme Tableux
- Giggy Smile
- Läuft...Heißt das Es Läuft Oder Es Kommt Bald...Läuft
- It's a Bit of a Pain
Faust IV is an obdurate album. The music is Krautrock, which is simply either prog rock or experimental music performed by German artists and bands. The music varies from more traditional and structured rock songs with good melodies and long, droning, persistent instrumentals.
Can and Faust both have a very strange styles although they are distinct enough. They do share similarities, but they are quite distinct from each other. Neither bands do much singing. I wonder if it's because they wanted to sell to UK and US markets and that consumers would be less likely to buy songs sung in German. And thus they didn't sing in English either because their skills were either limited or they were too self-conscious.
More importantly is that they don't seem to have been influenced much by the blues or by radio-friendly music structures. It's these that make their prog rock and experimental music a lot different from their UK and US cousins. It seems that they are more concerned about mood and developing it rather than establishing a groove and jamming.
I like this album, but it's a bit uneven. I prefer the longer songs because the way they create and develop a mood. However, the other songs are interesting because it shows the band's humorous and witty side. I think it's worth listening to, but I'm not sure if it needs to be on the 1001 Albums list.
All the songs are good. The stand outs are Krautrock, The Sad Skinhead, Jennifer, Giggy Smile, and Läuft...Heißt das Es Läuft Oder Es Kommt Bald...Läuft.
★★★★★★★★★☆
Tracks
- Future Days
- Spray
- Moonshake
- Bel Air
Future Days is an aimless album. The music is ambient. Typified by Damo Suzuki's nonsense vocals, the music on each song just seems to meander from one idea to the next. The music is generally mellow and ethereal. Rather than finding a groove, except from Moonshake, the band finds a mood. The guitar is really what establishes the mood. And it has a Robert Fripp sound.
This album is decent, but it's not gripping. It's easy to zone in and out of the music. It's hard to know if that was intentional or not. In hindsight it's easy to say that was the intention. It's worth listening to, but I'm ambivalent about it being on the 1001 Albums list. Either they were pioneers in a new genre or they made a crappy album. Based on their previous work I think it's the former and this album was intentional.
All the songs are good. The stand outs are Future Days and Bel Air.
★★★★★★★★★☆
Tracks
- Paperhouse
- Mushroom
- Oh Yeah
- Halleluhwah
- Aumgn
- Peking O.
- Bring Me Coffee or Tea
Tago Mago is an unconventional album. The music is krautrock. There is no relation to rock in any of the songs besides the use of bass, guitar, drums and synthesizers. It's really quite an original style. It might be most closely related to jazz because it seems improvisational than anything.
The first few songs each start off resembling prog rock songs, but they eventually lose form and become very noisy and chaotic. Aumgn and Peking O. are exercises in noise and madness. What makes the music even more chaotic is the singing. The lyrics are nonsense sung in a non-sensical language. Eventually, the singing devolves into shouts and screams and other primal noises.
This is a fascinating, but trying album. The more structured songs are enjoyable to listen to, but the songs that are mainly noise can be hard to get through because they are very long. It does take a few listenings and patience to get used to this album. There is no doubt that this album should be listened to and it should definitely be on the 1001 Albums list. Like prog rock, Krautrock is not a popular style, so it's hard to say this album belongs in all serious collections, but I do highly recommend it, just to freak people out or to annoy the neighbors.
All the songs are good. The stand outs are: Paperhouse, Mushroom, Oh Yeah, Halleluhwah and Bring Me Coffee or Tea.
★★★★★★★★★☆
