Neu
Posted by: Simon Matthews on 28 March 2002
Also are the new repressings up to much on vinyl?
Cheers
quote:
What is the best album to buy for a first timer such as myself?
The correct answer to this question is actually all three! I honestly don’t know where the best place to start is, though will attempt to summarise them:
Neu! – a stunning debut, and an album that even now sounds so fresh and current in a lot of ways. It must have sounded like it was from another planet when it was released in 1971. Neu has two standout tracks ‘Hallogallo’, which pretty much defines post rock – Stereolab built their career on this song! Its an E major dirge that lasts about 10 minutes without a key change, though manages to bring so much beauty. The other standout song is ‘Negativeland’ which after the pneumatic drill subsides (!) has very much more than a hint of what was to come after punk with the likes of Magazine or the Fire Engines, especially in the bass line. This was a album strangely trapped many years before its time.
2 – a album of two sides. The first track ‘Für Immer’ is pretty much a rework of ‘Hallogallo’, but its even better – the production points the way to what Martin Hannet would later achieve with Joy Division, A Certain Ratio etc for Factory Records. Its still E major all the way, but there are now swathes of industrial guitar noise flying about in the background, and the delicacy remains, as does that beat. Its longer now at just under 12 minutes. Good. The rest of side one is truly excellent, as it should be – it ate up the whole album budget! With no budget left Neu! embarked on the most obnoxious / situationist solution to side two – they played their last single at various speeds… Funny thing is that it almost works.
Side one of Neu! 2 is one of the greatest rock albums ever made!
75 – three years later and a change in style, though still starts off with a fixed key dirge with the classic Neu! beat. I’d put money on the fact it was E major again too, but I haven’t checked. This time much of the guitar is replaced with analogue synth, the minimalist concept remains intact. The influence on Bowie’s later ‘Low’ and ‘Heroes’ is absolutely unmissable, as it is on later stuff like OMD’s first album. It ain’t all keyboards though, there are a couple of moments of full tilt proto punk in here too.
So, three standout albums. Neu! were like The Velvet Underground, Can, Wire etc in that they did not sell many records in their own time, but just about everyone who bought one went on to make music themselves, and usually great music. Neu!’s influence is everywhere in current music.
Bottom line is that you can’t go wrong with any of the above!
quote:
Also are the new repressings up to much on vinyl?
I only had the crappy bootleg CDs of Neu! and Neu! 2, though I have a nice original copy of 75, so I can’t compare (I did not re-buy 75). I bought the reissue vinyl of Neu! and Neu! 2, and they are great. It is such a relief to hear them with some life – the bootlegs sounded really horrible. They are pressed on white vinyl and have gatefold sleeves as they should.
Tony.
Many thanks for an excellent post - a career in music journalism awaits!
Looks like a bit of vinyl action tommorow. I think the first album for starters - just one chord at a time!
Cheers
Be wary of the captain trip Neu! releases on CD, e,g, Neu! 4, Die Kraut etc. mostly bootlegs and dire sound quality, only for die hard fans. Stay with Neu!, Neu! 2 and Neu 75
A interesting sideline is the homage/ tribute to Neu! with Micheal Rother, Autechre, Khan, Sunroof System 7. Some quite good goes at the classics.
Of the three studio albums, I would go for Neu! on vinyl.
DS
DS
There is a sampler of his work called 'Chronicles' available on CD.
Also; visit the Krautrock Directory at:-