Neu! '75
| Neu! 75 | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1975 | |||
| Recorded | December 1974 – January 1975 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:33 | |||
| Label | Brain, United Artists | |||
| Producer | Conny Plank, Neu! | |||
| Neu! chronology | ||||
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| Klaus Dinger chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Neu! 75 | ||||
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Neu! 75 is the third studio album by German krautrock band Neu!, released in 1975 on Brain Records. It was recorded and mixed at Conny Plank's studio between December 1974 and January 1975. The album was officially reissued on CD on 29 May 2001 by Astralwerks in the US and Grönland in the UK.
Overview[edit]
This album saw Neu! regroup after a few years' hiatus, during which time Michael Rother had worked with Cluster as the supergroup Harmonia. By this time, Rother and bandmate Klaus Dinger had somewhat diverged in their musical intentions for the band, with Dinger preferring a more aggressive, rock-influenced style than Rother's ambient predilections; the two compromised, and the resulting album showcases both sounds. Side one of the record, which reflects Rother's preferences, was recorded as a duo. On side two, Dinger switched from drums to guitar and lead vocals, with his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe double drumming. On both sides, the use of keyboards and phasing effects increased compared to the band's earlier records. Fact described the album's sound as "spartan psych-rock set to power driven drum tracks," while Thomas Jerome Seabrook identified it with kosmische Musik.[2][3]
The track "Hero" inspired many musicians of the time, including John Lydon of the Sex Pistols, and is considered an example of proto-punk. David Bowie also alluded to the track with his album "Heroes" and its title track.[4] The band Negativland (named after a song on Neu!'s first album) named their record label Seeland after the song of the same name on Neu! '75.[citation needed]
Reception[edit]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [5] |
| The Austin Chronicle | [6] |
| Pitchfork | 8.5/10[7] |
| NME | 10/10[8] |
| Q | [9] |
| Rolling Stone |  [10] |
In 1979, NME critic Andy Gill gave Neu! '75 a perfect score. Reflecting that the band "took the repetitive pulse of rock, stretched it out and wove lush, shifting layers of sound over the framework to produce a distinctive, hypnotic music which, whilst undeniably rock, was definitely outside-looking-in," he stated that this style reached its "full fruition" on the "pivotally important" album. He considered side two "damn-near perfect as makes no difference, an achievement which exhausts superlatives," and the first side "less immediate but only slightly less satisfying: evocative, entropic, hot-summer-daze music which balances — and is even more successfully 'ambient' than — side two's sweaty nightclub pulse".[11]
Ben Sisario of The New York Times described the album and its predecessors as "landmarks of German experimental rock".[1]
Track listing[edit]
All tracks are written by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother.
| 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 - "Neuseeland" is the German name for New Zealand) | 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" (Refers to the number "9", in German "neun".) | 4:44 |
Personnel[edit]
- Neu!
- Michael Rother – electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, vocals
- Klaus Dinger – drums (side 1); electric guitar and vocals (side 2)
- Thomas Dinger – drums (side 2)
- Hans Lampe – drums (side 2)
- Additional personnel
- Konrad "Conny" Plank – producer, engineer
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Sisario, Ben (4 April 2008). "Klaus Dinger, Drummer of Influential German Beat, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ a b Seabrook, Thomas Jerome (2008). Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town. Jawbone Press. p. 85.
- ^ a b "Krautrock figurehead Klaus Dinger's final album to get posthumous release". Fact. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
- ^ Snow, Mat (2007). MOJO 60 Years of Bowie, "Making Heroes". p. 69.
- ^ Jurek, Thom. "Neu! 75". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ Chamy, Michael (13 July 2001). "Neu!, Neu! 2, and Neu! 75 (Astralwerks)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ Sirota, Brent S. (5 June 2001). "Neu!: Neu! '75 Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ "Neu! review". NME. 2 June 2001. p. 39.
... Part transcendental dreamscape and part unhinged autobahn-punk... NEU!'75 is their apotheosis...
- ^ "Neu! review". Q. July 2001. p. 136.
Their masterpiece, providing their most mesmerizing slow number in 'Seeland' and their most startling piece of proto-punk in 'Hero'.... A necessity for any record collection.
- ^ Blashill, Pat (5 July 2001). "Neu! '75 : Neu! Review". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ Gill, Andy (July 21, 1979). "Neu: Neu '75". NME. Retrieved September 7, 2016.(subscription required)
