Customer Reviews

Belief

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ok, to clear one thing up, here's the real song order:

1. HEARTS AND MINDS

2. FOR FUN

3. CONTROL I'M HERE

4. CAPTIVATE

5. TWA

6. BLOOD MONEY

7. SHAME

8. DRIVE

9. WITHOUT BELIEF

This is well worth the small price you have to pay, considering it's older & short... but still doesn't feel outdated. I had gotten 'That Total Age' album before this, & hadn't really gotten into it as much as I had this one. I also recently got 'Ebbhead', & it's interesting to hear the comparison from album to album. One good thing is that Nitzer Ebb hardly sounds similar from one album to another. To me, they seemed to have gone in a similar direction that Ministry had gone...from more dancy to more industrial to more of a rock edge on Ebbhead. But if you like all those kinds of genres, then you won't mind one bit. This album definitely has a dance feel, & esp. while I'm driving around, I can't help but tap my foot or move around a little. One thing I like better on this album than the previous is they're a little more melodic, but the beats are still just as catchy. I had seen & taped the video (yes, they have a video, can you believe?) to "Control I'm Here" & it was instantly a catchy favorite, & I still say that's the best song on here. Pretty much, if you like one, you'll like them all....so enjoy!!

This was the first Nitzer Ebb album I'd ever heard and it was released just before I entered high school, a time when I had just discovered "good" music that not only made an impression on me, but probably shaped me into who I am today.

I bought it as a cd in the "longbox" and cut out the images to staple to my bedroom wall, and later, taped to my rear passenger car window.

That being said, BELIEF holds some nostalgic qualities for me. When I first got a car and drove to high school, everyday I'd play a cassette dub of BELIEF and time my way there-- (I knew that by the time Shame came on, I'd be parallel parking).

BELIEF is a great album in it's own right, across the board--especially pre- Trent Reznor--but it is also for me the best Nitzer Ebb album. I remember blasting this and Einsturzende's Strategies 2 from a crappy red Datsun. Ah the memories.

Fortunately, the album still holds up, and while I don't listen to much recent 'industrial' or 'ebm' music (it's just cheesy and derivative) I will listen to this, and I will love it.

You should too.

(PS. What is up with those samples on this page? That's not NE!!!!)

This is probably Nitzer Ebb's most accessible cd, especially to first-time listeners of the group. The music is a little more melodic in this follow-up to 87's That Total Age, yet still retaining the aggressive tone that flowed heavily in their debut.

IMHO, this may as well have been Ebb's first real debut. Seemingly, their later material elaborated on what they have in Belief. They have form, focus, their own spin in the so-called
"industrial" genre. Right at the onset of the genre when Belief was first released, Ebb could not be mistaken as being one of the very first bands to kickstart the genre. This is evident in "Control I'm Here" and "For Fun", two of their best songs in their entire catalog. Maddening techno sounds, lunatic chants, sensual overtones - how could they miss.

There are times when it feels like the band has managed to
unwillingly make actual radio-friendly songs (standard start to finish, average time length of 4 min.) in cuts like "Hearts and Minds", "Captivate", and "Drive". Driving, dancing rhythms come into play along with aggressive lyrics. Perhaps back then compared to Age, Belief could have been as close to pop/rock- driven as Nitzer Ebb could have pulled off. But in the 21st Century now, Belief is definitely not pop or rock. But I would say that it rocks with attitude and guts. Raving lunatic singer Douglas MaCarthy just has that voice to get away with losing his marbles. It just fits. And for an electronic-heavy/experimental band, the band even has their own experimental track in "TWA".
Belief is where Nitzer Ebb were beginning to become a more-solid electronic outfit. Also, one wouldn't be far off to think the group was beginning to be taken seriously as a band.
And did I forget to mention you can dance to this cd as well.
Even "Control I'm Here" on repeat mode doesn't seem like a bad idea.

Though not listed on Amazon's page, this Mute UK reissue CD (UPC 5016025610617) actually contains three bonus tracks:
10.) K.i.a. (PK Mix) (4:32);
11.) Control Im Here (S.D.I. Mix) (6:30);
12.) Without Belief (Inst.) (4:09).

I just love "That Total Age", "Showtime" and "Belief" but if I had to pick one of them as my favorite it would be "Belief". From start to finish this CD is great, some of Nitzer Ebb's best dance stuff can be found on this CD. I noticed another reviewer saying it was the golden age of EBM, screw that it was the golden age of Industrial!

Great club songs include:
Shame
Control I'm Here
Captivate
Hearts & Minds

A must have CD for any DJ, Nitzer Ebb fan, hell any industrial fan has to own this CD.

First of all, the song list is totally jacked, and I hope Amazon fixes it soon. NE is such a rarity in that their music gives us a serious edge without any of Trent's pretentious baggage or the club scene's usual (brainless) excess. Doug McArthur's voice lurks between sensual lover and raving lunatic, with the lyrics allowing us to reflect but not relax. This album, made years before that annoying marketing label "Industrial" came about, proves NE was way ahead of their time.

Gone are the days when EBM is this sparse, and yet still solid, dark, and hard. The arrangments primarily consist of drums, bass, one sequence, one lead line, and vocals.
NitzerEbb also show that a "pop" song can be beefed up to EBM status. All these songs are memorable, and have lasted the test of time. Highlights include Captivate, Hearts And Minds, and Control...I'm Here.
Clearly alot of todays contempary bands/artists have this CD in their collections.

Just the right thing for those of us who want to remember things from the late 80's early 90's

Tough beats and noise. Lyrics to boot. Quintessential late 80's angst meets rave.

For a long time this was the only album I owned. I was 15 years old in 1989 and I don't think that that year would have been half as cool without this record.
All that I had known of Nitzer Ebb prior to buying the Belief album was the 'boom snare boom snare boom snare ALAAAAARM boom snare boom snare' of That Total Age, which didn't really impress me.
Belief had more depth, and with a string of really great singles from the UK (don't ever buy the Sire Records crap) (pay the extra couple of bucks for the original Mute Records presses).
There are some really cool flipsides to the singles that came out for Belief like KIA, Time Slips By, and Backlash. These songs are impossible to find in most of the online mp3 searches, but are worth your money to check out, as are the remixed versions of the singles.