Customer Reviews

Code

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4 star:		(3)
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Cabaret Voltaire has changed styles almost continuously since the beginning. "Code" represents the band at the peak of their 80s pop phase, sounding like nothing so much as Information Society jamming with Throbbing Gristle. Call it industrial synth-pop.

It's a curious record, bridging the far-flung worlds of mainstream 80s pop and underground electro-industrial. Lots of industrial bands have dabbled with dance rhythms in the past, but on "Code", CV sound like they really mean it - there are funky wah-wah guitars, bouncy basslines, vocoders, and hooky arrangements. Even Stephen Mallinder's guttural howl has become a suave, urgent whisper. A couple of these tracks could have become mainstream hits, if they weren't about death and blasphemy.

Is it a sell-out record? I don't think so. Despite all the pop trappings, there's still an undeniably weird edge to this album, supplied by atonal synths, paranoid lyrics, weird samples, and the occasional burst of unexpected noise. In other words, the original CV is still there, intact - it's just dressed up for a night at the club. I still haven't figured out if CV were being subversive, or just having fun for a change. Probably some of both.

If you like industrial, techno, dark eighties style dance music, this would be the CD for you--except it's almost unavailable. I have it on a 33.3 "wax" LP, so I can tell you a CD version would be worth having. On this record, the band seems to polk fun at the industrial dance industry while simultaneously producing a great industrial dance record. Go figure.

If you've been exposed to other CV recordings, you probably think they're mostly dark, weird, abstract and sometimes hard to listen to. And you'd be right. However, "Code is a DANCE record. It's dark, weird, abstract, sometimes hard to listen to... AND it's got a dance beat! If you can find it, get it!

Notable tracks: "Don't Argue", "Thank You America", "Life Slips By".

I bought this album on vinyl initially when it first came out, when CDs were still a bit "iffy" for most people. I'd been a fan of theirs for years, but this one blew me away. Within a few months of its initial release (I don't recall now how long it actually was - it's been a long time) the CD came out and I bought it immediately. It was one of the first CD purchases I ever made, actually.

This is undoubtedly the most generally accessible record they ever made and, even with my fondness for experimental music I was completely hooked from square one. Funky, humourous, musical, cynical... it has it all. Imagine my surprise when it was never re-released in any form! Silly of them (EMI, I mean) because it could easily find a whole new audience now. I sold my vinyl copy - which was pristine and beautifully pressed in the first place - for over $40 on eBay recently and now the CD is going for well over $100. I just wish to God I'd gotten the UK version of the CD when it came out, as it has two extra tracks on it. I've managed to filch MP3 versions of them off the internet, but why don't the powers that be just re-release this classic? It's a mystery...

This album harks back to the hey day of Cabaret Voltaire and is probably the best compared to some of their other incredible works. This album was not released in 2009. I was in high school when this came out and I am 36. Original release date was somewhere around 1990.

Except for maybe Skinny Puppy, you will not find a more groundbreaking and original band as Cabaret Voltaire.

While maybe no their most inventive or "best" record, this was certainly the most listenable one. The production is quite excellent and the songs while typical for Cbaret Voltaire, do follow traditional song structures.

Not sure but this could be out of print. What a shame! This was one of their forays into commerciality, but for them, it works. Augmented by the great Bill Nelson on several of the songs and produced by Adrian Sherwood, there are many great moments, and overall it has a seamless feel to it. Helpful in converting many to the Cabs sound and ideology. Highly recommended. Seek out the German import version as well if you can for the extra tracks, and to my ears, alternate takes (Thank You America comes to mind). I've DJ'ed and let me tell you...the song No One Here with the volume cranked up is amazing!!

1. Don't Argue 2. Sex, Money, Freaks 3. Thank You America 4. Here To Go 5. Trouble (Won't Stop) 6. White Car 7. No One Here 8. Life Slips By 9. Code