The Crackdown

Cabaret Voltaire | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Virgin
• ASIN: B000007TY5
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,956 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best industrial album of its time, March 16, 2001

By 

Carlos Santos "cmsanto" (Trenton, nj United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Crackdown (Audio CD)

In the early 80's, when Industrial music meant a lot more than loud guitars with a beat, Cabaret Voltaire were considered one of the innovators and groundbreakers of the then exciting music form. They were certainly in the same artistic level as Throbbing Gristle and any 80's industrial fan would have known and owned this music. This particular brand of industrial music went on to directly influence such bands as Ministry ("Twitch"), Front 242, Nitzer Ebb and Skinny Puppy as well as many others. In this music, the sound is dark and bleak, political sensibilities and paranoia abound, the individual is lost and there is no redemption; certainly alienation at it's finest. Not the stuff for pop radio. This particular CD finds the Cabs going in the direction of dark dance music, the rhythms run cold and deep, while the vocals linger over the top with messages and warnings all too understandable. This cd is well worth the price of admission for such classics as Fascination and Why Kill Time (when you can kill yourself). I should add that the electronic music shown here is well done certainly repetitive, but intelligent and well thought out. Anyone who has a taste in harder or more experimental electonica should certainly give this a listen. The year, 1983, when this came out, still had industrial music shying away from guitars. Electronics, found music (Test Department), and experimental drone (Swans, Einstürzende Neubauten) were the norm. Ministry was to release their ode to the Human League, note the album called "With Sympathy", and had yet to discover guitars. It was a great year, and this was the best industrial album of its time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Critical Industrial Release, January 26, 2000

By 

DAC Crowell - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Crackdown (Audio CD)

This album by Cabaret Voltaire spans a strange period in industrial music. CabVolt were part of the initial wave of industrial, along with artists such as Throbbing Gristle, Robert Rental, et al. But the Cabs went on to start to fuse their noise with the harder rhythms of dance music, gradually crafting a danceable variant of industrial that would eventually become the definition of the genre from the mid-80s forward. And this release finds Cabaret Voltaire at this crux-point, as they find their stride at combining noise, disco, funk, and techno-pop to rewrite the book on industrial. Anyone into electronic beats needs this album, if only as a reference-point. Every track hits home with its abrasive, jerky, yet nail-hard rhythms, grating atmospherics, and chanted vocals. It's sad, however, that there's nothing rereleased from the Cabs' prior period, especially their tenure on Rough Trade where they first began the explorations that led them here. But this is an excellent point to wind up, and an excellent release to have.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The more accessible side of Cabaret Voltaire., November 28, 2005

By 

Mark A. Carter (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Crackdown (Audio CD)

This is absolutely `Cabaret Voltaire's' best album in my opinion. Before this came out their output had a very industrial sound. All dirty distortion, tape loops & discordant buzzing noise. Much in the vein of say `Throbbing Gristle' or maybe `Test Dept.'. But with this Album it seems they decided to make the music cleaner and more (dare I say it) pop-oriented. You may find yourself singing along to `Why Kill Time (When you can kill yourself)' or humming the very catchy `Crackdown' while you do the dishes. The vocals are clear and hard and the lyrics suitably disturbing and all backed by nice hard dark synth lines that will pound the songs into your brain. Despite its cleaner sound the image of Cabaret Voltaire still remained somewhat sinister if perhaps a bit more stylish. `Just Fascination' is a wonderfully put together track with a pretty complex arrangement complimented by highly introspective lyrics that would be a hit I'm sure in any Psychiatric Ward for the mentally insane. So, to sum up. 1982. A new direction for the group. Catchier, beatier, more danceable (Yes, no more Joy Division Anorak Head nodding on this one) & funkier. Totally accessible to anyone with an ear to the more interesting of the output coming out of Britain in 1982.