Faust/Faust So Far

Faust | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 9, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1971
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B0000542LC
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #76,661 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Why Don't You Eat Carrots

2. Meadow Meal

3. Miss Fortune

4. It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl

5. On the Way to Adamäe

6. No Harm

7. So Far

8. Mamie Is Blue

9. I've Got My Car and My TV

10. Picnic on a Frozen River

11. Me Lack Space...

12. ...In the Spirit

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Something missed in the other reviews, January 3, 2005

By 

Mark Singer "jackal59" (Columbia, MO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faust/Faust So Far (Audio CD)

Yes, this is just as strange/trippy/wild as the other reviews say. It is also - and this is important to note - very, very funny. Except for "Mamie is Blue" on _So Far_, which may be the most frightening thing ever recorded. The wah-wah feedback bird chirping "Louie Louie" about halfway through "Miss Fortune" make it all better, though, as do the mutated Wagner tubas getting buried under the incredibly loud oscillator sound on "No Harm."

These two recordings represent the most irresponsible use of electronics ever put on tape, and deserve to be cherished for that, if not for their occasional lapses in technique (just how long did they have to play that funk beat before everybody found his place?). It doesn't exactly rock, but who said everything has to? This is party music from another planet. Docked one star only because _So Far_ should have been called _Too Short_.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mmm, sublime., December 4, 2002

By 

Lord Chimp (Monkey World) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faust/Faust So Far (Audio CD)

This CD is the excellent reissue that combines Faust's first two albums, their self-titled release and _So Far_. Both albums are masterful, comprising some of the finest experimental music to date. Recorded in the 70s, I'm completely blown away by how they remain so original and fascinating. It also ranks as some of the tastiest ear candy I've indulged in.

Up first is _Faust_. Combining the usual rock lineup with tape manipulation, electronics, and plenty of diverse styles, the self-titled album is three songs of godly experimental music. The 10-minute "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" begins with a harsh electronic drone before plunking in a sample from the Rolling Stones' "I Can't Get No Satisfaction". There is plenty of satisfaction to be found here, though. What follows is a montage of trance-inducing marching rhythms, odd ball lyrics, weird cosmic zone-outs, strange circus-sounding themes, and distorted vocal noises that fade in and out. Transitions between movements are quite herky-jerky, but remember: a lot of this stuff was arranged by slicing and connecting different sections of tape. I find it very hypnotic the way the music flows. "Meadow Meal", song number two, comes off the melodious ending of "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" with an array of industrial plinks and clanks, before evolving into a pastoral guitar melody, fierce rock, a brief episode of musique concrete (a storm), and finally a lulling organ spot. "Miss Fortune" (hee hee) would take up all of side 2 on the original LP. This is a strange one. Lots of effects and textures, interesting percussion -- very avant-garde and amazing. I wish I could describe it better, but my review title applies nicely here. Some other choice adjectives are: entrancing, remarkable, and pukka (yes, that's a real word).

With _ So Far_, the band applies their avant-garde style with slightly more conventional structure and weird pop hooks. You still get some very avant-garde stuff, like the primitive noise of "Mamie is Blue". On the other hand, there is also the pretty "On the Way to Abamae", just light acoustic guitar and an ethereal flute synth. "It's a Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" takes a constant, tribal 4/4 drum beat and puts different instruments on top of it -- synthesizer, jangly guitar riffs, piano, saxophone, and a darn catchy vocal line. "So Far" is an amazingly groovy, smoky jazz shuffle. "I Have My Car and My TV" has a childish vocal introduction which cuts into a careless, brisk keyboard (or guitar?-- their tones are so weird and cool) line that is Evil-Catchy, overlain with guitar and saxophone solos. "No Harm" is amazing, from the heralding melody at the beginning to the bacchanalia of guitar jamming and the wildly crazy shouts of "Daddy take a banana | Tomorrow is Sunday". Uh, yeah.

These albums are amazing and timeless. If you have any interest at all in experimental music, you are insane not to have this. It is a deserving classic.

All right, enough from me. Hit the "Add to shopping cart" button now.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wild Avant-Rock, September 11, 2003

By 

Samhot (Star Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Faust/Faust So Far (Audio CD)

Here is a reissue of Faust's self-titled FAUST (1971) album, and SO FAR (1972) put on one disc.

Some of the wildest, weirdest, trippiest, scariest music can be found on this disc. The band even admits in the liner notes that they were using marijuana while creating this music. However, no matter how bizarre it gets, there manages to be an element of fun running throughout. The band makes extensive use of the tape manipulation technique which was used by Zappa in 1967, and even earlier by 20th Century composers like Stockhausen and possible others. The cut-and-paste technique employed here makes the music sound strange, but it doesn't take away the bizarre charm this music possesses.

We'll start with the self-titled disc first.

To be quite honest, I get a strange feeling that this album was, more or less, a parody of the 60s: the musicians (Beatles, Stones, Hendrix, Frank Zappa, etc.), the lifestyle, the beliefs - they all seemed to be poked at in a snide, humorous and entertaining way. "Why Don't You Eat Carrots" starts off with some abrasive proto-industrial noise, shortly followed by a snippet of The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," which is then followed by a snippet of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love." Before you know it, you're thrown into a world of classicalesque piano, hospital machine-like noises used as music, then a blast of New Orleans-like music fronted by some jolly vocals. And the last track "Miss Fortune" certainly goes out with a bang: a 16-minute number which starts out with an elongated psychedelic rock jam, and loads of wah-wah (or what I call 'wow-wow') pedal effects. Near the end, is what I consider the most ridiculous thing on this self-titled disc: a Chimpmunk-like effect which springs from what sounds like a super-sped-up wah-wah pedal, squeaking out these vocal-like effects. When hearing this, you could swear you were listening to the singing of the long-lost brother of Alvin, Simon and Theodore.

SO FAR seems to be more song-oriented than the first disc, but that doesn't make the music any less experimental or strange. "It's A Rainy Day, Sunshine Girl" is a cute, charming extended catchy kraut-pop tune. The fast, hybrid guitar picking found here can recall the technique of Pete Townshend (The Who), while "On The Way To Abamae" is a beautiful, melodic, serene classical guitar piece - the kind of thing one wouldn't have expected amongst the dizzying experimentation crammed throughout. "No Harm" seems to resemble classic prog-rock with it's atmospheric arrangements - for the first three minutes, before turning into an extended frenzied-rock rush. Elsewhere, "Mamie Is Blue" is a dark, strange, menacing industrial number to evoke a prototypical Nine Inch Nails, to an extent. Sounds less like music, and more like machines, engines and other devices, and "I've Got My Car and My TV" is a short, playful, whimsical number featuring some child-like voices singing the lyrics, while backed up by some goofy grown-male vocals.

Closed-minded or faint of heart listeners need not apply. For fans of avant-garde, adventurous and wildly experimental music, you'd be missing out if you don't pick this up.