Customer Reviews

Kapital

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I would rate this much maligned album as Laibach's finest and one of the most compelling of the late 20th century. Many people have criticized the album for lacking in content; obviously they have not bothered to translate the songs that are sung in German, French and Italian or to attempt decoding the band's ingenious use of samples, all of which served to produce a stunning conceptual piece on the tensions that these Slovenians could see boiling over over in post-Communist Yugoslavia, and indeed, Europe and global society in general. To wit, the album begins with the actual sounds of allied planes on their bombing runs over Dresden in '44, brilliantly foreshadowing the imminent return of NATO (i.e. allied) bombers to once again quench a brutal nationalist uprising in Europe. Or in the album's final moments, with worker slaves from George Lucas's THX-1138 calling for "a new unity" over what seems to be Nazi era Germanic singing, with Laibach begging the question: are we condemned to repeat history? The album is brilliant musically as well, with an eclectic mix of industrial, techno and breakbreat rhythms to accompany Laibach's dramatic use of strings and horns. This certainly is not easy listening; the album requires great concentration and a willingess to mix history, politics and philosophy with your music (an appreciation for post-modernist ambiguity won't hurt either.) All in all, a heavily recommended album. For further exploration of the Laibach phenomena the albums Nova Akropola and Opus Dei are also remarkable.

In all honesty this is the album that fans unfamiliar with Laibach should buy first. From the Friday the 13th sounding Wirtschaft ist Tot to the pre-Prodigy hip hop influenced Hymn to the Black Sun Kapital doesnt stop. The rolling drums and choral vocals of Entartete Welt are more than a little catchy. Illumination and the melodic Everlasting Union begin the journey into Laibach's eastern European stylizing. Light on lyrics but gargantuan on music Kapital rates in my book as one of the best industrial albums of 1992 and all of the early ninties for that matter.

I am truely dissapointed, that no one in the music industry,has named-dropped this album yet.
I mean, consider when this album was released, never mind the time before the concept of it began; in the minds of these creative souls. I recall awaiting the release of this album and being used to the sounds of Laibach well before 1992, found myself listening to a sound that I had never heard before, this LP was released.

Here I am, in 2001, listening to the album for the million'th time, still finding new treasures in it.
The sure depth of the sound recording itself. The clarity of sound and sculpture. The amazing forsight in future music. Hell, no! Inventing the sound of the future.

There is Trip-Hop. There is Tricky darkness, to an already created trip-hop landscape.
There are classical blends, that almost make this album "The Ultimate Musical Concept Album", ever!
There are Barry Adamson, Soundtrack for the Mind moments, but most of all.

This is a definitive Laibach sounding Recording!

Any music lover, will find beauty in this Album.
Buy it, treasure it. But most of all. Share it with everybody who loves music.

I bought this for my wife for Christmas. It arrived on time, in great shape, and she loved the tracks.

There are two very different version of the same album released by Slovenian group Laibach. Laibach's album KAPITAL was released in 1992. The CD version which is the one I used to listen to is really just an abridged album version of KAPITAL and as such it does not do the album any justice. The album to be experienced truly in its full glory one must find it on the cassette ( a difficult task these days). The CD version stands at 78 minutes of playing time. The cassette version stands at 82 minutes of playing time AND one full extra track at the end of the album. This extra track which is to be found only on cassette release is called, "STEEL TRUST". "STEEL TRUST" in my opinion is one of the most beautiful pop/rock compositions that I have ever heard by any band. It features female vocals by GERMANIA and is infused with strange sci-fi sounds which make the track sound out of this world. If you are a true Laibach fan then this album is well worth seeking in its original cassette release. Darie NY 2011

So, Laibach themselves might not be fascist, but the beats here on KAPITAL are tough and militaristic. The political bent, as well, matches the totalitarianism of the music itself. And it's a little bit scary -- on purpose -- but it's dark in all the right places. Who else could make a track called "Illumination" dense with menace? Steeped in dystopia as this album is, there are moments of disturbing beauty, like the female vocal sample of "Young Europa, Pt. 1-10" surrounded by ominous breathing and low tones, or the relentless "Jaws"-inspired strings of "The Hunter's Funeral Procession" that give way to Germanic horns and quasi-religious chanting. There are weaker tracks, too. The physics-lesson rap of "Hymn to the Black Sun" is completely ridiculous, like a Slovak-industrial version of They Might Be Giants' "Why Does the Sun Shine?," and "Entartete Welt" goes on a little too long. But the "Wirtschaft ist Tot" brings a moodiness and a danceability to smashing the capitalist system, and "Kinderreich" takes the haunting lullaby from "Rosemary's Baby" and drenches it in percussion and Wagnerian vocals. And the final track, "Regime of Coincidence, State of Gravity," is all scratching and samples, like a Soviet-bloc Coldcut. But the standout for me is "Le Privilege Des Morts," a deeply creepy and minimalist track that samples generously from Jean-Luc Godard's film "Alphaville" and puts them atop a subterreanean bass. Capitale de la douleur, indeed!

Of all the Laibach CDs that I own, this is the one I recommend most, it's 'frightfully good' (another reviewer already remarked 'awe inspiring', and that's the Truth)! I remember the day I first heard the song 'Illumination', I wanted this CD ... and when I found out that it was Laibach, I immediately purchased this CD, and have been listening to it, totally impressed, ever since. With this one great work, Laibach could retire as the Gods of Philosophized/Politicized Art that they are, yet, their continuous output is equally impressive (their CD 'WAT', for example), however this CD remains my personal favorite. If you enjoy the music, get the videos, too.

Laibach released this strange twisted take on techno and hiphop in 1992 and by a landslide this is their best work. Nothing you have ever heard can compare to this. It is the most unique cd in my collection and leaves people questioning themselves when they hear it. Either they are floored or dont know how to react. Take throbbing techno- metallic industrial and hip hop rythyms- eastern european orchestral arrangements- slavic and german deep voiced singing/talking and an array of samples and you have Kapital. Add some eerie haunting piano lines and sampled strings and well its competely its own entity. For fans of real leftfield hiphop techno or industrial this is a must own. If youre not familair with Laibach well i dont know how to convince you of their "art and politics" agenda- but this along with Nato and their new album Volk are must hears. Early LAibach was heavy orchestral industrial and later releases were hard guitar driven metal/ industrial but Kapital stands as one of the music industries real oddball classics!!!

Just about perfect...hence the 4 stars. Not to reiterate from other prior reviews, but this is one of the best Laibach releases. While it does not have the bombastic percussion of Macbeth, or the guitars of JC Superstars (that would come later of course) or many of Milan's vocals (as lead)...it does cover a lot of stylistic ground and posesses the trademark ominous Laibach sense of humor. Buy this and the DVD of their promotional videos, especially for the Wirtschaft ist Tot (The Economy is Dead) clip. One of the most artistic and beautifully realized vids ever. This could serve as an intro to the band, as could Let it Be, Wat or the Anthems compilation. You won't go wrong with any of these.

I don't mind music that stretches my attention span. After a few listens, it might even grow on me. I might detect new subtleties that bring color to what seemed like a bleak landscape at first. Laibach demands that kind of long-term relationship from the listener. However, there's a difference between daring minimalism and simple laziness. This album may have interesting moments, but the moments are not fused into interesting songs. It's a good novel that skipped the editing stage and sailed directly to the bookshelf. Furthermore, the endearing croak of Laibach's lead singer is absent, further alienating a Laibach stalwart like me. Oh well. I listen to this one in the background when I'm cooking sometimes. I stop clanging the dishes when I know a good passage is coming. I wouldn't even consider using other Laibach stuff as "background" music.