Customer Reviews

Naive (Unedited Wax Trax! Original Pressing)

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

 

 

I bought this album on cassette about ten years ago from Wax trax Record's shop in Chicago and it changed my life.

First, this album opens with the ultra-dancy "Naive", which demonstrated that a track could be cheery and dancy and still be raw and rough.

Almost every track on this album is a classic, and the reason you can't get the original anymore is because of the samples they use on this album. What about them? Well, they are classical music samples, and with the sounds intermixed with beats, it's classical like never before. if only for Libeslied, this album is worth a go.

My favorite track on this album remains "piggybank", a funky rock tune with ironic lyrics about suicide. Dark material, but man does the song rock!

I don't know about spending $70 for another copy, but this is one of the few albums that might be worth it...

even though this ultra-rare album is most likely to be bought by kmfdm fanatics/completists, i would say that this is the album that showcases kmfdm's style differences the best. at first i was skeptical about buying this because i felt that the 5-star rating were due to the amount of money forked over for it. i threw out a significant amount of money for this album and it hasn't disappointed one bit..even if you have the re-release, hell to go, i would recommend this...anyways, this album basically showcases the sounds of kmfdm up to their "nihil" album....for instance, the song "naive" will appeal to fans of the money album...go to hell and godlike will appeal to the metalhead fans of angst and nihil....their is a live version of don't blow your top's "disgust." the "virus dub" will appeal to the UAIOE people...liebesleid and achtung will appeal to the dancey fans who found beast and juke joint jezebel great...the album even has some unique flavor of its own...die now live later and friede are unique compared to anything else they have done.

i hate to sound like im bragging about having this ultra expensive album, but sadly it is an essential in my book....hell to go will suffice if you are a small spender though!..or at least wait until this is re-released.

Probably the most complete album from the group. Its a shame that this album goes for so much on ebay as its out of print. You can find it for $6.99 if you look hard enough. If not, still worth buying for $50 or so. Trust me. Much better than Hell to Go. You won't regret it, even if you feel like you're selling your soul.

I've listened to KMFDM since 1997 (eleventh grade seems like ages ago now), and have wanted to get my hands on this album ever since I learned about it, and the reason why it was discontinued (not simply the fact that it sampled Carl Orff's Carmina Burana... the exact line being "sors salutis et virtutis... sang it in college choir), but that it was not discovered to be an illicit sample until used as the theme song for MTV Sports waaay back in 92/93). The best I could do was to own the now discontinued (and God-awful) green version, Hell to Go. I hated the remixes (with the exception of Virus-Pestilence Mix) because I could tell that something was really missing. I managed to convince a sophomore KMFDM fan to let me borrow and dub his tape of Naive (apparently he got it free through the old KMFDM Mail Order), and when I heard Liebeslied... I instantly recognized it from MTV Sports (I feel old talking about this, but damnit, these were good times!). Pieced the rest together with Hell to Go and Agogo (the tape did not contain "Disgust" or "Godlike") and it was a wrap. Tape broke years years ago. I was so excited when the rereleases came out, but just couldn't accept not having the sample on Liebeslied (as stated before, sang it in college... they only sampled a small part of the first movement too... that song has a lot of sentimental value to me), so I jumped for joy when I FINALLY tracked down the real thing. I didn't want a torrent download, I wanted it in my hands. This is the holy grail. A lot of older fans may be divided between Nihil, Angst or Symbols... Symbols was the first one I listened to front to back and it's in my top three. The electronic sound on that album is amazing. Nihil was the first one I owned, and I think it's the best mix of electronic and guitar work for the older sound. Angst... I found myself mostly listening to "Lust," and liking the remixes for "A Hole in the Wall" and "Move On" on the Glory single better. I love "Blood-Evil Mix" too... the drum sound is what I really like about the song. But personally, Naive is my absolute favorite. I love the variety on this album. The ball that started rolling on UAIOE became a full-on bulldozer with this one. And I may be in the minority here, but I've always liked "Achtung," and found it interesting that it's the only song on the album that has never been remixed in some way. There's four versions of "Godlike," three of "Go to Hell" (I LOVE the original), three of "Friede" (counting "Los Ninos del Parque" on Tohuvabohu)... yeah, I'm a huge KMFDM fan. I especially love "Die Now-Live Later" (I think the tape said "Pay Later")... it kinda has a New Jack Swing feel to it with metal guitar. The only song I had trouble with was "Virus-Dub." As a dub reggae fan... this isn't really dub. It's just a reggae remix. But Jesus, I LOVE this album and now it's ALL MINE!!!

Nihil being the best of KMFDM's 'ultra heavy beat'/industrial metal days, Naive is the best (meaning most consistent) of their earlier period. Most KMFDM albums have a fair share of filler songs and guest appearances that are occasionally bad and ruin the feel of the album (Dogma, Anarchy). Early KMFDM was often repetitive, boring and pointless.

This album marked a transition into an emphasis on heavy, dancable beats and bass, catchy lyrics and for the first time coherent song structures. The production is vastly improved from their early efforts- the drum sounds kick, although guitars are still way too low in the mix, a problem that continued all the way up until Nihil. Played through good speakers this album grooves like no other. Sascha's vocals are monotone and lazy, little aggression or energy compared to the KMFDM of later days. This makes Naive a great chill out record.

Most of the songs follow a similar formula- catchy bass/beat with overlaid Sascha chant and occasional clean or distorted guitar, switching between 'verse' and 'chorus'. "Achtung", "Die Now- Live Later" and the funky "Virus" are my personal favorites.

"Go to Hell" is an anthem that hints at what would be unleashed on 1993's "Angst" and beyond. "Liebeslied" has less minimalism then the rest, augmenting the sound with string samples and catchy synth melodies. This song is rightful considered an industrial classic. "Disgust" is an older song that sounds infinitely better on this album (in live form). The parts have been almost totally rewritten from the "Don't Blow Your Top" version.

A complete, spacy and fun early KMFDM album, and one of the best dance albums of all time. "Money" continued in this sound with some more great songs, but wasn't long enough.

KMFDM is one of my fav bands and everything they have done to date has been bad ass(minus Dont Blow You're Top).

Although I think MONEY is my fav disc from them, this one takes the cake for being the one with the most groove. While not their best, Naive integrates several different musical styles. There's metal, techno, punk and even a lil' reggae.The best tracks are the original funky version of "Virus" which is awesome and the heavy metal version of Godlike....which is KMFDM's heaviest song ever. Go To Hell is bad ass too. This is just an awesome classic that was part of a cool scene of industrial and rock bands from the 80's to early 90's. Wax Trax was influential and had a great array of musical talents on their label...one of them being KMFDM. This is a period piece in industrial music....nuff said

I've been a fan for longer than I care to say. On that note, just buy Agogo for the best tracks that you're missing, and use the rest of the cash on the excellent Money and Angst era remix singles. That is, of course, assuming you don't have the mainline albums.