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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
NATO - A worthy criticism of the Balkan's conflicts?, August 17, 2004
This review is from: Nato (Audio CD)
Laibach yet again use the modus operandi of the cover version to get their message across, and what better way to create a critique of the Western failure to intervene in the Balkans than by producing an album filled with cover versions of war songs..
Ranging from the ridiculous, such as Europe's Final Countdown and Status Quo's In The Army Now, through to the ominous and serious, NATO (an adaptation from Holst's planet suite)and Mars on the River Drina, Laibach's techno-driven anthems provide a much needed antidote to the more moralistic and somewhat condescending music created by some other bands concerning the Balkans situation..
The album's highlight has to be a cover of Edwin Starr's 'War', where instead of War being good for 'nothing at all' a list of leading Western industrial groups and media organisations is listed..
The irony is further extended with the album's closing song, Mars on the River Drina, an adaptation of a Serbian Army marching song.. Laibach actually had the guts to play this live in Sarajevo, days before NATO troops arrived following the Dayton peace accord..
Pity U2 didn't have as much courage rather than making a commercial success out of suffering...
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Proud to live, June 5, 2000
This review is from: Nato (Audio CD)
A typically bizarre set of cover versions, this takes a bunch of war-related songs and twists them into Laibach's bizarre vision. More techno-influenced than 'Let it Be', this album seems even more horrifying now than it did then, given that everything they sang about actually happened. 'The Final Countdown' isn't too different from the original, 'In the Year 2525' is much abridged, and sounds like a strange Stalinist propaganda track, 'In the Army Now' is haunting and slow, 'Alles Gegen Alles' adds an orchestral bit to an extremely minimalist original, and the version of Edwin Collins' 'War' is amazing - after asking what war is good for, it answers. The instrumental opening and closing tracks are fairly dull, but this is generally a classic album, one that you will either love or hate. Play it loud and worry your neighbours. Where else can you find Status Quo covered by an eastern european art collective?
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
great laibach, March 21, 2003
This review is from: Nato (Audio CD)
Laibach is one of the avant-garde "industrial" bands whose sound can change drastically between albums. On NATO, their music is fast fun dancebeats & a lot of quasi-operatic very airy female vocals. Also, of course, the very low speaking over the music.
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