Neu 75 (Reis) [Original recording remastered]

Neu! | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 26, 2008)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: High Wire Music
• ASIN: B001BP4UJK
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #210,724 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Neu! '75 is the third and most essential record from Krautrock wunderkinds Neu!--a two-man experimental force that pioneered the rapid, repetitive drum-beat known as motorik, and mapped out the future of music for groups like Sonic Youth, Stereolab, and Spacemen 3. Recorded after a two-year moratorium on the Neu! design, 75 is the sound of a band in a state of disintegration--but it's the simmering tension between the ambient-minded Michael Rother and the fiery Klaus Dinger that makes this an artistic triumph, rather than a cacophonous dissolution of ideas. Neu! handle this fracture by effectively splitting 75 in two very different parts. The first half, featuring the drifting catatonic majesty of "Seeland" and the tidal ambient lull of "Leb' Wohl" is very recognizably led by Rother's sense of affecting minimalism. The second half, however, is Dinger's blank canvas, over which he bitterly vents his spleen: "Hero" surges forward on an aggressive pedal-to-the-metal wave of guitar, Dinger bellowing "The only crime is money" like an anarchist sloganeer. Suddenly, claims that this record was an influence on the young John Lydon make perfect sense--'Neu! '75' is a masterpiece of cosmic punk rock, beamed in from a time before punk rock even existed. --Louis Pattison --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

The album oscillates between Michael Rother's more ambient, minimalist approach and Klaus Dinger's rock infused abrasiveness that predates punk by a year. In fact, when Neu!'75 was imported in the U.K., it influenced key players responsible for the punk rock movement. 2001 reissue. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Neu!'s last - and best., June 13, 2004

By 

spiral_mind (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neu 75 (Audio CD)

The duo's self-titled debut was seemingly a breeze, knocked off in less than a week in 1971. Neu! 2 was a triumph of will (and probably spite) in the face of ridiculous setbacks. Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother could have called it a day for good after battling to finish that second album, but they decided to reunite after three years for one last hurrah.. and I'm immensely glad they did, because Neu! '75 is the prettiest shining gem in their catalogue. Like the others it's a fascinating (and quite influential) work that's avoided sounding dated even today, but this is also the album where their weird abstract side wholly took a backseat to the sweet ear-candy grooves, making it the most consistent and listenable.

One of the previous record's difficulties had been the conflict between Rother's peaceful, atmospheric tendencies and Dinger's tilt toward the brash rock-and-roll side of things. So this one was a compromise. Side one was largely calm: "Seeland" and "Leb Wohl" float through beautiful clouds of ether on beds of soft guitar (in the former case) and gorgeous piano with slow wordless singing (in the latter) without the usual steady-driving drum beats. The two elements are perfectly blended in the opening "Isi" however, which is quite simply one of the most perfect five minutes of music I've ever heard - seriously, no exaggeration. This track adds flowing piano lines to the standard clockwork drums and shifting atmospheres to produce something extraordinarily blissful.

And then side two dives straight into Dinger mode - fiery fuzzy guitars, weird electronic effects, and even some Johnny Rotten-ish punk vocals. Half-incoherent lyric lines pop up through "Hero" and briefly reprised as "After Eight" coasts to the album's end, spit out almost drunkenly in the finest 70s-rock tradition. The extended "E-Musik" in between is another classic 'motorik' ride that begs to be spun endlessly on the highway, coasting from layers of driving synths and guitars to oddly filtered drums and back again.

The first album best showed the group's whole range; the next showed their weird experimental side the most. And I can't quite say which is most essential (that would obviously depend on your own taste), but the consistently beautiful & listenable Neu! '75 is definitely my top pick. No matter your taste, though, you can probably find something to like somewhere in this remarkable band's catalogue. They still sound quite like nobody else around.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There IS a God!!! '75, July 21, 2001

By 

DAC Crowell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neu 75 (Audio CD)

One of the most important pieces of Euro-unobtainium for years has been the NEU! albums. These works influenced a host of musicians who've managed to get hold of them in some way or another; from Detroit techno wizards to lo-fi tinkerers, a host of players owe a long-unsung debt to NEU!

The final Brain-released 'canon' effort, "NEU! '75" was created after an initial breakup of the duo following a UK tour to support their second album. And almost to illustrate this break and the looming second one, this final album is a really schizoid effort. But by no means is it flawed by this. Vide...

The first half is a melodic, more ambient-flavored affair. Very pretty, it's dominated by Michael Rother's work, which would become more apparent once his solo albums would begin appearing in subsequent years. As you go forward here, the intensity ramps down, and the tempos slow until you're deposited into the surf and reverberant piano of "Leb' Wohl". Here, we find the precursors to much that would come later in 'ambient' music across the next couple of decades.

But the second half is dominated by a crazed Klaus Dinger...and he wails and yowls across a Kraftwerk-...-Stooges variant of the NEU! sound on "Hero" to kick this off. After a drop into the metronomic NEU! beat to follow, howls of feedback and yelling kicks off "After Eight"...and doesn't this sound a lot like the Sex Pistols yet to come? My, my, my...no coincidence there! NEU!, especially on this album, was one of the oft-cited influences on the sound of the Brit punk scene of the late 1970s.

All of the NEU! albums are essential. But this one is the one that left several marks on history-yet-to-come. As such, it rises a bit above "NEU!" and a good bit more above the semi-unfinished "NEU! 2". But one thing I can say is that five stars is not sufficient here, and if you're someone into the cutting-edge of present-day music, this is one piece of 'retro' (which doesn't really sound it!) that's a must-get.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Alternatively grooving, spacing, and rocking, January 29, 2005

By 

Tomas Ricardo "thom-22" (Indiana, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Neu 75 (Audio CD)

This is the final album proper from the duo known as Neu! While they are part of the entire so-called Krautrock scene, and worked with many others, their reputations rest on these three albums they did as Neu! This is, in my estimation, the best of the three. It starts out with a classic "motorik" groove number, then a more static melodic piece, then closes (what was originally, back in the LP day) the side with a faintly punk-ish, energetic but grooving number. The rest of the CD follows a similar pattern: moving from groovier rhythm pieces with subtle washes of guitar and synth patterns, to the final track, which ups the energy level again in a way almost antipatory of punk.

Highly original, unprecedented, and a CD that will grow on you. It rewards repeated listening like special records do. You'll still be listening to this 20 years from now.