Drawings of Patient O.T.

Einsturzende Neubauten

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 20, 1995)
• Original Release Date: 1983
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Thirsty Ear
• ASIN: B0000057NP
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #257,026 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Dedicated to the compulsory, whimsical, elongated drawings of Oswald Tschirtner (one of the artist-patients in the infamous Gugging, Switzerland, psychiatric hospital's House of Artists) this 1983 recording by Einstürzende Neubauten is among the group's most influential and intense works. It brims with seemingly accidental, childlike, improvised, musique-concrète-inspired noises arranged to subterranean beats, abrupt changes, and electronic pulses. O.T. appears to have been recorded inside some insane person's junkyard: songs are lovingly punctuated by the sound of breaking glass, smashing bricks, bending metal, and vocal cords pushed to their absolute limit. One might hear suggestions of Gavin Bryars (on "Armenia"), Rune Lindblad (on "Die Genaue Zeit"), and Suicide (on "Vanadium-I-Ching"), but that just shows EN's good taste and skill to appropriate other approaches to their own ends. For music fans of their generation, Neubauten redefined the concept of "acceptable" noise within music, allowing the listener to hear the music hidden within virtually any carefully--or at least dramatically--arranged succession of sounds. But for all its importance as a musical breakthrough, O.T. should mostly be praised for the drastic, still vibrant, screaming punk-rock (minus the predictable chord changes) record it is. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Album, Bad Record Company, May 3, 2004

By A Customer

If you plan to buy this album, please don't buy the version distributed by Thirsty Ear/Some Bizarre Records. The company has never paid the band for its recordings, and NONE of your purchase price will go to the makers of this exceptional music.

Another version is available through Indigo Records, and the group does get paid for those copies.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The roots of "Industrial", February 12, 2004

By	J. Brady (PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

I discovered Einsturzende Neubauten back in 1983 when this record ( remember those ? ) was first released. I had no idea what I was in for, as I had only read reviews of the band, short mentions in magazines like Trouser Press. Nothing I had read prepared me for the absolute stunning originality and variety I found in Drawings of Patient OT. I never bothered to read the translated lyric sheet, Blixa Bargeld's vocals being as much of an integral instrument as the myriad jackhammers, pounded metal and found sounds. It was at times all one huge wall of sound, of "noise" used for more than "just because we can", it seemed to me to all make perfect sense. Music created for the listener who thought they had heard it all. Some of the selections heard here are quite abrasive and heavily percussive. But some lean more toward the ambient, indeed soothing, in their use of quiet , whipered vocals, and repetitive ( is that a tape loop? perhaps a sampler I hear? ) sounds, both natural and unatural. Minimal use of bass and guitar make Drawings of Patient OT somewhat unapproachable, something so far outside the mainstream that it remains untouched and undiscovered by most. It has been one of my favorites for years, especially after I wore out the record ( I still have the sleeve - an amazing piece of artwork in and of itself )and got this on cd. It still sounds fresh to me, and I to this day find myself falling asleep with this on my cd player, quietly, with earphones on. Last year I saw a copy of this LP in a used record store, hanging on the wall with a tag attached saying "listen to this and find out why all those people have that silly red tattoo." I had to chuckle ( yes, I have one of those "silly red tattoos" of the red EN petroglyph logo)I think the point being once you listen to Einsturzende Neubauten, you fall into one of two camps - you either "get it", and totally immerse yourself in it , or you hate it,and dimiss it as annoying, repetitive and pointless. And if you do "get it", I highly recommend this early work by EN.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best achievements in modern music, December 25, 2001

By	"magla" (Dreamscape) - See all my reviews

This is without any doubt my favorite industrial album. Every single composition is perfect and together they make nightmarish symphony. Screams of tortured souls, humming of grotesque machinery, eerie sound samples are elements which give this album a kind of disturbed, twisted beauty. Yes, this album is beautiful, but only if you open your mind and let your brain concentrate on music vibration. This album is not for everyone and it requires intense listening to be appreciated. But this album is a true gift for every serious music lover.