Neu! '75

Neu! '75
Studio album by Neu!
Released 1975
Recorded December 1974 - January 1975
Genre Krautrock, ambient, protopunk
Length 46:22
Label Brain, United Artists
Producer Conny Plank, Neu!
Neu! chronology

Neu! 2
(1973)		 Neu! '75
(1975)		 Neu! 4
(1996)
Klaus Dinger chronology
Neu! 2
(1973)		 Neu! '75
(1975)		 La Düsseldorf
(1976)
Singles from Neu! '75
  1. "Isi"
    Released: 1975

Neu! '75 is the third studio album by the krautrock band Neu!.

It was recorded and mixed at Conny Plank's studio between December 1974 and January 1975. It was released in 1975 by Brain Records, and officially reissued on CD on May 29, 2001 by Astralwerks in the US and by Grönland Records in the UK. Illegal bootleg CDs (derived from vinyl) had been available in the latter half of the 1990s on the Germanofon label.

Overview

This album saw Neu! regroup after a few years' break, during which time Michael Rother had worked together with Cluster in the krautrock supergroup Harmonia.

By this time, Rother and bandmate Klaus Dinger had somewhat diverged in their musical intentions for the band, Dinger preferring a more aggressive, rock-influenced style than Rother's ambient predilections. As a result, they agreed to a compromise: side 1 of the record was recorded in the old Neu! style, as a duo, with Dinger playing drums. For the pieces on side 2, Dinger switched to guitar and lead vocals, recruiting his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe to play drums (simultaneously).

The result is essentially a split record, subtly melodic in the first half and boldly unconventional in the second. On both sides, the use of keyboards and phasing is increased compared to earlier records. Dinger's rock song "Hero" was an inspiration for many musicians of the time, including John Lydon of the Sex Pistols, and is since considered an example of proto-punk. David Bowie alludes to the album in his "Heroes" album.[1] The band Negativland (named after a song on their first album) named their record label Seeland after the song on '75.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [2]
The Austin Chronicle [3]
Pitchfork Media 8.5/10[4]
NME 10/10[5]
Q [6]
Rolling Stone [7]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother. 

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Isi" (phonetically: "Easy"; also an abbreviation commonly used in German-speaking countries for the name Isabella) 5:06
2. "Seeland" ("Sea Land" or "Lake Land"; also the name of various locations) 6:54
3. "Leb' Wohl" ("Farewell") 8:50
Side two
No. Title Length
4. "Hero"   7:11
5. "E-Musik" ("Serious Music", a contraction of ernste Musik, as opposed to "entertainment music", Unterhaltungsmusik) 9:57
6. "After Eight" (Refers to the number "9", pronounced like the german "Nein" which means "No".) 4:44

Personnel

Band members
Additional personnel

References

  1. ↑ Snow, Mat (2007). MOJO 60 Years of Bowie, "Making Heroes". p. 69.
  2. ↑ Allmusic review
  3. ↑ http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2001-07-13/82355/
  4. ↑ Pitchfork Media review
  5. ↑ NME (Magazine) (6/2/01, p. 39) - 10 out of 10 - "... Part transcendental dreamscape and part unhinged autobahn-punk... NEU!'75 is their apotheosis... ".
  6. ↑ Q (7/01, p. 136) - 5 stars out of 5 - "... Their masterpiece, providing their most mesmerizing slow number in 'Seeland' and their most startling piece of proto-punk in 'Hero'.... A necessity for any record collection."
  7. ↑ Rolling Stone review

External links