Volk (album)

Volk
Studio album by Laibach
Released 26 October 2006
Recorded Daily Girl, NSK Studio and Studio Metro (Ljubljana), The Instrument and Metropolis studios (London), Master & Servant (Hamburg)
Genre Industrial, Neoclassical
Length 58:31
Label Mute
Producer Laibach and Silence
Laibach chronology

Anthems
(2004)		 Volk
(2006)		 LAIBACHKUNSTDERFUGE
(2008)
Silence chronology
Key
(2006)		 Volk
(2006)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Pitchfork Media (4.8/10)[2]
PopMatters [3]
Release Magazine [4]

Volk is the seventh studio album by Slovenian industrial group Laibach. The word Volk means "people" or "nation" in German and "wolf" in Slovene. The album is a collection of thirteen songs inspired by national or pan-national anthems, plus the anthem of the NSK State, a virtual state to which Laibach belong. The album is a collaboration with another Slovenian band Silence.[5]

The album's liner notes credit Wikipedia as their source for information on the national anthems featured.

The anthem of the NSK is essentially the same arrangement as "The Great Seal", a song on their 1987 album Opus Dei. Like "The Great Seal", the words are based on Winston Churchill's famous "We shall fight on the beaches" speech.

The album cover has a double meaning. Its most apparent meaning (for English speakers) is the German word "volk", meaning "nation" or "people". This an allusion to the fascist flirtations of the album. The second meaning is the Slavic word for "wolf". The sheep represent the victims of the wolf.

Track listing

  1. "Germania" - based on "Das Lied der Deutschen" (Germany)
  2. "America" - based on "The Star-Spangled Banner" (USA)
  3. "Anglia" - based on "God Save the Queen" (United Kingdom)
  4. "Rossiya" - based on the post-2000 "Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii" (Russia) and "The Internationale"
  5. "Francia" - based on "La Marseillaise" (France)
  6. "Italia" - based on "Il Canto degli Italiani" (Italy)
  7. "España" - based on "Marcha Real" (music) and "José María Pemán version" (lyrics) (Spain)
  8. "Yisra’el" - based on "Hatikvah" (Israel) and Fida'i (Palestine)
  9. "Türkiye" - based on "İstiklâl Marşı" (Turkey)
  10. "Zhonghuá" - based on "March of the Volunteers" (People's Republic of China)
  11. "Nippon" - based on "Kimi ga Yo" (Japan)
  12. "Slovania" - based on "Hey, Slavs" (anthem of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and unofficial anthem of Pan-Slavism)
  13. "Vaticanae" - based on "Inno e Marcia Pontificale" (Vatican City)
  14. "NSK" - the anthem of the Neue Slowenische Kunst, also known as "The Great Seal"

Personnel

Album written and produced by Laibach and Silence, 2005-2006.

References

  1. ↑ "Volk - Laibach". Allmusic.
  2. ↑ "Laibach: Volk". Pitchfork.
  3. ↑ "Laibach: Volk". PopMatters.
  4. ↑ "Laibach: Volk". Release Magazine.
  5. ↑ silence-zone.com. "Silence discography: Volk". silence-zone.com. Retrieved 27 March 2007.