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Amazon.co.uk Review
After 20 years together, Einsturzende Neubauten have changed. Gone is the purgatorial clamour of old. In its place are textures and dark humour. Gone, too, is the brittle anger. On Silence Is Sexy, Blixa Bargeld is laconically louche, with a love for subtleties. The title track of this monstrous two-CD album is an unbending, confusing spiral of sound--voices chanting, music forbidden, sometimes as sweet as trickling honey. "Zampano" is more familiar to old school fans, but "Sonnenbarke" invokes the boisterous atmosphere of ghostly beer halls while "Musentango" is self-descriptive. Sometimes chilling, sometimes life-affirming, never dull, Silence Is Sexy is a turbulent document of the times--much like Neubauten's beloved Berlin. --Everett True
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I came to this album completely cold, having previously been aware of the reputation of EN as pioneers of 'found' instruments and extreme noise terror, particularly in performance, and having mentally filed them away under 'probably more entertaining in theory than in practice'. But the combination of Blixa Bargeld's other job as a Bad Seed and the utterly under-whelming state of much mainstream album chart material lead me to try this, particularly as I already have plenty of 'minimalist' music in my racks. So, at first listen I thought - oh yes, yes indeed. Pretty accessible in fact, and not especially scary or 'difficult' at all, with the notable exception of the final track 'Pelikanol', which I assume is an interpretation of the headache which follows sniffing or eating the school glue for which it is named. That's the bad news then, and as it comes on a separate CD you could always use it as a coaster. As for the rest of it - there are recognisably real melodies in there, many of them of a slow burning nature that matches the generally sparse arrangements. Blixa Bargeld, although not a true baritone (wish there were more of them!) favours singing softly in that low register that sounds oh-so-typically german somehow, and his voice often has a wonderful, velvety, purring quality. Many of the songs are in english, and the sleeve notes give helpful translations of the german ones. But as any fan of classical liede will attest, german really does sound pretty good sung. All the elements that you might reasonably expect, given EN's reputation, are in there too of course, including a considerable emphasis on percussion, use of unconventional instruments (including metal sheeting, pneumatic piston, T-beams and a TV set, and a lot else besides according to the sleevenotes) and a wide range of lyrical subject matter. There are even a couple of up-tempo numbers, and what sounds suspiciously like humour in places, particularly the singing concert audience at the end of 'Silence is sexy'. Personal favourites for me include the opening track 'Sabrina' and the perfectly marvellous atmospheric drone of 'Sonnenbarke'. Overall a very pleasant surprise, rather than the unlistenable po-faced teutonic noise assault that less sympathetic reviews lead me to expect. Well worth a listen, if you usually like this sort of thing, or if you just fancy exploring an eddy just outside the music mainstream.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I first heard the name Einsturzende Neubauten a while ago, namechecked by someone who was into the industrial scene. After a long search, I found this album in my local record shop and was instantly impressed with what was contained within. Starting with the very mellow, and prehaps the only radio friendy track, Sabrina (I Wish This Could Be Your Colour), Neubauten create an album that is totally out of place with todays easy to digest manufactured pop and nu-metal. As the album progresses the songs change tempo and all kinds of noises are present over the album. Just check at the notes to each song to what is used - jet turbines, springs and drills. This album was my first Einsturzende Neubauten CD and it won't be my last.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Einsturzende Neubauten continue to evolve, and this is an extension of the territory they started to explore with Tabula Rasa. Some people think EN have lost their harshness and that this invalidates them. Not true, they simply refuse to repeat them selves and are creating beautiful, subtle music that will not leave your head. Once you understand what they are trying to acheive you cannot fault their vision. Also this album shows more of their humour and Blixa's voice, which is alloed more room, showing an ever greater ability to express himself.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
beautiful sound
a great album. a little bit different from the others but...what a great music. blixa's voice is alwais great and the bass sounds of this album are fantastic
Published 1 day ago by lukbar999
Stripped but Still Throbbing
After Tabla Rasa with blumen a shift occured. The Kango noradrenaline voltage of the early period was laid up and mothballed along with much of the western industrial experience. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2010 by Dr. Delvis Memphistopheles
ding dong
I am relatively new to the einsturzende neubauten experience but have listened to enough to say that I definitely prefer the later stuff to the old pvc wannabe industrial. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2002 by Mr. David Chapman
Can't get enough of this
The only previous Einsurzende album I'd heard was Tabula Rasa, which had some great tracks but overall I wasn't terribly pleased with. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2001 by E Parry
Not as experimental as I had hoped.
I listened to this CD all the way through as soon as it dropped through my letter box. . . and was initially disappointed. Read more
Published on 31 July 2000 by "xjamesx"
lacking
not much here that really sparks any interest. Apart from using it for background music in RPGs, this album has little or no use whats so ever...
Hmm maybe a doorstop perhaps.
Published on 15 Jun 2000
...as black as Malevitch Sq...
Einstürzende Neubauten are known for there use of Heavy Percussion, but on this there twentyith annaversary release they move in to new areas. Read more
Published on 18 April 2000
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