Die Krupps - Metall Maschinen Musik : 91-81 Past Forward flac mp3 download

A decent introduction to the group's earlier work albeit some choices demonstrate how dangerously close Die Krupps came to self-parody (the level sadly pushed way into the red with the group's totally unnecessary, and downright dreadful "Tribute To Metallica" a few years later). The opening number 'Germaniac' is a stunning pulsating introduction but all falls flat when Jurgen Engler starts singing in somewhat forced 'American' accent (several upbeat pieces here suffer for the same reason). The follower 'Machineries of Joy' - now a well established (and to an extent just as pompous) rendition of the cult hit 'Wahre Arbeit Wahrer Lohn' in collaboration with Nitzer Ebb owes a great deal to its respective collaborators, with Douglas McCarthy's vocals reigning supreme. Too bad, Paul Kendall's more stripped down "True Work" mix of the song wasn't included here instead, providing the very original with a more appropriate update (the latter available elsewhere, on the "Machineries of Joy" single release).'Gladiators' appears as a demo version which is odd, as it is way more daring and adventurous than the utterly anemic, official album version. And while "Gladiators" serves as the ideal bridge to 'Risk' and 'Your Voice', the two songs show too much ambition, trying hard to sound bigger than life but end up sounding laughable due to much recycling and imitation ("Your Voice" comes pretty close to Laibach, while "Risk" is almost "This Corrosion", both again marred by Engler's clumsy macho-deliveries).Ironically the second half of the compilation, heading towards the group's past (forward indeed) audibly shows where the true treasure's at - a brilliant and breathtaking two-minuter 'Goldfinger' delivered in a new version plus '2 Herzen 1 Rhythmus' and 'Tod & Teufel' show how much strength can be pulled out of a minimal arrangement. Same goes with the original 'Wahre Arbeit' clinging in your head and you just cannot get it out, while the rawest moment comes in the closing noise-suite, with interesting "industrial" jazz flavour - conceived around a menacing bass, drums and guitar, 'Stahlwerksynfonie's (their debut official release) only fault is the absence of completion, being so mercilessly cut off at the very end. In total, if you need a proper introduction to Die Krupps, look no further - in any other case, their early masterpiece album 'Volle Kraft Voraus' serves as another great introduction (as most part of it pleasantly informs this compilation anyway).