Einsturzende Neubauten – Alles Wieder Offen

Einsturzende Neubauten – Alles Wieder Offen / 2007 Virtual / 10 Tracks / http://www.neubauten.org /

Einsturzende Neubauten is one of those acts that have been high on my list to check out for years, but I have not had a chance to listen to them until a copy of “Alles Wieder Offen” came to me. For those individuals that are similarly ignorant about Einsturzende Neubauten, the band came together in 1980 in West Berlin. “Alles Wider Offen” is the 11^th full length album for the band, and the band starts off incredibly strongly. The disc’s first track is “Die Wellen”, and its short runtime is punctuated through the increasingly encompassing piano, linked with an agitated set of vocals. While the track is very rough and craggy, the act is able to bring some serious harmony to the track.

This is due to the fact that the act is able to stick with a set of arrangements and ride them until the track finally gives out. Einsturzende Neubauten take a completely different track with “Nagorny Karabach”, a sedate type of track that only links up with “Die Wellen” in the sense that Einsturzende Neubauten creates a full atmosphere for the track in the space of seconds. Despite the fact that the second half of the disc contains longer tracks (“Unvollstandigkeit is 9 minutes and “Ich Warte” is over 6 minutes), Einsturzende Neubauten are able to make a compelling album throughout. The slightly tribal side of “Weil Weil Weil” stands out nicely as a counterpoint to the industrial and electronic sound that Einsturzende Neubauten has placed on “Alles Wieder Offen” in droves. The harmonies that made both “Die Wellen” and “Nagorny Karabach” so memorable is continued during “Weil Weil Weil”.

The disc’s title phrase operates as the glue that holds the distinct movements that are present during the track. What results is yet another in a string of odd but absurdly catchy tracks. “Ich Hatte Ein Wort” is a slower track that eschews much in the way of funky percussion, but inserts a quieter, almost Cat Stevens-type of subtlety in the vocals. Each track showcases another facet of this veteran band, while continued listens to the disc will undoubtedly show things previously left unfound. The act has been around for nearly thirty years, and is still able to come up with a stellar album.  “Alles Wieder Offen” makes me want to go and search out more of Einsturzende Neubauten’s back catalog. Give the disc a go at your earliest convenience.

Top Tracks: Von Wegen, Susej

Rating: 8.5/10