Faust IV

Faust IV is fine, but I think Faust Five is the best in the Faust and the Furious franchise.

I'm an advocate for weirdness in music. The easiest thing in the world is to listen to conventional mainstream music that is pleasant enough, but boring and not conducive to thought or real feeling. Some of the best musicians know what's pretty and conventional, but push against those boundaries in ways that are surprising, amusing, and occasionally unsettling. Faust IV by Faust does all these things. On this album, the band dabbles with a variety of styles, sounds, noises, textures. The band uses dissonance as just another tool in their box. They utilize twisty, distorted guitar and keyboards, tin pan alley style piano, random instruments as needed, and a lot of other beeps, blips and noise. They're both reminiscent of the previous decade's psychedelia and forward looking to ambient and electronic genres yet to come. The vocal style is both detached and whimsical at the same time. Lyrics are minimal and occasionally surreal. They are probably intended as ironic and mostly for texture and effect. But if you read the actual lyrics there are some oddly violent moments. The song lengths might seem daunting, but most of these songs are progressive in structure, by which I mean they wander and ramble from one style into the next. So a 7+ minute song like "Giggy Smile" actually feels like three shorter compositions. It's a great method, allowing the band to experiment with a lot of techniques, instrumentation and dissonance, without it ever being too tiring on the ear. Fave Songs: The Sad Skinhead, Giggy Smile, Krautrock, Jennifer

Made my cat freak out

What fascinating noise. Never heard of these guys before and this was amazing.

Krautrock. I was so excited to learn about this genre. That is, until I listened to it. Part way through the first track I  labelled this electronica for boring people and decided their following  must be from Frankfurt rather than Berlin. I liked Track 2 and became hopeful. Alas, track 3 reminded me that hope is the lowest form of consciousness. The only other song I liked was the last one. Oh well. Happy Easter Skinheads --

That's amazing album. Don't think i could ever found it without tgis list! Pure jewel

Alot of werid shiut but pretty awesome

I started out interested, but then every track seemed to be a repetitive drag. When I would find a track I liked, it would devolve into some extremely annoying sounds.

I'm generally obsessed with all things Krautrock, but I've always found Faust a little harder to get into than the other major groups in this most loosely defined genre. And I think that's partially by design. They were intentionally making music that was difficult to pin down or put in any sort of box. Granted, most Krautrock bands were doing the same thing to a certain extent, trying to find something beyond UK/US influenced rock imitations, finding their own sound, etc. But Faust took it one step further. They were more like a conceptual practical joke of sorts. Something akin to what The Sex Pistols became. A mythic stunt that was pulled off for as long as they could get away with it. There was a certain amount of emperor's new clothes going on, especially at first, but there was also some unbridled experimentation that was truly inspiring. Although I'm not completely sold on some of the albums that preceded this one, as they are a little too chaotic and unfiltered, even for me, this album is easily their finest, and most cohesive, achievement. And right before they imploded too - or the label execs finally got that the joke was on them, and they weren't laughing anymore, and pulled the plug. It's almost as if Faust knew they needed to get their act together or else the gravy train was gonna stop, but it was too late. They shaped up as much as they could, but they were still just a bunch of weirdos and couldn't help themselves. On this album they have much more in common with other major krautrock bands of the era by aligning more to hypnotic and repetitive grooves, and also incorporating more electronic elements. Both things that strongly attract me to the sound. Listen to this and remember that this was considered "selling out" compared to their earlier material! Ha! To me this is where they finally hit their stride, and found a healthy balance between their experimental quests and a rhythmic/melodic accessibility.

Krautrock may just be the longest single ive ever heard at nearly 12 mins. I cant say it was a particular standout either. It felt long just for the sake of being long. Very repetitive. Now it was quite a jump in style betweenh Krautrock and sad skinhead. One i wasnt prepared for. I think the change in style sums this album up. It didnt know what it wanted to be. Top tracks - The first 4.30 mins of jennifer before it goes whacky. Overall, this was a truly awful album in my honest opinion. Hopefully it inspired something better.

4.6 - It starts off inauspiciously - just a couple of shaggy guitars, one in the foreground and one way in the back, a little playful organ and some tambourine. That goes on for about 12 minutes, trance-like. Not unpleasant but not impressive. "The Sad Skinhead" sounds like a Beatles-Zappa jam written and played spontaneously in someone's dressing room between sets. From there, the album launches into a swirly stratosphere. "Jennifer" has this bouncy bass-line that somehow grounds and elevates the entire arrangement before the song turns into a calm ocean of smeared colors. "Giggy Smile" is another extended jam with lots of staccato, which ends abruptly breaking the fifth wall as you hear the musicians conversing in German. "Lauft..." descends into some crazy machine-like click-clacks midway through before turning into an ambient Moog drone. "It's a Bit of a Pain" channels Brian Eno, taking a pretty acoustic ballad and blitzing it with electronic gurgles and guitar squeals.

Long and weird, but it was a good listen.

Never listened to any krautrock before, but I might just have to start adding some to my frequent listening library.

It ain’t that good

Das war Scheiße, ich ärgere mich jetzt.

An unpleasant listen

Not my jam. I’ve gone on the record many times saying I don’t like extra long songs, and generally speaking, lyrics are what sell me on a song. So… this album didn’t do much for me personally.

This was… noise. Did I need to be on drugs to enjoy this? It wasn’t good.

Did not like this at all. Songs were too long, and not even good to boot.

Painful

p297. 1973. 1 star. A double album of tedious hippy German electronica with +10 minute tracks? Fuck no.

So unbelievably boring

Just no. I don’t know what I was expecting but probably just something better. Kind of boring kind of weird- unexciting.

I really thought I would like this. I'm a fan of noise punk, so it wasn't to do with the chaos and experimental nature - something about the rhythm and vibe here stressed me out!

Didn't enjoy this one, which is disappointing as the last krautrock album (NEU) was great. This was just a bunch of noise. The best of the bunch was 'The Sad Skinhead', as it was a bit more 'normal'/palatable in style.

Awful, awful, awful. Easily up there as one of the worst things Germans did in the 20th century.

Pure shite, unless you're full on out of your scone tripping on acid.

I hated this. It felt like the album was actively trying to get me to stop listening to it.

Makes me think of the ending to that series, Heimat. The village of old loses its charm to modernist architecture, there are those Vietnamese kids, and the bastard son gets money from his clueless adoptive father to make shit electronic music

Oh look. Another album where somehow 5 good ideas translated into an hour and 15 minutes of noise... Cool.

I walked into Faust IV expecting the worst, especially since I tend to be very anti-experimental psychedelic ‘70s rock, and Faust had that stink all over it. And I’ll be honest, the 11 minute droning of “Krautrock” was not initially selling me. But then, “The Sad Skinhead” was such a pivot, a left turn into a clearing. Sure, it’s a goof, but it was the exact amount of levity I needed after the weight of the opening track. To then follow that up with one of the most gorgeous songs I’ve ever heard in “Jennifer,” though? That’s when it all started to click. Faust IV continues on like this, pump faking its next move and shadow boxing with a new genre before it’s even finished its fight with the last genre. At times, it is pioneering electronic synths to be as obnoxious as possible, and at other times it has the sincerity of a hippy-era acoustic love song, and sometimes, those things happen in the same song. Normally, this sort of eclecticism is not for me, especially not in such a chaotic soup. But there’s such a playful and sincere charm to Faust! I think it helps that they’re clearly playing *below* their skill level, which inherently means it’s a little more accessible and a little less progressive. It’s also clear that the band is just having fun, which adds to the goofs, sure, but also makes the serious parts feel more potent. While I still know I need to give Faust IV a while to grow on me, I already know I enjoy it top-to-bottom, and would be happy to listen to it both actively and passively. I wouldn’t be surprised if it rises to the top of my 5-stars after more time with it. Influential, sure, but more importantly, fun, and that’s what I want most out of the music I enjoy.

Mesmerizing 11-minute drone rock opener, but the best section is Picnic on a Frozen River with its driving bass and weird, swirling melodies followed by the charming Giggy Smile. Great ambient sounds on Lauft, I could listen to a whole album of just this. 50 years old and still sounds futuristic.

This album felt like two brothers fighting over the radio on a road trip. That intro song blew me away. Give or take every instrumental I was here for and songs with vocals weren't bad but weren't hitting me the same way. I'll revisit select songs.

I was pretty surprised at how much I enjoyed this album. Krautrock is a genre I have never actually heard of, let alone listened to. The production is somewhat lo-fi but also very listenable. The instrumentation is drone like and hypnotising. The vocals are purposefully rough, which is a good thing for the purpose of this album, give the album its unique vibe. It is a really good album, I will be listening to it again for sure. FAVORITE SONGS: - Giggy Smile - Jennifer - Lauft...Heisst Das Lauft Oder Es Kommit Bald..Lauft (that was a mission to type out) - It's A But Of A Pain 4/5

Most pieces are in the mold of guitar-ambient, executed by Krautrock experts. Touches of the rural and the weird and plain old songwriting keep things fresh. Not many words here, but plenty of material to sit with.

Four stars  An album which still holds its own many years after it was released, as bizarre (and wonderful) as it is, and an essential listen for anyone interested in experimental or groundbreaking music from the seventies. The only problem is that, contrary to other important names in that genre and era (Can obviously comes to mind here), it's not always an easy listen when you're going through this record in one take. One can even argue that some tracks are just weird just for the sake of being weird. That being said, it would be unfair to dismiss the *whole* of Faust IV, since there are also many moments on it that are mesmerizing, groovy, fun, mysterious, and even strangely addictive after several listens. The variety of surprising textures and arrangements displayed is a huge plus, navigating between rock, jazz, proto-techno and proto-punk still sounding as fresh and original as it did in 1973, as many other reviewers here pointed out ("proto" means part of the record is oddly prophetic of sounds to come). If only for this, it's a worthwhile listen, even if you'll never come back to it again. There's not much I can add that I feel could be relevant and interesting. Faust IV is for anyone who has even a remote interest in krautrock. Heck, it even seems they invented the term themselves with the name of the first track. A sure sign it's an essential listen. Number of albums left to review or just listen to: 966 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 14 (including this one) Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 7 Albums from the list I will *not* include in mine (as I think many others are more important): 11  Albums I might not be able to judge (some might end up on my final list but it's because I recognize how culturally important they are): 2

While the album linked to in Spotify has the year 2006, which is entirely believable, this is actually an album released in 1973. Remarkably experimental even by today's standard in 2022, it is a sincere case of a band sounding way before their time. Elements of Gorillaz, Radiohead, and the quirkiness of Beck are triggered comparisons, lending even more surprise that this was from the 70s. Overall, the album is actually really nice. Musically, the guitars are out front, melody and rhythm lack the repellent sounds and chaotic disarray of trance, or psychedelic compositions. Faust sounds like they are having fun, and their ability to groove is worthy of note.

Well that was way more fun than expected! Will definitely revisit later. I don’t even know where to place it, other than in my playlists

Pretty good.

This was fine while I was listening to it, but I can’t say that any of the songs really stuck with me. Wouldn’t mind listening again in the future though.

Decent album. I listened to Faust - I before and I liked this more than that. 3/5

I've never really understood what "Krautrock" is, and to be honest I'm not smarter after listening to this album. Is it just slower rock with some psychadelic and electronic elements...? Anyways, it was a good album! I think this fits me quite well. Not all songs had the same quality level to them, but there were a few gems like 'Picnic On A Frozen River, Deauxieme Tableux', 'Jennifer', 'Just A Second (Starts Like That)'. I found it really hard to decide whether this was a 4 or 3. But in the end I think there are a bit too many tracks that doesn't really do anything or enough, like 'Lauft...', or even the first song 'Krautrock', for it to a 4. Strong 3 it is!

Nr. 176/1001 Krautrock 2/5 (3x) The Sad Skinhead 3/5 Jennifer 2/5 (2x) Just A Second 2/5 Picnic on a Frozen River 2/5 Giggy Smile 3/5 Lauft... 2/5 It's A Bit of a Pain 2/5 Average: 2,18 Not as abrasive as I thought it would be. Still not really my thing.

I love the phrase "krautrock", because it calls to mind the delicious image of a bunch of beefy Bavarian bros with gorgeous hair and mustaches jamming at a backyard BBQ where the beer and wurst are abundant and the tunes are rad as hell. The awkward nerdy reality a krautrock isn't half as sexy as my fantasy. But I suppose I can make do with it.

At first, I thought it was a Feist album, maybe I'd mis-remembered her name. Then I noticed that the first 12 minute song (described as a "drone-based instrumental") was called Krautrock and realized it wasn't our great Canadian folk-chick. I'd give it a higher mark if they stuck to their drone-based roots without the frequent forays into industrial noises, distortion, and cricket chirps. And the grating guitar solo in "A bit of a pain" is way more than a "bit" of a pain.

What a fascinating funky piece of music. I was expecting something along the lines of Rammstein. Not sure what I exactly got here. A couple earworm type songs. Not much else.

The worst thing I can say about an album is, "I think I could have done that".

Mid

Repetitive garbage

Just a lot of noise for most songs... especially the first which never led to anything. Even the tracks that are "songs" stretch on for too long. Nothing exciting or very enjoyable.

This album actually gave me anxiety and stress, I was more calm after the songs were over. To me this was a lot of noise and not a ton of musicality.

Ich Ben ein Berliner! Just trrbl...

Irritating, abrasive noise. Offers me nothing.

I gave it a chance... But kinda fucking sucks

first of the the first song was 11 minutes long ... too long ... also it was just a lot of noise

yes A+ Grooby Kraut

Rastaraaaaaaaaaaaa

High quality Krautrock record. Very talented musicians playing Freeform rock has always been the best.

Just now learning that this genre is called Krautrock after having already listened to Neu! and Kraftwerk. This definitely lands in the middle, where I loved Kraftwerk while Neu! was less interesting to me. The Sad Skinhead amd Giddy Smile are awesome, while Jennifer and Just a Second drag on way too long. They still sound pretty nice however, remind me of something that would be in Twin Peaks. Really enjoyed this an learning about a new genre.

This is one of those records that was so broadly influential that it’s impact is impossible to measure. Literally, entire genres of music would not exist, if it were not for this. It sounds like the inside of my brain.

Mityczny album, audialny labirynt – momentami transowy i przestrzenny, momentami hałaśliwy i nieprzewidywalny. Peak płytka, dla takich albumów warto bawić się w tą listę. 5

This was one of those albums where I recognized a lot of songs but finally put a name to them. Fun album

myyttinen bändi. ehkä myyttisin koskaan? saksalaiset ne osaa. rehtiä kansaa rehtiä.. nyt pitää kyllä yksi asia kertoa teille kaikille: Hapankaali on kaalista maitohappokäymisen avulla valmistettava elintarvike, jota voi syödä sellaisenaan tai käyttää ruoanvalmistuksessa. Hapankaali sisältää vain vähän energiaa mutta paljon C-vitamiinia, entsyymejä, koliinia ja asetyylikoliinia. Maitohappokäymisen ja runsaskuituisuutensa vuoksi se on vatsaystävällistä. Joidenkin lähteiden mukaan hapankaali sisältää myös B12-vitamiinia, mutta tämä tieto on nykyään kiistanalainen. JA MITEN EI VOI TIETÄÄ??????? tiede taas epäonnistuu? krautrock

This is one of those records that was so broadly influential that it’s impact is impossible to measure. Literally, entire genres of music would not exist, if it were not for this. It sounds like the inside of my brain.

This was a rare treat. I loved the longer, instrumental, drone-adjacent tracks. The simpler tracks were okay, but not anywhere near as awe inspiring. There's a lot of bands I like that have obviously borrowed heavily from Faust, like Spacemen 3 for example. I also felt like some of the more space rock tracks sounded a little bit like early Hawkwind, who released in Search of Space a couple of years before this came out. Overall, it felt like four stars wasn't quite enough, so this album gets the full five stars.

Absolute klassieker. Wat een album. Tijdens mijn ‘muzikale ontdekkingstocht’ een aantal jaar geleden kwam deze ook voorbij, en heeft toen wel veranderd wat ik van muziek dacht. Ieder nummer is een parel erop, en sindsdien verliefd op krautrock.

This is correct

You can't make music like this if yoy don't believe in it. Suuuper experimental and they explore a lot of different sounds too. Not just looping! (Though there is ppenty of that too) The ending is genius, the really soft stuff after the batshit explorations of the rest of the album was so effective. Only downside is that weird sound in Just a Second which made my brain want to turn inside out

Bursting through the surface with a raw, frenzied energy, Faust IV sets out to obliterate any preconceived notions as to what German music could be. Their most accessible outing after plenty of gimmicky gags and bewildered confusion, almost every song on here can be considered a Krautrock (hehe) staple from the motorik rumble of Krautrock itself to the serene Jennifer, the time-passing Giggy Smile and the rather funny Sad Skinhead. Overall, Faust IV is a great introduction to the madness that was the first incarnation of Faust.

Krautrock legends never shy to be true to their sound. I gave serious consideration to put the song Jennifer on my wedding playlist but I talked myself out of it.

a really cool record. never have ever heard of faust before this but i was blown away by how creative i found this record. very noisey, but not offputtingly so. but it ebbs and flows, sometimes there is a lot of noise, and sometimes it subsides so that you can hear a really great 70s rock record. very neat. sounds great. i'm so glad i got to hear this one!

Ahead for its time, amazing sounds, 5 stars

This is dope

This scratched an itch I didn't know I had. The chaos at the end of Just a Second felt like it was tickling/massaging my brain.

Crazy sounds - mostly acoustic but I loved it.

"Krautrock" begins here. Not because this is first German "Rock" band or anything like that. No, the first song on this album is called "Krautrock"; Julian Cope named his legendary mixtape/CD/vinyl of German Psychedelic-Progressive music, and, the intrinsic critical boner in those days was to coin a genre, even if it was specious and utter bullshit (see Grunge; see New Wave), and so, the term stuck. 1971 was kinda the rebranding year for psychedelic music into Progressive Rock. In the mid 60s, progressive rock was the tag on the emerging album artists, or people who were considered very far out. The Velvet Underground. The Mothers. The Fugs. Jefferson Starplane. Jerry Bear and his Merry Bearsters. The West Coast got re-branded as Acid Rock. The East Coast as Art Rock. Sometimes, correctly, all were considered "psychedelic", which is phenomenologically true if it's ever been personally, pharmakologically true, as is everything in compass between (Stooges, Funkadelic, MC5, 13th Floors, *gasp* Alice Cooper Group--I dare you. Remember: I like to be disturbed). Over yonder, a similar process occurred. Basically, it was Barrett Pink Floyd and Soft Machine pushing the far out, the former proceeding to space, and the latter, strange pastoral vibrations. These, of course, are not absolute statements. From this, Hawkwind went full sci-fi; Yes and ELP went orchestral. The latter would keep the "Progressive" label--showy virtuosity, songs with movements, lyrics about whatever the fuck they were going on about. Hawkwind became "Space Rock". Pink Floyd transcended to cinematic. And naturally, between, disturbance in the form of the Deviants, the Pink Faeries, and various incarnations of what would become heavy metal. Unto to itself in this constructed psychedelic duopoly, the freakiest shit in England was not space but not pastroral, virtuosic but not showy, all angular damage: King Crimson. Weird ramalama, poetic lyrics, feedback and ray-gun sound effects, good on and off drugs, existing as a giant "fuck you" to rampantly enforced nice. Crimson were not nice. We freaks thank you And, in Germany, they took these basic English tools and set about crafting the shit crazier than Crimson. What happens when the pharmakon creeps into a counter-culture that previously did not exist because actual NAZIS ran your country, and any historical Counter-Culture touchstones had been gassed out of existence? You have to start making shit up, that's what. And the German bands looked west, grabbed the good stuff, and decided, well, to be German. Can Tago Mago, which I endorsed as truly Freaky shit is one example, grabbing the VU and electric Miles Davis to create music funky enough to move to, if you don't need to be hand held into Dead Patchouli Spun Torpor. These psychedelic freaks are both like Can and definitely not like Can: The Beatles are in the entree on "Just a Second" and "Giggy Smile". Paul Walrus "Ob bla Di" echoes through the "Sad Skinhead" if Paul had been more serious about drugs and reggae, and if the lyric was about meatheaded bootboys. Donovan vibrations animate "Jennifer" if Donovan was more serious about drugs and into the VU. Bowie and Eno learned a lot here. The titular opus, birthing a genre title, "Krautrock" is trip--imagine a Barrett Floyd/VU mutant, pulsating to proto-motorik, attempting to move like machine,but still sentient minimal: Interstellar Cyborg Sister Ray. Simply Saucer would achieve little success but my undying loyalty, doing some serious Stooges damage on this idea a few years later on planet Canada. This and "Lauft" are the most Can like,weird, art projects but still more tuneful, less primeval. Epic shit. Full stop. If this critical exposition is still murky, I probably lost you at the Dead snark. If that wasn't the problem, I would suggest looking at the admirers: Bowie. Eno. Hawkwind. PiL. Bauhaus. John Cale. Julian Cope, who compiled the sampler, obviously. Killing Joke. All Industrial artists. EDM has some of this DNA. If you want noodly virtuosity, a la ELP, go elsewhere. Brass tacks: If you consider pre- Ambient Eno psychedelic, this is for you.

What is wrong with people? This is seriously good stuff- I can listen to this all day. It's very prog-like, repetitive, rocky too in places and hypnotic. These Germans are the synth-kings.....

Outstanding soundtrack for today's run through dappled woodland trails

This album is a love note to ADHD. Krautrock starts off being repetitive almost to the point of distraction... But then isn't. As a hyperactive child, I can imagine that this album would captivate me. From here on out, the album dances through genres and themes without a care, grappling the next distraction before it has even gotten halfway through the previous. If it does circle back (I'd have to listen again to check!) then it does so with a cursory nod, before darting off somewhere else again. I really enjoyed it as a far from hyperactive fortysomething.

Incredible, so many good tracks and the instrumental weirdness is awesome

I went into this one not expecting to enjoy it, however it was such a vibe! Need to check out the deluxe edition now as I just did the regular. Kept pulling me back in with a surprising beat or switch up mid song and kept my attention start to finish.

One of the quintessential Krautrock albums, and not a bad introduction to the genre for the uninitiated. It sits somewhere between the structured arrangements of someone like Cluster and the more jam oriented Amon Düül. Rightfully a classic.

Another fantastic kraut rock album by Faust and it even has the song Krautrock on it. The first songs are more drone rhythm founded and the second half of the album consists of more traditional rock songs.

I'm very familiar with their first album becuase it's one of the most insane and weird albums i've ever heard, and an easy 10/10 for me. Clearly I've been sleeping on this one though, despite hearing it a couple times in the past. The huge opening track is amazing, sucks you in with it's repetition. Then the rest follows suit, some wild stuff going on.

Ambient tech rock Oddly charming noise music Whimsical clanging

Very compelling. I'm almost overwhelmed. A+

This is a very strange listen… but I was fascinated. I enjoyed the wild ride. Bravo!

I wouldn’t blame anyone for hearing the name krautrock and immediately passing it off as something silly. Because it’s a silly name, and definitely warrants that reaction. I’ve only brought the genre up once in a conversation with someone before, and they laughed at the name. But all things considered, I have very little experience with it. Dots and Loops by Stereolab is one of my favorite albums ever, but that is less based in krautrock and more inspired by its central ideas. Really, Faust IV is the most defining album of the genre. And its titular opening track is sort of what pushed the genre to have its namesake. Just by putting that song on, it is made clear that this album is weird. I could see the experimental mixture of hypnotic rock music and avant garde electronics being off putting to most. If I had heard this maybe 6 months ago I might not have liked it very much. But I can’t help how creative that weirdness sounds, and how revolutionary this feels. This is experimental in all of the ways that experimental music is meant to be. And for a record released in the early 70s, this was pushing boundaries on a whole other level. This feels like the 20th century equivalent to Velocity : Design : Comfort by Sweet Trip. Two albums that could come out today, and still be praised for how futuristic and unique they are. This is one of those one of a kind records that makes me want to hear every other piece of krautrock ever made, just in case something manages to blow me away as much as this did. There were many moments of sheer joy, where all I could was smile and just laugh at how ridiculously good this is. This is valuable not only as an album, but as a listening experience for people who aren’t well versed in this kind of sound. Rating: 9/10

Very first album on this list where I was really pleasantly surprised. Apparently I didn’t know what krautrock was. Glad I do now. I immediately thought of Miles Davis and In a Silent Way, and on further research saw that Miles was a big influencer of these German artists. I also found myself thinking of King Gizzard. Great album. I’ll put this one on in the background again and again.

This is what I live for, or, this is the realm of musical sounds that brought me to a higher realm of living life. I love krautrock! I began as a prog rock kid, and then after listening to Kraftwerk, and later Can, I just dove head first into as much krautrock as I could access. This is better listening to me than punk, or new wave. No question, this earns 5+ stars from me.

Das Krautrock. Wide variety of songs

Krautrock is such a fascinating genre and this album is one of the classics. This album is rock heavy as opposed to other more electronic based Krautrock records though there is plenty of synth based sounds here. The songs are exploratory and take time to develop which is something I really enjoy. There are moments here which almost sound like jazz-rock fusion to me (Giggy Smile), and others more purely experimental that are more noise based. I haven't listed to other albums by Faust, but apparently this is one of their most accessible.

Great forward thinking kraut rock that is way ahead of the curve of what Bowie and eno would do later on in the decade.

A second listen of this album in the right mood and headspace opened my eyes to the hypnotic soundscapes that Faust creates. On a few songs you can feel the comfort of the main riffs while the accompanying cacophony rises and falls, which I thought was an interesting and effective way to convey an abstract concept through instrumentation alone.

Absolutely KILLER. More of these discoveries, please.

Not sure I understand what I'm getting here, but I think I like it. And I think it works as an album. Might try to look up earlier albums if I remember.

That's how the experimental music should sound like! Very good sound.

Loved it since I came across it in the 80s. Wildly experimental Krautrock pioneers. This is my personal favourite.

nice

Faust do seem to be on the weirder side of krautrock, most of this isn't what I'd consider 'traditional' krautrock, whatever that means, being as it is one of the most interesting, experimental and diverse genres in all of music. It's an incredible mine for early electronica and simply for ideas in general just thrown out there. The fantastic, signature, driving motorik beat is mostly absent here for example. I've only listened to their debut before and that was a mix of banging stuff (as in literally banging stuff together) mixed in with the sound of objects floating in water (although I might be confusing it with a track on Neu!'s debut). Much more of an emphasis on weird noises than on this album. I read later that Faust IV is considered a more accessible set from the band, which definitely appears to be true. Does raise a little wry smile seeing the people in the reviews dismissing the entirety of krautrock on the strengths of this one album. But hey ho. They don't seem to be a band who stick with one idea. Which is incredible and I applaud it. I can mostly skip the second track, but I love the development going on in 1 and 3 and elsewhere. Most of the time now I want to listen to stuff where I have no idea what's going to happen next. I know the second CD was different versions of the same songs, but I left it on, because they were very different!