Faust IV

keep that krautrock coming! love it.

Progressive German Synth Rock . Impressive and want to hear more of Faust .

I generally like krautrock so was excited to listen to this one, and although I enjoyed parts of the album, some of the songs with more discordant notes were a bit of a turnoff. The first three tracks were all pretty good though.

Mumbly.

Hmmmm. Never heard of this before. Need to hear it again to know if I like it….

Possibly the worst album of all time

Not my cup of Tea.

After listening to track one, I was discomforted by the thought this was Faust 4, implying there were at least three more. Subsequently, giving a fair listen to the other tracks, I appreciated the soundscaping but I can't ever imagine me saying this is what I want to listen to today

Not my first time hearing it and I freaking love this record

This was better than I was expecting. Not having to try to remember my three years of high school German was nice and unexpected. And the one German titled song was French. Krautrock at least on this album feels like the 80s landed in German far before they hit the US. I liked parts of it and others were a little too experimental than I care to listen to.

Nop

Not my kind of thing, no lo disfruté.

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

wow, this doesn't strike me as anything that would have come from the early 70s. Way ahead of its time. I'll be checking out more Faust.

Nothing here for me. Have no desire to listen to any of this again.

Let's get some brats up in here! 2.5/5

Not too shabby. Found myself groovin’ to Giggy Smile. 2.5.

Краут шо Надо

Completely experimental noise at first, but becomes a very warm and interesting listen after the first couple tracks.

pretty sweat

Psykedelisk rock, industriel stil, eksperimenterende

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.

Although I don't really find this music all that enjoyable -- just a bit too noisy and crashy for me -- it is impressive when I think how long ago they made this album. Not something I want to listen to again, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

An interesting one

Frick that was almost good

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.

couldn't finish

No los conocía siquiera pero vaya discazo, me encanta, se pueden escuchar sus referencias, y se puede escuchar claramente su influencia en mucha de la música que escucho hoy en día. Un sonido, un estilo y una producción particular, pero no dejan atrás del todo lo melódico. Un disco interesante y también entretenido.

Meira krautrock. Áhugavert að sumu leyti, pínu pirrandi stundum, einfalt en þó flókið. Reverbið fyrir allan peninginn.

This had a lot of interesting musical elements, but I personally don't have the attention span for a lot of 11-minutes songs.

Such a cool mix of poppy and experimental. I've always meant to give Faust a proper listen and I'm happy I have. Definitely need to seek out more of their stuff.

clumsy, droning and ultimately disappointing. some neat ideas, but nothing worth spending 45 minutes on

Welp, it's no Neu!, but i'll do! Listening to this Faust was more like allowing your ears to make an unsupervised visit to the Museum of American History, only in German.

I figured the opener, "Krautrock," would help me figure out what krautrock (the genre) is. So I hit play. And I waited. And waited... and waited... through too many minutes of weird feedback to be bothered to remember anymore. And I still don't know what krautrock is.

I like much of the music here, but oh my do the songs drone on and on. Cut what’s here down to 15 minutes max, and we can talk.

prefer me san and neu

Another band I've heard about a lot from smart hipsters "in the know." I know they are Krautrock but I never knew they were this organic sounding. Because I associate Kraftwerk with that genre even more - or, I should say, they are my sole entry point into the genre. So, by comparison this doesn't sound like the Krautrock I know. But that's totally ok. I like the human element here. And it's truly crazy to think this was released in 1973. Given it's timing and influence, it's getting a 4 as well. And because I genuinely enjoyed listening to it. I'm like Oprah today "You get a 4! You get a 4! You get a 4!" Oh well.

I don't know what "krautrock" is, but it sounds offensive. Like, the name is offensive, but it also "sounds" offensive. Overall, I don't like it. But - Jennifer was a cool song.

Repetitive garbage

Eh. I don’t know that I could appreciate it.

This had many interesting styles and constructs. I would have enjoyed discovering it earlier in life!

Never heard of krautrock, probably never going too again, repeated beats for 7 mins, not my jam

Nice bit of kraut rock

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.

I don't do shrooms but would need to if I were to listen to this again.

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...

This is a lot folksier than I remembered! Less robotic than you'd expect for krautrock, it's an unexpected delight.

Not for me

Hello, I was today years old when I learned that krautrock is not purely an electronic music genre. It turns out it's literally a rock genre, including guitars doing all that guitar can do. I was perhaps also expecting some sort of epic jam excursions but even the 11+ minute opening track was a pleasant easing into the album rather than a roadblock. I'm not sure if I'd ever listen to this again, but it's a good addition to consider in the history of music.

Not sure what to expect, but yikes

music noises

I think this album is playing with my emotions. It has moments of "yeah, I dig it" and then they destroy all that optimism. The Sad Skinnhead pulled this album up to a two-star review.

Irritating, abrasive noise. Offers me nothing.

I know nothing about this band going into this album. I dig the opening track "Krautrock." That word is a genre that I also admittedly know little about, other than how a favorite band of mine, King Gizzard, is often referenced as having Krautrock influences. From what I gather reading the short blurb about the band on Spotify, these guys were pioneers of the genre and in the development of "ambient and industrial textures" in rock music. Krautrock is a 12-minute drone track ambling on and building a steady driving inertia that's only elevated once the drums finally enter eight minutes in. It's a moody gritty train ride of a song. The next track, The Sad Skinhead is a different vibe. It's a short bouncy track with a punk-like edge. The Next song Jennifer is another strange one. Two lines of lyrics repeated over seven minutes, there's a hazy vibe and wobbly bass that gives the song a foggy drunk feeling before it too transitions into a drony atmospheric wash and then a tack piano phase. Moving through this album feels like stumbling home through the industrial district after getting faded at a pub. Its hard to categorize the album as any one thing however, because for every Picnic on a Frozen River, there's a track like Giggy Smile, which skews away from the avant-garde to more of a psychedelic-pop/rock vibe, before naturally, becoming something entirely different again.

S'ha de trobar el moment i les ganes per endinsar-s'hi en un disc que ja des del seu primer tema, una cavalcada sinuosa de sons i sorolls de gairebé un quart d'hora de duració i que donaria nom a tot el génere, deixar clar que això no és per qualsevol. Quan t'hi poses, trobes les gratificacions, sobretot en els temes que s'apropen més a la forma de cançó ('Jennifer', 'The Sad Skinhead') que en les experimentacions més rimbombants i estrafalàries (bàsicament, la resta del minutatge)

Krautrock ist eine Hörlücke bei mir. Von Faust habe ich noch nicht einmal namentlich was gehört. Das klingt so überhaupt nicht nach 1973!

No just no

People actually listen to this?

Electronic from 2006

Why is this

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

New band and new music for me. I'm not sure where to place this music. I enjoyed having a chance to listen to something new. "Krautrock" was a good introductory track, and there wasn't anything I dis-liked. "Giggy Smile" had some sections with saxophone that didn't quite work for me, and I would have skipped some of the background noise on "It's a Bit of a Pain". The album wasn't a clear favorite, but it was good enough that I'm curious what I might discover with a second listen.

First exposure to krautrock, and that first song "Krautrock" almost made me stop listening. The second song "The Sad Skinhead" was much better. The rest of the album wasn't bad and was semi-enjoyable, but not enough to make me say that I have to go purchase it or listen again. 3/5

No bad. Not great.

Cool to hear a genre spawned out of the culture of West Germany before the reunification. It's definitely not my thing, but I respect it.

Not bad. Not great. Not my thing. But some pretty good rock.

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

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

Good stuff!

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

Oh, I am surprised. I didn't finish the first song bc I thought it was boring and assumed the rest of the album would be boring too. But it's quirky. WOAH i just noticed how long these songs are. I like this but probably won't listen to it again

It's... interesting? Tracks are hit and miss, a few were pretty good, others not so much.

Forerunner of Krautrock movement that gave us CAN, Neu!, and Kraftwerk. Proceeds industrial music which would slowly develop over the next 2 decades. But for now, people are just playing with electronics making interesting but premature sounds. It's decent and enjoyable with experimental noise that dates ok. I like "Jennifer" but nothing else really sticks out.

Slightly wierd but I think I liked it

Felt like this album didn’t know what it wanted to be. Some times it had rock styles. Other times it was more jazz. Preferred the jazz songs most but overall it was a weird mix and never felt fluid. 4.3/10

Weird and wonderful

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.

Noise that slowly makes more and more sense over time

Got to be in the right mood, enjoyed it yesterday but didn't like it so much today

Yeah nahh

I knew about this Krautrock band. A mate in school had The Faust Tapes and I remember him talking about it in 1973(ish) Consequently, I can say that this album is way too commercial - I prefer the hardcore early stuff. Lol.

I found this really annoyingly repetitive and each track way too long.

Interesting. Don't love tho

Veoma talentirani krautrock izvođači, koje valja poslušati ako ulaziš u ovaj žanr.

I can't get enough of this one, so good!

Not really my thing...at all.

Most of it wasn't available on spotify

Decent album, interesting music, not something i would actively go out to listen to again. Wouldn't mind stumbling into it again.

It was ok.

No soy muy fanático del Krautrock. Es bien experimental, pero de repente es demasiado. Paso por esto.

I like this, but I’m trying to think how I would describe it. I would listen to this on psychedelics. Really loving when it gets more mellow.

Nope.

It's another one of the albums that seems like its on the list because of its influence. That being said, it was quite pleasant to have on in the background, I was expecting worse

Only listened once but found this a little boring. Don't really have a desire to come back to it

Saved Prior: None Off Rip: Krautrock, Jennifer, Giggy Smile Cutting Edge: None Overall Notes: Expected to hate this. Kinda loved it instead. The baseline on "Jennifer" is genuinely one of my favorite things I've ever heard. This album does do the thing where it randomly blasts you with an unlistenable sound for a bit, but I still enjoyed this. Also 1973?????? You could've told me this was a Radiohead side project and I would've believed you.

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 --

Instrumental jive punky panic Mario adventure

Never again.

good second half

Both liked and hated it

Surprisingly enojoyable

Albumik nieslyszany, nieznany, nazwa bardzo odpowiednia, moznaby sie doszukiwac nawiazac do Fausta Goethego, w tym materiale, praktycznie w calosci bedacy instrumentalnymi kompozycjami, chociaz jak dla mnie to wlasnie nie instruenty, ale efekty noise nadaja mu specyficzn klimat kosmicznej muzyki, bo tak ten album zostal sklasyfikowany gatunkowo, z niemieckiego krautrock, tak tez nazywa sie otwierajacy track prawie 12 minutowy, wokalu na albumiku jest niewiele, ale zdziwienie, bo zaspiewany jest naprawde szykownym angielskim, niektore kawalki maja wrecz psychodeliczny klimat jak picnic on the frozen river, nawet nazwa wskazuje, ze srogie piguly musialy brac udzial w tworzeniu albumika, jak dla mnie swietny i orginalny material, faust dolacza do sun ra w kategorii muzyki nie z tej ziemi

Like a bit of krautrock

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.

Hate songs about Nazis, but this was still cool

Agradable. Música musical, melódica, de ascensor. Un poco chill out

This is some dark Krautrock. Again you have to be in the mood and I wasn't.

de muy buen gusto el faust

Buenos elementos electrónicos

Too simple and kind of boring, it may have had some impact but as a listening experience I did not liked it

El "krautrock" era esto. Me recuerda los momentos más lisérgicos de Pink Floyd con Syd Barret o incluso los Genesis con Peter Gabriel. Interesante.

A cracking moody experimental german exploration. The genesis of the term "Krautrock". I don't like it as much as a lot of German rockers, especially Kraftwerk and Neu!

kinda have mixed feelings, good at some parts, not good at others

This type of music just does not hook me. Unobjectionable.

Pretty good krautrock. 6/10

weird, but i kinda liked it

Not my thing too experimental.

Long and weird, but it was a good listen.

good but i'd never listen to it on my own

Initial heavy music until I realized I was thinking of Feist. Baffling German noodle salad.

German kosmische musik is definitely not my style. The album has some fun moments but overall it's too weird for me.

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.

Alot of werid shiut but pretty awesome

Pretty good.

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

meh.

I enjoyed this, and particularly the 'noisy' elements. Probably not something I would choose to put on and actively listen to, but good background music.

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

Atmospheric

not a lot of of vocals, lots of experiment with sound. Not bad as background music while working on a project

Rock, mostly instrumental

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

Was alright, Looooong first track but ok.