Opus Dei

2

Next time I am Conjuring up holy holy demons this is the album I'll listen to

5

Finally, something with a personality, with a distinct atmosphere. I was surprised how much better is their version of Life is life and the rest could be a perfect soundtrack for a dystopian movie.

3

JA, JA, JA, JA! GET ME A LIGHT BEER. derbysieger. pros; 1- one of the best album covers i've ever seen 2- that voice. 3- turning europop into a rally. 4- Yogoslavian avant garde. cons; 1- you have to be in to medieval trumpets to get the most out of this album. 2 -realistically its a 3 track album and some fuck around arty shit. from now on if anyone asks me what music i am in to it will be 'Nationalistic avante garde industrial music created by yugoslavian dissidents'.

2

80s Rammstein w/cookie monster singing

3

The last 4 or 5 songs were really a drag to get though, but I found the A side to be more enjoyable. As a novice German-speaker, he's pretty easy to understand, found I could understand a good deal of it. So that was enjoyable. Not sure what I think of them though after reading about the group. Usage of Nazi iconography is pretty questionable, though I guess they were using it kind of subversively to point on the problems with state power under communism? Not sure that wears as well in 2021 post-Trump/alt-right era as it might have in 1987 behind the steel curtain.

5

Completely different from anything we've listened to so far. I wasn't completely unfamiliar with Laibach but, if I'd ever listened to this whole album, it was thirty years ago and I didn't remember all of it. I found it compelling, frightening, and funny, and spent the day falling down a Laibach rabbit hole. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm here for.

4

Feels at first like a very silly parody of a german metal album, but under the surface it's actually much more meaningful that you'd think. In perspective to how long they've come today, it's pretty amazing I've never heard of them before. Also the wagnerian influences are amazing. Actually a 4...

3

For the first three songs I thought this would be a nailed on five. There’s something stirring about the combination of a relentless marching beat and campy synths overseen by what can only be described as the voice of a coalmine turned animate. It’s surprisingly catchy and surprisingly playful and exactly the sort of album that should be here because it’s so cocobananas that you have to listen to it. It definitely loses some oomph as the doom/authoritarian cosplay wears thin. Still, worth the journey.

1

Ironic fascism but questionable how much irony.

1

This is a joke, right? It sounds like a homemade backtrack, in the style of the Princess Bride soundtrack, for a recruitment VHS for the secret society of neckbearded katana enthusiasts. It evokes mental images of quick cuts between scenes of swords slicing halfway through 2-liter bottles of mountain dew, and dudes with fedoras bowing. Honestly, the music itself doesn't have much to offer and I can't really think of what impact this band had on the history of music that would merit suggesting this is something that anyone has to hear in their lifetime. If anything, I'd suggest it's quite the opposite.

he sounds like kermit the frog

3

Because I am a purist, I only listened through track 8 (The Great Seal) because that was where the original 1987 LP ended. As far as I am concerned, there is no longer any other music. This is the only music I will listen to forever and ever. This isn't sarcasm. It is a speech impediment. Especially when you read it out loud.

3

Well this is really not an album I was expecting from this list. Am I glad to have heard it? Yes. Can I see where it might have been influential? Also yes. Does it hold up as good music? Kinda. Sometimes. There are some highly repetitive noise tracks in this and they properly start to grate after a while. Not having read any user reviews yet, I'm almost entirely sure that there will be a swathe of 1-star "terrible"s, but there something here. The militarism is difficult to get past. I don't know if it's genuine or a pisstake, and am almost reluctant to look into it. Will I be listening to this again? Heck no. Though I do reserve the right to play people German language Queen covers from time to time.

3

My first album from the bottom ten. An album with such a status naturally generates apprehension, a fear that one is due for an hour of the absolutely unlistenable. It also naturally generates some pre-emptive affection, some desire to look kindly upon the underdog. Me, I like to think I've a steely spine and resilient eardrums, so I'm not phased by an album purporting to be tricky. Laibach are a Slovenian group associated with the Neue Slowenische Kunst, a Slovenian art collective formed in 1980 in what was Yugoslavia during the Cold War. Tending towards industrial and neoclassical music, Laibach frequently employs authoritarian, mechanistic and militaristic themes and imagery. This in turn has led to accusations of bad taste and dodgy political sentiments (it's not at all hard to find Laibach wearing ersatz SS uniforms minus the swastikas). I would say that it's pretty clear that Laibach belong with the firm left rather than anything right-wing (they have occasionally used works by the anti-Nazi dadaist John Heartfield on their record sleeves). I shall also mention that Laibach, as part of NSK, has formed their own country without borders, and issues passports to whoever requests them; during the breakup of Yugoslavia, some people managed to use these unofficial passports to escape the region and the violence. Anyway, on to Opus Dei. From the off, one can detect a dadaist leaning in their choice of songs they choose to adapt: Opus' Live is Life and Queen's One Vision (in Geburt einer Nation). Live is Life, that persistently naff 80s package holiday anthem beloved by mulleted Teutons and lobster-red tourists, occurs twice on the album as a harsh marching anthem with collectivist, dominative lyrics, but both times it just comes off as a comical cover of Live is Life, akin to a thrash metal take on Baby One More Time. Likewise, Geburt einer Nation just seems a suitably camp metal version of One Vision, despite the implications of an unsympathetic lyrical reading of the Queen song (one may draw an unpleasant parallel between "one man, one soul, one mission" and "Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Führer"). The rest of the album (or rather, the rest of the vinyl edition of the album, more on that later) maintains this humorous, theatrical air and, for all its purported harshness, can be easily treated as an elaborate gag. Thus, your appreciation of the album may depend on how funny you find it. Personally, whereas it's not quite that I found the joke wearing thin, I wasn't bent double, gasping for air through the spasmic laughter. The CD version of Opus Dei featured a bonus of 4 tracks from their soundtrack album Baptism, and that's what I came here for. Devoid of Opus Dei's attempted satire, the uncompromising stamp of the last four mesmerises, successfully demonstrating the morbid, noisome allure of the despotic and warlike. With the bonus material, it appears that Laibach remembered that if you're going to be an industrial band, you shouldn't be coy about it. So, three stars for the album in total, the full five for the last four.

2

I had to look up the translation for Opus Dei. Apparently, it’s latin for “two stars”.

1

WTF

1

No thanks.

1

Thank God this is over.

5

Uhhhhh… what am I listening to? More importantly, why am I enjoying it so much? This is utterly wackadoodle and I’m loving it! “Leben heißt Leben” seemed vaguely familiar. I did not expect the guitar solo, but it works well. The discordant ending is incredible! When “Geburt einer Nation” and “Opus Dei” came on I definitely knew the songs. Turns out a friend shared them with me on a mix tape many decades ago. I never followed up on the whole album. Queen’s “One Vision” works incredibly well sung by a Muppets-Animal sound-alike to a martial beat. The vocal delivery is delightful and the song quite danceable! Is this something I’ll listen to often? Who cares?! It’s unique. Crazy. Dramatic. Lumbering. Cinematic. Dark. It was strangely suited for listening to while I work… I really love this album!

5

Il s'agira sans doute de ma note la plus étonnante au sein de cette escroquerie de générateur, mais j'ai bel et bien passé un moment d'anthologie en compagnie de ces Slovènes germanophones. De l'arrivée des chars d'assaut à la plantation du drapeau sur le territoire ennemi, je me suis tout simplement régalé bien qu'étant de nature non-belligérante. La seule personne que j'avais tabassé dans ma vie jusqu'alors était Robert. Or, depuis cet album, je ne compte même plus le nombre de personnes laissées en knock-out sur ma route. Comme quoi…

3

No idea where I actually land on this one. Things I like, things I don't, so rating right in the middle.

2

Sounds like music you play in an 80s movie when the Soviet’s are up to no good. Interesting if not really my thing. Enjoyed the queen cover. 2/5

1

Truly awful.

1

Incredibly difficult to get through. There are some musical aspects to this, but it sacrifices those moments for the sake of art. That being said, I don't like the art.

1

Just a slog to get through. Repetitive and uninteresting. Really disappointed in this one.

1

Garbage

1

I feel like I just listened to an hour of nazi propaganda

1

Well that was awful

1

Hard pass.

1

what the fuck

1

Horrifically bad, sounds like a Slovenian exorcism, and an unsuccessful one.

1

Oh hell no

1

Nope

1

Vert der ferk?

5

I used to like this when I was younger. Haven't listened to it in a while, but I'm happy to say I still like it.

5

I was intimidated by the looks of this album, but I had a great time listening. I wonder if I missed the point, though, because I had a difficult time taking it seriously. Nonetheless, I totally dug it!

5

The tracks "Opus Dei" and "Geburt einer Nation" were in heavy rotation on my friends' and my college-era mixtapes. I loved the subversive take on pop music. There may have been some very exuberant sing-alongs with the former. Listening to this album for the first time, I was a bit surprised to hear "Leben Heißt Leben" since it's an entirely different version of the song I'd known. (By the way, I knew neither of those previously mentioned songs by their proper titles. Not everyone was good about writing proper song titles and artists on their mixtapes in the 80s, which was a pet peeve of mine.) But it was delightful, and the "proper" version of "Life is Life" was thankfully still there as well. I'd love to write a proper review of this and more specifically why I love it. Suffice it to say that I think it's magnificent. We needed this desperately in 1987.

5

Different - and crucially fun - it's almost like a pop record rather than the metal it's presented as. 4.6

5

Incredibly cinematic. I think this album is vital after listening to it, and I would argue that this obviously inspired several other projects (Rammstein feels like an obvious one, but stuff like Sigur Rós and other atmospheric projects definitely seem to have similar lineage musically). Either way, this is an album that I think everyone should digest at some point.

5

There have been just a very small handful amount of albums that has jarred me so hard in a good way. This was one of those albums. This album is so unique and very engaging. This gives me hope that one day Rammstein will pop up on this list. Laibach is fantastic and I am now a fan. 5! TBz 1. Leben Heist Leben 2. Opus Dei 3. Gebert Einer Nation 4. Leben - Tod 5. Herz-Felde

5

Everyone's favourite avant-garde Slovenian art rock band, right? Honestly, this fucking rules. Taking the dumbest dogshit song by Austrian no-hopers Opus and covering it - twice? Turning Queen's 'One Vision' into a mock blood-and-soil military march? Finishing up with a quote from Churchill? Superb. Wish more bands had the guts to do something quite as cerebral and satirical as this. Maybe Devo, maybe the Residents. Points the way towards what popular music could be.

5

These guys rock so hard. The album has industrial; it has art, all with an underneath of satire.

5

Like a soundtrack to 1984. Utterly bizarre but yet fantastic.

5

the exact type of band (and album) which makes me really happy we started this project — dadaist yugoslavian industrial music including a queen cover (and they also did a full album that’s just industrial covers of the beatles’ let it be???? more please). just incredible all around. viewed as an art piece, it’s one of the best i’ve ever seen. it’s also pretty listenable!

5

Rating this a five, not because I think every song on it is great but because I really the vibe the whole album puts out.

5

This is an album and band that's MEANT to make you feel uncomfortable. Not sure why this is marked as metal/hardrock though. Have you ever wondered how much Queen's "One Vision" seemingly shares a lot of similarities to certain 1930 speeches when translated into German? (Ein Mensch, Ein Ziel, Eine Erde und ein Volk!) Have you ever thought what would happen if you REALLY listen to the lyrics of Opus' 'Life is Life' and put it into a Nietzschean / Wagner type style, complete with a campy totalitarian aesthetic? Laibach is disturbing, thought-provoking and unsettling. And it's supposed to be. And a band that's worth listening more of. Albums like Spectre, Kapital or Wir Sind Das Volk are fully worth it.

5

hilariously moving, perfectly constructed, heavier than heaven

4

Cool album big sounds, catchy first song. 1st non English album on the list I've had and I'm impressed

4

I've enjoyed it. Some of them were fun, some really intense.

4

this feels like the soundtrack to some epic sci fi film where im the king of the world[s] and winning everything that is happening. an experience truly listening to this wow the amount of scenarios in my head is making little ideaist me happy

4

surprisingly good. Seemed also a bit like Duran Duran melodies

4

73. Oh, que majestosa criação, a da autoridade! Morra a anarquia, pim! MotA: Opus Dei "Leben heisst leben"

4

Beyond badass

4

"an avant-garde industrial parody on totalitarianism"...yea alright, why not

4

i hated the first few minutes.... but actually it really grew on me. then when i read more about the group i found myself liking it more and more. i went back after the day and listened to it again.

4

Oh my. This album is so preposterous and over the top. Militant German punk gospel just doesn’t get enough play, and I didn’t want this record to end. 4.5.

4

yeah this rules

4

Was not expecting the Queen cover

4

Interesting - can see where rammenstein got their chops. Wholly entertaining industrial - and makes sense given the bands history. Great dark humour too - but Milan Frans’ vocals are the standout here. Kind of starts petering out toward the end though

4

Great German rock, reminded me of Ramstein

4

would fashbait again

4

Never heard of this before or really heard anything like it. It's really fascinating. An odd mix of industrial and marching music or something. I'm digging it though.

4

Неожиданно хорошо

4

Strong 4, such a gripping and interesting album

4

I didn't know this band and this might be my favorite find on this list so far. It was unpredictable, but wow! I'm not a fan of this musical trend, but you can see that Laibach had a strong influence on industrial music. The album is both grandiose and humorous, with catchy songs, but with a rather severe tone. I like contrasts and there are a lot here.

4

Industrial is not a genre that I've ever really listened to having dismissed it as the soundtrack of every decadent, dark, bare brick nightclub, that's probably owned by a vampire. At times it could be Eurovision, and there's a definite 80's synth vibe. It's fun though, and the use of some John Heartfield art, along with some easy to understand German bumped it from a 3 to a 4.

4

This rules.

4

Okay I was skeptical but this was VERY cool

4

Sounds of rammstein before rammstein, enjoyable, but don't have time for a better description

4

Okay I have no idea what just happened but I absolutely loved it.

4

Crazy album, very interesting early industrial. Certainly worth a listen.

4

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Opus dei, Herz-felde, Jagerspiel

4

Very German. Very angry. Very dark. Pretty good.

4

INT

4

4 stars for audacity. What works works, what doesn't work is terrifying. The album is unsettling, and I believe that was the goal. A great introduction to the neo-folk martial industrial genre! Raus!

4

Tämän olen kuunnellut aikaisemmin - oli silloin mielenkiintoinen hetki, nyt rentouttavampi kun tiesi mitä edessä. "Usage of Nazi iconography is pretty questionable" Subjektivistit keksimässä syitä antaa alempaa arvosanaa kun ei korvat riitä.. heh.. Kakkosta vois antaa ihan perustellustikin tästä. Huh.. Pelottaa.. Olin antamassa kakkosta.. Koska onko tämä nyt oikeesti niin kummonen.. Skaala unohtuu.. pelottaa.. tämä on neljää.. miksi.. järki lähtee... uskomatonta.. näen sen... kohta kaikki.. niin... mah..tavaa..

4

Ca ce veut con et drôle et ca l'est donc geande réussite, jamais de subtilités mais bcp d'énergie

4

Ridiculous and brilliant.

4

I hadn’t heard of Laibach before today. The album art made me think it might possibly be death metal, but Apple Music describes it as electronic. Not quite what I was expecting, but I’m very intrigued. Let’s listen! Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Geburt Einer Nation, The Great Seal This album was fantastic! I’ve some heavy guitars were thrown into the mix, you’d definitely be forgiven for thinking this was Rammstein, except this album was released seven years before Rammstein had even formed. There are a couple of covers here which are excellently done (Geburt Einer Nation in a very unique take on Queen’s One Vision), and plenty of brilliant originals too. I will say that I don’t speak any German so I don’t understand any of the lyrics, but from a completely musical point of view I found this to be very good. It does fizzle off into a few duller tracks towards the end, but overall I’m definitely glad to have heard this today.

4

Glorious nonsense. Tails off in quality but i had alot of fun throughout

4

I enjoyed this one. It felt like the birthplace of industrial goth genre

4

Didn't know what to get going into this and I enjoyed it. The Queen cover was really unexpected and for that I liked it. Plus I'm tired of getting shitty 80s new wave or whatever. This is what I was hoping was on the list. How often am I going to listen to Slovenian industrial metal? It was different and I liked it for that reason.

4

The German link between Kraftwerk and Rammstein

4

I’m in the minority for this but I loved this. It’s weird enough but not in your face weird.

4

Surprisingly excellent

4

Wow! Majestetisk. Jeg trodde jeg skulle hate dette, men den gang ei. Åpenbar inspirasjonskilde for Rammstein, dette blir nok en go-to når jeg trenger litt sint musikk. Leben heisst leben!

4

The spiritual father of Rammstein. Great listen, kind of hard to believe that it came out in 1987.

4

This is just about peak Laibach, which is pretty great. Does anyone do percussion better?

4

Some remarkable musicality in this one. Classical meets proto-Rammstein. And from such an underrepresented region in music. Touching in some ways too. The themes are elevated by the sounds.

4

The lyrics of Queen's "One Vision" certainly carry another kind of symbolism when performed in German by Slovenian industrial export #1.

4

Better than I thought it would be!

4

8/10 really fun industrial rock well made and really interesting but it has a sound that feels very… political, I guess? I can only imagine what the lyrics would mean if they were translated to english

4

Epic goed om een keertje gehoord te hebben

4

I enjoyed the overall vibe of this album, it made me want to start a revolution which is always a good sign of a good album. Who doesn't like some medieval trumpets. There weren’t any stand out tracks because all the tracks were just really good. I think the reason I like this album is because of all the queen influences, but I honestly didn't expect to like this album as much as I did.

3

Lit af

3

Interesting album. Not an immense fan of the military genre, but I enjoyed some bits of the album!

3

has some interesting stuff not bad but there is a lot of weird shit too

3

Not something I would listen to for pleasure but interesting I suppose. It definitely hit a unique style/ aesthetic - especially for the time.

3

conceptually kinda enjoyable, weird as hell to listen to. fav track: opus dei

3

A captivating but unconventional listen - hard to pin down a genre on this one as it sways between anthemic orchestral tracks to spoken word to overdriven guitar solos. Definitely an album to be consumed in one sitting, as vocal and instrumental leitmotifs weave the LP into one continous narrative. Need to look at the German to see what the overall message is here, but still an enjoyable listen notwithstanding.