Punishing Kiss

This kind of cabaret-muzak tripe owes 99% of its sales to business entities. The "corporate communications" departments at outfits like the Marriott Group approve it as album of the month, and this moves a few hundred thousand units. It spends its 30 days of patronage on repeat in hotel lobbies and art gallery gift shops, and afterwards it ends up in op-shops. The corporate world then forgets about Ute Lemper because Norah Jones has a new album out, it's lounge jazz covers of Soundgarden songs and for some reason, hotel chain executives think that is a good idea. Meanwhile, the wider public remains mostly unaware of this album's existence. Maybe Ute will have another album in a few years that's picked up in the same fashion, but for the moment she goes back to whatever artsy-fartsy theatrical bubble she came from. Soon enough the op-shops, inundated with copies of an album no one's ever heard of - let alone care enough about to pay $2 for - give up on trying to sell copies of it as individual units, and include them in bulk lots that are offloaded to Chinese ebay merchants. The CDs remain in warehouses just outside Shenzhen, the ebay listings untouched. This repeats as bulk lots are shifted from reseller to reseller. But the CDs never sell, and after a while they end up in landfill. The booklets disintegrate and the plastic begins to slowly decompose. Climate change eradicates humanity long before the CD cases are broken down into their base elements. Eventually, as the universe expands beyond its ability to maintain thermodynamic energy, everything comes to a slow, frozen, irreversible halt. 2/5.

You know when you were a kid, and your parents dragged you along to some event? And you sat there, quietly and politely, all the while withering away inside and wishing it was over so you could do literally anything else? I have never heard that feeling captured so impeccably into music as I did here.

Awful in ways difficult to describe. A performance hammier than a telenovela set on a pig farm, wrapped in spun-sugar arrangements so saccharine they made my teeth melt. This has been, easily, my least favourite offering on this app so far. Punishing Kiss is ridiculous, but not in any kind of fun way - it feels like a horribly calculated misstep. I imagine this is in 1001 albums one must listen to, so that every now and again were are consoled that the sweet embrace of the tomb is not so far away.

I listened to this while playing the Lord of The Rings game on my psp and eating mint aero so I think maybe it was situation that I'm giving a 4.

Sounds like the soundtrack to a musical I don't want to see.

Fuck off

After learning The Divine Comedy produced this, my thought was “of course.” I never heard of The Divine Comedy before this list/site, but they’re headlining my shitlist.

this is the sort of album that makes you feel small until you realise it's Vegas cabaret schmaltz, not decadent chaise-longue sophistication

If James Bond theme music was just about real life shit. This would be the theme music and I dig it

The reason why Björk’s music is so interesting is her voice. It is more often than not the most engaging part of one of her songs. The same can be said for this album. I had never heard of her up until today, but Ute’s voice instantly stood out as one of the most commanding and enrapturing I’ve ever heard. This album is cool. Like physically cold. It feels chilling and heartless. But also sleek. Like a thrilling espionage movie. Some songs like Streets of Berlin or the closer contain this inhuman machine-like sound quality. But this is still very rooted in experimental baroque and classical music. The best songs are the ones written by Neil Hannon. But really, the amount of huge talents that are credited here is remarkable. The only songs I didn’t like were the ones done by Tom Waits. Not because I don’t like his music or anything, I just found those to be the least interesting. Rating: 9/10

This album is fucking hilarious. Ute Lempter is the female German version of John Mulaney. I feel like this is a in a 57 minute SNL skit of cabaret absurdity. For example... "your head is a big red balloon" "my pretty breasts are piled high with stones ... and tiny little fishes enter me" "if sex were an Olympic sport, we would've won the gold..." and from the whorehouse song... "I got the brain, and she supplied the breast ... " It's all so terrible. If this is supposed to be serious, then it's really sad and ... terrible. But if this is a huge joke (which it seems to be), then it's great. It did get tiresome after the first 30+ mins., but this album was a welcome bit of levity on 1001.

man idk anymore

This was an interesting album. A bit slow for my taste but I enjoyed it nonetheless. A cool thing about this is how you can clearly hear the influences of the "guest" artists for each song

Ute is new to me. Such a powerful voice, and I loved the orchestration. They kind of feel like Bond tunes, with how dark and grand many of them are. Pleased to hear a couple Tom Waits tunes on the album.

Dramatic! Some really excellent performances.

Haunting and visceral

I feel like this should be the soundtrack for Cats

I feel like I *should* like this... I like Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Elvis Costello quite a bit, I like this style of cinematic 60s belter... it just doesn't connect for me. Maybe it's the darker modern production and the heavy leaning on strings over brass in the arrangements... this needs some big ol' Henry Mancini swells or something. This style of music is self-aware enough to wink at the audience but it's being blended with songwriting so self-serious that it keeps its winking behind closed doors. However, I could see this album being a grower worth revisiting.

Music beds were awesome. Cool, jazzy, emotional, experimental. Vocals and lyrics were over dramatic. This seems like what theater kids listen to.

I fully believe the lyrics were written by a teenager making their first attempt at erotic fan-fiction and you cannot convince me otherwise.

This album is now on my list :)

Unique!

It's crazy to think this is how I find out about this album, not only did I never knew of this but it contains so many great and interesting songwriters, many of whom are my absolute faves. Initially I thought this was a covers album but... no? Like how the hell do you get two of the Divine Comedy guys, Elvis Costello, Nick Cave, Tom Waits, and fucking Scott Walker in the same albums to write you songs?? They all come together in their own songs to write and work on different songs of course but I like that Ute's voice/style (or what I asume is her own direction) is not lost, this sort of modern take on grand cabaret theatrical stuff and baroque pop with different influences depending on the featured writer. It's that kind of balance of a seasoned performer who has a vision and a strong voice and incredible writers that nets an album this interesting and exciting to me, which is surprising to me because I'm not somebody who likes, let alone is even interested in cabaret theatrics most of the time they fall flat by trying too hard whereas this feels like it avoids all the worst tropes of the more theatrical genres and remains all the aspects that are fuller with attitude and gusto which I think MANY cabaret/theatrical styled albums sorely miss for me. I appreciate the range in sound and writing, but especially the final song Scope J. The closest this book has ever gotten to adding a late era Scott Walker song and immedeately its obvious how his style at the time took over the sounds, gone is the theatrics and in are the piercing drones and dissonances that transform Ute's vocals into a banshee. I really cannot get enough of it, I possibly would go as far as to give it a 5/5 on here and 9/10 on rym on future listens because I had a great time and I love whenever someone makes music I don't think works for me work for me. Awesome surprise

Okay, wasn’t expecting this! Getting the likes of Tom Waits, Nick Cave, and Scott Walker together to help you out? Yes please! (You could keep Elvis Costello, though) Some great songwriting, obviously, and she sounds lovely. B-

I know by now that this style of crooning baroque pop inspired by the likes of Scott Walker is right up my alley, even arguably a guilt pleasure, thanks to Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy. Hell, right before I generated this album I was checking out an album by them that I had never listened to before, so it is almost like destiny, even to the point where you can tell that a lot of the songwriting was done by Hannon himself, as if Ute Lemper's voice was used as a vessel for him and many other artists to try out cabaret, or bring themselves into a different perspective. I actually surprisingly quite enjoyed Costello's additions, as the pop-ier sound was a nice change of pace, and I wish they were a bit more spread out, because I was seeking shelter by the end from the musical theater displayed in front of me by the end of the album. I mean, Tom Waits also had some great additions, and whenever Neil was actually singing on one of his songs it was a blast, even if he felt like he was making fun of his own singing voice at times, but forty minutes in the album seemed ready to wrap up. Luckily, Scott Walker himself comes out of nowhere to deliver one of the darkest sounding songs I've heard from this subsection of music. It's repetitive, long, and droning, but God does it send shivers down my spin and feel like it is the perfect stop to the album. The first half of the album is truly amazing, though, with some pieces from everyone that are truly great, especially the Nick Cave tune that is undoubtedly, well, Nick Cave, but in the best of ways. Sure, the album can be seen as not really Lemper's, and that can cause it to feel like a fish out of water situation where I can't imagine too many who listen to this get what they want, but I feel this fits me just right, and is just as much of a force of nature as any of the albums of those who appear here alongside Lemper, and that makes me glad I got to check it out.

I understand why this album is divisive here. It’s a shamelessly theatrical chamber/avant-pop record that pulls from French chanson, cabaret, and classical. The songwriting bona fides are quite impressive and I get a distinct melancholy feel to this album. The lyrics are often dark and portray humanity at its most raw. I’m reminded of Lou Reed’s Berlin both lyrically and musically. Though it is a touch dated and perhaps a song or two too long, it was still a fascinating album.

Hadn't heard of Ute Lemper before, but thoroughly enjoyed this. Sultry, dark, caberet. I appreciate that this list has albums like this on it. Suffers a little from early 00s super shiny production. Favorite tracks: "The Case Continues", "Streets of Berlin", "Tango Ballad"

This is stunning...why am I late to this. 👏👏👏👏

Surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this

interesting, more like a musical

Felt like a musical. The features are very noteworthy. Not the biggest fan of the vocals, but I loved the rest

The lyrics on the first song were so literal... Then I saw Nick Cave co-write and that made complete sense. I feel like this album would be a first draft pick in the middle of a manic episode.

an hidden gem

This album doesn't live up to its billing. If you listened to it cold, you would never guess that the singer is the former star of a major production of Cabaret (playing Sally Bowles!). My friend compared it to a Moira Rose concept album, which is hilarious, if a bit unkind. Not totally inaccurate, though. There were a couple of tracks I really liked, but most were bland and uninspiring. Best track: You Were Meant for Me

What a mixed bag. I wasn't sure what to expect going in but I saw names like Tom Waits and Nick Cave so I was hopeful. I think this music works better in small doses. I could see myself listening to more of her work and some of the songs on this album again. Ute has a nice voice and the music is generally good but sometimes the songs drag a bit. At about an hour I was ready for it to be over even if it was a mostly pleasant experience.

Bit dramatic

Respectable, but not my style

This feels very avant garde and also like the soundtrack to an overly dramatic musical. Not that either is necessarily a bad thing. But this was pretty tough to listen to, and I will definitely never make the choice to listen again.

Punishing Kiss I don’t know Ute Lemper at all and I resisted looking this up until I’d given this a listen. I get what she is going for - that musical, theatrical, 60s cinematic, cabaret, Weimar Republic, interwar, slightly seedy, decadent, melodramatic, orchestral, torch song vibe. The problem is it sounds very dated to the late 90s/early 2000s, and consequently it lacks any sort of atmosphere or any evocation of anything it's aiming for. Rather than sophisticated decadence it sounds more like soulless ham fisted schmaltz. I also really don’t like her voice or her vocal mannerisms. I get that the songs require that theatrical vocal style and those talked asides, and while she has a strong voice it has a quite unpleasant nasal brutality to it. Alongside all that, I found the songs pretty uninspiring thematically, lyrically and melodically, even if they were written by people I like, like Nick Cave and Tom Waits. It was a bit of struggle to make it through the third listen, but You Were Meant For Me was the only one that really stood out, the only song where the sound, arrangement and vocal all coalesced to conjure up a dramatic and nicely overwrought whole. I do actually like Neil Hannon and the Divine Comedy, but his records, while obviously influenced by this type of music, have some wit and charm with a much more considered sense to them. Like I say I get what they were going for, and if you are into the musical theatre vibes of the German Elaine Paige singing Cabaret and Kurt Weill then I guess it’s a good listen, but I found it a bit of an uninspiring irritation. Reluctant to go 1, even if I’m tempted, so I’ll stick with a 2. 👊💋 Playlist submission: You Were Meant For Me

Thoroughly did not enjoy it

Brand new to me. First 2 songs YES! 3rd song not so much. As it goes along I still prefer the opening songs . Reminds me of Holly Cole at times. All in all there are some enjoyable moments, particularly The Case Continues and Split but in the end I'm left wondering as I have from time to time with this list; why this artist? why this album? 2.5 🌟

Ute Lemberg has a fantastic voice and the collaboration with The Divine Comedy is an interesting one but the album doesn’t have enough of a spark to sustain your interest.

What a bonkers album. Didn't sound particularly good, not sure if it gains or loses points for the song about the whorehouse. Either way a 4/10

A Punishing Listen

Holy shit, it's the holy grail of bad albums. This one's on the bad albums list on this site, and I was curious why. I started listening, realized it was in that same category of weirdo cabaret type music that I can't stand. My first thought was that she was like a female Tom Waits (derogatory). Towards the middle of the album, I looked at the cover: SONGS BY the following artists, a rogues gallery of some of my most despised artists that I've had to listen to on this list [I'm leaving out Philip Glass and Kurt Weill since I don't know them]: - Nick Cave (recently wrote about how I'm over him, pretentious prick) - Elvis Costello (had a couple decent albums, but wafty fart music, also he ruined that dope elephant cover by saying the N word on a song, cringe lord) - The Divine Comedy (can barely believe this one but he's all over this album, easily the worst artist I've learned about through this process, two albums with no redeeming qualities, again - pretentious prick music) - Tom Waits (the godfather of this goofy cabaret stuff, he's got a cool voice but it's not enough to make me sit through the spectacle, couple decent albums though) - Scott Walker (the first artist on this list to get a true 1 star review from me, he redeeemed himself elsewhere but good lord that album sucked) So I guess this album is like the Avengers but for hoity-toity musicians that I can't stand. Seriously, this list of artists is collectively responsible for EIGHT of my (only) 27 albums to get a 1 star review. Check my summary page, their names are almost all in my "Worst Artists" list. I'm honestly impressed. If only they squeezed in a Dagmar Krause feature. I'm keeping two tracks for posterity, but this is going in the dumpster where it belongs. Punishing piss. Favorite tracks: Passionate Fight, Scoop J (actually a cool song). Album art: White woman in black trenchcoat, standing by an industrial silo or tank of some kind. Is this the terrible music factory? That looks like their employee list there. 1/5

Proof that not every stage star should record an album. A voice that gyrates between annoying and awful with all of the appeal of fingernails scraping a chalkboard. This has a William Shatner meets William Hung element to it.

Inorganic and stiff, nice execution but with as much soul as elevator or mezzanine music. Was going to give it a 2 for the execution but meh

I would describe the process of listening to this album as "tortuous". Absolutely. Fucking. Miserable.

Ute Lemper is best known for her interpretations of Kurt Weill, so covering artists influenced by Kurt Weill might turn out to be either inspired or reductive. Looking at the track list, I was like "Oh, yeah, Elvis Costello's later work is influenced by Kurt Weill," which had never occurred to me before. I'll be interested to see if that's true about Philip Glass. Of course, everyone knows that's true of Tom Waits and Nick Cave. But who are Noel Scott Engel and Neil Hannon, both of whom have the lion's share of composing credits? Oh, shit--Noel Scott Engel is Scott Walker, who Americanized the songs of Jacques Brel and who never met a 72 piece orchestra he didn't want to masturbate to. Neil Hannon is the founder of the contemporary group The Divine Comedy, a throwback to the days when melody was paramount and kitchen sink arrangements were the norm. Worse, the members of The Divine Comedy are the backing musicians! I dislike The Divine Comedy and both of the latter composers, so now I'm more than a little apprehensive about Punishing Kiss. Here goes. Predictably, it all falls flat, but it's difficult to accurately apportion blame. Of course, no song would have had a prayer of withstanding the overwrought orchestrations and performances of The Divine Comedy, but the effect is to make all the songs seem slight and jejune, even the Kurt Weill piece, which can't possibly be true. Ute Lemper strikes me here as melodramatic in her readings instead of deadpan, which is more appropriate for a Weill-influenced set, but she really had no choice given the accompaniment. At least she's better than Neil Hannon, who is pure ham in his duets with Lemper. Pretty fucking awful.

Started off thinking it could be interesting and quirky but the singing quickly got annoying

Kinda sorta loved this. Five for originality. Five for chanteusery. And a big five for the line, "if sex were an Olympic sport we'd have won the gold". 5

actually highkey big fan - came out of nowhere, awesome!

Bond theme vibes, just luxourious

Why is this record so hated on? It's a little bit dated in its production, but the performance and arrangements are glorious!

Cinematic, dark, captivating.

What a top tier lineup! Incredible voice, amazing composition, what's not to love.

So...THREE days after remarking that I hadn't heard any theatrical German women in this project after 900 albums, I get to hear another? Yay!

Has it gotten a bit dramatic recently? Not that there is anything wrong with that happening…

I'm pleasantly surprised to see this here, hot on the heels of Dagmar Krause's Tank Battles just a few days ago. I picked up Punishing Kiss on CD about 20 years ago, not knowing much about it --- I knew a bit about Lemper's theater credits and was intrigued to hear her collaborate with Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Philip Glass, and Tom Waits. (I didn't know The Divine Comedy and Scott Walker at the time but thanks to this project I do now!) Lemper is a great singer with incredible range and a flair for dramatics. The album feels dark and a little creepy and definitely worth its place on this list.

Really terrific! Ute Lemper’s interpretation of these songs had me entranced. Yet another album I likely would never have encountered but for this project.

Wow, I liked this much more than I expected. I figured this was going to be a 3 after reading description. Instead, I found the album captivating from start to finish. She has a very dramatic singing style that just works. I've been listening to the album for days and want to keep on listening. I'll call that a 5. Favorite tracks: Little Water Song (great start to the album - pulled me right in), The Case Continues, You Were Meant for Me (particularly the ending), and Scope J (mysterious, somewhat bizarre, but I really liked it).

wonderful

J'ai vraiment vraiment bien aimé, c'était une super découverte. Les chansons sont très bien choisies et très bien interprétées, et l'orchestration en mode intense est fort bien employée. Une cool façon d'aborder les chansons à la Tom Waits ou autre qui peuvent parfois manquer de musicalité.

Really love the voice, old style cabaret singing on Tom Waits and Elvis Costello is something I never knew I needed. What I didn't need was dude from Divine Comedy singing on here at all and his songs just really dull the whole record. The Kurt Weill written song I get but it isn't for me, I can't knock it for that though so it's a 6.8 for me

Heel wat James Bond gehalte. Weer een leuk album ontdekt

вау вот это вау оч оч круто

Una genialidad

weird!

Nawet ok

One word. Class.

Discount Kate Bush. Fun and out there, but not so fun and out there. Love a good lady ballad though.

Very theatrical. Her voice is really great and the guests compliment it well.

I really enjoyed this album, more than I thought I would.

Enjoyed it 👍

I really enjoyed The Part You Throw Away. Split is a really solid song. Purple Avenue is another great one. Super cool album.

I am not sure the editors of 1001 know much about Cabaret or Broadway, and I’m not sure many of us do either. So here’s 4 stars from someone who has no business judging this album, because it had the air of quality and some stand out lyrics and some high class contributors.

Wow, quite a ride for 9am on a Thursday morning. Lemper's vocal range is dramatic, tonally perfect, and she builds the cadence like a movie plot within each track. Not something I'd listen to for the pure entertainment but I'd buy a ticket to see/hear her live especially in a theater production.

interesting sound and collaboration with other artists. Overall interesting.

4/5 - a little much; like an opera that’s tense the whole time

This was pretty great. Teutonic balladry working with some of the best songwriters of the time (and Elvis Costello).

Honestly, oddly enjoyable. I saw the negative reviews and feared the worst, but it was fun. The whole cabaret vibe is a bit cheesy, but it's endearing, too. The whole thing is played off well and I found myself enjoying it as long as I didn't think too much about it.

This is some beautiful melodic rock. I can see this as a precursor to bands like Evanescence.

That was certainly a lot of fun. Cool epic closing track as well.

super easy listening, unique voices, and beautifully crafted from beginning to end. kind of listened in the background, so i can't give it 5.

one of those haunting and cinematic albums. kind of like if leonard cohen was a woman. pretty cool though

I’m so surprised by this. I expected to hate it, but I really enjoyed it. A lot of the reviews are right, that it sounds like James Bond music, or the soundtrack to a musical, but this is a musical I’d like to see. I don’t know what it was about this album, but I’m into it. 8/10 Top 3: 1. Die Dreigroschenoper: Tango Ballad 2. Little Water Song 3. Streets of Berlin

Passionate voice, brought me in

Another strange out of the blue genre. Sounds like the soundtrack to a stage musical. Very dramatic expressive vocal works

Dark and moody but not that memorable

Þetta er alveg ljómandi plata, sérstaklega þegar hún er að vinna með Neal Hannon eða syngja Elvis Costello. Og lokalagið er mjög töff. Nick Cave lagið í upphafi mætti missa sín. Má mæla með.

Super lovely!!

Really special, and interesting this one. A melting pot of indiepop, classical music, Celtic folk, cabaret. Not sure if I get it, but it is nevertheless appealing in a Strange wa.

Outstanding music, not sure about the 'winning gold in the sex olympics' though.... Hilariously I just looked up who did the theme for the IT Crowd today because of someone commenting on an IT Crowd meme I did on the Talking Heads page that it sounded like Gary Numan. It was Neil Hammon, who participated in this album (including the 'sex olympics' song). HAHAHA

Every song sounds like a musical. Some are pretty good.

December 16, 2023

3.5/5 wowzers those are some lyrics

Damn. What a voice. I listened to a lot of musical theatre stuff as a kid, so this didn't put me off the album. The orchestration was so gorgeous, and melodically, it was interesting. This album isn't just for any occasion, but that's okay. A worthwhile listen for sure!

4/5. Had no idea who this was but the Broadway background shines through and surprising it translates so well through a studio album. This was really good with dramatic and well-written songs from multiple artists, through Ute's powerful voice with great instrumentation following her lead. Felt like I was listening to a play, missing the talking parts in between the songs.

Lyrics were intense music was good

What a squad! This is a very cool art music collaboration from artists I'd never have put together. I guess I can forgive Elvis Costello for being a total derp.