Punishing Kiss

View Author

Wed Sep 29 2021

2

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.

👍

View Author

Sun Jun 27 2021

1

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.

👍

View Author

Wed Dec 22 2021

1

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.

👍

View Author

Thu Oct 07 2021

1

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

👍

View Author

Sun Apr 18 2021

4

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.

👍

View Author

Fri Jan 22 2021

3

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

👍

View Author

Thu May 20 2021

4

I feel like this should be the soundtrack for Cats

👍

View Author

Thu May 20 2021

4

Dramatic! Some really excellent performances.

👍

View Author

Sun Aug 08 2021

4

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.

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 23 2022

4

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

👍

View Author

Wed Jan 20 2021

3

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

👍

View Author

Wed May 12 2021

3

man idk anymore

👍

View Author

Thu Oct 14 2021

3

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.

👍

View Author

Thu Mar 10 2022

3

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

👍

View Author

Thu Oct 13 2022

2

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

👍

View Author

Wed Jul 27 2022

1

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.

👍

View Author

Wed Jan 04 2023

1

Fuck off

👍

View Author

Thu Apr 15 2021

5

Unique!

👍

View Author

Thu Jul 08 2021

5

This album is now on my list :)

👍

View Author

Mon Jan 04 2021

4

an hidden gem

👍

View Author

Sun Jan 24 2021

4

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.

👍

View Author

Mon May 03 2021

4

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

👍

View Author

Fri Mar 05 2021

4

interesting, more like a musical

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 24 2021

4

Surprised myself by how much I enjoyed this

👍

View Author

Wed Nov 17 2021

4

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

👍

View Author

Mon Nov 22 2021

4

Haunting and visceral

👍

View Author

Wed Nov 02 2022

4

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.

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 08 2023

4

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"

👍

View Author

Tue Oct 06 2020

3

Respectable, but not my style

👍

View Author

Mon Jun 07 2021

3

Bit dramatic

👍

View Author

Thu Mar 03 2022

3

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.

👍

View Author

Fri Jun 03 2022

3

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

👍

View Author

Wed Jul 07 2021

2

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

👍

View Author

Fri Jul 16 2021

2

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.

👍

View Author

Sun Jul 04 2021

2

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 🌟

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 03 2021

2

Thoroughly did not enjoy it

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 24 2021

1

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

👍

View Author

Fri Nov 19 2021

1

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.

👍

View Author

Fri Feb 11 2022

1

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

👍

View Author

Wed Apr 06 2022

1

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

👍

View Author

Fri Apr 08 2022

1

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.

👍

View Author

Wed Jul 06 2022

5

weird!

👍

View Author

Sun Sep 04 2022

5

Una genialidad

👍

View Author

Mon Nov 21 2022

5

вау вот это вау оч оч круто

👍

View Author

Wed Nov 30 2022

5

Heel wat James Bond gehalte. Weer een leuk album ontdekt

👍

View Author

Mon Mar 20 2023

5

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

👍

View Author

Sun Sep 17 2023

5

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.

👍

View Author

Wed Jun 30 2021

4

Tango Ballad: Quando canta il tizio della Divine Comedy non so perché mi ricorda le colonne sonore di Akira Yamaoka, tipo quella di Silent Hill 4 In conclusione: Sono in difficoltà sulla votazione. I primi due pezzi m'hanno fatto pensare che questo album sarebbe stato un 5, purtroppo però manca di consistenza, che è anche comprensibile considerando la quantità di gente che ha partecipato. Ute Lemper è senza dubbio talentuosa, forse a tratti esce troppo la sua vena musical e diventa un po' patetica, però dall'altra parte il fatto che è anche attrice le dona un'interpretazione che quando funziona fa venire la pelle d'oca. Purtroppo nella maggior parte dei pezzi non fa click però con qualche eccezione tipo Little Water Song, The Case Continues o You Were Meant For Me. Che dire, peccato, nei punti più alti è sicuramente da 5, purtroppo però la media è così così. Mi sento comunque di premiarlo con un 4.

👍

View Author

Fri Jul 23 2021

4

I liked this alot. Zo rustig, zo mooi, een echt verhaal in het album, een beetje musical een beetje niet. Ik ga dat zeker nog eens opzetten. De tango ballad ging gewoon hard

👍

View Author

Fri Sep 24 2021

4

Последние два трека!

👍

View Author

Fri Dec 17 2021

4

Rad and a little mad, this was epic

👍

View Author

Fri Apr 08 2022

4

A genuine discovery through this project, really liked it.

👍

View Author

Fri Apr 15 2022

4

Fantastic singing, poetry and writing. I think Ute gets too much credit here, though. She's got an amazing voice and is unique talent. But the people who wrote the songs, and the guy who re-envisioned them should get at least 50% of the credit, in my opinion. That aside, still a four star album.

👍

View Author

Thu Jul 21 2022

4

Feels like a passionate musical

👍

View Author

Fri Jul 22 2022

4

Wow, what a voice! Each tune, although I guess very broadly in the "pop" category, is also sort of operatic/Broadway show-tune-y, and her talent is there to pull it off. Sounds like a very interesting person, too.

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 17 2022

4

Wonderfully bonkers

👍

View Author

Sun Aug 21 2022

4

A strong voice, a style of music you don't hear every day and an armada of famous songwriters.... This album has all the ingredients for a great experience and it doesn't disappoint

👍

View Author

Wed Aug 31 2022

4

4/5 this is some good shit. very powerful

👍

View Author

Thu Sep 08 2022

4

WTF is this? Lush, orchestral pop songs about sexual violence? It's certainly a unique concept and the performances are solid. It's exactly what I expect to be included in a list of 1001 Albums. There are a variety of songwriters on the album and Ute's skill as an actress is put to good use. She fits her voice to styles of Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and others. If this album was meant to have a single, "Split" might be it. Ute's voice sounds great and it's upbeat.

👍

View Author

Fri Oct 14 2022

4

Talbot: The Case Continues

👍

View Author

Wed Oct 26 2022

4

This is beautifully arranged. Vocals are very emotive and the storytelling is really nice. Very intimate. VERY caberet. Feels like I'm in a latenight candlelit club filled with smoke. Purely for vibes, I like it. The songwriting just makes it better.

👍

View Author

Wed Nov 09 2022

4

Unexpectedly I really enjoyed this. 4*

👍

View Author

Mon Dec 12 2022

4

sonzão de muito sentimento, grande produção

👍

View Author

Wed Dec 14 2022

4

This was great. I liked how eclectic and witchy the sound was. It reminded me of Ys by Joanna Newsom but less consistent.

👍

View Author

Sun Jan 01 2023

4

It says a lot for an artist when some of the greatest songwriters of your era write an album’s worth of songs for you to perform. It’s fun listening to the songs and trying to guess who the songwriter is. I can hear Nick Cave’s voice in the epic first song and I was sure that he must have done his own version, but apparently not. The one Philip glass contribution is easy to pick out as is the first Elvis song. The Case Continues, by Neil Hannon is maybe my favourite on the album - I especially love strings. My co-judge and I saw her perform this live at Massey Hall in 2001 with a bunch of Kurt Weill and Jacques Brel songs thrown in, so I have a slight bias.

👍

View Author

Wed Jan 25 2023

4

Je ne comprends pas les mauvaises notes, en tout cas c'est tout droit dans mon allée.

👍

View Author

Thu Feb 16 2023

4

Like it

👍

View Author

Wed Feb 22 2023

4

Nick Cave, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits ja vielä Neil Hannonkin mukana, what's not to like? Kovin kaunista tämä, eeppista ja oopperallista olemaan kuitenkaan liikaa mitään näistä ollakseen selkeästi pop-musiikkia. Aivan varmasti kuuntelen uudestaan.

👍

View Author

Fri Mar 03 2023

4

Interesting album to rate. Obviously they are covers, but there is artistry in their selection and arrangement. Surprisingly enjoyed it all. It was baroque and a bit goofy at times. But the record is good and the songs stitch together to tell a story.

👍

View Author

Fri Mar 03 2023

4

It’s a 4.

👍

View Author

Mon Mar 20 2023

4

Great if you love show tunes.

👍

View Author

Thu Apr 20 2023

4

Lots of musical talent contributed to this album! Split was a great duet, I liked Purple Avenue as well. The sound and style of the album wasn't really to my taste overall, but I won't knock the album for that.

👍

View Author

Fri May 05 2023

4

So interesting. The Divine Comedy are one of my all time top five bands and yet I did not know they had collaborated for this. Just a really interesting listen.

👍

View Author

Wed May 10 2023

4

Someone I’d never heard of before. But taking a glimpse at the cover, I notice a lot of artists I dig, so safe to say, I was intrigued! And the record turns out to be pretty cool, there’s a dark comedic nature within songs that I liked. But also some very frail moments with great orchestral scoring. Pretty good! 7,5 out of 10

👍

View Author

Sun May 14 2023

4

This is one of the lowest rated albums on the generator? It's pretty good, at least for me. The last song kind of dragged, and it's what I was worried the whole album was going to sound like before I started it, but everything else was fun. It's interesting to see who worked on which songs. My favourite songs were Split and Punishing Kiss.

👍

View Author

Wed May 17 2023

4

I actually really liked this

👍

View Author

Fri May 19 2023

4

The first couple of songs were very good. Especially Lempers's interpretations of Nick Cave's Water Song and Kurt Weill's Tango Ballad were spot on. I didn't like some of the later trackson the album, although that has more to do with the source material (e.g. two numbers by Tom Waits). The album is expertly arranged, and Lemper is givig her all with her versatile and powerful voice. It's a pity that some of the songs are not all that interesting. 3.5/5

👍

View Author

Sun May 21 2023

4

Really beautiful.

👍

View Author

Mon Jun 05 2023

4

Operatic wonderment, 4 stars.

👍

View Author

Sun Jun 25 2023

4

love the Divine Comedy so this was a pleasant surprise - another commentator called it "James Bond themes about normal life" which sums it up well. Enjoyed this a lot!

👍

View Author

Sun Jun 25 2023

4

Strong 7

👍

View Author

Sun Jul 02 2023

4

The Divine Comedy are my favourite band but I’d somehow never got around to listening to this. Ute Lemper has a great voice but these do occasionally sound like cabaret covers of stuff Neil Hannon, Scott Walker and Nick Cave do better themselves. It’s not essential by any stretch of the imagination but it’s considerably better and more interesting than a lot of the reviews on here suggest. It’s a 3 but I’m feeling generous so go to 4 as I know I will come back to listen to it again

👍

View Author

Thu Jul 20 2023

4

Nice surprise, really like the songs and the atmosphere, so 4 stars. If her voice was a bit rougher like Lotte Lenya singing Weil/Brecht it would have been 5.

👍

View Author

Sun Sep 17 2023

4

Je ne connaissais absolument pas (mais beaucoup des invités des compositeurs, si par contre). Excellente découverte. Je n'ai pas aimé /Die Dreigroschenoper/ mais tout le reste c'est ma came (notamment /little water song/ et /you were meant for me/). Impressionnante maîtrise vocale, bonnes instrumentations.

👍

View Author

Mon Mar 22 2021

3

6/10 FT: split

👍

View Author

Fri Mar 26 2021

3

This lacks a bit of life, which keeps it from being as beautiful a set of songs as it hints at. Lemper has a good voice, but the recordings seem a bit by-the-numbers. Ditto with the instrumentals, though they have nicely sharp bits. It's certainly cozy, though, and I can see myself returning if I become fonder of any of the non-Scott Walker writers or listen to more Lemper or Divine Comedy. The closing song is a great Walker suite, but it speaks to his strengths more than it reinforces the rest of the album.

👍

View Author

Wed Sep 23 2020

3

Classy, pretty interesting. Favourite song: The Case Continues

👍

View Author

Wed Mar 24 2021

3

I would never have heard this without this project, I maynever hear it again, but it was a nice listen while it was here. There are a couple of wonderful songs, and a couple of almost unbearable ones. Those couple of wonderful ones are so wonderful they make up for the rest. The woman has a killer voice too.

👍

View Author

Sun Apr 11 2021

3

good sound but not really what I'm ever looking for

👍

View Author

Wed Jul 07 2021

3

Interesting idea for an album but the music just didn’t sit well with me. 5

👍

View Author

Sun Jun 27 2021

3

Eerie and beautiful. I don't think I'll revisit it, but the haunting sound here will stick for a while.

👍

View Author

Wed Jul 07 2021

3

6/10. Weird that there was a duet about missing the good old days when they were living in a whorehouse.

👍

View Author

Wed Jul 07 2021

3

5/10. This was so weird, the vocal performance was great but the songs were so cheesy and I only liked a few of them

👍

View Author

Fri Mar 26 2021

3

Buen disco. Tiene algún tema maravilloso y otros demasiado grandilocuentes y agotadores

👍

View Author

Mon Jun 07 2021

3

Is this a musical? Very wierd, but interesting. A lot of drama. Music was a little... cabaret for me at times, but also quite beautiful. A lot of big names on here...I don't really understand what's going on, but it kept me semi intrigued

👍

View Author

Thu Feb 11 2021

3

Great voice; the lyrics dig into deep narrative and character development. Tho it sometimes falls into too much edgy cynicism for my taste

👍

View Author

Sun May 09 2021

3

This has strong musical vibes. Which for me means I sort of hate it. I love to listen to the soundtrack for a musical if I know the songs and can sing along. It’s a chicken/egg situation.

👍

View Author

Wed Jun 16 2021

3

Did listen, and quite liked. If you were into this go see Camille O’Sullivan if ever things open up enough for gigs to be played.

👍

View Author

Mon Jun 07 2021

3

Complex and odd (in a bad way) but I did like passionate fight

👍

View Author

Fri May 07 2021

3

Very interesting cabaret style album

👍