L'Eau Rouge
The Young Gods
1989
Album Summary
L'eau rouge (French for The Red Water) is the second album by industrial band The Young Gods, released in September 1989 by Play It Again Sam Records. It is usually referred to as their masterpiece and was included in 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in 2005.
WikipediaYou never know if you truly like something until you try it, and now I can say with confidence that French industrial rock songs about period blood are not for me. Best track: Les enfants
Ok so it's like if a French Pink Floyd and 9 Inch Nails had a baby? But also the baby kind of sucks.
What is THIS? Creepy, atmospheric orchestration under a growling baritone frontman, en francais? Count me in.
Angry French with his angry buddies pounding on their synthesizers. If I ever become crazy and lock someone in my basement, this will be on the playlist. From that moment on; they will know my pain.
if tom waits were to have been born french and scored a high paced low budget slasher
Someone on here stated this album was like a mix between French Pink Floyd and Nine Inch Nails, then rated this album a 2, as if that was a bad thing. I thought that it was great.
Creepy, atmospheric, macabre, and definitely pretty unhinged at times. Really matched a piss-poor mental state at the very beginning of the year, on a horrible gloomy January day. I've gotta say I quite liked this. Feels like a French-language Rammstein in parts. Honestly I wish Halloween was coming up soon because this would be a perfect soundtrack for it, and I feel like this would be an experience to see live. Favourite: La fille de la mort
Interesting album. Some great sounds and very experimental. Liked the mix of French and English and the different styles put together.
Pretty sure this is what Ministry would sound like if they were French and Al consumed more Brie than heroin. In other words, I enjoyed it. (But kinda missed the heroin.)
- "wtf" - me after the first song - "W T F ?" - me after songs 2-14 - this album sounded like a weird combination of bad French rock and a Disney film soundtrack - needless to say, it just did not do it for me
Ok, so there's noise rock and punk and black metal and industrial, and then there's this. This album was actively painful to listen to. This is p harsh, but the only reason it will be memorable will be from the scars left from listening to it.
i'm summoning ALL the patience my body has to offer, i WILL listen to this in its entirety. well it payed off around 4 minutes into the first song so that's great haha this is much more my thing. second song is going to be a banger can tell from the start. i love this so much lol this is so exciting. the title track is great too ugh. i got curious about the lyrics but i'm having trouble finding translations :( i'm used to listening to music in languages that i don't understand but lyrics are normally more easily available D: found rough translations for a couple of songs so that's better than nothing. vocals aside, the last two tracks sound way more like my idea of music from the 80s lol they're pretty different from the rest of the album. well i'm done, i enjoyed this a lot and i saved pretty much all songs so i'll probably just come back to the album.
Gritty, Dark, and Circus/Cabaret. I fucking love the vocal delivery, grooves, and backing noise.
Älskar plattan och älskar dessa schweizare. Ägde maxisinglarna från skivan. Fick mig att köpa "plays Kurt Weill" också fast den var ju inte lika bra.
This record reminded me of when former football commentator Gerald Sinstadt and I took a cricket bat to a bag of kittens. What a day. We went back to mine for a Happy Meal and then both licked out my mum. Gerald commentated throughout. Well... when he didn't have his mouth full of course. My word she had an ungodly amount of anal warts.
Bizarre. I found this simultaneously repugnant and entrancing. Flitting from some sort of mad euro-thrash metal to the avant-garde (at times very much like Tom Waits - except in french, which really doesn't help). I must have played the whole album 4 or 5 times so far but I'm still no nearer to understanding what's going on. I don't even know if I like it or not. It just sits there, demanding to be played (again) and that way madness lies. I'm quite disturbed, both by it and how it makes me feel. I'm going to try never to play it again and to forget I ever heard it.
On réalise rapidement lors de l'écoute que la grammaire française et la bonne prononciation des mots de la vie courante n'est pas la priorité de ce groupe suisse.
Is this brave? Or stupid? Can’t decide. It’s like the weirdest pub band I can imagine! French industrial synth rock? Who the fuck knew! I’ll come back to it a few times before deciding for sure but at the moment it’s a solid 3. Some will adore this, many will loathe it!
This was a fascinating industrial/cabaret album, I adore the atmosphere! Some of the songs were a little repetitive for my taste, but I liked most of them.
Not great, but not offensive. Some great theatrical moments in the early going. Not something I'd return to.
Parts of this reminded of the boat tunnel scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It got weird, dark, a little creepy, and altogether unpleasant.
Even though I couldn't understand the lyrics I still understood the music. Great stuff.
Ongulés ! Les ongulés arrivent ! This is like a French 'Swordfishtrombones' era Tom Waits, but even more demonic and genuinely terrifying. Not something to listen to with a baby, but very striking and perfectly achieves it's artistic vision. An industrial masterpiece. Rating: 5/5 Playlist track: Rue des Tempêtes Date listened: 05/03/23
tupakkaa vetänä ranskis... jaha heti kun vähän kiinnostavampaa niin 2.31 ratinki. oikeesti aika vitun hyvä album, industriaalia..ei edes paljoa, ei ole koneiden tärinää ja vasaroiden kalinaa tarpeeksi.. INDUSTRIAL on genren nimi .. ja tylsimmätkin thrash metal peruspoppi sektiot on parempia kun kyseisen genren mainstream bändit. toivottavasti muitakin epäenglanti kieliä kun espanja/ranska/saksa on täällä piileskelemässä jossain heh... monet biisit liian lyhyitä, voisi olla enemmän kuin eka biisi... kuuntelin 2 kertaa suoaraan.. la fille de la mort
Really unique electronic/industrial/orchestral music from Switzerland that avoids sounding dated. I didn't hate the vocals. Glad to have the opportunity to listen to it. I might only come back for tracks 1 (La fille de la mort) and 9 (L'Amourir).
I kind of love everything about this. It's sort of cute how dark it's trying to be. It reminds me a lot of the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and I mean that in the best way possible. Love Les Enfants
I have the album that came out on ipecac, but that recorded many years later. Zero similarities, lol. This is weird drunk bar music, thrash industrial, modern classical??? This is amazing.
Hated the vocals a lot but this album disturbed/even scared me to earn very respectable 4 stars
After the eight minutes of La fille de la mort I understand a connection between industrial and post-punk which I missed before. If this album came out today but with more traditional rock backing I would be as interested as I am in hindsight. The strings are just traditional enough for me to grip as the band dives into more obviously industrial territory. Some of the samples come across as anti-The-Mood, but it's relentlessly intriguing. A grower because of that confusion, perhaps, but great on first listen. There is truly little new in music.
Enjoyed it more than expected, although it's eerie soundscape was off-putting.
Kurt Weill, Swans and Einstürzende Neubauten walk into a bar... Seriously though, any band that influences Bowie rates high for me. Wasn't that familiar with this album and only ever got into T.V. Sky, the follow up to this which is in English. Not an album that I will have on high rotation due to its brutal sounds but this rates high for me
Allez la Suisse! Hopp Schwiiz! Whatever the Italian version of Go Switzerland is! The Young Gods, the third great Genevan export - just behind Calvinism and money laundering. If we're going Swiss though, can we get some Celtic Frost as well please oh lords of the list?
Strange one this as it is tagged as industrial music I was expecting more of an "Einstürzende Neubauten" feel, but this is something different. Heavy reliance on sampling/tape loops I can see credit in it's ingenuity and creativity, but..... I realise I am not an aficionado of Swiss Post Punk Industrial music. "Criers Les Cheins" "Charlotte" "Envoye'" (Live Zurich21/12/89) are the most appealing tracks I think but not one on my list of greatest albums I am afraid. Perhaps the Live experience is better than the record? Wouldn't be the first time would it.
Who'd a thunk a French language metal album would bethis good? Rating 4 so I take a moment to listen again
From the cover, which is pretty good, I expect something noisy. Never heard of the band. And diving in we've got ... French? OK reading about them, Swiss Industrial. Alrighty, I'm game. Starts out surprisingly dainty and one could even say a bit Swiss. Gets louder and weirder and kind of industrial. This guy has a great growl. I like the strings and other things going on. Really good pacing and transitions in places. Ultimately a bit wearing. Liked Rue des tempetes and Longue route was the most, um, accessible? and gave me what felt like solid ground to decide I like them pretty well. 3.5 stars. Rounding up for innovation.
Never listened to this industrial group for some reason. It's a good record! Love the lo-fi experimental sound, which has a kind of collage feel applied to grizzly rock sounds. The best tracks are menacingly dark. Sometimes the deep growled vocals verge on making it a caricature of edgy cool macho music (or like a homage to early Swans). The track "Charlotte" has a kind of gothic cabaret feel, which I did not enjoy at all. But overall, 4*. It's like Swans meets Faust or something. Glad I heard it.
Interesting moody French industrial record. Loved it - so moody it actually spooked me out while listening on a night time drive. Kind of a gem like Suicide’s debut.
Jako kul i jako zanimljiv album. Osjecala sam se ko da slusam neki mjuzikl. Vjerojatno moulin rouge zbog kabareta.
Stylistically it feels like two albums competing with each other but its still a very enjoyable album
A touch of Nine Inch Nails, a touch of Tom Waits, a touch of Slayer, except Swiss. It's a very likeable mix! I'm definitely coming back to this!
Not something I expect to listen to again but glad to have had the opportunity
This is some wild French avant garde, industrial, symphonic music. A wild and crazy ride. I must return to this album.
Bonkers! I respect what is happening here. Will probably not be in my regular rotation but it was refreshingly different for a change.
This is not an album that I would have chosen to listen to if not for this list. I enjoy industrial music, and the symphonic aspects mixed with the growled French made for a very ominous and engaging sound. Occasionally the guitar tone came off more hair metal than anything, but I found that more humorous than anything.
Wow its been a while since I've had a truly interesting album come through. The Young Gods with their dark industrial sound symphony like arrangements and the deep guttural voice of their lead singer was like a match made in heaven. Would love to see them live! Best: Crier Les Chiens Worst: Pas Mal
Yes please! Strange and interesting, creepy, varied, driving, excellent use of orchestration. Still sounds unique and modern. Another one of those vocalists whose voices I can't get enough of.
This is currently number 9 lowest scoring album on the whole site. What's the matter, people, is Swiss industrial cabaret really so far out there? 😒 I dug it. Enjoyed the more straight forward industrial tracks most, but the cabaret was still entertaining. Fave tracks - "Longue Route" and "Pas Mal" could almost be Ministry tracks, so yeah, them 🤘
Oh wow, this starts very subtly and then jumps into wonderfully angsty fun. Just the kind of mood I was in today. I love the duality of La fille de la mort, and my fave track would be Crier les chiens.
This was one of those albums that are too strange to ignore and, simultaneously, too much strange to enjoy fully. I like how the 1001 list helps me get out of my "comfort zone" so strongly that I end the experience with nothing to say about what I have listened to. This album does not deserve to lie on the worst albums list of the Global stats (it is still there on the day I'm listening to it). Maybe I'll change my mind before confirming my rate, but it is a 4-star album in its weird way to surprise me.
Had a bit of a similar sound to Coil, but French. Most of the first track had me not really looking forward to the rest. Happily, it improved. One of those albums that just wouldn’t be great on headphones
Was wondering what this would be - I assumed some kind of Euro alt rock before listening. Wiki says it's industrial but it doesn't sound like the other stuff I've heard... ok by the second song it's more like KMFDM/Ministry/Skinny Puppy etc. Still different to those bands though, like it's more performance art than music. I'd describe the tracks less as songs and more as "pieces", if that makes sense (or Stücke, if I was going to be a wanker about it). Would probably listen again though, probably will. 3/5.
At first I wasn’t sure about this album, but I was pleasantly surprised with it.
I'm really enjoying the foreign language records chosen for this book. They're all pretty stellar (imagine that) and I probably would never have listened to them otherwise.
Definitely out there but some of it was actually pretty cool. Saved track: “Rue des tempetes”
Liked this more than I was expecting to. The sampling approach is interesting, reminds me a bit of how Thr Prodigyvusea guitar samples. The vocals were slightly hard work because they were in French and quite prominent in the mix. Overall I liked it and it seems to have influenced some cool people! 7/10
Very different from most of the music I've heard in my life, which is why I love this '1001 Albums' project so darn much. This is a wild album with wild energy and some really interesting stuff going on. Not sure if these musicians love horror movies, but it definitely won't surprise me if they do. All sorts of clashing noise, dissonance, frenetic rhythms and changes, hard-driving' industrial sound. Not at all what I normally listen to musically, and I honestly went in expecting to hate it (I know, I know: I do try to push away expectations but I don't always succeed) but it actually kind of drew me in at times (yet another excellent feature of this project).
this is an odd one, but I like it. Going from weird accordion sounds to industrial every other track...
Not my genre and I don’t speak the language, but I can respect the fact that the album sounded connected and they did it well.
I can't understand a word that is said, but it sounds pretty good. Kind of sounds like if Rammstein wrote music for a stage show.
9/23 Really liked the first song then from there it got much more industrial and experimental, didn't love it but it was interesting throughout. Standout Tracks: La fille de la mort, Charlotte, Crier les chiens
Loud! A bit like Tom Waits. Inventive, interesting, but probably wouldn’t stick it on for fun.
I HATED this....then I loved it. Then I hated it again. Wild trip but I won’t say it wasn’t an enjoyable one. Kind of like French Rammstein in parts. Fav tracks : “Rue des tempetes” “Longue route”
Very unorthodox, would have liked a bit more singing than speaking but overall not bad
Random samples and vomiting on the mic is not an album of music, but an album of sounds. I don’t see what is enjoyable here, even if it is historical for industrial rock that comes later.
Language barrier aside, interesting listen. Had to look up the band to find out there a sampler player.
"L' Eau Rouge" or in English... "The Red Water"? Information is limited and I don't know French, but this might have something to do with menstruation, love affair, and probably sex. And what is that lame cover? Is that an amber? I'm a big fan of Rammstein. And Young Gods sounds a lot like the mentioned industrial German band. But for some reason I didn't enjoy the album much. Unlike Rammstein which has a heavy and more slick sound, this album is loose and even inconsistent. The beats and the noises didn't engaged me that much. Still, the tracks that incorporates classical elements are stellar. "La fille de la mort", "Rue des tempetes", "Charlotte", and "Les enfants". I liked those even more than Rammstein's popular violin driven "Mein Herz Brennt". While I'm not whining that my favorite industrial band isn't mentioned in the list, I still wonder why this is in the list. My guess is that this is the beginning or the biggest influence to the industrial music in the '90s. Released in 1989, this might be the turning point from new wave to industrial rock. It has a few great tracks, but not a solid must listen album overall. It's hard to say if I hated it or loved it, but it surely is interesting.
The guy in this record gargles with motor oil, and it's pissed about it. Something new to add to my Halloween playlist.
As a fan of Nine Inch Nails, this kept my interest well enough. Longue Route is a pretty good one. I can hear the echoes of this influence in NIN, Mike Patton’s various groups, Trans Am, Rammstein, Meat Beat Manifesto. Inventive use of samples, and pads, I think.
What if Ministry and Tom Waits teamed up to do a mix of late 80's Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, and György Ligeti covers? Now, what if it was all in French?
2.5/5 Interesting.. never heard of this band before, so I didn’t know what to expect. I liked some of the songs but they got a bit weird which was not necessary for me. Liked the vocals though. Favourite songs: - L’eau rouge - Charlotte - La fille de la mort
Industrial cabaret....in French. How novel. It was interesting at least. Not sure of it'll catch on though. You kids and your music.
I generally liked this one. This one was really strange, and I'm into Van Der Graaf Generator. The first three tracks, notably, 'de la mort' were probably the best ones. Really intense and ominous. Reminds me of Van Der Graaf, but at the same time it's nothing like I've heard before. Definitely an album which I'm gonna have to get back to, to really understand. 'les enfants' I found the weakest track on the record. A bit too repetitive. The vocalist here sounds pretty much like he's just smoked all the cigarettes in Paris, but that kind of fits the music. Instrumentation is generally good, but the real draw is the songwriting. Overall I'll go for 3.5 stars here. This was a good, and really interesting, record, but I felt that there was a drop in quality towards the end of the album.
Going into this listen through, there's a lot of baggage. I'm aware that it's one of the lowest rated albums on the list, but I tend to like most of the low rated albums quite a bit (outside of general garbage like the trailer trash magnum opus Devil Without a Cause). The Birthday Party, John Zorn, Laibach, and Pere Ubu currently reside there with some legitimate great albums. I've seen Butthole Surfers down there as well. Napalm Death, the lowest rated, isn't a favorite of mine, but it's much better than some of the garbage people on here seem to like for no discernable reason like Guns 'n' Roses and Oasis. I'm familiar with The Young Gods. Not intimately, but they are in a similar orbit to a lot of music I like. I've heard their music a bit, I've heard some remixes Franz Treichler has done, I have heard a number of Roli Mosimann projects. I don't believe I've heard this album specifically, but I've gone around the bend a few times, trying to get into this group. I like industrial music, including industrial metal. I like arty, pretentious stuff. The Young Gods have always felt like an industrial metal band with arty leanings. Despite my attempts though, they always felt maddeningly out of my grasp. They couldn't hook me. I do respect them though. Quite a bit. And while I don't jive with them, I can say the music doesn't belong on the bottom of this list by any stretch of the imagination. It sounds pretty good, it's got some good grooves. It's better than a lot of the shit industrial that came out in the wake of Skinny Puppy and Ministry. The pantheon for great industrial for me has always been Foetus, Einsturzende Neubauten, Coil, and Nurse With Wound. Only one of those artists is on the list along with the requisite genre founders Throbbing Gristle. The writers would do well to better represent a pretty important genre that has had its influence come back with explosive momentum in the 2010s. While they aren't my favorite band in the genre, at least The Young Gods provide a little bit of representation of this sound. I won't be returning to this album anytime soon, but I'll give it a high three. I'm tempted to give it a four for its role of token inclusion, but my rankings run straight. No grading on a curve, no bonus points.
Heftig werk. Interessant om een keer op plaat te horen. Heb ze ooit een keer live gezien. Dat was wel indrukwekkend goed.
Reminiscent of Vaudeville at times mixed in with metal. And metal vocals in French. Kinda dig it.