Kollaps

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Wed Aug 24 2022

1

This is a joke, right? No way this is real. These guys took mics to Haus Depöt and started recording everything on the plumbing aisle. This shit sounds like a “10 HOUR INDUSTRIAL BLACKSMITH FACTORY AMBIENCE” youtube video. Honestly though, I can dig abstraction and distorted electronica, but you always need something for the audience to latch on to. At times this is cool, but if this plays at the discotheque, I’m leaving because you can’t even try to dance to this shit

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Thu Sep 29 2022

1

My god what will this do to my Spotify recommendations???

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Tue Oct 25 2022

3

Around 1990-91, I was a volunteer at 2SER student radio. Mostly, I did technical work helping my mate, Tim. Panelling, editing, that kind of thing. In 1991, Einsturzende Neubauten were touring Australia and there was an offer to do a radio interview with 2SER. I could actually pronounce “Einsturzende Neubauten” and knew a little bit about the band, so it was decided that I would do the interview. Which was not really my thing. But it came with perks; tickets to their show at the Phoenician Club and a copy of the Strategies Against Architecture LP, so I said OK. I knew the legendary Blixa Bargeld has a reputation for not suffering fools, so I tried to prep questions that were interesting. So, on the day of the show the plan was to go down to the club after soundcheck and interview Blixa. It was a bit intimidating. I mean, EN were one of the world’s most dangerous bands, and Blixa also played in the Bad Seeds, which made him an underground legend. Tim and I were in the equipment room gathering up a portapack and mics and whatever else we needed, when someone comes running in the room whispering “There’s a vampire in the lobby, and he’s looking for you!” And sure enough, there in the lobby, stands Blixa, in full stage outfit, pale as death, six foot six in cuban heels and his hair teased up, and 100lbs wringing wet. He has a bottle of schnapps and a filthy look in his eye. He’s staring death at everyone. And then I hear my name called. Standing next to this imperious vision in black is a smiling Japanese man in bright green overalls with a flower appliqued on the front. His voice is oddly familiar; it is Rick Tanaka, former presenter of the Nippy Rock Shop, a collage-like radio show from Triple J in the 80s. I was a fan. Turns out, he is the road manager for this EN tour, and he is asking for me. He hands me his business card: Rick Tanaka, Private Guy. We hurriedly shuffle Rick and Blixa into a meeting room and turn on the recorder, and I attempt an interview. It did not go well. Blixa did not want to be there, was much smarter than me, and was not very patient with my attempts at questions that were more engaging than the usual stereotypical “who gets to go to the junk yard for your stage show?”. Eventually, he just started ignoring me and chatted to Rick. Tim and I kept the tape rolling for their conversation, and afterwards edited it up into something resembling proper radio. And then they left. Tim and I packed up, and then walked down the road to the Phoenician Club. (En route, we bumped into the Beasts of Bourbon, who were playing support. They were intensely focussed. They clearly knew what was coming, and determined to put on a good show. They were the best I ever saw them play that night; tight, ferocious and angry, showcasing material from their Low Road album, that was not yet released). And then on came Einsturzende Neubauten. It was possibly the most intense, frightening show I ever seen. I confess I was a little freaked out by my encounter with Blixa, and not really prepared for the experience of an EN show. By the end, I was pressed up against a wall with my fists clenched and my eyes shut. The sound from the stage was so brutal and overwhelming. I can’t recall much of what went on, except for a bit with shopping carts with contact mikes crashing into each other repeatedly. It was really loud. I know I left the venue about 11.30pm. At 2am, I turned up at my girlfriend’s house, tapping on her window. I assume I spent the intervening hours walking the streets in a daze, but not really sure of what I did in that time. Before you ask, no, there were no drugs involved. She yelled at my for waking her up for a good 15 minutes, but I was unable to put a sentence together, let alone explain what had just happened to me. It was a heavy, really heavy, performance. Ok, so given that background of my relationship with EN, what do I think about this album? I have listened to it once or twice before. EN is really influential on me. I love noisy things, really noisy things. I played in industrial bands through most of the 1990s. And this is like the ur-text for much of what industrial music became. It still sounds frightening and surprising now. That said, this is a massively difficult listening experience. I am reminded of Brian Eno talking about Steve Reich (I think), and how hearing one of his early tape pieces was massively influential, but he never listened to it again. Early EN (and this album in particular) is like that for me. It opened up a world of possibilities to explore, but I don’t need (or probably even want) to listen to it much. I certainly was much more enamoured of their early 1990s material, which contains actual songs, rather than just this scary barrage of crashing rhythms and screaming. Kollaps is an important record for me, but I would not recommend it.

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Sun Sep 25 2022

2

Not bad background music except for it feeling like I was being shouted at by Hitler the entire time

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Mon May 01 2023

4

Oh fuck yeah, now we're talking. Wait no, I swear I'm not being pretentious. This is the lowest rated album on this site because I guess mostly people aren't very fond of German people smashing metal plates together - who would have guessed. But halle-fucking-lujah, this is something this list needs more of. Albums that make you go "well, that was an experience and now I'm a changed man". Nobody is lying on their deathbed wishing they heard more crappy 80s post-punk or late 60s psychedelic rock. THIS is what we all deserve to be listening to as we embrace eternal oblivion. I'm giving this a high rating not only because I genuinely really love it, but also to help Kid Rock move to his rightful place as the actual worst album on this list. Together we can make a difference. Save the turtles.

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Wed Aug 31 2022

1

If you have a headache and would like to worsen your headache, this is the perfect album for you. Let's just say...interesting does not equal listenable.

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Sat Aug 27 2022

5

A band and album that is so hard to properly describe. I got into Neubauten through listening to the Bad Seeds and I was lucky enough to see the play in 1991. It was like visiting hell, am I mean that as a compliment to the unabashed fury on display that night. Cut pieces of shopping trolley raining over the audience and sparks from angle grinders adding a sense of danger that they may just set the venue alight. This album doesn't even come ose to capturing that but it still gets five stars as it is still on a whole other level to most of the albums on this list

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Thu Sep 29 2022

2

It’s like when you visit an art gallery and there’s a video instillation. The video is shot on Super 8, and features broken mirrors, religious imagery, and a good deal of nudity. This album would be the soundtrack. You stand at the back of the darkened gallery just long enough to prove you aren’t scared/confused/shocked by it, then politely edge your way out to go and find something by Banksy, whose book you have on the coffee table at home. Giving it 2 stars. If you gave it 1 star, it would mean you didn’t ‘get it’ … and I definitely ‘get it’. 100% ‘get it’. It’s just I prefer stuff by Radiohead, or Banksy.

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Wed Aug 24 2022

1

This should be everyone's selection on April 1st, because it being included on the list has to be a joke. Worse than awful.

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Sun Aug 28 2022

4

Really solid creatively and certainly the most deserving of the label industrial, but not the EN album I would’ve picked for a “must listen.”

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Wed Aug 24 2022

1

Not my thing. Awful

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Mon Oct 03 2022

3

There sure is a lot of hate for this record, so much that it's the lowest rated song on the entire list. I think that's a bit overstated as this isn't a "bad" record per se, it's definitely challenging though and it will necessitate that you adjust your expectations of what "music" is. IMO there are a lot of more unlistenable albums on this list, eg Black Death Metal. I found the second side with the instrumental songs without any vocals to be the most interesting. Particularly the 7 songs that end in "dub", with the best being Gastarbeiterdub with some very interesting percussive beats. I probably wouldn't seek this out to listen to it but I found it to be quite interesting.

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Thu Oct 13 2022

1

What the hell is this? Power tools and someone screaming in German? This is absolute garbage. If I could give negative stars, I would. I thought Limp Bizkit was the worst this list had to offer, but boy was I wrong. I owe Mr. Durst a heartfelt apology. This is literally the worst thing I have ever heard. Imagine you're outside on a busy street standing next to someone jackhammering the sidewalk, so you're wearing headphones that are just playing static to try and cover up the construction sounds, but you can't quite get the volume high enough. Then out of nowhere an angry German dentist tackles you and starts giving you a root canal while yelling in your face. Then someone in the building next door sees what's going on and starts throwing random drums and chains out the window onto the street. Now imagine that but worse. That's the kind of thing we're dealing with here. So I say to you, Mr. Einstürzende Neubauten, BOOO! BOOOOO!!!

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Thu Sep 29 2022

2

Music is context specific right. And my current context is really jarring with this. This ISN'T work background music. But, there's something that's made me curious. I like the textures. The drums on Steh auf Berlin sound similar to a Woodkid track (you know the one trending on TT right now). There must be some techno remixes of these songs playing at Berghain right? U-Haft-Muzak has a really interesting intro, and not surprised to read one of the band members joined Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds. Can hear how Nine Inch Nails have been influenced by them. Apparently the band threw fire at their audiences and damaged venues. Hmmm, that sounds like really shitty behaviour IMHO.

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Thu Nov 24 2022

1

Among the “1 Star Album Club,” some space must be reserved for bold, exciting ideas which have been ruined by their execution. I actually enjoy a lot of the experimentalism on this album, and I want reward any and all artists willing to go out on a limb. You can hear some nightmarish— but somewhat enticing— sounds on the second half of this record. Almost a more homespun, industrial version of the Raymond Scott/Manhattan Research tapes. Little ideas made from experiments, and some are pretty neat. That’s the instrumental second half of the album. Unfortunately for Eunsturzrnde Neubauten, most of us start our albums at the beginning, and the beginning of this album is absolutely unlistenable, and it is entirely up to the screaming, frightening vocals. Comparisons have been made to the sound of Hitler screaming one of his speeches while giving you a root canal. I think that’s not at all unfair. I can’t hear anything redeeming in those first three tracks, and that’s a lot of time to lose someone. If Neubauten was really going for this, and they actually want me to turn my mind to the dark, repressed memories of my last dentist appointment, then “Steh Auf Berlin” is a stunning achievement. And so it is with all of the good ideas on this album: ruined by horrific vocals. I’m so repulsed by them that anything else redeeming on this album is forgotten. I was going to write an unserious review, but halfway through my second go-round I realized that this band is actually deadly serious, and so they deserve to be more than just slagged off. 1 star for me.

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Thu Nov 24 2022

1

Gotta be honest it takes a lot of balls to record something like this and release it. The whole time listening to it all I could think about was them in the studio recording it and it made it a little easier to listen to. The back half of Helga was my favorite part. This album would make a great horror movie soundtrack. Terrible music though I recognize they perfectly executed what they were going for

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Mon Dec 26 2022

4

epic noise

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Mon Sep 12 2022

2

Som experimental, não muito agradável

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Thu Sep 01 2022

1

Unlistenable…but that’s probably the point.

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Thu Nov 24 2022

1

If Doodle Bob had a band, this would be the album. Perfect for any haunted house, artsy horror film or torturing your neighbor. Have a Godzilla like monster? Mikrobendub. Deranged dentist turned torturer? Steh auf Berlin. Scene with a NY street performer? Rohrbombe. Doodle Bob does the Bubble Bowl? Vorm Krieg. For house security, play Gasterbeiterdub on repeat while you’re away from home. Passerby will think you’re jamming out and building your new IKEA furniture. The weak hearted should skip the first seven songs and head to the more palatable second act starting with Kollaps. Sado-Masodub is an absolute banger that ends just as it’s getting good. A marvel for its time that is now blended into whacky sound effects on keyboards and Ableton push sound packs.

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Thu Oct 27 2022

5

Dannati geni.

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Mon Jun 12 2023

5

The real thing! 1ste wave of industrial music. Neubauten, Test Department, Sans, Coil, Foetus. All sound can be music. And German brilliant language for this noise. 5 stars of course. Later made e.g. Tabula Rasa, beautiful album.

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Sun Jan 22 2023

4

I've got no hope of being neutral about Einstürzende. They're one of my husband's favorites. I hear them whether I like it or not. So I might as well find reasons to like them. This album's noisy and rather unpleasant, but it's not chaotic, not just loud noodling and screaming. I couldn't tell you what their intention is, but I can tell they've got one. It's hard to tell from this album but there are songs on later albums where Blixa's voice is actually soothing. On Kollaps, we only hear the stuff of nightmares. Still, this is different! I would much rather listen to something that disturbs me with noise than to something that disturbs me with boredom. So, thumbs up!

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Tue Aug 08 2023

4

I appreciate the use of tools and building materials, it sounds like a demented construction site. For an album that they were trying to make unlistenable, it has quite a bit going for it. The rhythms are entrancing at times, and they leave a lot of space in many of the tracks, which invites then listener in before they are eventually jolted out of the trance with a primal scream. Would listen again.

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Mon Oct 16 2023

4

I've known about this band for a while thanks to Henry Rollins' tattoo, but had never really given them a listen. I really enjoyed the industrial chaos sound.

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Fri Sep 30 2022

3

Grew on me. Not sure I'd listen again though.

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Thu Aug 25 2022

2

I didn’t listen to this album because I’m not into German music.

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Sun Jul 02 2023

2

this is frustrating stuff. they've got the sounds, they've clearly got some sort of ethos/attitude, but they don't have anything close to a song. a bit of a hook or something resembling a purpose for each track is completely missing. so it ends up sounding like something you'd stumble across in an art gallery or museum that you just clearly aren't arty enough to understand.

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Fri Aug 26 2022

1

Knowing German did not make this any better, honestly might've been more tolerable if I didn't know it.

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Wed Jan 25 2023

1

If I was being charitable I could say that these creepy soundscapes and industrial rhythms helped lay the groundwork for Burial, Nine Inch Nails and others to build upon, or that the extreme experimentation and complete disregard for pleasant sounds is way more punk than anything else on this list. I could also say that this album would make an ideal soundtrack to a horror film, or horror video game, or horrifying mental breakdown. But I can't in all conscience call it good music. 1.5

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Fri Jun 30 2023

1

It's strangely comforting to know that this sounded exactly as insane as I thought it would upon reading the description

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Mon Mar 27 2023

5

This is not music it is noise and it's not meant to be enjoyed and you won't find it on Spotify. There are lots of other bands who I prefer over them: Nurse with wound, Coil, Zoviet France, Stockhausen and of course Throbbing Gristle. My vote is for the genre although this this album. Some tracks are more accessible- like Kollaps and Sehnsucht, others are pure noise.

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Tue Mar 28 2023

5

Look, this album is not something you listen to while you dust your living room, all right? It is an early work of industrial and drone sound to create nightmarish landscapes. There are certainly better guitarists than Blixa Bargeld on a technical level but few people in music use their instrument to create proper soundscapes like that. In that respect, he is closer to Robert Fripp and his Frippertronics than Eric Claption or Jimmy Page. Compare that with Unruh's and Einheit's percussion work you have something extraordinary.

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Wed Apr 05 2023

5

cool

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Fri May 12 2023

5

The start of the end. Fucking brutal.

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Mon May 29 2023

5

Strong start; intense, at once shamanistic and mechanical. Second half not as entertaining. Well done.

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Thu Oct 26 2023

5

my kind of noise.

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Mon Jan 09 2023

4

This noisy assault had me glued to the listen for at least half the album, then became a bit tiring. This is at times incredibly raw and dark, but also humorous in its audacity. Definitely unique and for a record created to be the “most unlistenable album ever”, Ein came pretty close. Actually, there was enough rhythm and beat to keep me listening. I’ve had much harder times listening to more conventional albums I just didn’t like. I suppose ‘unlistenable’ is very subjective.

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Fri Jan 13 2023

4

By turns disturbing, charming, thought-provoking and both musical and non-musical - often simultaneously. Ground-breaking at the time and still relevant.

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Sun Jan 22 2023

4

This album was certainly interesting in a "German guy is yelling at me while hitting pots and pans" kind of way. With titles like "Schmerzen Hören," at least you knew this wasn't gonna be Easy Listening. The title track was quite long, but I got through it smiling as I imagined it as a karaoke choice. I would enjoy that. I was intrigued and engaged, and I appreciated the experience as an exploration of sound, and that's how I rated it. The question of whether I "liked" it or not seems irrelevant.

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Fri Feb 03 2023

4

KOLLAPS I always forget I like industrial, because I will say things like, "This music is just monotonous yelling and jarring noises; I don't like it." But then I do like it when it's dark+spooky yelling and machine noises. I thought it was very cool. Though I listened to the whole 56-minute album twice, I can't pick a favourite because it was all German singing/talking and dark, driving music with some whirring and clanking. There were some songs with no vocals or very limited vocals that I liked.

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Thu Apr 13 2023

4

Weird

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Wed May 03 2023

4

It's pots and pans and plenty of challenge-via-being-just-bad. These Germans are not so much anti-Kraftwerk and not-Kraftwerk, the early material shows; The dance they demand is different but also compelling. Baffling in outness.

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Mon Jun 12 2023

4

Was het fijn om aan te horen? Nee. Heb ik het naar mijn zin gehad? Zeker weten!

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Wed Jul 05 2023

4

It's spelled collapse

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Tue Aug 08 2023

4

Though this isn't something I'd put into my daily rotation, it resonates with me on a personal level far more than a great deal of other albums on this list. I know where the impulse to make something like this comes from, and you can hear how it gave permission to others that followed to go further down the trail they blazed here.

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Thu Aug 24 2023

4

Wow, impressive industrial and Experimental. It toes the line without falling into a trap of being unlistenable.

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Thu Aug 24 2023

4

Honest to god, hearing the angle grinder tear through sheet metal kind of won me over.

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Sun Sep 10 2023

4

The word angst is Germanic in its origin, so it's of no surprise that this music did too. It's horrible, but in the best way. They find emotion in power tools and destruction. It's difficult. But brilliantly so. It could only be done once, but it's amazing it was done at all. While normally I sneer at the people giving low ratings, this is an album you have to be in exactly the right mood for. Amazing Serge Gainsbourg cover too!

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Sun Sep 17 2023

4

I have a soft spot for weird music and this certainly fits the bill

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Fri Sep 22 2023

4

3.14...zdec

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Tue Oct 10 2023

4

Det här är nog dope... de gör mycket med ganska lite. Gnarly sound

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Tue Oct 10 2023

4

All the people giving this a low score is unfortunate. This is classic stuff! Industrial music in it’s purest form. Maybe one of their later albums could’ve been included for easier digestability, but that’s not the case.

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Wed Oct 25 2023

4

Hello, welcome to the reviews page for the lowest-rated album on this website! Take a seat, dive into the horror of Industrial music. Pure industrial music (none of this industrial metal or industrial techno stuff) is content exploring dark, noisy soundscapes that sound, well, industrial. More metal than metal, more raw than punk. There's a specific fascination with the mechanical, rhythmic chaos of the factories. It aims to capture the bleak nature of the artist's realities, the world around them. Kollaps is a true, German reflection of the industrial genre. It is a monstrous experience and one that is delightfully disturbing. Wails from vocalist Blixa Bargeld, as if crying out for release. Unrelenting noise from things that simply cannot be instruments. Kollaps is, for lack of a better term, wrong, but it's execution is oh so right. What a messed up and uncomfortable album this is. Einstürzende Neubauten must have known the power of something like this, and how goddamn unpleasant it was. It's beautiful.

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Wed Nov 15 2023

4

Everyone who voted this 2 or lower is a coward. This album rules, absolutely unlistenable stuff double thumbs up 👍 👍

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Wed Nov 22 2023

4

"Kollaps" is the first official album by German experimental group Einstürzende Neubauten. Industrial and experimental are the genres. I'll say. The music is a mixture of rough punk tunes and industrial noises from music machines, electronics and metal plates. Lots of metal on metal in this one. Einstürzende Neubauten members included Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals, guitar, noises), N.U. Unruh (percussion, vocals) and F.M. Einheit (percussion, vocals). "Tanz Debil" (Debility Dance) has a buzzsaw in the background. Pounding metal and percussion. Blixa yelling in the background. Wow, this is a harrowing sound. "Negativ Nein" (Negative No) starts out with someone walking in water. Strings plucking. Screaming. Exasperation. Horrifying. "Schmerzen Hören (Hören mit Schmerzen)" (Hearing Pain (Listen with Pain)) has echoing metal sounds. Lots of guitar feedback. Blixa sounds like he's dying. "Kollaps" (Collapse) has a prancing, eerie guitar, sort of Velvet Underground sounding. The pounding is repetitive. Screaming, dramatic, the vocals are very similar to Suicide. "Bitte, Bitte, Bitte" ends the song. Ah, Bitte equals please. "Abstieg & Zerfall" (Descent & Decay) adds a sound like metal getting cut by a wheel blade. There's pounding on tin cans, motor sounds and a guitar sounding like it's been playing backwards. This was quite an experience. I never knew so many sounds could be made by pounding metal on metal. This album is stark, harsh, horrifying and at the same time intriguing, creative and avant garde. There is a connection between the starkness of Suicide through this album to what would become the industrial music of Ministry and Nine Inch Nails. I'm only going to recommend this to anyone who is both Suicide and Ministry fans. And, that would be me too.

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Wed Oct 26 2022

3

Listened before? N What a wild album! For being such an early industrial work, it sure is more complex and layered than most modern industrial stuff (which seems to just be metal for people who can't play string instruments). It ranges from songs that are a few seconds long, to the monster 8-minutes Kollaps. What a roller coaster. An absolute pioneer in their field. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Sado-Masodub

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Mon Nov 14 2022

3

Well.i got more feeling from this than i dod the stevie wonder i had yesterday... but equally, it was a hard listen. Quite a tricky one to rate.

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Wed Nov 30 2022

3

To be fair, you do need an incredibly high IQ to understand the nuance and depth to this album

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Fri Dec 23 2022

3

Cold, harsh and anxiety inducing. Don’t think I’d listen again soon but deffo an experience. Would deffo listen over U2

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Sun Jan 22 2023

3

This took an extra day for me to get through. It wasn't because I found it too difficult to listen to...I just found it too difficult to find an appropriate place in my day to listen. I thought about listening while doing some home remodel demo, but I was afraid that it might all just blend together with the demo sounds. Later, as I tried to listen, I found myself nodding off, so I guess I found it somewhat soothing... It was interesting (when I made it through while awake) at the very least!

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Wed Jan 25 2023

3

Actually kinda vibed with this one. My receptiveness would definitely depend on my mood at the time, but yesterday I was in the zone for something a little different and this delivered. Interesting to see the raw, unfiltered emergence of some industrial textures that still define the genre today and listen to some semi-improvisational discovery along the way. Not every experiment lands, but kudos to these guys for pushing the envelope a little.

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Wed Jan 25 2023

3

i mean i still have a fondness for unbridled creativity but in retrospect so much of the "avant-garde" is just one ugly thing after another

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Thu Feb 02 2023

3

Very much not my thing but nonetheless interesting

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Fri Feb 10 2023

3

Didn't excite me. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood...

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Thu Feb 16 2023

3

Hey kids, ever wonder why the call it industrial music? Man, this album is brutal. I enjoyed some of it as a one-time listen, but I couldn’t see myself playing it often, except perhaps to drive out houseguest that I think have stayed too long. This is more noise-focused and percussive than the industrial music that I am a fan of, but I can hear this band’s influence in a lot of the music that I love. The percussive rhythm of the first track, “Tanz Debil”, made me think of the guitar in King Crimson’s “Larks’ Tongues in Apsic Pt II”. I see that this band is still around and am actually curious to hear how their sound has changed since 1981. As easy as it is to dismiss this as just useless noise, it is experimental music like this that keeps music fresh and motivates new generations of musicians to add certain sounds to their own. I give it a 3 just for sounding like nothing else in 1981.

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Thu Mar 02 2023

3

"all this modern music is boom bang-a-bang noise" - my dad, 1981

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Thu Mar 02 2023

3

So this album is clearly somewhat unpopular here, given it is currently the lowest rated album on the site. I listened to it three times. I feel like the more I listened to it the more I grew to like it. Its obviously a very rough around the edges kind of album and very raw. The production is harsh and the instrumentation is grating. The vocals are filled with a strange, intense raw kind of passion. That is the highlight of the album for me. Though I have no idea what the singer is talking about, it feels relatable when going through pain (not sure if that's a good thing or not). I don't think this album is that bad, although obviously not for everyone. FAVORITE SONGS - Kollaps 3.5/5

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Fri Mar 03 2023

3

Interesting

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Thu Mar 09 2023

3

Ok

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Fri May 19 2023

3

I don’t get the hate. Definitely not worth the lowest rating on the site.

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Wed Jun 07 2023

3

As with them it goes.

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Fri Jul 28 2023

3

i’m interested in industrial generally but this felt a bit lackluster? like there’s something interesting here, but i just can’t get at it. giving it a default 3 because i dont think i understand it

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Fri Jul 28 2023

3

I lack the mental model to adequately appreciate industrial music like this. Really good music can give you chills. The use of feedback, dissonance, and strange timbre also gives me chills. It’s more similar to chills from nails on a chalkboard though, but not in a bad way? I doubt that this is the level that Einstürzende Neubauten wanted me to appreciate the music on. But in terms of magnitude of physiological response, it’s way up there. A little long though.

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Tue Aug 08 2023

3

First reaction was being wide-eyed and uttering "woah". Industrial Stockhausen. That "drum" beat is crazy cool on the 1st track. Other tracks with that "drilling" sound definitely is a bit much for me, not one I wanna hear (I should go to the Dentist soon tbh). Definitely experimental, but I love when this stuff pops up on 1001. I was working against the clock trying to get some client work done before the meeting so this was quite perfect for the mood. Lots of the random noises/electronic bits are lots of things I'd make but then go "ok, I can never use this though... but it kinda sounds cool". These folks just went and did it. Inclusion of guitar was a good call to ground things a bit. I respect it a lot honestly, I fully understand why someone would rate it a 1. I have to be in the right mood as well to listen to this, but I am glad things like this are on the list. I do wish it were a bit more focused though, it could be 35-40 minutes in total I'd imagine. Drop perhaps 1/3rd of the tracks. Kid Rock is worse.

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Mon Aug 21 2023

3

Generally I prefer organized sound to this primitive noise. But after suffering through ear bleed for the first few songs, I started to appreciate it. This is unlike anything I have ever heard before. Did I enjoy it? Absolutely not. But will it stick with me for a long time? Yes

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Mon Aug 21 2023

3

This was very interesting. Sometimes weird sometimes very odd. Never boring.

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Sat Aug 26 2023

3

I feel like whether or not you enjoy this is really predicated on how much Quake you played in the early 1990s

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Mon Aug 28 2023

3

500th album! Crazy German noise/industrial music. Literal sounds of power tools and explosions and stuff smashing together. This one was challenging for sure. Not something I'd seek out to listen to but I did find it interesting. It's sitting somewhere between a 2 and 3 for me but I'll round up

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Thu Aug 31 2023

3

Interesting but not music I want to listen to very often. I grew up a fan of Nine Inch Nails, so it was interesting to read about the influence of this group on the creation of Reznor's style!

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Fri Sep 01 2023

3

interesting sound for that genre. I liked it!

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Wed Sep 13 2023

3

Amongst the most daring and anarchist offerings in industrial and punk, Kollaps remains the standard bearer for not just Einstürzende Neubauten but for their genre in general. Over forty years on, it still beguiles, bemuses and embolds the listener to make their own opinions on what's being beaten over their ears. Not the first best introduction to industrial music but it is very important nonetheless. Favorites: Tanz Debil, Steh auf Berlin, Negativ Nein, U-Haft-Muzak, Jet'm, Kollaps, Sehnsucht, Vorm Krieg, Abstieg and Zerfall, Schiess Euch Ins Blut, Rohrbombe, Sado-Masodub.

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Tue Sep 26 2023

3

Definitely different, which I like. Early industrial I guess, but not wholly my thing.

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Sun Oct 08 2023

3

A bit different than what I normally listen to.

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Sun Oct 22 2023

3

I find it odd that people hate industrial music so much but have no problem with verified assholes ranting and raving about bitches, money, and drugs. I'd take German experimental industrial music any day over that.

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Mon Nov 06 2023

3

I went into this with low expectations given that it’s the lowest rated album of the list on this site. And then… I kind of liked it. Like, I don’t really want to listen to it again, but it was interesting. And imaginative. And transgressive. Then again, I was a composition student and I heard a lot of fucked up shit passed off as music back then, so maybe my tolerance for noise-music is high. It’s actually a lot more musical than I think some people are giving it credit for. It’s not just noise and it’s not just random. There is definitely some thought behind it all and it effectively makes the listener squirm. I’d rather be confused by this than bored by something else.

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Wed Nov 15 2023

3

Innovative, but probably best heard live.

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Wed Dec 06 2023

3

ok ersts lied hani um einiges geiler gfunde als ich denkt han steh auf berlin findi rhythmisch sehr geil aber die müehsame nebegrüsch sind chli ahstrengend ich freu mich uf de erst moment woner mal singt (als ob) ok also musikalisch gfallts mier grundsätzlich sehr und finds au kreativ, aber echli meh als chli wörter umesinge/schreie brüchts für mich zums richtig chönne gnüsse au u-haft-muzak findi recht spannend, de schleppend komisch "bass" und die komische hindergrüsch mached s ganze recht unheimlich uf jtme oder wie das heisst chönnti verzichte kollaps isch jz wieder chli meh wie es LIED finds bis jz recht cool UHHH de schrei und denn übernimmt irgenden bohrer bis d gitarre wieder ihsetzt SEHNSUCHT MITEM SYNTHI WO HERT NÖD IM TAKT ISCH vlt überlegi z wiit aber isch das s herzchlopfe wemmer so sehnsucht het? d lyrics findi nöd immer glich guet aber es isch halt wie alles sehr abstrakt und apokalyptisch und weg dem passts für mich sehr wie zB Abstieg und Zerfall s laht mich sochli "verlore" würke? hans gfühl d musig isch sochli usere müedigkeit vo dere welt ussecho allgemein han ichs vill meh gnosse als ich denkt han. au wenn die nebegrüsch natürlich teil vo dere musig sind, sinds hüfig echli zu müehsam gsi. me muess sehr ide luune sii aber grundsätzlich hetsmer recht gfalle.

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Wed Sep 07 2022

2

Pretty much endured this. I’m a generally open to the idea that I’m not getting something weird and could be brought around to appreciation but This one I thought was a load of BS.

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Thu Sep 08 2022

2

Found sounds galore! This one has me looking around the house wondering "can I make music with that?"

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Mon Sep 12 2022

2

Some songs were definitely listenable. Others were sound collages put together. Not a very cohesive album, maybe that’s the point?

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Thu Sep 22 2022

2

Pretty tough to listen to but it definitely has a place in music history given that it paved the way for other industrial music. A bit too experimental for me.

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Wed Oct 05 2022

2

I do get what they are doing here and I appreciate it. They’ve got a cover of a Serge Gainsbourg tune here, too, which is an excellent homage. Love the album art. Not something I’ll come back to but I absolutely understand why we need to include it on this list.

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Sun Oct 09 2022

2

Extra star for being different and challenging, but listening while working can't deal with this.

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Sun Oct 09 2022

2

I sure didn't expect that! Very different kinda music, if you can call it music.

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Fri Oct 21 2022

2

Ouf... bof

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Tue Oct 25 2022

2

How to review an album that wasn't meant to be "enjoyed"? I tried thinking of it as visiting a performance art piece (which I gather is how the band started). But even then I found it hard going, intriguing at times but never really engaging - hampered no doubt by me not understanding German (and not finding translations in the time available). All along, I'm thinking fondly of times with Simon and Jeremy (RIP), who cited this band as a key influence they wanted to bring into our band, and of course then into Kinderschmerzen. In the end, I'm going to rate it as usual: how much did I enjoy/appreciate it, and would I come back for more? Having dipped quickly into some later albums where they mixed the industrial noise with more melody, groovier rhythms, and discernable song structures, I'm sticking with my original rating: two stars, the second being due more to the memories than to the recording itself.

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Wed Oct 26 2022

2

I thought that Germany was out of the "crimes against humanity" business... + 1 star for sheer audacity, and the final few tracks which veered toward being tolerable.

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Thu Nov 03 2022

2

2.6 - This sounds like a sample catalog for industrial music, or the soundtrack for a sub-genre of pornography you wish didn't exist.

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Tue Nov 08 2022

2

This is a hard one... it very clearly wasn't intended to be thought of as music; it's more performance art than anything. Some of it ever-so-vaguely resembles the industrial vibe that turns up in music that I really like (Ministry, Fear Factory, KMFDM etc) but that's where any real connection to music here ends. It has that "ha ha, this is fucked up" edge in the lyrics, which combines well with the utter sonic despair they're paired with and that gets it an extra point, but I am also being pretty generous there. 2/5.

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