Kollaps

Great album

The Front Cover features a striking, minimalist "dead gold" background containing nothing but the band's name, the album title, and their iconic petroglyph logo. Because they had very little money for artwork, the metallic design served as a stark, industrial statement. This according to 'stamp the wax' or they were just lazy and couldn't be arsed to put together a decent sleeve. Was expecting, from the reviews, for this to be less tuneful. However, theres an integrity and thoughtfulness to this album. Ok its an art project so its difficult to gauge alongside what else is on here but compared to Kid Rock this is sincere and genius. Not for heavy rotation but not to be discarded as noise.

Worst so far. I want to meet the person who enjoys this. I had to listen to 60 minutes of Yacht Rock to undo the damage.

This actually hurt my ears to listen to. Nein, just nein.

At least it was interesting. After sitting through far too many boring albums it was strangely refreshing to listen to something that at least tried to be different. Don't get me wrong, I am never listening to this album again, but I am at least happy that I listened to it once, which is more than I can say for "69 Love Songs".

Noise (pejorative)

Experimental German “music”; what I associate with Berlin

noise pollution only a masochist would listen to

These industrial freakoids deserve an enormous amount of credit for pushing the question "what exactly can you put on a record" as far as it could go. This audio excursion to the outer limits of the known universe deserve five stars for that effort alone. On the other hand, any record I would *never* listen to again automatically gets one star. So I guess we split the difference here?

As mucha si appreciate this list sharing such insane and nonsensical record, this was on the verge of giving me a migraine

I really hate to rate an album without listening to the whole thing, but I simply cannot subject myself to an hour of screeching tires and breaking plates

I know as you get older, you think all music is 'just noise'. But this this just noise.

Album #270 Einstürzende Neubauten: Kollaps Am I surprised that this album finds itself amongst the lowest rated on this site? No. Am I a little disappointed? Kind of. I mean, I completely get it; I’m not one to get too pretentious and snarky when it comes to music, so I’m not about to go on about how this album was pivotal in experimental post-punk and early industrial scenes, and advocate how harsh noise is actually preferable to pop music. However, I do think that even if you don’t like any of those genres, you can still appreciate an album like this for what it is. Music, at the end of the day, is art, and for the most part it is art that tells a story; in the case of Kollaps, this storytelling is non-linear. It creates a soundscape; the album almost feels like living in a post-apocalyptic, cyberpunk-esque world; you don’t listen to an album like this to scope out potential karaoke songs, you listen to it to experience something new. Sure, on the surface some of these songs sound like the Brave Little Toaster getting molested by the Iron Giant to the tune of an Adolf Hitler rally, but really it’s the feelings that these songs invoke that are important. At the end of the day, is it enjoyable? I would say yes; this is no Metal Machine Music. There are some legitimately good songs here that I think even the most casual post-punk listener could find some enjoyment from, and though even I’m not too crazy about some of the Can-esque sound collages, I still think it’s a crying shame that an album like this with legitimate artistic integrity lands below a Kid Rock album where he sings about fucking underage black girls. Best Songs: Kollaps, Tanz Debil, Sehnsucht Worst Song: U-Haft-Muzak Score out of 10: 6

Bullshit noise. Throw it into the sun. I feel bad for my other 1-star albums because they're far superior to this.

Maybe like me you wondered why Flea was one of the German Nihilists in the Big Lebowski. Turns out he was into German whatever-the-hell-this-is music at the time. And his five lines are vastly more entertaining than this entire album.

As a realization of experimental music, you can't really fault it

Ve haf vays of making you talk. Hans, put on zee Kollops record. 1/5 7/9/26

Shocking

Malgré que le grand livre des 1001 albums à écouter avant de mourir a fait une place d'honneur à Kollaps dans ses pages, beaucoup de petits joueurs du dimanche ont préféré lui coller un misérable 1 sur 5 en se bouchant le nez, horrifiés par ce qui ressemble à première vue à un chantier naval en pleine crise d'épilepsie. Bon ok... je veux bien admettre 5 minutes que le tout premier album d’Einstürzende Neubauten paru en 1981, traîne derrière lui la réputation sulfureuse d’avoir été délibérément conçu pour devenir l'album le plus inécoutable de tous les temps. Mais nous ne sommes plus en 1981, dans un Berlin-Ouest muré, claustrophobe, saturé d'héroïne et de paranoïa de Guerre froide, où ce disque a agi comme une déflagration absolue. Je pense d'ailleurs qu'à l’époque, entendre Blixa Bargeld – qui rejoindra plus tard le gang des Bad Seeds de Nick Cave – hurler à la mort en massacrant des perceuses, des ressorts métalliques et des scies sauteuses avait de quoi faire fuir n'importe quel bourgeois égaré. Mais aujourd'hui, avec le recul et après s'être farci des décennies d'expérimentations bruitistes bien plus radicales, de black metal caverneux, de power electronics déviante ou de harsh noise japonaise à la Merzbow qui vous perforent les tympans au laser, Kollaps a étrangement vieilli d'une façon presque douce. D'ailleurs à certains moments, le disque ressemble à une berceuse étrange et feutrée que j'aurais presque pu faire écouter à ma fille Sara pour l'endormir. Et c'est bien là que réside toute la beauté et la grandeur de cet art, car la musique n’a jamais été créée uniquement pour servir de papier peint sonore, pour susurrer des politesses ou pour caresser l'auditeur dans le sens du poil avec des harmonies mielleuses et prévisibles. Une vraie œuvre d'art sonore doit aussi savoir vous bousculer, vous désarçonner, vous foutre un mal de crâne carabiné et vous obliger à regarder dans le caniveau pour y trouver une poésie brute. Einstürzende Neubauten – qui signifie littéralement "les nouveaux bâtiments qui s'effondrent" – ne jouait pas la comédie. Car les mecs, comme ils n'avaient pas les moyens de se payer de vrais instruments conventionnels en studio, ont pillé les bennes à ordures, récupéré des débris industriels, des plaques d'acier et des bétonnières pour inventer leur propre langage. Ce n’est pas de la pose de punk à chien de salon : c’est une démarche viscérale, un cri primitif de survie poussé du fond d'une cave humide. Une démarche qui refuse aussi tout compromis avec l'industrie du divertissement car c'est une démarche où on tape, on cogne, on racle l'acier, et où au milieu de ce chaos percussif émerge une transe rituelle, presque tribale, portée par la voix possédée et hallucinée de Blixa Bargeld. Ce n'est pas un étalage stérile de virtuosité technique à la petite semaine, mais une véritable tentative de réenchanter le bruit du quotidien pour en faire une matière dramatique pure. Alors oui, c'est abrasif, oui, cela sent la rouille et la poussière d'amiante, mais cela déborde d'une sincérité organique qu'on ne retrouve plus nulle part dans les productions modernes. Alors face à la frilosité de certains "spécialistes" du projet des 1001 albums qui ont pris leurs jambes à leur cou en criant au scandale et en lui collant une note punitive d'un ridicule consommé, j’assume totalement de nager à contre-courant et je lui colle sans hésiter un gros 4 sur 5. D'abord, je l'avoue bien volontiers, par pur esprit de contradiction et pour narguer ces petits joueurs qui s'évanouissent dès qu'un disque ne contient pas un refrain chanté au coin du feu. Mais surtout parce que, contrairement à ce que racontent les snobs qui confondent l'avant-garde avec du simple foutage de gueule, cet album n'est pas encore au niveau de la qualité d'un futur cheval qui pisse.

I don't...hate it. it's interesting to listen to. this album transports me to an art exhibit with graffiti style paintings and found material scuptures and photographs of overgrown weedy hidey holes underneath urban bridges and near methadone clinics at night and there's no security guards in the actual exhibits and maybe it's all local artists but all of the artists on plaques live somewhere else. this album is playing and the infrequent noises harken back to the urban environment and also might make you think about how old the plumbing is

Ain't no way I just listened to 30 minutes of German construction. Favourite Songs: Tanz Debil, Kollaps, Sehnsucht. Least Favourite Songs: Negativ Nein, U-Haft-Muzak, Jet'm.

Definitely an interesting listen, although I am not a big fan of industrial music. Rating: 1/10

Weird

I love this shit. I understand why you might not, but this goes hard. If you're not into Berlin Techno that's totally fair, more room in Berghain for me

To much experimental for me

You alright, Germany?

Just noises put together. Absolutely shite

One song actually hurt our ears as we frantically raced to skip it. Perhaps an interesting experimentation with industrial sounds, but not a pleasant one. We couldn't finish this.

PSA: Only the first 13 tracks were part of the original LP!

very much not what i was expecting from the previous selection of albums i've gotten so far. it's pretty interesting, just something i wouldn't willingly go back to. super headache inducing

surprisingly listenable for what it is - it only features vocals, guitar, percussion, and "noises". definitely a precursor to some music that i really enjoy - although i don't think i will be revisiting this often. if i'm going to pop on some blixa tho, i'll be popping on some nick cave & the bad seeds, which he was a member of from formation until 2003's "nocturama". impressive to be an industrial visionary and founding and seminal member of one of the most enduring rock acts and one of the best live acts i have ever seen.

Oljud.

Sluta.

Det är starkt som fan, men knappast hälsosamt.

This album gave me serious anxiety. I had to take a Xanax to get through it.

Total mente desconocidos. Ruidos y gritos...aguanta una escucha para comprobar si en algún momento hay alguna melodía.......pues no. Para presos de Guantanamo y joder a los vecinos.

whats wrong boy? scared of a little industrial?

I didn't know this band. Meaningless and annoying noise.

Yes, there is a lot of Noise here, but there is also a lot of melody and rhythm that also push this towards Industrial and even some punk and EDM. It is an accomplishment and like good Noise (Rock) music, shows the beauty and how structure can be formed from the seemingly unstructured.

I almost gave it 2 stars because somehow in that particular day I actually felt like whatever this is. But when it passed I couldnt bring myself to listen to listen to it any longer. Just that I have other things to do, let alone listen, not literal noises

I can get behind industrial rhythms, and somehow shouty vocals in German are better than English shouty vocals. However, they seem to go out of their way to make the listening experience unpleasant at times. No one thought anyone would like to hear the sound of drilling on metal. I'm rating it accordingly, but I'm not mad about having heard it.

I didn’t really get this album and couldn’t understand the lyrics. Some interesting sounds I suppose but I don’t think I was the target audience.

2.5 - unique but not my favorite

Not even slightly as bad as people on this site claim it to be. Sure it’s a bit out there, but I prefer getting this to getting generic hard rock for the 1000th time.

I refuse to believe anyone enjoys listening to this

“Now comes the time on Sprockets when we shout and bang metal things on metal things.”

15/100

Ahhh Kollaps, the album you're just not sure if someone is fucking with you or not. I think they are. Anytime I listen to this I get reminded of tools in my garage, busted plumbing and haunted house sounds. Seriously how could they not be fucking with you?! As far as an experiment goes, I guess it's good? I mean what baseline do you use? Experiment albums are for the art kids not normies. Even then it's the art kids fucking with us trying to convince a normies that this is good.

Terrible album, I really don't like this lol

qué chucha es esta hueá.

Kollaps I found this interesting, not necessarily the actual music itself, more about what it made me think about. Why do I listen to music, what’s its purpose, and why do I like certain music and dislike others? And what goes into liking something, what combination of melody, rhythm, harmony, historical context, intent, instrumentation, virtuosity or production makes me like something and what combination of those things doesn’t. On the one hand this is catnip for people who like music that makes them feel superior to people who like ‘conventional’ music, that ‘difficult’ music makes them a more interesting person. And on the other hand you can say this is pointless, making music abrasive, obtuse and amelodic as an end in itself is just a dead end - anyone can bang a few pipes and make some noise and call it music. And actually, structurally is this that different from say Music for Airports? Tonally of course it’s very different, caustic and rough vs gentle and soporific, but it is similarly an exercise in repetition, texture and atmosphere. I suppose whether this is a ‘good’ music or not is kind of beside the point, like art across different mediums, it seems to me to be more about why it sounds like this and to think about why I react to it the way I do. And ultimately I would say it's much more artistically interesting and satisfying than another creatively moribund metal or US punk album, and I would rather listen to this than say And Justice for All again. So it’s tricky to rate. I’m very glad it came up, I found the whole thing fascinating, with a couple of tracks like Kollaps, Negativ Nein Futuristischer Dub and Gastarbeitdub that I did like. But on a pure musicality level, for someone with my tastes, it’s obviously not that satisfying. But then I do have the urge to say it’s actually good as a deliberately contrarian look how open minded I am bit of reverse snobbery. So, based on a scale relistenability it’s probably a 2, but I’ll nudge it to a 3, as I liked how it made me think about it. 🛠️🛠️🛠️ Playlist submission: Kollaps

More German industrialists. I still have the clanging of Laibach ringing heavy in my bonce. 'Atomizer' since came along which took industrial and gave it some garage band appeal. And 'Young Gods' added some mystery to the metallic feel. This feels an uphill struggle by comparison. Which I suppose is the point. Scream, drill. Scream, drill. And yet, to say it all sounds like you've let an autistic kid with a crash helmet loose in a sheet metal factory, is unfair. There are genuinely menacing moments. The solemn and solitary beat of 'U-Haft-Muzak ('You Have Music'); the isolated voices of 'Draussen ist Fiendlich' ('Fiendish Dressage'), but each time the suspense is pierced by some form of drill whether it be household, pneumatic or dentist's. What's more, the suspenseful efficacy of slowly banging a drum only lasts so long. So when it's carried through a trilogy of the tracks from U-Haft-Muzak' via 'Draussen' to 'Schmerzen hören' ('Smeared in Whores') the suspense is gone - you need a pay off at some point. A pay off that isn't a drill.

Hab 3 "Songs" durchgehalten 0/5

I was going to give this a 2 because even if it's aesthetically displeasing, I get that it has artistic value... But I generally don't bump up for more easily listenable albums, so why give special treatment? Not for me, thanks!

I like their later stuff. This early work can be a bit much, but it is good to zone out and work to. But I won't be listening to this particular fall album again.

What in the assault of the eardrums is happening here? Perhaps my definition of music is too narrow, but honey - this ain't it!

Среди шумов, скрипов и криков есть интересные пассажи. Бескомпромиссно, еще и на немецком.

I came back from Berlin a week ago and this is exactly what it sounds like. People acting as if their opinion on how this 'isn't music' isn't more pretentious than the germans banging plates together smh

Industrial rock. Teeth grindingly awful

Kollaps is famously polarizing—frequently described by casual listeners as punishing, unlistenable noise, and by avant-garde critics as an essential, fearless masterpiece of sonic deconstruction. It is less of a traditional listening experience and more of an endurance test or a historical artifact from the edge of the abyss.

Some music asks questions. Important questions like, "What is music anyway?" "What are instruments?" "Who put this racket on?" "Didn't I have something else to do?" Brave. Seminal. Unlistenable.

*blinks hard several times in a row* Well that was a hell of an experience. I listened to Günther Anders’s "Epitaph Für Aikichi Kuboyama" last year. As well as Igorrr's "Savage Sinusoid". Prune about 85% of the intensity in the rhythm work of "Savage Sinusoid" as well as the melodic elements then throw these two recordings into a blender for 5 seconds on high. Take the result and paste it together (Elmer's glue is fine). Perform a Babylonian ritual to summon the living shadow of some Eldritch Being (you can order the Necronomicon from most booksellers). Give the demon the result of previous step and ask them to read it back to you. It should sound something like this. These fellas were on a mission to create the most awful album ever recorded. Based on their average rating I'm going to say they were wildly successful. Full marks. *golf clap*

If I gave Coldplay two stars, this gets two stars..........

One of the longest 56 minutes of my life. And people really buy this!🤷🏻‍♀️

This isn’t music it’s noise and screaming

I can appreciate that without this band, we likely wouldn’t have NIN, Rammstein, or a lot of industrial rock, but this was a chore to listen to.

Bro this isn’t music

Really interesting sound with some crazy moments. As far as I can tell probably the hardest listening album on this list, but incredible moments make it worth it

Tough and abrasive, yet not very engaging. I assume language might definitely be a barrier here.

#225 Heard Before? Heck yeah! I've been waiting for this to come up on the generator. As far as albums from the year of my birth go, I couldn't ask for more than this and Computer World. Notes: - experimental in the literal sense: "let's try this!" still thrilling, even after all the other noise albums I've heard. - most of my appreciation is rooted in visceral joy. i love these sounds, and i love how they are recorded. much is made of using the studio-as-instrument, and these recordings are a perfect inversion of that ideal. - yet there's also a significant degree of compositional integrity and variety here. it's patient music that rewards attention. try mapping out or learning to play any of these pieces! - for me, and seemingly for EN, it is fun to be rigidly and aggressively serious. there's no winking, no self awareness. that alone makes me smile. - hard to separate this album from their early performances and visual aesthetic. and why would you? - i just couldn't be happier that simply arranging and recording some sounds can occasion powerful reactions from people. art still matters, folks. you aren't bad or wrong for hating (or loving) this. in either case EN connected with you and you are more alive than you were this morning. Verdict: I have an evil black cat that loves this album, for real. Last time I played it, she stopped killing and/or wrecking stuff, stalked into the room and sat with rapt attention, ears twitching. Listen Again? Heck yeah! Although I confess I prefer Halber Mensch. I also really dig Blixa's albums with Teho Teardo, if you are interested in what happens when old punks mellow out.

It makes me sad to think that there really aren't more than 1,000 good albums in existence. I don't understand how environmental sounds from a metal-working shop constitute music, and I wondered if this would ever end. I read that Trent Reznor and others cite this group as an influence, so that nudges this up to a 2.

Not the worst on here, but not good by any means

You can see the listens per song taper down from 600k to 38k. That says enough 1/5

Sounds closer to Throbbing Gristle than I remember from when I've listened in the past. Negativ Nine especially. Maybe I'm just more familiar with TG than I used to be. I know Halber Mensch better but I think I much prefer this. I find I can't really get into their later less noisy stuff.

No thanks

Well this is something different, isn’t it? Like it’s very obvious that it’s in German but where Rammstein lets you know easily that they are filling your ear holes with evil German sounding lyrics, these guys somewhat confuse your ears and brain into thinking that maybe this is down the realms of Sigur Ros where it’s not English but you form the English words for the song anyways. Like this is or has to be a driving force behind Nine Inch Nails. I haven’t heard of these guys being referenced by anyone before and I’m sort of shocked. Could it be that no one could pronounce the band name? That’s how I would forget someone that’s for sure. I’d pronounce this band as Eye’in Sturz End day New Bow Ten. Close? I’ll never know Choice cut: any of them really, it’s a different breed of music

Uma merda

This is what a parody of German musical intellectualism would be. Unfortunately, a German band did it to themselves. I'd rather listen to ABBA or ELO and I definitely won't ever do that again. Negative-eternity stars. OMG, the Germans....

23 tracks is a lot. I imagine this album was very influential, but I can't say I'm a big fan of the Industrial genre.

I really tried with this one, but man, I just couldn't do it. I don't know that power tools have their place in music lol

Noise, noise, noise. It's experimental, tries to be different, that's a win even if it's not the most successful combination. Liked there other album more. With the horse I think?

Zickzack ZZ 65 (Germany) vinyl rip: You know how visual artists do live performance exhibits in a MoMAs that are intentionally challenging to appreciate? Like they cover themselves in ocean garbage plastic and stand underneath strobe lights? This is the "musical" version of that. It's not good. It's not meant to be good.

Sounds like something that sadistic German prison guards would play on an endless loop to drive inmates insane. This collection of noise is currently ranked second from the bottom on this list, just below Kid Rock. I can hardly wait to hear Throbbing Gristle

This is way ahead of its time, just pure noise.

If I wanted to listen to construction noises I could just open my window

I wish I could understand the words. This was weird in a really intway

Generally disliked this, but at some points it did interesting things. It definitely tried hard… also need to push kid rock to the bottom.

Tanz Debil this is an experience i feel like im deep in a factory or like about to die i understand why this album is here Gastarbeiterdub i zoned out during when the song changed we’re drilling @joel lots of percussion and spacey sounds scary but in a different way to the other one i think aliens are landing i’m not going to do a two day degree with university college birmingham sehnsucht oo they can do more than one vibe these people have range woohoo yippee we’re getting a high rating i think i wish i knew what the lyrics meant. oh an english song has come on it’s like it heard me. aagh it’s not one on the album could’ve guessed. btw when i say this i don’t mean i wish they wrote in english or i wanna look up the translation, i need to learn german so i can listen to and understand it. regardless it’s good music tho. negative nein oo water sounds this is vibey and weird i feel like this album was made knowing that i’d go “ooo” at the start of every song WOAH we’re screaming sorry you guys are just getting my unfiltered scream of consciousness as i listen to this im sure im probably meant to summarise they did the thing echoey big scream ur gonna hurt ur throat if you don’t do that right steh auf berlin we’re drilling again oo static we’re screaming record scratch? idk oo what is this noise c. 1:40 this is fun i like the ending lünebest the world’s forces are gathering for battle maybe like the animals too like much of this album this is terrifying this feels like we’re flashing btwn different scenes of a movie silence is powerful i like Kollaps very fun opening soundscapey thing oo that was not the vibe change i was expecting this feels like eye of the tiger like in vibe ok i no longer think this but it rly was for a minute this is very epic i’d like to see live i’m gonna go take a shower but this is getting a four probably

This was too noisy for me. Noise rock can be like that.

Awful. Just plain awful.

Ik heb niet zoveel van deze plaat kunnen horen, want toevallig begonnen ze ineens bij de buren met de verbouwing. Tenminste, dat vermoed ik, want ik hoorde buurman Niels toch duidelijk met de drilboor zijn badkamer te lijf gaan, terwijl zijn zoontje er nog wat doorheen zat te krijsen en met zijn politieauto te spelen. Vervolgens bleek dat mijn buurvrouw aan de andere kant haar wekker steeds opnieuw liet afgaan, kennelijk lag ze nog te snoozen. Vervolgens ging ze even badderen, maar kennelijk brandde ze zich aan de warme kraan, tenminste, dat dacht ik af te kunnen leiden uit haar geschreeuw. Vreemd: vervolgens gingen ze op de begraafplaats hier tegenover een heidens ritueel houden, met trommels en gejammer, waarna de buurtcommissie versieringen begon te timmeren voor de feestweek. En daarna zette de buurvrouw Serge Gainsbourg op en ging cakebeslag mixen. Ja, in mijn straat gebeurt altijd wat, maar wat er nou precies op deze plaat stond, op die vraag moet ik het antwoord schuldig blijven. Misschien maar beter ook.

In alles zit muziek. Maar deze band krijgt het er niet uit. Sterretje voor de creativiteit, dan maar? Absoluut niet! Iets te vaak brengt een (tandarts)boor oid vooral hoofdpijn in plaats van muziek.

Volgens het boek is dit audioterrorisme. Het was blijkbaar de bedoeling om pijn aan de oren te doen en absoluut niet luisterbaar te zijn. In dat opzicht is het uitermate geslaagd. Want dit doet inderdaad pijn aan de oren. Misschien is het qua kunstexperiment wel interessant om een keer gehoord te hebben, maar een plezier doe je er niemand mee lijkt me. Wat een ongelooflijke pokkeherrie. Ik scroll er even rap doorheen en druk op de 1 ster. Ik ben niet zo sadomasochistisch ingesteld dat ik dit uit ga luisteren. Zoals ze op track 3 al roepen: nein nein nein!

sure, whatever, i'll take it over any country album lol. makes for an interesting ambience actually

Este álbum está muy interesante, es un industrial bien pesado En mi caso particular no es el género que acostumbro, no sería el primer álbum que buscaría reescuchar por eso no le doy una nota más alta Pero me parece que durante el recorrido del álbum van armonizando más y van añadiendo más elementos de la electrónica también, especialmente en las canciones que terminan con "dub", me queda la incógnita de que tan pioneros habrán sido en esa línea al menos de manera regional Ya me respondí, ya la electrónica no era necesariamente novedad, pero lo que este grupo hizo fue hacer electrónica con lo que tenían a la mano, literal piezas de metal pegadas a micrófonos que luego distorsionaban para darles esos sonidos que se apreciaron en el álbum, además de loops de taladros y otras máquinas, por los recursos limitados que tenían a la mano, digno de reconocer también

Better than expected considering this is, at the moment, the 2nd worst rated album on this website. Honestly more enjoyable than some of the cookie cutter stuff you get on the list since it's actually something different for once. PLUS it had at least one sample-able beat in there. Why are you listening to this list if you're not expecting to get some weird and provocative stuff in there?

DNF - My idea of a ‘Sunday Album’ is Nora Jones - not this.

Wow - amazing

Industrial and noisey. Kind of interesting, sounds like swans but without the prog rock element. Definitely not something I would listen to again, but I can see it's influence on people like Trent Reznor.

This appears to be the lowest rated album on the list, currently at 1.94 with 22000+ votes. Is it enjoyable? No, not really, and it's not meant to be. At least not in the “what a pleasant listen that was!” Kind of way. But it's (the first?) industrial music that actual is industrial. Many/most of the sounds come from actual tools and other ephemera. Plus a lot of German speaking and yelling. It's a pretty interesting listen, and truly unique. Did I enjoy it? No. Am I glad I heard it before I died? Yes, I am

Extremely industrial and rough-sounding. The distorted guitars are a very nice touch to this album! It's honestly very underrated and people should definitely listen to this album! Amazing!

nao eh meu tipo

This is un- listenable. I tried, but had to skip track after track as my ears continued to bleed. Maybe it would hit different if I understood German? The scream-screech probably sounds the same in any language. I do understand that this is an art piece, but I guess it’s not my kind of art.

"Blixa Bargeld (born 12 January 1959) is a German musician who has been the lead singer of the band Einstürzende Neubauten since its formation in 1980. Bargeld was also a founding member of the Australian rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, from 1983 until 2003." See there. Evil begets evil. This was like listening to Art of Noise without the art. And somehow, it was STILL less aggravating than so much of the crap on this list. Honestly, isn't it better to experience the discovery of a one-off challenging clusterfuck like this than ANOTHER album from artists who are already inexcusably over-represented like Radiohead, Bob Dylan, and yes, Nick Cave? Yes. Yes, it is. I listened to this twice, and I'm giving it 2 stars to differentiate it from the aforementioned over-represented crap, for its creative use of apparently whatever the fuck was lying around, and because I actually enjoyed the more melodic parts mostly found on the back half of the album. The outright noise (e.g. the jackhammering drill on 'Steh auf Berlin') and the sporadic screaming are shit, but when they try implementing actual musical structure to the industrial sounds, it's not bad. Also, 'Je t'aime... moi non plus' is one of my favorite singles; so, 'Jet'm', while not a particularly strong track, was still a pleasantly recognizable surprise and where the album started to become more structured.

Not my vibe for the most part. But at least it was absurd.

Awful. Absolutely awful. I've heard some shit in my time but this is top of the league. There is no need for this at all, and certainly no need for it to last for almost an hour. Sadistic.

23 songs This is such an unhinged album, it's actually hysterical. The title track was also almost somewhat musical, and it said Genghis Khan a few times, so there's that, I guess. I can't give it a one star rating because it was at least an interesting listening experience, but I also can't give it more than 2, because I won't return to anything from this.

I was interested in what you said yesterday about Bitches Brew being treated and effected in the studio, making it more of a rock record than a jazz document. It did more than just capture the performance in the room. There is certainly a little of that going on here, but, still, I don't think that Kollaps is a record in that sense. Up until this point, Einstürzende Neubauten had been a notorious performance art group, banging sheet metal and miking up industrial tools. It was a ritual of extremity and, at one early London gig, they dangerously undermined the foundations of the venue. There is nothing in that musical approach that really belongs on a record and nothing much about it that needs to be recorded. Kollaps suggests that the estranging, shamanic nature of the performance cannot be replicated in a studio and that, while the group may add a few effects here and there, or bewilder the listener with a meandering tracklist, to simulate the psychodrama of the live experience, this is not the real deal. It is, in fact, quite a soft, spare, gentle record for the most part. Most of the tracks have a clear 4/4 pulse, so, unlike Bitches Brew, you can follow along and you could quite easily dance. It would be a primitive, animalistic form of dance, but that's appropriate. With the record, you can set the volume yourself, so it won't be overwhelming. It is genuinely the safer option than seeing the group live. But the recording is hardly the point. Making records is just what groups did back then. Like many great live acts (I use the work great advisedly, as I've never seen Neubauten live), the record is just a byproduct, another form of merc that supports the group in their actual goal. Who really listens to albums by Crass or Boredoms or Acid Mothers Temple? No one. Who went to see Crass and Boredoms or Acid Mothers Temples? Loads of people. Well, I've never seen Crass, but I've seen the other two and they were great experiences. Their records cannot replicate that greatness, but the records are a necessity of the business. They are a token by which listeners can demonstrate support of the band's artistic vision and mission. Ownership of a Crass record communicates your endorsement of the band's ethic. Ownership of Kollaps communicates your comfort with their live extremity, your hardiness, your wearwithal. No one expects you to listen to any of these things often. Indeed, the neutered, conservative quality of Kollaps might kill the whole thing for you. Without this context, it is unfair to present Kollaps for assessment by randomers. The one star and five star reviews are equally hyperbolic, barely grappling with the flickering ghost content of this partial field recording. This is a solid three star record, whether or not I'm listening to it, because it has to be. Good for Neubauten. Keep it up! 3 “All music after Mahler sounds exactly like that.” Captain Raymond Holt The most striking thing about this (almost) most-despised of albums on this list of over a thousand, is how conservative it is. 4/4 dominates. Beats repeat in loop. The singer sings the title of the songs with rhythmic regularity. Most of the tracks are 2-3 minutes long. ‘Found Instruments’? John Cage was doing this on television in the 1950s. Stockhausen is on the cover of Sgt Pepper’s. I don’t mean to put down Einstürzende Neubauten by any of those observations - I credit them for folding their interest in sound experiment into the pop format with as much discipline as they do. I don’t know that the results are all that worthy of celebration - although I did quite like some of this, particularly the title track. I am puzzled that listeners are so intolerant of it however. What do you people want? More Neil Young probably. So I’m giving a wee extra half mark to poor Einstürzende Neubauten in reparations. 2.5/5

Seriously?

Usually, I like my noise with a little more music … BUT NOT ALWAYS

terrible

Better than a few albums I’ve heard on this journey so far! Noisy, chaotic, downright bonkers and screaming that I imagine made Hitler sound like a sweet man. But something about it made me slightly enjoy it. Yes there were many times I wondered what the hell I was listening to but at other times I just enjoyed the ride. Best track- ‘jet’m’ is one I remember- think there may have been an organ somewhere 🫤 Worst track- ‘negativ nein’ sounded like an angry German drowning! Weirdly enjoyed but also hated so down the middle 5/10

Einsturzende NeuBauten The first dozen tracks up to Helga, as per the original release, I could kind of get behind a bit. After that it turned into a klangathon, Rohrbombe, or a parpathon, Futuristichter Dub. The cover of Je t'aime was quite something and I enjoyed the insistence of Negative Nein. No idea how to score this. 😂

German noise is still noise

I can see why some people don't agree with this being on this list, especially when there is hardly any industrial on this list, and, as far as i know halber mensch isn't even on here? That wouldn't scare as many people away who haven't really heard much industrial. Anyway, i can appreciate this album for what it is, as a unique experience and as a piece of art

I'm sorry, ....what? Why is it kinda....

Not all bad, just mostly bad.

What in the absolute fuckery is this? Track 1 was already gratin, then track 2 hit and I almost threw my phone out of annoyance. If I could give this a negative rating, I would. Holy shit!

This is an album i think most people will either love or hate, and it also definitely contributes to the meme that German is always an angry language. This is an album of a people that grew up totally defeated and under the threat of nuclear anihillation, but who for 2 of the previous 3 generations had been on the brink of conquering and holding Europe. There is a gamut of hard emotion in this album, and while I wouldn't usually pick it for a daily listen its very interesting.

better than dylan or costello

love that they’ve added stuff like this to the list, but this one in particular is boring

Wtf are you recommending to me gng. Literally some random noise this is. Review - 0/10

This album knocked World Wars 1 and 2 into 2nd and 3rd place for the shittest things Germany have imposed on the World. Would be 0/5 if possible

I guess you should have been there…

It never got to that point I sometimes like with noise music where it becomes - wall of noise cathartic (like Wonderful Rainbow). This is more like throbbing gristle, but released close to a decade later ⭐ ⭐

I love it when artists fold industrial influences into their sound (e.g. Alan Vega, Lingua Ignota, early Factory Floor) but straight up industrial music has always left me cold. My favourite song on Kollaps is the title track, possibly because it conforms most to the qualities of a post-punk. If there were more noisy cathartic peaks or unhinged vocal extremities then maybe it would tickle that experimental part of my brain, but it sounds a little mild and flat to my ears. I appreciate it may have sounded more cutting edge in the early 80s.

A low 3 from me, didn’t grab me as much as Throbbing Gristle but I enjoyed the mix of heavy industrial sounds and dance rhythms.

Pretty weird, very DIY, creative in production but ultimately pretty droning in its execution. Worth a listen because this is such a departure from what the rest of the 80's sound like (to me, at least) but very unlikely to become a mainstay of your listening. Reminds me a bit of Lightning Bolt in that it's bold in straying from genre conventions but not something I particularly want to spend a lot of time listening to (I'd go to a Lightning Bolt show for sure, though). Weird and droning but I respect the creativity. 3/5 but you should check out at least half of it.

Wow...

utter garbage

Incredibly harsh, sort of punky, very early industrial. A lot of “found”noises. Most people will not like this but I’m finding it kind of charming. Not something I’ll come back to listen to often, but I always appreciate an experiment.

Helmut Lachenmann once said, "composition is building an instrument." No "rock" band has taken this to heart like Neubauten. This record is imaginative, brutal, heartfelt, straight from the gut, and it really sounds nothing like anything that came before. I first encountered Kollaps when I was ~19 and it shook me; 4 years later I got my first drum machine and spent the next few years making my own version of industrial music. This was a life-changing record for me and I really encourage people to open their ears to what is happening here. In the post-Auschwitz, post-Baader Meinhof neoliberal dawn in West Germany, artists SHOULD NOT have been making feel good schlager pap. Sorry not sorry that all music can't sound like Fleetwood Mac, but this level of absurdist dissonance is what keeps me sane in an insane world.

Einstürzende Neubauten are seminal industrial and experimenta group and this their first album, and you can really tell. I'm actually quite surprised this one is on here. Maybe it was chowed for shock value? Either way, it couldn't possible have been for its musical qualities, or in this case, lack thereof. Here we find a young group messing around with whatever they can, without much regard to what it sounds like. They're just trying stuff, truly "experimental". Only a study on the influential work they would soon go on to make. This isn't worth your time, just go listen to their actual classic album, 1/2 Mensch.

1/5

Scheiße.

Yes, it's very literal industrial music. Yes, it's unavoidable that some people will hate it. But it's a straightforward (if over-long) work that operates effectovely in the space it's working in.

Why must I hear this before I die? Would happy wait until after…

Arguably not music

I can definitely see the influence that this had on industrial music, using real environmental sounds, like power tools, to make beats. My favourite song was Helga, a 38 second song that included 30 seconds of silence. The silence part was nice. One word of advice: this album could've used more cowbell.

No nyt aletaan pääsemään sinne kokeelliseen maailmaan. "Musiikkia" jossa soittimina sirkkeleitä, kylpyamme ja metallilevyjä. Kasa eri ääniä joissa välillä on rytmi. Sillein taas ihan mielenkiintoista, mutta yksi korkea ääni tuli niin kovaa ja yllättäen että säikähdin. Noh kokemus nyt ainakin, mutta en nyt tiiä voiko tästä oikein parasta kappalettakaan valita. Vaikka nimikkobiisi Kollaps

very exceptional

I probably won't ever listen to this again, bit I genuinely enjoyed it. Never heard anything quite like it, it must have been mind-blowing to listen to on release. I was struck by how some of the chanting and rhythms have a ritualistic quality. I enjoyed the music more than the vocals though, they crossed the line into just being ugly noise a bit too often for my tastes.

cool cus i'm learning german, but a bit too experiemental for me. the first song i liked was what played after the album finished by the same ppl

Super interesting, but not really my style of music

This is what I would imagine a german musician in an Austin Powers movie would be playing. I'm clearly not smart enough to appreciate this... or something. Survivors: Sehnsucht (only to prove I listened)

I would imagine this is the worst rated album on the list because how can it get worse? It's incredibly offensive to the ears and serves very little purpose. There's a slight reprieve halfway into the album with a song that is a Serge Gainsbourg cover. That's the only discernible music I heard on the album. Just really horrid.

This is very much not music in its traditional sense, but it is rhythmic, and primal, and does tap into my lizard brain. I can see why it gets a low rating, but I think it’s better than that. Give me a choice between this, or Bowie, Coldplay or Steely fucking Dan and I’m taking this, every time.

Pre-listen rambling: Ah, the time has come. Another of one of the most controversial entries on the list. I’ve only read descriptions of what this album sounds like and I cannot imagine it. I am excited and apprehensive in equal measure. I wonder if I’ll like it more or less than that Throbbing Gristle record. Post-listen rambling: Well, I won’t be putting it on at a party or on my next road trip, but I did have kind of a hoot and a holler listening to this. It certainly isn’t like anything else I’ve heard and was somehow, yes, more enjoyable than the Throbbing Gristle record. Bang bang bang bang bang. Thump thump. Marvel at the German engineering. Surprisingly conventional in certain ways. The beats are steady, often in 4/4, and the stuff they’re using as “found instruments” aren’t really that nuts, especially by 1981. It’s still a challenging listen, I suppose, but it’s not as wild or unruly as I expected it to be.

Discourse surrounding this album is so funny I can’t lie and both sides are annoying as each other. Those who love it will be weirdly vague about what makes it so good and the other half disregard the album entirely and don’t consider it music. After giving it a listen, I’m quite mixed on it. On one hand it’s a very influential and genre defining album, with abrasive sounds and strained vocals that make for a pretty interesting listen, on the other hand it’s a collection sounds which aim hurt the ears and brain. Doesn’t help that I can’t understand the German language and finding translations for the songs is for some reason extremely difficult, apart from the title tracks which was probably my favourite. Talking about the day of collapse, I’ve interpreted the song as a comment on how we as people are destroying our own cities, the lead singer references Genghis Khan and how our cities are being destroyed even without him. This was super interesting to find and really gave me more appreciation for the song. What I do like about industrial / sound collage albims like this one is how unapologetically free they are, not bound to standard music practices and sounds, instead going for the wild route and really putting their creativity to use. Hearing also that they built machines purely to make certain sounds on this album is really cool, I can’t imagine to think what those doohickies must’ve looked like. Overall while I’d never return to this album, I appreciate it’s history, influence and attempt to do something out of the box, it’s a shame you can’t do 5/10s on this website, I don’t mean to add to the already low score.

Day916 - experimental industrial german will take more than a few listens to properly comprehend

Definitely achieves what it wants to. I can see myself listening to this and writing horror

It’s not the worst album, but it is the second worst album.

this is a lot harder to rate than I expected. I appreciate the creativity and how musical the band makes industrial sound. a lot of it is very jarring to listen to and made me feel physically unwell, though I assume that's also the point so fair play.

Awful, I don’t think this was intended to be music. I don’t understand German so maybe it is potentially a protest piece of work. But to me this is not a musical work

Well ok then. It is certainly not as bad as everyone says. It might go a bit long but I found it mostly enjoyable. I am not sure I would ever seek it out again, but I will bump it up star for pure uniqueness.

It's definitely madness, but there's a method to the madness. I don't want to listen to it again, but it was interesting. I respect it.

It was awful.

Really hated this one, but I dislike it less than I dislike Kid Rock. 5 stars to hopefully move KR toward the bottom.

The manliest album ever, kick-ass. 5/5

So, just noise?

I’m sorry I actually can not do this

this is sick. super experimental, obviously, but still fairly listenable. Reminds me a lot of post rock. The German language makes it feel a lot more aggressive and urgent.

This is definitely alternative. I would never listen to this again but I will absolutely defend its inclusion on this list. I’m gonna give it 3 because it’s very bad to listen to but also it’s weird and I like weird. 3/5

Horrible. Absolutely horrible. I've never been made so agitated by music before. I wonder how many violent crimes have been committed that were triggered by this music.

Its just noise i don't know how this is an album 1/10

I thought yesterday's Swiss Industrial album was bad - this was worse. I feel like someone added this one just to spite me. An hour of awful, painful noise. I try hard to listen to the whole album if possible but I had to skip most of the tracks on this for my own sanity.

3/10

In some sort of world this is the sound that made bands like Rammstein and other noise bands, but holy shit is this type of thing that makes top 1000 albums of all time simply because this garbage is made in the 80s??? I can barely survive until Jet’M and actually recognize it’s a poorly rendered rendition of another song from an album here and it really made me think just HOW bad this album is 1/5 would never recommend this to my worst enemy

girl shut up..

Review - very good industrial music. I don't mind this sort of thing but when is the right time and place to listen to it? Tried listening while out walking and that doesn't work. Carn just pop it on at home if you're not by yourself because obviously no one else is going to be in the mood to have this sort of thing just put on without their wanting it. Hard to find yourself in the right headspace to listen to this sort of thing. But if you do, this is a better example of the genre. Score - 6.5/10 Need to listen? YES

I completely understand why this is one of the lowest-rated albums on this site, and I sympathise with those who actively hated it. It was a challenging listen that lacked many conventional elements of music. But, personally, I thought it was rather good, and what it lacked in traditional musicality, it made up for in a number of different ways. Overall, a really unique soundscape utilising unusual instruments, with great percussive rhythms and great vocals. I’m a fan, metal auf metal!

Releasing this album is the second worst thing the Germans have ever done. How does this even count as music? The only rhythm comes from banging on metal bowls and pipes. However, starting a song on your industrial album with actual power tools is pretty funny, even if the rest of the album is genuine earrape. Favorite Track: Absteig and Zerfall

Certainly deserves a place within the project, and I understand why this is rated so low in the global averages (second lowest). I didn’t particularly enjoy this album but I’ve liked others less, still… overall 1.75/5

TF was that

Ok, so it's time for the infamous Kollaps. 1. I have some previous familiarity with Einstürzende Neubauten from the late 80s when my best friend was really into them. We did a high-school film project and soundtracked it largely with Einstürzende Neubauten, and it was highly effective, let's say. My take at the time was that there were certainly songs that I recognized as great, but generally it wasn't music I liked, especially for more than three or four minutes at a time. Shocking, fearsome, likely to provoke a flight-response in listeners... for sure. 2. I got served this album on a Saturday, so I mainly listened to it in the car while running errands. First impressions? This isn't half so unlistenable as the 1001 albums reviewers think. Sure, "Schmerzen Hören (Hören mit Schmerzen)" [Hearing Pain (Listen with Pain)] absolutely delivers on that title. But the rhythms and the sound, yes! This might be the greatest percussion album I've ever heard. Yes, the songs are repetitive, but song-to-song, there's no repetition at all except in the broadest terms. It's a whole new set of instruments. Also, the guitar sounds are really great. Vocals are screamy, but actually emotive and, again, pretty diverse in expression. I think I might be giving this a 4...?! 3. So I had to check myself and relisten Sunday to make sure I wasn't just being reactionary. The sound in the car ain't ideal. So Sunday, with headphones without interruption of parking and errands etc.: really, even better. The sound is better and more interesting, you can hear details., it's more affecting I pretty much love it, I think I'm actually giving this a 5. So, I'm surprised to be giving this score. But, in addition to directly appreciating the music, it kinda piles on: everything that was influenced by this, later industrial and electronica, all the drum-machine dance music of the 80s Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails (which almost feels like a cheap Americanized sentimentalized ripoff of Kollaps after hearing the actual O.G.) all seems like an attempt to dilute Einstürzende Neubauten and sweeten up make it palatable. Seriously, if you are among millions of NIN fans who think this is too much, try again! So, easy to conclude that this belongs on the list, and I'm surprising myself in saying that I'd actually include this on my own list of must listens. Yes, and coming from someone who doesn't pride myself on having an extreme taste in music, yes, it's a 5 for real.

This was, admittedly, not great. However, I did think it was good for what it was. One of the few that made me check the reviews first in disbelief it made it, but I'd say it earns its spot here. Moreso than Kid Rock that's for sure.

Honestly couldn’t get to the end. Germans are a weird people man

Fair play, this album does at least feel different, interesting, and actually one which I should have listened to. It's not really my cup of tea, I find noises for the sake of noises annoying, but I can at least see why in 1981 this would have been groundbreaking. Still, not great in my opinion.

2-

Unlistenable

Listening to this in a crumbling new building during a European heatwave is spot on I thought I could use it as background music to reading Hyperion (this is what the Shrike sounds like) but it demands attention, there's so much that's interesting in this album

It takes guts, vision, and a whole heap of sheer musical talent to take these components - primitive beats, noises that are truly industrial, shouted spoken word vocals - and have something emerge that is clearly and recognisably music.

Your German neighbor has decided to renovate his apartment. HOW DID THIS GET HERE???

This was absolutely horrible and may be the worst album I ever listened to. There was absolutely nothing to latch onto, no beats or anything. Just sounded like metal was getting hit together, while someone shouted at me in German. Liked Songs: Nothing

This was interesting. Not terrible but certainly not my cup of tea. Wasn’t a bad one time listen though.

Einstürzende Neubauten walked so that Stomp could run. Music and mood are intrinsically linked. As much as I admire the vision and desire to do something different. This will never be my mood and there is plenty of industrial that followed that was decent.

Nah I am alright

I respect that they were doing something different but this was physically painful to sit through

Wtf

This is an hour of industrial sound effects with very little recognizable as music. Unlistenable.

Stück Scheiße

J'étais un peu distraite mais ça avait l'air grave traînant et chéper

Ça n’a pas du tout sa place ici à mon sens En revanche, ça doit être top dans le cadre une performance artistique (exposition, théâtre, comédie musicale…) La reprise « je tm » m’a fait rire

J'ai tellement détesté que j'ai pas pu écouter jusqu'au bout. Mais quel enfer! Du bruit, des cris, vraiment horrible

There are a lot of adjectives I can use to describes this album: bleak, torturous, obscure, creepy, hellish, intense, aggressive, abrasive, noisy, desolating, crushing, punishing, dissonant, distressing, off putting and... fascinating. Although this album invokes all type of negative emotions, I am impressed by it. I really loved the dark atmosphere they achieved, as it might be one of the creepiest and unique ones I've ever heard. The record starts incredibly abrasive with the songs "Tanz Debil" and "Steh Auf Berlin". The first one features an very distorted and aggressive percussion that its quite hypnotic and heavy, and an angry singer that sounds very menacing with his occasionally screams. In addition, there are some noises added on top from time to time to make the song even more punishing. The second song starts with a literal drill that feels like it is perforating my head. An extremely unwelcoming intro that its followed by a very tribal and not as noisy percussion. In terms of structure, is incredibly similar to the first track, as it is basically a constant and hypnotic rhythm with angry singing and added noises that works quite well. Next is "Negativ Nein", a very peculiar track with watery sounds and a intriguing guitar melody. Not the most remarkable track in terms of aggressiveness or darkness, but still sounds interesting. The next section of the album I would say is my favourite. It is composed by the tracks "U-Haft-Muzak", "Draussen Ist Feindlich" and "Schmerzen hören", and it is one of the most ominous parts of the whole album. These pieces are very quiet, have very slow rhythms and sporadic noises. All these elements create the uneasy illusion of walking in a deserted factory at dark while not being truly alone, as the occasional noises suggest that there is unwanted company. Breaking up a little bit the tension is "Jet`m". The rhythm of the song might be very similar to those in the previous part, but it features a constant melody coming from a... synth? (I genuinely don't know what I'm listening to), that cuts the atmosphere, regardless of how unsettling it sounds. Afterwards is "Kollaps", possibly the most accessible song of the whole album, even though it is eight minutes of the same guitar riff. The track itself is very heavy, and reminds me of Swans' early work (that came after this release), as it is heavy, slow, hypnotic and punishing. Then comes "Sehnsucht", which includes a piano, a softer and more vulnerable sounding voice and a incredibly dissonant synth, making this one of the most melodic sounding moments. After the interlude based on old recordings "Vorm Krieg" is "Hirnsäge", a song that could basically belong to the section I liked so much, as it is incredibly ominous. Maybe not as silent, having a constant and very present bass and guitar, yet matching quite well the same dark atmosphere. Finally, the album finishes with "Abstieg and Zerfall". There is actually another song coming afterwards, "Helga", but being basically eleven seconds of an incomprehensible voice coming from an old recording, I don't believe it really counts as an ending. Meanwhile, "Abstieg and Zefall" is a creepy and very desolating song. The singer sounds quite melodic and the instruments aren't as abrasive or noisy when compared to the rest of material, making the track the calmest cut of the whole, even with its dissonant and unpleasant sounds. Before finishing, it is worth talking about the lyrics. Not the most remarkable element, but they talk about hate, destruction, drugs and other obscure themes that perfectly fit with the album's sound. In summary, I'm very impressed with this work. It is a very unique dark experience, filled with despair, suspense and many other unpleasant adjectives.

Gave me a headache. I say 'NEIN!!'

Not for sooks. Admittedly a fucking annoying listen but you've gotta trust the process. And put even a hint of consideration into what WEST Berlin was probably like in 1981. Thanks nerds, Blixa would waste all you babies. This project really elucidates the music taste bell curve.

Absolutely awful noise

Great if you want a headache. Weirdly enjoyed parts of it though. Respect the creativity

0 if I could

If this is the best that German noise music has to offer, then this isn't the album for me. What a slog. 1/10

You know what I’m glad this exists. Im glad there are people on this planet that made an actual song out of the sounds of jackhammers and hammer drills. I’m just really sorry for the people that love it.

Would've loved to be a fly on the wall for the jam session that led to this album. No desire to listen to this again aside from using it for shock value.

Call me crazy but I actually enjoyed this. only reason it’s not a 4 is cause it’s not likely I’ll be listening to it super often I mess with the eeriness

I wouldn’t listen to this on the regular. But you gotta appreciate the effort.

track 1: he sounded in pain but not more than me track 2: i wish the vacuum would suck me up too tracks 3-23: bro makes music for hannibal lector’s dinner parties

favs: u-haft-muzak kollaps vorm krieg futuristischer dub rating 0.8/5

um what the hell. i love pop music. i love melodies. and i also love to FEEL THINGS and this album made me feel SO MUCH. i can't believe i'm saying this but i want more, i want to listen to everything else they've done, and i'm gonna give this 5 stars because this SLAPPPPPPED and i'm addicted. what the actual hell.

Gear: ZMF Auteur Classic LTD Shedua Artwork: 👁️👤✏️ Production: 💩😖💌 Music: 🏭🧷🧠 Rating: 💥💥💥(💥)/5

An incredibly interesting album. I gathered it would be a challenging listen based on the reputation it has gained on this site, but man this was much more pedestrian than I was led to believe. I like 90s industrial and most of my favorite bands in that genre owe something to this album.

Look, it really is Germans shouting loudly over the sounds of heavy machinery. It's not very good. Somehow they made it work, and it sure is creative..just it working isn't very good.

Listen, I'm North European and I spent my early twenties trawling badly-lit venues with sticky floors. I also speak German. I'm genetically disposed to liking this stuff. And it's fun, good, interesting and inventive.

Ahora entiendo por qué es el peor rankeado. Parece un estudio del ruido pero llegan 20 años tarde y con mal gusto. Igual le sumo puntos por ser diferente a todo en la lista. Nota: 2.7

Giving it a 3 because its genuinely new and different even though it is....terrifying lol

Between this and that Krautrock album, I think German avant garde music is not for me.

Ich will kein Kunstnazi sein, aber das ist mir zu viel

I totally get why people hate this. I liked it

Not at all my thing, but I get why people think they're cool.

DNF

I had never heard of this band before. From the artist name, I was expecting orchestral arrangements. I'm not a huge fan of orchestral arrangements, but I would have much preferred that to the experimental journey Kollaps took me on. I have seen several other users say this is the worst album on the list. That certainly can't be true, but it might be my least favorite thus far.

Honestly, what is all the fuss about this album? At least you can say it's interesting and unpredictable, unlike all the boring Brit Pop crap on this list. It's like listening to a dystopian nightmare, so of course I had visions of Eraserhead and Twin Peaks: The Return while listening to this.

Will have to listen to a few times

It’s 6:30am and I press play on this album just before putting my car into gear on my way to work. Within seconds, I realize I’m in for legitimately the most interesting listen I’ve gotten from this list in weeks. I’m deliberately writing this before reading anything about the album or any other reviews because I can imagine it’s a polarizing album, but I really liked it. Each track felt like it was the length it needed to be, whether that was one minute or seven. I wish I knew German to better dig into the lyrical content, but the (literally) industrial soundscapes and harsh electronic beats set the scene effectively enough on their own. I’m giving this 5 stars, not because I’ll necessarily be revisiting the full album regularly (which is my usual criteria) but because this is exactly what I’m hoping to get out of this project — an album I wouldn’t have otherwise listened to, but which so clearly rooted in a DIY ethos, just not quite in a way that maps into the (comparatively) mainstream evolution of punk. Update: I guess polarizing wasn’t the right adjective, since I’m in the distinct minority of people who enjoyed this lmao

Waste of time

Love the title track but would rather listen to their later stuff.

With your head on the ground and your feet in the air. Try this little album and spin it, yeah. Your head will collapse, like there's nothing in it, and you'll ask yourself: Why did I listen to this?

There have been worse albums on here, which are just a pure assault of noise, and which have been deeply unpleasant to listen to. This one kind of makes me laugh at how random and mad it is, so at least there’s that. Parts of it sound like it should be in a 70’s sci-fi horror film, like Invasion of the Body Snatchers or something. But yeah.. it is a fair old slog. I didn’t listen to the whole thing, I got the idea. 1.5 rounded up for the lolz.

music is love

Was dreading this when it popped up but actually slightly better than I thought it was going to be. Not for the faint hearted though, and I struggled to do the 23 songs and 55 minutes of it in one sitting. Not one I will be returning to any time soon.

In the name of fuck

Intrestin out there rythmic 3.5

que loucura

This is some of what I expected to hear when listening to this project. A 1980s German "band" making random noises.

Uu, mislim, da je to drugi najslabše ocenjeni album v tem projektu? Nikol nism šla firbcat, kakšen je, tko da - let's go! Taprv ni bil bad, naslov mi je fantastičen ("Tanz Debil"). Ta drug ("Steh auf Berlin") se začne, k da bi moj sosed zalaufal svojo mašinerijo (in se tokrat, hopefully, ne urezal - še kr slišim njegov krik), potem se pa sprelevi v nekaj, kar sumim, je navdihnilo naše The Stroj, ker je bobnanje po nečem, kar niso bobni. "U-Haft-Muzak" ustvari neko napeto ozračje, s tem repetitive, počasnim ritmom. "Schmerzen Hören" - honestly, bolj me je fizično bolel poslušat Kid Rocka. Sicer sm vnaprej vidla, da je "Jet'm" cover Serge Gainsbourg komada, sam pomojem bi dojela tud brez predznanja - zanimiv cover. Uu, naslovni, "Kollaps". Fajn. (Aha, glih gledam, da bi mogla bit "Helga" zadnja, js mam neko verzijo albuma k so še live posnetki zraven - torej, neham po "Helga".) Fak, ne znam tok nemšk, da bi vedla, kaj je Helga na koncu povedala. Oh, well. Kul experience, folk je fuknen, da daje same nizke ocene. A res, raj bi še en mediocre rock band poslušal? Namest neki, kar je dejansko kreativno in unikatno? V bistvu je le ta album en bolj zaslužnih, da je kle gor, da gre folk mal out of their comfort zone.

this is one of the worst rated albums in this collection, noisy and quite german industrial music. the book describes it as "radical and extreme" and the album "declared a war on every conventional way of listening". so i knew i was in for a treat even before pressing play. i have to be honest, the metal slaps and hits, all the recorded sounds of tools and everything honestly make for a cool sound by itself. a lot of the tracks are kinda nails on a chalkboard though, and the vocals are grating and commanding as well. it's absolutely not something you'd turn on casually. i give it a two stars if only for its creativity. i've heard better, a lot better, but i've definitely heard worse.

I was looking forward to this one. Glad it came up relatively early in the journey. It's one if the lowest rated albums in the project. I totally get why. It's definitely not for everyone. And it's certainly not something I'd listen to with any regularity. But it's definitely interesting. It's more on the aggressive side of noise art than I typically enjoy, but as a metalhead, I appreciate it. I can definitely see how a lot of acts took influence from this. The Residents are the first to come to mind along with much of the 90s industrial metal movement. I appreciate the experimentation to define art and music. You know, I enjoyed it. Just the oddity I needed today.

I'll rate this 2 stars due to its obvious influence on later bands like Nine Inch Nails, but I really can't listen to this because it gives me a headache. It sounds like a guy banging on a garbage can and shouting, interspersed with sounds of different machinery.

No this just comes out as really bad to me why would I ever listen to this type of music. It’s literally just noise and the beginning already had me so turned off. I wonder how much this will affect my algorithm or maybe it won’t at all since I skipped through so many tracks. 1/10

Industriële geluiden....

Are you serious? After 760+ consecutive days in this challenge, I thought the collections of weird noises were finally over. But apparently not...

I feel like this album takes "industrial metal" to a new level, in that they are literally banging industrail machinary against scrap metal. Still, I think there is intention to the noise, I don't think it is just random noise like many other reviewers suggest. It is ambitious if nothing else!

In 2010, a friend and I went to Romania. We were walking around Bucharest one night while he was wearing an Einstürzende Neubauten t-shirt. Suddenly, an attractive, young woman in her early 20s made a mad dash towards my friend with no regard for who she had to mow down to get to him. All she wanted to do was talk to him about his shirt and be smitten. She was his for the taking at that moment and everyone knew it. When we got back, I immediately went on eBay and bought an Einstürzende Neubauten shirt for $20. I go back to the Balkans/Eastern Europe every year and bring that shirt. It was the best $20 I've ever spent. This album is an experience too!

Cada día aparece un album peor que el anterior. Este es el peor de todos hasta ahora.

?????????

As harsh and difficult as you'd expect from an industrial album, though I would argue that this is also surprisingly tuneful for what it is. There's almost a punk spirit here, as it's filled with short and spirited song as opposed to long and drawn-out ones. While the sounds are pretty cool, always layered and unique, the short song lengths makes it feel as though it jumps around too much. There are very few moments where it settles into a sound and elaborates on it; the title track is one of the few songs that luxuriates on a groove. I appreciate this from a sound design perspective, but it has few impactful moments that make full use of that sound.

noise

Kind of fun but exactly what you’d expect. Drags on a bit.

Schmerzen hören triffts ganz gut

ну хорошие ну молодцы прям брать и на выставке моей включать прям слушать по пути куда-то я бы не стала но задумки творческие с этой музыкой явно есть

Sado-Masodub - но он однотипный слишком ластовый тоже норм Несмотря на всю оригинальность альбом дотстаочно однотипный, даже до уровня габберов этот альбом не дотянул как по мне за экспириентс поставлю 2 звезды

Meh. It's not as bad as I thought it would be but I'd also never like to hear it again. 2/5 No no, it's awful. At one point it sounded like diarrhea echoing off on of those cold, steel rest stop toilets.

Noise is not music.

german pots and pans

Eeeehhhhhh

This album's like if Swans had 10% of the budget they did when they made Filth, just slamming on whatever's nearby and screaming about random stuff. I like the song that they start by messing with a power drill for 30 seconds. That really sets the tone for Industrial music as a whole, "look at the funny sound this thing makes! Let's stick that in the song somewhere!" Between the two industrial albums that found their way into the bottom two of all time on a list of 1,089, I definitely prefer the number worst album of the whole list, but this one isn't a very distant second.

This might be the worst one so far. Did not finish.

Not sure how I’d rate this one as it was interesting but I wouldn’t listen to it often.

Yep. might be the worst album on the list so far.

Just because it is different or unusual, doesn't mean it needs to be listened to before you die. I am starting to wish this list was comprised of generally agreed upon "good" music rather than the most eclectic 1001 albums they could find. I mean, I can make an album of dogs barking and babies farting, but that shouldn't automatically qualify it for this list just because no one has done that before.

Not sure this belongs in the top 1001 or even 10001

Not my thing. It’s just noise

Nope, I don't want this

I'm not really sure how this got here but go nuts boys Will I listen to again: 1%

A good album. This is an early industrial album and it makes sense. The singing matches the music. I quite enjoyed. This is one I should hear before dying.

Now I know why they call it industrial music

*insert Joe Pesceci "What The Fuck Is This Piece of Shit?" meme here* I do enjoy industrial music now and again and was pleased to see the inclusion on this list. It's not 1001 albums to enjoy, it's 1001 albums to listen to. If another industrial album comes up I will be disappointed. One is enough. 1.5 rounded down because...well...too many short tracks over a long period of time. One of the things I enjoy about ambient music is its ability to put you in a trance and there was little of that happening here.

My dishwasher broke every single plate I own after this album finished and I didn't even realise, I assumed it was a bonus track.

Das ist keine Kunst, das kann weg... Unpassend aneinander gereihte Geräusche und Geschrei. Nicht wirklich etwas, was ich hören möchte. 1/5

I thought it was horrible.

So I don’t even need to look to know this has to be one of the lowest rated albums on this site. It made my dogs leave the room. I can say it’s good my 14 year old self was unaware of this album because there is a high likelihood that I would have put it on repeat to Guantanamo my parents. My current self is proud I made it all the way through. Yeah. An experience for sure. Now comes the hard part. I think I have to go 3. I mean I want to go 4. But it’s really pretty much unlistenable. I dig experimentation, but how did this ever make it to actual production? Anyway, cool on the crazy Germans making crazy sounds and actually getting someone to distribute it as a record that gets a REISSUE! That alone deserves a 3. Boolean: yes, heel yeah glad I went through that before I die, hope I never have to again!

ich mag es nicht, industrielle music ist nicht fur mich

Ass

Not my type of music, cool tho

This is definitely the weirdest album I have ever listened to. I am pretty sure the meaning of music is pushed to its absolute limit here. While it is unlikely hat I will ever listen to it again, I am in fact curious about their other albums, mainly because it was likely to be a big influence on other industrial artists such as trent reznor of NIN, al jourgenson of Ministry and Nivek Ogre from skinny puppy. I do hear a little bit of those bands from this album, so I do appreciate it, even though I prefer my industrial music to be a bit more rhythmic and electronic.

Weird for the sake of weird is such a dated genre.

Only in cold war era Germany. To be fair, if I was listening to this in the grimy, paranoia laced streets of East or West Berlin, I would give this a 5 for impeccable vibes alone. I also appreciate this more than the 23rd late 60s Beatles rip off album.

Nah not my bag.

This album was actual ass. This barely can pass as “noise”. Genuinely please don’t waste your time listening to this. Go for a walk or something. Anything but this. I regret.

There are some albums and artists that have a reputation of being challenging - Lou Read’s Metal Machine Music, Frankie Teardrop by Suicide, and most things by The Fall. Einstürzende Neubauten certainly belong on that list and deserve to be heard at least once. It’s classed as industrial music, but when you get past the drills and hammering metal there is a lot here to appreciate. There are drum rhythms that would fit right into a Steve Reich symphony, electronic screams, sonic gloomscapes that fill your head with noise and even a cheeky cover of Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus. This is not an easy listen, but it is an exhilarating one. Chainsaw-tastic!

This should be the new Home Depot theme song

loud and well just lound

This is what I imagine the Thought Police in the book 1984 would have the people listen too

611/1001 2026.05.11 🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑

first dnf. i was having a bad work day. the "equipment" did not make it better.

Uhhhh no.

Hear me out on this one… is this something I would be listening to every day? Hell no. But the sonic experimentation with noises and metal are really interesting and the repetition can be somewhat hypnotic. Most of these aren’t songs, but I’m really glad I listened. Favorites were U-Haft-Muzak, Kollaps, and Spionagedub.

This jaunt into the roots of industrial went over gangbusters at the breakfast table. I don’t think I’ve seen the faces of my family look so uniformly miserable. I was slightly more enthusiastic, though the back half held my attention more than the first half: once there was a bit more structure. It prompted some intellectual curiosity. What inspires someone to make music like this? What elements impressed listeners enough to give it such a solid legacy? Could I make an album like this with my minimal musical skill set? Would I? Should I? I should? For real?

Found myself rather relaxed by this at times. Something about the primal rhythm matching with my resting heart rate in the air conditioned office. The periodic bashing and screeching took me out of this state obviously, but this is the stuff, the difficult listening, the outsider music, that makes the project all worthwhile.

There’s a temptation with records like this to treat them as endurance tests, or as important artefacts to be respected from a safe academic distance. But what struck me revisiting it now is how physical it remains. Not “heavy” in the rock sense - heavy in the sense of weight, impact, resonance and pressure. You can hear rooms reacting to force. You can hear objects behaving according to their material properties. Forty years later, when almost anything can be simulated cleanly and infinitely inside a laptop, that still carries unusual power. What also becomes clearer with time is that this isn’t simply Year Zero iconoclasm or anti-music provocation. There’s already a lineage underneath it - Kraftwerk’s systems, Can’s repetition, German post-war modernity trying to invent itself outside Anglo-American rock language. The difference is that the sleek mediation has been stripped away. If Kraftwerk often presents the machine as elegant design, this presents infrastructure as lived condition - strained, metallic, unstable and psychologically exhausting. That’s why it increasingly made sense to me not as “noise” but as environment. Once you stop expecting conventional songs to emerge from the wreckage, the album starts functioning more like weather, architecture or civic atmosphere. Repetition becomes structural rather than hypnotic. Rhythm feels less like groove than labour. Even the clatter has internal logic once the ear adjusts to the idea that the machinery itself is part of the composition. What surprised me most this time was how many later cultural forms quietly sit downstream from it. Not just industrial music, but percussion theatre, found-object rhythm, machine aesthetics, infrastructural staging, even things as outwardly audience-friendly as Stomp. The idea that impact, metal, repetition and physical process could themselves become performance language no longer feels radical because the language escaped into culture decades ago. And yet the record still retains something genuinely unsettling. Not because it is chaotic, but because it sounds coherent in a way civilisation sometimes does under stress - systems continuing to operate while the human beings inside them absorb the strain. That may be why the closest modern comparison that came to mind during listening wasn’t another album at all, but the Down Deep in Silo: machinery not as background but as habitat. The remarkable thing is that the album still communicates all this without softening itself into accessibility. It remains abrasive, difficult and at times actively hostile to comfort. But the hostility no longer feels performative to me. It feels necessary to the world the record is trying to describe.

Knowing what I was getting into with German Industrial, I really liked the album.

This is very weird and experimental. Innovative, but musically a total fail.

Didn’t hate as much as most others. Interesting use of sounds

I can’t knock this album for being one of the worst albums on this list, like, I totally get it and understand WHY it’s so badly rated compared to everything else. There is merit to be found on this album - it’s not completely unlistenable but it’s not something for headphones - I listened to the bulk of it on stereos and that’s kinda the vibe and the musicality bouncing across the room with it. Never listening to it again tho

This album is undoubtedly one of the worst on the list. I can understand that someone had to experiment with industrial equipment mixed with a screaming vocalist. It’s not surprising the Germans, known for their efficiency, were behind it. I’m glad that this album is done, so I never have to properly encounter it again.

I've heard a lot about this band over the years but never listened until today. Heavily industrial, with obvious influences from the Krautrock bands of the '70s, especially NEU! I'm enjoying it

Nope

What came first, German industrial noise music or Nihilism?

Absolute garbage

Yeah I get the rating here, this is an album that really tests the limits of what I’d consider “enjoyable”. I certainly wouldn’t just listen to this album for fun, but I did like the experience. I’d take it over any album that fails to be interesting.

Eh?