Tank Battles

Finally, we get a glimpse of Lily Von Schtupp's ill-conceived career after she left the backwater town of Rock Ridge. 3/10 2 stars

From what I could dig out on YouTube, this is very Brecht/Weill, sounds like Lotte Leyna. I'm not much of a fan of this style, and my kids *DESPISE* it! Guaranteed to drive them to the edge of sanity. The English lyrics are quite clunky and remind me of polemic from a Socialist Worker article. As the great Molly Ivins said about Pat Buchanan's speech at the 1992 Republican convention, "probably sounded better in the original German"

6/10. Still a better war album than Let England Shake

That was… unexpected. Beautiful voice and reading a bit about the artist who she covered, I can see the beauty in it, but it feels like a cold war level of importance which doesn’t resonate so much with me.

This is a truly bizarre one. It's probably the first album so far on my generated list to have no presence on Spotify. It's not even unavailable, it's just missing entirely by the looks of it. I found the full album on YouTube, or at least most of the album I think? The disk it was recorded from had bad popping noises throughout and it ended abruptly, though the video seemed to be about the length of the album. Gonna be weird having a permanent missing song from my curated list, but I'm sure there will be more. This made for a good background album I suppose. Didn't particularly enjoy any of it, but it wasn't bad as such, just not for me. It's certainly got a dramatic and theatrical aspect to it. Who is this for? In fact, I'm fascinated about why it's on the list; I'd be interested in reading the entry this has in the 1001 albums book. That's not from a place of distaste, I'm honestly curious about what landed it in the 1001. There's not much information about it on Wikipedia. I can't shake the feeling that I've heard Lied Von Der Belebenden Wirkung Des Geldes somewhere. Absolutely no clue where though... Favourite: Lied Von Der Belebenden Wirkung Des Geldes Favourite:

More like a performance art piece. Sort of reminiscent of Brecht. Addendum - it turns out that the music on this album were all written by Hanns Eisler, who worked with Bertolt Brecht, so it was a reasonable reaction. It got better when I stopped actively listening to it and it was more background to me reading.

This sucks, is in German, and is not on Spotify.

Wish the whole thing was available somewhere but loved what I could find

She had me at "Look, there's a new crack started, even the bricks have farted." Actually, I was all in before the first measure of the first song was complete. Fantastically theatrical, so dramatic, so compelling. Why this isn't available streaming anywhere but YouTube is beyond me. Apparently it was never released in the US. I love Dagmar Karuse's vocals. I can't stop thinking about these songs. Wish I was sipping a cocktail in Berlin right now... Beautiful! I loved it!

Interesting. This is different enough that it's hard to judge. It's good enough for 3 stars with just one listen. Some music requires a little effort to fully appreciate, and this might be such a case. But I don't enjoy it enough to put in the work (which might just lead me to the conclusion that, yes, this really is just 3 stars).

A modern interpretation of songs written in post-WW1 Berlin. The arrangements may not be for everyone, but most of the tunes capture the feeling of hopelessness that pervaded Germany not just when these songs were written, but in the midst of the Cold War.

It is strange to me that this is an album "you must hear before you die," yet no album by Dagmar Krause's band, Slapp Happy, made the cut. If you know anything about that band, you would know it is quite a bit better than this, or at the very least deserves it a little more. This album can be daunting, as despite its average runtime, the amount of tracks in juxtaposition to the lack of variation can lead to a lot of songs whizzing by with very little to recollect later, and it leads to the majority of the album being forgettable, even to the point of annoyance by the end, but I'd be lying if I didn't say the sappier, more musically well-constructed material had me more intrigued. Krause's voice is not stereotypical, but it is technically impressive at times, and I'd say the strange delivery combined with the off-tempo instrumentation lead to a lot of moments where I think I could enjoy this in small bursts. It is hard to tell, as the songs not being on streaming means I can't quite remember a favorite or two to listen to later, but I know they were in there, and while that was bound to happen with a whopping twenty-two tracks, I still have to give it some (Stockholm Syndrome-esque) credit. It isn't a good album, and I can't recognize why many would come away from this confused and angry at what they just listened to, but I think it barely scrapes by as just weird enough for it to be barely up my alley. You won't see me recommending it to anyone else, though, and it certainly isn't an album to listen to before you pass away.

Interesting album, a commentary of war and political standings. Almost felt like a slam poetry session, with more production value. While a good art piece, I wouldn’t necessarily call it good music, or something I’d enjoy listening to often

This was soooo weird and not in a good way honestly. The voice sounded like Meryl Streep down two octaves and doing push ups. Just a weird album altogether.

Quite extraordinary songs by Hanns Eisler who collaborated with Brecht but is less well known than Brecht’s other collaborator Weill. Socialist, sardonic, witty and poignant, the songs retain their power to shock and stir. And Dagmar Krause is a stunning interpreter of the songs - that gravel voice, born to perform in the Weimar Republic cabaret but gifted to the modern age. The whole album needs to find its way to streaming services - it deserves a wider audience.

It's enjoyably Teutonic and operatic. Wagnerian. Bit obviously without the odious views. Feels a little bit like Tom Waits. Hard to say if I love it from the first listen... But I want to hear more, so that's good.

I was able to find this album on Youtube. This album is Dagmar Krause's interpretation of Eisler-Brecht songs and is a combination of cabaret and avant garde music that is meant to evoke post-WWI Germany during the Weimar Republic. The songs are stark yet richly brought to life by Krause. The musical backing fits them well and seemingly owes more to 20th century composition than to popular music. With Krause's unique vocal style and emphasis of certain words and tones, I was reminded of Schoenberg's 'A Survivor form Warsaw' which is as high of praise as I can give this album.

Truly bizarre. Makes me think of a fictitious anime film soundtrack composed by a 4AD band. Picking up on heavy Dead Can Dance vibes. I wouldn't give this any overwhelming praise but it's a positive for me purely on its uniqueness.

Found it here: https://youtu.be/JbYmWrfNJpQ?si=KB05SRDULWAIWZRY It's giving me Cohen vibes weirdly. If Nico was a good singer and covered Scott Walker covering Jacques Brel. I like it. It's dark, avante-gard. Challenging, but rewarding.

This is uh... pretty offbeat. Has the feel of show tunes but it's surely also a bit too inaccessible for that. Maybe some kind of independent theatre production that runs on off nights. But I... don't hate it? On paper I fucking hate it, but I kinda don't. It's a complete and utter wank, sniffs its own farts and tells itself it's very intellectually stimulating. 2/5.

I want to give this a one but since we share a surname I think Dagmar and I must be related. You have to stick by your family, even if they make a horrible, horrible mistake. Also, joking aside, there are parts of this that aren't that bad. Whenever she's actually singing in German and there's actually music playing behind her, I feel like there's some quality here. It's when she sings uncomfortably in English and/or the "music" turns into "arthouse circus" that I get sad.

This is the happiest album in Germany

My interest in Weimar-era agitprop has not increased with age.

Jeg havde virkelig ikke behøvet at høre det her inden jeg dør

Feel free to skip this, you’re not missing out on much

This album can kiss my ass. What even was this? Sounded like a very bad off Broadway German play. 2/10.

Different, but Cool!

ich bin so überrascht gsi, wie geil die musig isch wtf so en banger

Ausgezeichnet!

This was fabulous! I could imagine enjoying the show in a club back in time.

This certainly takes me back to 1920s Berlin. Krause's voice is quite remarkable! I'm not going to play this a lot, but I loved hearing something unlike anything else I've listened to in 900+ albums.

I had to listen to this on YouTube and it was the English version. I came to appreciate that, though, because these songs are incredibly biting, funny, and satirical. I felt swept away to Weimar Germany by Dagmar’s voice.

Five star simply because its had the good grace to be impossible to find so saving me time.

Вроде люблпытно

Randomly picked this up on vinyl as it intrigued me. Very eclectic.

i found this a fascinating listen. it's clearly something i would have not ever listened to, or even found out about. i could barely even find a copy of this album to listen to, but thanks to youtube, i was able to find it. i found myself really intrigued by the music. obviously a little challenging but reminds me a lot of other similarly european torch-music-esque stuff, like edith piaf. what i found most fascinating was taking the time to read about the composer of all the songs, hanns eisler, who was exiled from nazi germany to come to the united states, where he was once again facing persecution from HUAC. this music really put this into context for me. seems like a very fascinating person and wrote very interesting music. will i go out of my way to listen to this one again? probably not. am i happy to have listened to something that exposed me to something i ordinarily would not have with an interesting backstory? absolutely

This was a bit of a sharp - ahem - left turn for a Monday morning. I found it hard going in places, but it was interesting to listen to songs where the lyric is the key. The voice does what it needs to do, and that is not always easy. This feels like no-frills music that nobody makes any more. I am not sure I would play this often, but more like this, please.

The friction in resorting to Youtube to listen to Tank Battles: the Songs of Hanns Eisler is not as delicious as hoped, and accidentally switching halfway between English and German versions banjaxed me, but this record has impressed me: it’s an icy, slightly boozy flash of 20th century modernism that forces home the brutal clatter, aggressiveness and sardonicism of many of the movements and manifestos, a fit to the century's dizzying rush of social change, technological progress and broadcast horror. Appropriate testament to Eisler, who appears to have had a heartbreaking life of exile piled on betrayal piled on exile. I see that Dagmar Krause's voice is divisive - are the opinions split between "she's pretty great" to "she's a genius"? Her enunciations punch, tickle, keen and beguile, even when I have no idea what she's singing about. This is music as cinema - it demands attention, so I may never return to it - this busy life we have! But I am grateful for being brought to this record. Time for a coffee Brecht.

As basically everyone has written, it’s a pain to have to listen on YouTube, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. I had zero expectations but I ended up kind of loving this!? If nothing else, this is so historically significant with the Eisler / Brecht combo and includes some great compositions and politically interesting lyrics. With that said, I do have a degree in German literature, so I may have a slightly higher tolerance for this, but give it a chance! Also, Bankenlied is an absolute BANGER.

Very Berlin 1920. I can't figure out if I want to listen with a score, so I can really follow what is happening, or if I should just listen for the shape of the line. I also don't really know enough about Germany to fully understand the deeper meaning.

This was a bit of a journey to search out for it, and was able to find it on YouTube. But this was a rewarding listen. Very weird and out there music at a time brimming with political turmoil and change in Germany. I really enjoyed this, and if it was easier to find these, I'd probably listen to the German version as well.

So weird, but in the best way possible. Can see why it would not be everyone's cup of tea.

The theater kid in me loved this, 10/10 would audition for

En syret udgave af soundtracket til Cabaret sunget af Kate Bush klonet med en østtysk steroide-atlet . Vild oplevelse.

Love Dagmar Krause, Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht 🙏 Very pleased to have them recognized on here. Go modernist theatre!

Just excellent.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Lied von der belebenden wirkung des geldes, Bankenlied, The trenches

That's one of the most bizarre things that I've ever listened to in my life. It was like the feeling of existential dread you get deep in your soul the day after an intense session on the whiskey. It was like listening to the soundtrack to an oddly macabre musical which doesn't exist. It was like listening into an alternative timeline and hearing something you shouldn't. Yet, it was strangely compelling. Once I'd got my ear in, I was kind of hooked and dragged along for the ride. What an odd thing this is.

I think I liked this? It was giving Sally Bowles in Cabaret, and I enjoy that musical so.... It certainly wasn't what I was expecting. I didn't really listen too closely to the lyrics but the lyrics I did hear were... interesting. 4 stars!

I don't know quite how to rate this. I think it's well executed and her voice is so perfect for this style of song. But the album is very long. I am not sure if I was supposed to listen to songs sung in both English and German, but I couldn't find a version that only included English .... hence, most of the songs twice. That said, I enjoyed this. It's such a particular style from a particular time, and quite specifically a product of the dire political environment of Weimar era Germany.

Wasn’t sure what to expect of an album that was almost impossible to find, and that had a lot of 1 star reviews, but it was markedly better than expected. Krause has a wonderful voice, and the whole album has a haunting beauty to it.

3.8 mostly for originality

This is already weird. 🤣track three has my attention. The rest so far sounds like the weird stuff in “yes man”. This feels like it should be a musical of some sort. I might enjoy this more if there were visuals. There is some good stuff on here. I think I can give this a three. Oddly I like the German lyrics better than English. Something about the way those melodies flow. This was way better than I expected it to be. It took me on a journey.

I ended up finding this on YouTube and it's pretty rad. Spooky cabaret.

With the album released just prior to the Berlin Wall coming down, Tank Battles is a late 80's recording of music composed in the 1920s by a frequent collaborator of playwright Bertolt Brecht, Hans Eisler. Some songs are sung in English, some in German. This is about as early modern as you'll probably get as far as compositions - it's an eclectic mix that brushes cabaret, jazz, and 20s popular music. It's indeed very evocative of interwar Berlin, with chronicles of the descent into madness prior to the Nazis taking over. This feels like very important music - at times absurd/dissonant, and others very elegiac. Not an easy listen for someone whose ears have not heard much before classic rock or early rock & roll. The astute among you will recognize the last song of the album repurposed by Sting as The Secret Marriage on ...Nothing Like The Sun. It's well produced and sounds mostly era-appropriate, with a little bit of chorused guitar creeping in with it's 80s sound Favorites are The Perhaps Song, Ballade von der belebenden Wirkung des Geldes, Song of a German Mother, Bankenlied, Mother's Hands, and To a Little Radio.

A fascinating listen, musical theatre essentially. Very interesting. I only listened to the In Our Time episode on Brecht the other day, serendipitously. Obviously also maintained an interest through Bowie's work also. Whitewash, Sackslingers, Bourgeois Welfare, Trenches. Striking tracks all. It's probably necessary for me to seek out some Art Bears to get more of that voice.

A nice discovery. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. Intriguing mad cabaret feel, and I wouldn’t be surprised to find that this influenced Tom Waits’ Black Rider, The Legendary Pink Dots, divine comedy, and a lot of other late 80s theatrical avant-garde acts. I will definitely give this a few more listens To catch things that I might have missed. Difficult to find these days, but very deserving of a spot on this list.

A German cabaret album with a Brecht/Weill undertone.

8/10. I love the unique vocals, and strong messages. It was a delightful and unique experience to listen to this album. However, the album could have been slightly shorter. :)

1920s German songs, words by Bertold Brecht and several other contemporary German writers, music by Hanns Eisler. Great arrangements, carefully stylised staccato vocals. Melancholic and powerful. This edition has the lyrics in English Translation. I also listened to some of the German language edition - despite not understanding the words, it sounded even better to me in German

Politics and commentary in a cabaret style. This is an excellent reminder that music and songs have an embedded and often implied social structure and are part of social ideas as a whole. We are constantly building and re-enforcing a world view with our music and songs.

Sing-songy, almost like it's a musical. Kinda fun to listen to for a random Thursday. 3.5

An 80s jazz/cabaret send-up of some poems from Germany during the world wars. I tried to read around and find some more context to make sure I wasn't given tepid approval to some sympathizers, and I couldn't ever find the confirmation I was looking for. It seems like a lot of ruminations on how much war sucks, which yes, but at the end of the day the vocals didn't do much for me at all. Best track: I couldn't really keep up with the tracks since the version I found was all in a single low-quality Youtube video, but there was one about 2/3 of the way through that had some tremendous horn work. That one

This is certainly a different one! Definitely interesting—caught my ear and kept surprising me. That’s one of the great things about this project of course: it keeps presenting me with so much music that I would never otherwise hear. Bravo, 1001 Albums!

uhhhh vewy dwamatic

I'd only encountered Brecht, and only in translation, for context. Krause's vocal performance is from there plenty interesting and plenty clipped. An hour is long enough to start considering whether and how translation serves this work and what to do with the blunt conceits. A few better handholds stretch out, the music's nice, the record does arc, the German buttresses.

No se encuentra el disco en Spotify

Un album de guerre. C'est très emotif, il y a une certaine ambiance a cet album que j'ai bien aimé. La langue de la chanteuse et sa voix se prête bien à cet album. C'est bon mais la réécoute est inexistante. 3.10

All I can say is this was a very unique listen, very much sounded like a musical soundtrack. Was done well but it wasn't really a relaxing listen, but it seemed really powerful and this album was so different to anything I've listened to in this project. I wasn't able to find all the songs on this album but found enough to be able to get the vibe of the album.

It was interesting to read about Hanns Eisler and his life. Musically, I'm not such a fan of the avant/cabaret style and Dagmar Kraus singing style is an acquired taste. One of the songs ("Balad of Bourgoise Welfare") ended with applause, so I went back to YouTube to watch the performance and it was very good: Kruase had an intense glare, the piano player was really into it as was the clarinet player, who looked about twelve. For that, and Hanns, I give her an extra point.

I wonder if I found the right right album to listen to? I don’t mean this and an insult but what I listened to doesn’t sound like something that would be on the 1001. I listened to the two files I found on YouTube since the playing time was close but they had a number of songs in French so they don’t seem to fit. In any event, I found it amusing to think about what the typical American would have said about the French songs around the time “Freedom Fries” were introduced to the American lexicon.

interesting sound, overall enjoyed the intensity.

Nice!

Really liked it, bizarre, different but interesting

Kind of a derpy old world charm mixed with sharp messages. It's an appealing cocktail.

Weird but I managed to get through it.

I see what is going on here, but there is just a little too much to actually feel fresh.

It was interesting, at least, but not something I'm ever really going to return to. It gave me just enough of a "hmm" for 3 stars.

An interesting art piece, if not exactly my kind of music. I’ve been learning German for a while so I appreciated the language practice, definitely kept me engaged when the instrumentals got much too show-tune. Even though this kind of music is well outside my wheelhouse I did find myself taking more interest than expected, not something I would throw on for easy listening but glad I had the chance to take it in.

Cabaret. Jazz

I like Dagmar Krause in Slapp Happy, and I didn’t hate this, but a little Brechtian showtunes go a very long way

Interesting listen. English translated German protest songs.

Interesting Mix of Jazz and Cabaret. Not really my style but feels New every time.

Speciaal, zo'n oorlogsliederen. Volgens mij ook erg trouw aan de stijl van hoe ze werden gecomponeerd

This one lands in the category of what the heck did I just listen too.

Un trabajo bastante curioso que mezcla la música docta con la aproximación moderna de la construcción de LPs. Quizá no es del gusto de muchos, pero en contexto, es bastante disfrutable, además de contener un potente mensaje antiguerra.

The concept is incredible. Very impressed by the accomplishment.

Ihan kiva että Brechtin juttuja tehdään ymmärrettäväksi meillekin, jotka bluffaamme saksan osaamisemme. Draaman palasista koostettu levy on tietenkin kulutustavarana hankala. Mutta kuuntelen.

No tämähän on. Just sitä mitä kansi ja nimi antavat olettaa, kuten sekin, ettei tätä ole striimattavana: todella kokeilevaa, 1900-luvun alulle kumartavaa. Kiinnostavaa. Olisi miellyttävämpää jos ei olisi niin meteliä, toki miellyttävyys ei ole tässä päämäärä vaan TAISTELU.

first listen i actually really enjoyed this but it lacks diversity and is long

Un regal cet album mal mixé sur Youtube, on en redemande (Robert ouvre ta boite aux lettres tu devrais y retrouver une menace de mort)

Utterly bizarre, but I kind of admire that in an album. Wouldn’t listen again though

Not available online

This was pretty weird, but not terrible. But not mind blowing. It just kinda was for me.

Sounds like the German version of a Baz Luhrmann score. Definitely performance art reminiscent of Kate Bush & Sparks but not quite in the same league. I kinda liked it.

I'm not convinced this isn't Tom Waits singing in falsetto ala Wayne Newton. Regardless, this was weird and fun. 3/5

3.5 - youtube

Kinda Creepy and beautiful

totally unconventional. sound is timeless and far away from the 80's from when it actually is. i actually enjoyed it

Album about war bad