Tank Battles

Pas facile celui-ci, pas facile du tout ! (à trouver non plus d'ailleurs...) Très honnêtement je ne sais pas comment noter cet album car d'un côté je ne parle absolument pas un mot d'allemand, je suis donc incapable de saisir la teneur des textes, la portée politique. Et de l'autre, l'orchestration et le style de chant ont ce côté cabaret d'avant-guerre qui ne me déplaît pas totalement, voir qui a pu me plaire sur certaines chansons. A l'intersection de deux sentiments assez contradictoires, je vais me contenter de noter 2. Mettre plus ne serait pas honnête car je ne pense pas le réécouter.

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.

Not on spotify

Har ikke hørt dette albumet, men var rate ganske høyt, men også rar type klassisk såå

Listened to on YouTube so not really getting the proper experience, the music itself sounds like it came out decades before 1988, which makes sense when you read about the album, hard to rate when I don’t understand German, but I did think the album went on a bit long.

“A dagger will knife” - 4/10

lol 4/10

Listened on YouTube. She’s definitely quite talented — I wish she were singing something less modern and wacky, but who am I to tell her what to do. My late grandmother on my dad’s side was a professional soprano who really enjoyed performing avant-garde stuff, and Krause’s precision and technical skill reminded me of grandma’s recordings, so I have a bit of a soft spot for it. At the end of the day probably won’t listen again though. 6.5/10

4/10 - There were some bangers ngl. \"A shotgun will shoot a dagger will knife\" is quite a bar. I liked the little jazz bits in some of the pieces. It sounded like a musical or like the soundtrack to a movie.

Stay away from the ice if you want my advice. This album made me like war 3/10

I hate war now 3/10

not my cup of tea

Pretty hard to listen to.

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

Can’t find it.

Horrid

Love that the note even says you can't find this one streaming. Glad to get a day off.

This is a big moment for me. I've had a handful of one-star albums across this journey, even some that I'd give a 1 out of 10. But not until today have I heard an album on this list without even one redeeming track, not a single song worth saving. This one's not on Apple Music anyway, and I will NOT be going out of my way to download any of this. What the hell are we doing here??? This is an album from the '80s, a German singer doing showtune renditions of old German war-time folk songs. That description reads like the worst idea for an album Tom Waits could ever have. Yeah of course, I recognize the talent and effort that goes into this and its value as a preservation of old music. But good lord, this is a nightmare to me. Listed as "cabaret" on wikipedia, remind me to avoid that genre tag like the plague. Just a culmination of things that I can't stand here. I'm all for variety on this list, and just this week we got another German album with Kollaps, but that was a lot less painful than this. Get this out of my face and out of my ears. Favorite tracks: Album art: Kind of a cool design, just Ms. Krause's face obscured by shadow, the framing and splashes of red are nice. 0.5/5

If I played this for someone today who didn't know any better they would tell me it was "obviously" created by AI.

Had its moments. Struck me this might have been an influence for Bjork as I heard her kookiness and cadence a few times.

3.8 mostly for originality

Interesting vibe and voice, and well suited songs for a movie soundtrack.

7/10, kinda fun I guess? sorta questionable why this is in the book tho, not that amazing

I liked to know that this kind of more "classical" music is also present in the 1001 list, sharing space with pop music in general. Reading about the album and Dagmar Krause, I also enjoyed learning about German compositors. On the weak side, the album is quite long and too uniform to be really good. "The Rat Men—Nightmare" is a song that I'll probably include in my favorites.

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.

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.

u gotta be kidding me

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 feel bad for disliking this one because it gives me that feeling where I do think this is probably innovative and possessing of some critically acclaimed qualities...but I intimately disliked it. Possible that I'd like other work from the artist or listening to this not on youtube.

Not available

Album about war bad

An album for a musical that never existed?

It’s okay! Nothing I’m into so with that being said, it was just background music. I’m sure if you want to give a review in context about this album, you can read about how complex and sophisticated it is, but like I said, for me it was just background music.

Interesting concept, but it drags for too long. Minus one star for not being available on Spotify.

This is not a bad album, the German stuff is actually very good, but the English vocals are ruining it a bit, and I cannot see myself listening to it again, so 2 stars.

Interesting cabaret style music, although hard to digest. Vocal-wise I prefer the handful of German songs, since the English is horrible (by the way, there appears to be a full-German version of the album as well)

Not on Spotify

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

2.5 eh

Pleasantly surprised

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.

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

Ausgezeichnet!

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!

One of the worst we’ve heard so far

Waarom is dit in 1001 albums... Ik heb net een dikke koffie gehad en dit geeft me echt hartkloppingen en maakt me bijznder onrustig.

Not for me.

Absolutely horrible

Really really unnecessary. 1 swtar

Kinda boring

Dagmar has a very unique voice, and the instrumental orchestration was quite good in many spots...but I have no idea why this is on this list. I'm not anti-composer music either, but this doesn't strike me as an album that I must hear before I die. I was just assigned a Bjork album the other day (Vulnicura), and this is not as bad as that, but it's not far behind for me. Only one favorite track because there was some great guitar work on it: The Song of the Invigorating Impact of Cash.

Maybe I could get into to these songs if they were part of a musical production. I need more context. It's a cool idea to record the songs of an older composer and make them feel fresh and alive. Dagmar Krause definitely does her best to sell these songs. Her singing is very dramatic. The composer Hans Eisler lived through some turbulent times in Germany (both World Wars and the beginnings of the Cold War!) and you can hear the weight of that history and the politics in the music. But I need a little context or some spark notes to give me insight into each song.

Very interesting listen. It feels theatrical and meant for a stage but also experimental and in a way I think "unafraid"? I am having a relatively good time listening but I don't know if I like it per se. I feel like I have to follow along so closely to really get enjoyment out of it. I need to have the lyrics on the screen in front of me, and I need to be doing nothing else, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It also obviously feels like it is missing a visual performance to go along with it.

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.

Content no longer avail

weird - probably would've sounded better in german

Not what I imagined when I heard Hans Eisler. I don’t know what bothered me but it wasn’t as expected.

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

Unfortunately the album was not available for streaming.

Kinda Creepy and beautiful

Nope. Sorry, I wish I could say something, anything about this, but I have no reference point. Okay, she has a good song voice that goes well with the oompah of the music. Does that help? Didn't think so. Any ranking given here is unfair.

How ? This is awful!

3.5 - youtube

Fairly unique on this list, an album that reads like a play. A focus on storytelling throughout the songs. The singer has a nice and powerful voice in the alto range (I think) that suits the gravity of the subject matter well. Sadly, I found the songs very threadbare, simple background music supporting a talk-singing monologue. Pretty repetitive and not much in the lyrics' writing that caught my interest at all.

Glad the songs are short. Honestly, it reminds me of some modern operas I've seen/heard. Lots of minor keys and atonality, and hard to listen to. (Champion comes to mind.) It felt like it was a soundtrack to a very dark musical production. It would have been insane to hear these live, like an assault of music. But the vocals are outstanding! And she has an excellent orchestra playing behind her that's playing some really crazy arrangements. YouTube says it was done in 1988, but it feels like 1940. Well done evocation of an earlier, scary era. But I didn't make it all the way through the album. Too depressing. Gonna go play my ukulele to feel happy again.

This one required earplugs

This was a cruel endurance test.

It's like a soundtrack to a musical I don't want to see. Very strange.

This was terrible. I couldn't figure out the point the entire time I was listening. I didn't like the music, I didn't particularly care for her voice, and I thought the translations seemed to be clunky. I even tried a few of the songs in German to see if they were better, and I didn't think they were. Just not for me at any level.

Just excellent.

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

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

Half a star for the diversity it represents. Another half a star because it's aptly named. It's the best I can do.

This feels very much like wartime theater/performance art, and I was actually surprised this was from late in the cold war. The lyrics were quite interesting and overall this is well composed. The ballad of the sackslingers in particular is quite fascinating. But I can hardly imagine listening to this on a regular basis when it was created. It is clearly important, but it's also definitely not for me.

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.

just make this into a play tbh

Dogshit

Mother's Hands //

Really??

Weird! But at the very least it was interesting. While I'm not a huge fan of her voice, the production makes up for it. 2.5.

Bizarre

A project which would work infinitely better if adapted into a stage play or film, but which simply doesn't captivate as an audio-only presentation. As another reviewer put it, it seems to work better as background than as active listening material. The instrumentation from the various players is excellent, Krause's voice does warm on the listener over time, and there are several poignant songs such as "Song of a German Mother," but this is cabaret music, and it needs more energy than this medium can offer. Not something that I would likely listen to again.

What a weird, interesting record. Definitely not something I particularly enjioy. But I guess there's a group of folk who can dig it. Standout tracks: none, really.. 3 out of 10

Last night I out on this deodorant that made my pits itch like crazy and I had to get up multiple times around two in the morning to take care of it. I would prefer that experience over listening to this again. Didn’t like it, but it just kept coming. Like the war :0 wow, what an artist. I don’t think she’s that good a singer, honestly. I wanna say that I actually prefer the Nerd Wallet ad that kept playing between songs. Also made me develop this unsightly thousand yard stare, which I was hoping to stave off until my late thirties, but alas. 2/5

Thoughts before listening: This is brand new to me. Never even seen the cover. I am going to guess European dance music of some sort. Review: Well this isn't dance. More like classical orchestral music with a German singer. Theatrical and almost operatic sounding with lyrics in both German and English. I am sure this was extremely impactful in a 1980s cold war environment, but it is not resonating with me. This is however well performed music with a strong vocalist that is getting a 2-star rating.

An absolute slog to get through. Not 1 star bad but good God please don't ever make me listen to this again please.

It was ok until she started singing. Yikes! One star

It was interesting to listen to this collection. The music was masterful, I am just not a fan of listening to the German language sung. I like the theme of the music, but felt it went too much in the direction of trying to be a musical, which I am not sure of it is from a musical based on the description I read. It’s neat to hear some of your favorite artists in old music, and I seemed to hear a little Cosmo Sheldrake in this, though it might just be the instrumentation in general.

2/5. I mean, I do like some of the lines and short songs but this whole album feels like I am listening to a disjointed play where the plot does not exist. Some strong themes of anti-war and nationalism and those opposing ideals. Kind of feels like a best of only the German songs from the stop motion Christmas movies. Which is not a promising venture. Still better than other ones I've hear so if I was in the mood, might enjoy it more so it's not a 1.

I heard enough in the first minute to know this ain't for me. Not gonna waste my time with the rest.

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.

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

Not available online

Something a little different. I didn't hate it but maybe a little too avant-garde for my tastes

Is this what the sound of music would’ve been like if the Von trapps got caught by the nazis. This was a weird album. All very short story like songs. Not sure why this album is on this list if no streaming option wants it. 2.3/10

yep. weird.

This is the happiest album in Germany

That was..... something. 1.26

Too weird

This stuff must have been mind-blowing in the Weimar Republic, and it's pretty cool to release an album of pro-worker German cabaret songs in 1988, but this was absolutely not for me! I don't like stench, I don't like garbage!

Not available

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

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.

Found in YouTube Music.

You know what you are getting right form the start - performance art, not music. It's aimed at a certain type of person to nod along knowingly and point out the strands of the metaphors, how the music brings out the timbre of the artists mood. That sort of rubbish. Basically it's for people that hate it to pretend they love it to other people who also hate it and are pretending they love it so they all seem "cultured" and smart in loving something they know everyone hates. Well done.

Un très joli coup de Robert qui a décidé de nous générer l'album de sa correspondante allemande que personne ne connaît.

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)

Did not finish

I found these on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PkPvS85L998?feature=shared I didn’t enjoy these 1920s interpretations. I much preferred Ute Lemper’s Teutonic singing style from the listings last week. These songs are dramatic, heavy and dark. Certainly there is artistic integrity, it’s just theatrical and antiquated.

Shitty German music 2.5/5

260ish albums in and I am growing weary of this nonsense

Áhugavert. Dramatískt. Mun ekki fara í reglulega hlustun.

painful

Found it on YouTube, but didn’t make it through the whole thing. It made me think of Schoenberg and his use of Sprechstimme, which I don’t enjoy. This album could be the soundtrack to a movie version of Slaughterhouse Five. 2.5

Sort of cabaret opera vibe. Probably relevant for traditional German music lovers. Not particularly enjoyable but maybe there's a place for it. 2.5

Pretty much every effort has been made for me to not listen to this...therefore I won't

This was a little weird, but interesting! Don't think I'll ever revisit this but glad I gave it a shot.

Had to YouTube it. Thought it was odd at first but realized its haunting tone and almost spoken poetry about the degradation of German society in the early 40s was really something

1/5

Hell to the no. Maybe a bad musical??

Couldn’t listen. Not in Apple Music.

Did not listen. Wasn't on Spotify. Don't think you should be classified as MUST LISTEN if you're not even on any popular streaming service🙄👎 0⭐

What the fuck?

Like Moss Side Story, it's an album I would have never listened to on my own, and probably never will again, but glad that I did. it was a great little project about ww2 from a German civilian perspective. I loved the track "Song of a German Mother". truly moving shit.

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

To quote Dagmar, this is an unpleasant stain on the wall. This is not good. It’s not good.

Gave up after 20mins... life's too short to listen to shite like this

this wasn’t on spotify but the description i read of ms. krause’s work makes me certain i would’ve given this 2 stars at best

shite

This was certainly something. Not really my cup of tea but since it doesn't really sound like any of the other albums I've listened to from here, that keeps it from getting a 1.

Tank Battles var ikke på min streamingtjeneste, men hørte et par andre numre af Dagmar. Enkelte var ok - men jeg kan bedre lide soundtracket til Cabaret...

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

If this record has some key significance, I'm missing it.

Wtf is this

i am simply too uncultured for this i dont really like the quality of her voice. it's a little severe. warlike, which i guess is intentional https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbYmWrfNJpQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwEqjE4D4iE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2Sxuj2Apcc i like the clarinet/bass clarinet? is it german and english or just english? german is just kinda hard to listen to it's not TERRIBLE.. it's definitely a legit piece of music, there's just nothing for me to get excited about

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

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.

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

Wahrscheinlich damals artsy und cool aber nix was ich mir jetzt noch anhören kann.

This is one of the lowest rated albums on the list and that is no mistake. I like the music of Hanns Eisler and Bertolt Brecht, but that was never meant to be performed in such a horrific pretentious way. The vocal and instrumental delivery takes all the soul and emotion out of the song and replaces it with false sentiment. Awful!

The concept is incredible. Very impressed by the accomplishment.

it's like ... part musical ... part ... what you get if you tell germans to make a david bowie album? Not feeling it, 1.3.

This was not really great. Sometimes I wonder if we're being tested by some AI to see if we're going to just listen to whatever they decide to give us and say is good. I'm looking at you Everything but The Girl.

Hmm....

нет-нет-нет, упаси боже меня от немецкого вокала. альбома нет на стримингах и за дело! за дело!

The production sounds thin throughout and the singing performances can be rough but bottom five?? I don’t think so.

Like some of the other albums in this list that were incredibly relevant to their time in history, it makes for an interesting listen? But I don’t think I would consider it a “good” album or one that I want to listen to again.

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

Exciting news, I may have found my new least favorite genre of music! Probably not really, but it's pretty bad. Reminds me of the show Babylon Berlin, which I love, but not for the music. 2 stars.

Truly makes you feel like regretting those discounted off-broadway tickets. I really can't get behind this. It's a collection of random compositions by this communist German modern classical composer (Hanns Eisler). The songs feel disjoint, leaving as suddenly as they come. The ideas seem to rely on gimmicks, like an emotion to convey for just a minute or two before moving on to a separate subject. I'm sure this was all wild and far out for the 1920s, but you need something to tie it all together, and I'm not finding that here. Orchestra acts supplementary to the vocalist. It feels very stream of conscientious, with songs not coherently glued together. Even with the vocals, I'm sure it would feel very messy to listen to. And with the vocals, it exhausts me way too quickly; let alone making it through a whole hour. Track order is shit. I don't feel pulled in, and it closes anticlimatically. And I had to search far and wide for any tracks I found somewhat well put-together. There are a lot of good ideas in here, but neither did Eisler know how to structure songs for their own sake, nor does Krause salvage its worth. There is no re-creation here. It's very true-to-form except for the vocals, which works against the favor of modern audiences. Synths or pop hooks could have brilliantly re-imagined his works. I'm disappointed this record has felt like an academic study rather than a medium to emotionally invest in. Favorites: Ballad of the Sackslingers, Bankenleid, Ballad of (Bourgeois) Welfare, The Wise Woman and the Soldier

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.

An artistic statement does not necessarily good music make. Need to cleanse my ears after this one.

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

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

01) The Song of the Whitewash - 4,0 02) (I Read About) Tank Battles - 3,0 03) You Have to Pay - 3,0 04) Chanson Allemande - 5,0 05) The Ballad of the Sackslingers - 3,0 06) Mother Beimlein - 1,0 07) The Perhaps Song - 4,0 08) Lied von der Belebeden Wirkung des Geldes - 5,0 09) Mankind - 2,0 10) Bettelied - 3,0 11) Song of a German Mother - 4,0 12) Change the World – It Needs It - 2,0 13) Bankenlied (Banking Song) - 5,0 14) Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking - 2,0 15) Balad of (Bourgoise) Welfare - 2,0 16) Mother's Hands - 2,0 17) Berlin 1919 - 2,0 18) And I Shall Never See Again - 2,0 19) Genevieve: Ostern ist Ein Ball sur Seine - 5,0 20) The Wise Woman and the Soldier - 4,0 21) Failure in Loving - 2,0 22) Und Endlich Stirbt - 3,0 23) The Rat Men – Nightmare - 2,0 24) The Homecoming - 2,0 25) The Trenches - 2,0 26) To a Little Radio - 3,0 TOTAL: 2,96 (30/100) And here's another album I don't know why I had to hear before my death. Maybe because it's boring to death. I was listening on You Tube and ad breaks were the best moments...

Finally found it on Youtube and gave it a listen. The singer has a beautiful voice, but I didn't really enjoy it as anything more than semi-pleasant background music. 2/5, but only because I'm very meh on it.

What a way to end the week! Tank Battles was up against it right from the start as I had to listen to it via YouTube, an experience almost as irritating as some of these tracks. I actually liked the album, it was like listening to a play with its peaks and troughs of emotion. I loved some tracks (Mother Beimlein and the opening whitewash track) but have no idea why! I read a bit about it and it appears that the YouTube clip I listened to was only half the songs (30mins) but the full album is almost an hour. I spent a few minutes contemplating searching for the remaining tracks and then came to my senses. I gave this a 3 because I like people brave enough to stick their heels in and produce avant- garde work.

I found this one a hard listen mostly because I just couldn't follow the logic of it and also listening through Youtube is annoying AF. It felt very 'out-there' in terms of mixed styles and instruments - which isn't necessarily a bad thing? Kind of show tunes mixed with jazz and orchestral and operatic singing - lots of emotion - and a bit painful (both in terms of the subject matter and in making my ears bleed) I get the point of it - but to me its more art performance than music and Das ist nicht mein Fall.

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

Playlist on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDIxWXRU4UDqrRm_pTjpJSWXvjEzKg9U1&si=0EPiyfZF5j4cm923

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

Dramatic, oppressive. The lyrics have been translated from German; this was all originally written by Hanns Eisler. Well-orchestrated, performed with skill and conviction. I nearly didn't finish it. Maybe it's just of a different time but I could not attach my interest to this.

wont let me click on the album

Har ikkje for vane å fyre cabaret jazz på fredaga diverre

First track was a good reminder to go get some laundry detergent from home bargains. Also good to see a track mentioning Melon Coulis. Melon coulis isn’t something you see very often. I think it’s probably the texture of the melon. Doesn’t really break down too well. Would probably be quite mushy and not a pleasant texture. Also, who wants a melon coulis? Sounds a bit gross. Just have a shot of midori and crack on. That’s what I say. 1.5

Een zwaar gevecht was het zeker.

Ok, deze battle verlies ik al na een nummer of 5. En er waren er nog 20 te gaan ofzo!

This recording is not available on Spotify

NOPE

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.

Interesting listen. English translated German protest songs.

"Tank Battles" is a fiendishly difficult album to sit through, based as it is on almost one hour of interpretations of compositions by German composer Hanns Eisler, set to poems by Bertolt Brecht. We're left with something richly theatrical and cabaret-esque, but without arresting visuals or discernible narrative. Instead, we have only Dagmar Krause and an extended roster of backing musicians to guide us through. That most reliable of sources, Wikipedia, describes Krause's vocals as an "acquired taste", but I think they're astounding. They aren't the problem here at all: Krause has a good gravitas in her vocal, a sharp command of the songs and a rich alto range. Even in tracks like "Mother Beimlein", when the character portrayals start getting a little out of hand, she's fresh and engaging, perfectly matching the spirit of the text. Her background with avant-pop and prog groups like Henry Cow and Slapp Happy intrigues me, and I hope our paths will cross again. The main barrier stopping me getting on board with "Tank Battles", then, is the source material. Eisler and Brecht are okay in small doses, when flirted with by other rock musicians (David Bowie, Scott Walker, Tom Waits). But to be immersed in Eisler's own compositions for a full hour is quite an undertaking, to say the least. I enjoy musical theatre and the cabaret stylings employed throughout the album. Heck (*hecht), I studied Brecht's texts (*techts) throughout school and university. I used to think they were unique and inspired until I saw them in practice, actually being staged… then I realised how all the theory didn't make the end result any more than a pretentious bore. I suspect something similar is going on with the songs in "Tank Battles". As much as I enjoy Krause's vocals (commanding, strong, melodic, with even a little shade of ABBA) and the extended line-up including wind and brass sections (clarinet, sax, trumpet, tuba, bassoon) it just doesn't fly overall. If I had to single out two good pieces, it would be the melancholy "Chanson Allemande" and the surprising, full-bodied kick of "The Trenches" in the final stretch. As for the rest, I'm unlikely to ever listen to "Tank Battles" again, but so what? Good on Dagmar Krause for committing to such an undertaking, even if it only gets her two stars from me.

Proto-nazi circus music

this is what they should have played during the torture scenes in a clockwork orange

No

Different, but Cool!

This album seems as though it belongs to a very specific era in time. It wasn't bad, it was just strange and very hectic. The music and singing were great, but it did not resonate with me at all. Likely wouldn't listen again.

Maybe it sounds better in German. The English version I found on YouTube is not my thing. I gave up after a few songs.

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

I went to YouTube to listen to this. When it started, I liked the weirdness and the energy. By the end, I was very over it. I’m glad I listened to it, though, because I had never heard of it before.

Cabaret. Jazz

cant rate not on spotify

I believe ‘WTF’ summarises my review of this nicely.

Why??

Completely unnecessary

Spotify only lists two albums by Dagmar Krause, and this album isn't one of them. Wikipedia lists the genre as cabaret, jazz, avant-garde, so I doubt if I would I have liked this album anyway.

Maybe if you like show-tune like albums you'd like this. For the rest of us though.... no, not bad, but not really something the average person will get into. There are a couple of listenable songs... 2.5/5

What the actual hell. It took forever to track this one down and, once I did, it became clear why it's not available anywhere. It's TERRIBLE. I wouldn't want this out in the world either! What the hell would possess the author to include this in the list?!

I did NOT like this at all.

Gear: Aür Audio Aurora Mix: 🤷‍♂️ Musik: 💩 Wertung: ⛽/5

A too large collection of protest songs, half in German. As long as I tuned out I could tolerate them, but on closer listen I didn't like them very much. Stand-out: The Ballad of the Sackslingers

An interesting album to be made aware of, but ultimately a lot too Avant Garde for my taste

Has been removed from Spotify.

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.

Not available on Spotify. Found something on youtube, but only a couple of singles. Maybe if I understood German better this might have resonated. But unfortunately didn't.

Not for me.

World War 2: The Musical

Not available on Spotify

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.

Unlistenable

Vraiment pas mon genre. Très long, très répétitif, toujours le même style qui fait très "musical" mais seulement avec des instrumentations classique. Beaucoup de chansons sont tellements peu étoffées qu'on dirait presqu'un démo qui a été abandoné. J'ai de la difficulté à voir l'intérêt de cet album. 3/10

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.

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

Well it's certainly interesting. Definitely out of my comfort zone. Her voice is really powerful. The instrumentation feels a bit empty and flat but works for accentuating her vocals.

unable to listen

This is such an 80s endeavour. Interesting, but not entirely listenable. Feels like it might have influenced Bjork in places.

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.

1/5 wtf

Weird but I managed to get through it.

The Trenches

Jeez this is a hard listen. A bit like Brecht. Enough said.

I dont get this list. If it is the greatest 1001 albums, surely every album I own will be on it if this is on the list. If it is just 'Hey, listen to how weird this is' I might not be able to listen to all of them. I couldn't listen to this all the way through (on YouTube).

Una mena de cabaret mig en alemany mig en anglés basat en obres de Brecht? OK, molt culte tot... però què fa això a la llista de 1001 discos que hem d'escoltar abans de morir, exactament? És pel fet d'haver-se editat en vinil/cd?

Not my cup of tea

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

Would much rather have any of three other albums in place of this on the list: Henry Cow's "In Praise of Learning," Art Bears' "The World As It Is Today," or Slapp Happy's "Sort Of" - all of which feature Dagmar Krause on vocals. I mean, go ahead and listen to "Tank Battles," as it is your solemn duty on this 1001 journey - but if you want to hear something that you might actually enjoy, or at least find more interesting, listen to these other records (all available on Spotify to boot). And, while we're talking about German female vocalists, do yourself a favor and listen to Renate Knaup from Amon Duul II.

Mmm yeah definitely not my thing. So overly theatrical, I didn't even bother listening to the whole thing. Sorry.

Really liked it, bizarre, different but interesting

Not a fan.

Just not something I'll ever listen to again hopefully.

Nice!

Not on Apple Music nor on Spotify, this album certainly is difficult to track down. I can only imagine what it would take to find this on the regular circuit of record stores back when we didn't have the internet. It's a challenging record, to be sure. She, Dagmar, makes no apologies and goes for her theater infused record like someone who has a project ans it's not going to let it go. It's not something I'm going to listen again, though. I certainly appreciate the effort.

Har ikkje for vane å fyre cabaret jazz på fredaga diverre

Noooooope

Unavailable on Spotify

Not available on Spotify so had to find it elsewhere. Initially I wasn't that impressed but by leaving it to play in the background it somewhat grew on me. Gave off an Avant Garde industrial vibe for mid 20th century cabaret. Probably wouldn't listen to the whole thing again but it will stick in the memory at least.

Interesting but not for me :)

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.

Woops

interesting sound, overall enjoyed the intensity.

So weird it made me feel a bit ill

Not my taste.

What the fuck is this

Quite simply, this is an extremely unpleasant album that proves that bizarre is not always noteworthy.

Sunday Funday this is not. Listening to this album is on par with being forced to spend a long weekend with white people grandparents and their butler on the upper west side, with a 'special outing' to see Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg opera. Get me outta here...

So bad it needs a replacement. Keeping it Kraussy, substitute Allison Krauss and Union Station. Weird German stuff is over represented, while bluegrass is underrepresented. In the 90s and early 00s, no one did it better than Alison Krauss and Union Station.

As the first song says "It's not good, It's not good!"

It doesn’t seem like this album can be worse than Napalm Death’s Scum from yesterday, but I liked more of ND than this. I hated ND’s bad parts much more, but this album has far less to like than ND’s killer guitar riffs. Therefore, this album dwells in the cellar with ND.

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.

The CIA should use this to torture prisoners. It's like they put the sound of fingernails scratching down the chalkboard to music. I did not like it. Is it bad music? No, it is just for a very certain audience. Not me. 2/5

Was so bad. Couldn’t finish more than 2 songs

this was not it

Escutei algumas músicas no youtube, mas não foi possível entender a ideia do cabaret alemão.

Called cabaret/jazz/avant garde... sounds like a soundtrack

the best I can say is I got through it

isn’t in spotify

spotify link says "album missing"

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.

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"

if radiohead wrote this anthony fantano would be a daddy

As musical I would listen for enjoyment...straight 1/5 and absolutely terrible. As a historic artifact that offers an interesting view into the mindset of a Soviet republic I found it fascinating.

I'm just going to write this one off as a figment of my imagination. And I'm done tripping. For now.

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.

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.

Not “didn’t listen,” couldn’t.

Nice instrumental parts but don't dig the vocals or agenda

so weird and not my thing. liked the sax and other wide variety of instrument but that's about it. 1 star. Listened to "(reissue)" version on Youtube, split across 3 uploaded videos. ~1h 20m (extra 10 songs). I'm a glutton for punishment to extend this.

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.

wow.

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).

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

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.

Very odd. I feared an oom-pah band breaking out at any moment. It's unlistenable.

This is weird as fuck. Its not on anything, as in you can't stream it from apple music or Spotify, there's even a disclaimer saying so, I found I think all of it on YouTube. It's mostly in German but its like soilder marching tunes and then slightly off lounge jazz then some women deep throating the mice its all a bit much for 6am

No se encuentra el disco en Spotify

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

Got given this album in 2023, listening to it 2nd Jan 2025. This may be a lesson that you can avoid things but the worst will still come cause this was terrible. The woman has an orchestral voice but I think just applied in one of the worst possible ways. So much more potential that hasn't been reached here, the instrumental backing is unremarkable I think and doesn't accompany the voice too well. 1.5

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.

This was pretty much opera. Not my thing.

This is the worst thing I've ever heard. I would rather take 1001 fiery shits back to back than relive those 12 seconds of my life that I had this album playing through the speakers.

Nope

It was a little hard to get thru - I would have enjoyed it more as a musical w some visuals

A sort of German folk opera about war, sung mostly in English. The tension between the English words and the Germanic music and vocal accent somehow grates and sounds unpleasant. This may have been a deliberate artistic decision to create an uncomfortable listening experience to reflect the horrors of the subject matter. However, it makes the record so unpleasant that it is difficult to imagine anyone ever listening to it. Rating: 1.5/5 Playlist track: The Song Of The Whitewash Date listened: 25/09/23

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.

Unavailable on Spotify Went to YouTube Couldn’t get past the first song

Ok

Yeah....Nah! Life's too short to listen to that.

Mercifully, it wasn't long. Because I really didn't like this. Fake opera is what I would call it and I don't like real opera. I didn't need to hear this and I hope I never hear this again.

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

uhhhh vewy dwamatic

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!

Shit was weird and not in a good way.

It's no secret that this album is fucking impossible to find anywhere. It's not even simply unavailable like other albums ("Ys" by Joanna Newsom or Neil Young's entire catalogue), there's literally no proof of this album's existence on any streaming service. How does that even happen? Sure as hell wouldn't happen if this were actually good. I sure listened to something. Found a weird Youtube playlist that was missing 14 of the 26 songs. Eh, I guess it was enough to form an opinion. Strange German circus music about war being bad. Truly a thinking man's album. There's some picks on this list that can only be explained by my theory that Robert Dimery consults a Magic 8-Ball. This is one of them. I can't even wrap my head around how this would be on anyone's "most essential albums of all time" list. 1/5 for shitty music and 1/5 for ruining my Spotify playlist where I put the best song from every album on this list. I cast the Curse of Ra upon thee, Dagmar Krause. 𓀀 𓀁 𓀂 𓀃 𓀄 𓀅 𓀆 𓀇 𓀈 𓀉

Gorgeous voice but not for me personally.

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

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

Was not steaming on Spotify, but I listened to what I could find on YouTube. I did not really understand this and did not enjoy this. Perhaps if I listened to the original German version I would like it more?

yikes

I guess I could try translating the lyrics, but I dont think it would make it better 1

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

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 seems good on paper but just wasn’t for me. Gave up and moved on

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.

Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler is a solo album by German singer Dagmar Krause. The album contains 26 tracks composed by German composer Hanns Eisler and sung by Dagmar Krause in both English and German (different album versions). The original compositions stand the test of time by being just as impressive on this album when they first were produced early to mid 20th century. Krause's vocal work is stunning and she beautifully provided the lyrics to accompany the famous compositions. This was an interesting album to listen to. The avant-garde, jazzy album contains some impeccable music even if it's hard to understand at times with the German accent. Dagmar Krause added a dash of her own special sauce to Hanns Eisler's works, so it continues to live on in the modern music landscape.

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.

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

2.8 - Similar to "Doctor Atomic", an opera I equally disliked about Oppenheimer's race to build the bomb, this record fully explores the WW2 experience with the same sense of foreboding and dread. The songs are composed and performed proficiently, and Krause sings in a commanding alto. It all seems historically accurate and appropriate in tone. But, I hate the cabaret style, as well as the truly depressing subject matter.

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

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:

It's hard to fully review this album given that it's not available on any streaming service, save for a chunk of tracks that people were kind enough to upload on YouTube. What I did hear sounded like the soundtrack to a theater performance, it felt like I was only getting half of the story and needed something visual to add more context. That said, the music was fine, just a bit lacking in terms of artistic impact. Maybe in a different medium it would've been a better package. Who knows?