Laibach - Kapital

"I would rate this much maligned album as Laibach's finest and one of the most compelling of the late 20th century. Many people have criticized the album for lacking in content; obviously they have not bothered to translate the songs that are sung in German, French and Italian or to attempt decoding the band's ingenious use of samples, all of which served to produce a stunning conceptual piece on the tensions that these Slovenians could see boiling over over in post-Communist Yugoslavia, and indeed, Europe and global society in general.

To wit, the album begins with the actual sounds of allied planes on their bombing runs over Dresden in '44, brilliantly foreshadowing the imminent return of NATO (i.e. allied) bombers to once again quench a brutal nationalist uprising in Europe. Or in the album's final moments, with worker slaves from George Lucas's THX-1138 calling for "a new unity" over what seems to be Nazi era Germanic singing, with Laibach begging the question: are we condemned to repeat history? The album is brilliant musically as well, with an eclectic mix of industrial, techno and breakbreat rhythms to accompany Laibach's dramatic use of strings and horns. This certainly is not easy listening; the album requires great concentration and a willingess to mix history, politics and philosophy with your music (an appreciation for post-modernist ambiguity won't hurt either.) All in all, a heavily recommended album. For further exploration of the Laibach phenomena the albums Nova Akropola and Opus Dei are also remarkable. (A Customer)

CD:

  1. Decade Null
  2. Everlasting In Union
  3. Illumination
  4. Le Peiviledge Des Morts
  5. Codex Durex
  6. Hymn To The Black Sun
  7. Young Europa (Parts 1 To 10)
  8. The Hunters Funeral Procession
  9. White Law
10. Wirstchaft Ist Tot (Album Mix)
11. Torso
12. Entartete Welt (The Discovery Of The North Pole)
13. Kinderreich (English Version)
14. Sponsered By Mars
15. Regime Of Coincidence, State Of Gravity