FAUST IV

Easily, my favorite Krautrock album. "Faust IV" manages to be both experimental and engaging, but accessible enough to draw you in, even at its outer limits. This was Faust's last album of the early period, and their label had insisted they go more commercial. This work is definitely easier on the ear than some of their other work (notable "Faust Tapes" ('73)), but is still exciting. Faust has written this off as not essentially 'them' and it is not included in their boxset. Despite their complaints, its still a great album.

The droning "Krautrock" which begins the album, is one of the best pieces of the type of music I have heard, reminiscent of NEU!'s motorik sound. It can drag on the first few listens, but is an excellently crafted piece of drowning, electronic music. It basically sums up Krautrock, as it titles suggests, for me. (When the drums come in at 7:09, yes that late, it is a monumental moment in such a sparse piece, but Faust pulls it off). "The Sad Skinhead" shows Faust's irrepressible humor, with their attempt at Reggae, with a German spin. (There is no lost irony in the fact that skinheads did in fact like Reggae music and ska despite their racists leanings). The song is very prescient for 1974 of music to come. Without a doubt, "Jennifer", with its simple, repetitive lyric, throbbing amped up bass-line, cacophonous electronics mid way through and acoustic 'saloon' piano closing is the album's masterpiece. "Just a Second" begins like a standard hard rocker, and knowing Faust, soon turns into more synthesizer play, imitating the sounds of a burbling river before returning to the rock. "Picnic on a Frozen River" starts off with an annoying, though catchy rock melody, before descending into improvisation with excellent Sax work. The band really synergizes on this piece, but it feels incomplete or under worked. "Giggy Smile" shows off Faust's large folk inflections, and very accessibly for this band. "Lauft...Heisst..." isn't much of anything, just some synths gathering volume and dying down, it serves as an interlude, or filler, or both, but is definitely overlong at three minutes. "It's a Bit of Pain" is an unexpected finish to the album, bordering on country music. The french language female vocals bother me in the middle, but that's just me. It's a good, tune, with its dreamy, ambling tempo and heavily distorted guitar solo at the end. A quirky finish to an equally quirky album.

Most kraut fans will already have this, so no need recommending it to them. Though not as groundbreaking as their earlier work, its a hell of a lot more listenable. Recommended as a good way to ease into Krautrock, before tackling more challenging works like Can or early Tangerine Dream.

4/5 Stars = Excellent album, though not essential to prog music, and a lot of prog fans won't like this. (R. Katzwer, 12/30/05)