Neu! 2

Neu! 2 is the second studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded in January 1973 and mixed in February 1973, both at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios in Hamburg, West Germany, and released in 1973 by Brain Records. It was reissued by Astralwerks in the US and by Grönland in the UK and Europe on 29 May 2001.

NEU! 2
Studio album by
Neu!
Released1973
RecordedJanuary 1973
Genre
Length42:14
LabelBrain, United Artists
ProducerConny Plank, Neu!
Neu! chronology
Neu!
(1972)		 NEU! 2
(1973)		 Neu! '75
(1975)
Klaus Dinger chronology
Neu!
(1972)		 Neu! 2
(1973)		 Neu! '75
(1975)
Singles from Neu! 2
  1. "Super/Neuschnee"
    Released: 1972
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
The Austin Chronicle[4]
Pitchfork7.5/10[5]
PopMatterspositive[6]
Q[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
Martin C. Strong(8/10)[9]

Critic Paul Morley included it in his list of the "5 x 100 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003.[9]

Overview

This album further focused the classic Neu! krautrock sound,[3] with the 11-minute "Für Immer" in particular being the archetypal example of their style -- a forward-driving vamping, propelled by Klaus Dinger's drumming and Michael Rother's layered guitar with its fluid lines and droning harmonic structure. Pitchfork described the album as featuring a proto-punk sound,[2] while Fact labeled it "spartan psych-rock set to power-driven drum tracks."[10]

Side 2 of the record caused consternation at the time. Neu! had quite simply run out of money to finish recording the album, so the second side consists entirely of their previously released single "Neuschnee/Super", manipulated at various playback speeds on a record player, or mangled in a cassette recorder. Critics at the time dismissed this as a cheap gimmick and a rip-off. While it was indeed an experiment born of desperation and necessity, it was entirely in keeping with Neu!'s pop art aesthetics, taking a "ready-made" sound object and re-presenting it with a series of stylized manipulations, and also quite in keeping with the way Neu!'s music deconstructed and pared down the form of rock music. Dinger subsequently pointed to side 2 as being a prototype of the now ubiquitous multiple remixes which typically accompany any pop single release.

Legacy

Ben Sisario of The New York Times described the album along with the band's other early albums as "landmarks of German experimental rock," also referred to by journalists as krautrock.[1]

"Super 16" appears in the films Master of the Flying Guillotine and Kill Bill.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Für Immer" ("Forever")11:17
2."Spitzenqualität" ("Top Quality")3:35
3."Gedenkminute (für A + K)" ("Minute's Silence (For A + K)")2:06
4."Lila Engel" ("Lilac Angel")4:37
Side two
No.TitleLength
5."Neuschnee 78" ("Fresh Snow 78")2:32
6."Super 16"3:39
7."Neuschnee" ("Fresh Snow")4:07
8."Cassetto" ("Cassette")1:48
9."Super 78"1:36
10."Hallo Excentrico!" ("Hello Excentrico!")3:44
11."Super"3:11

Personnel
Neu!
  • Michael Rother – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, zither, percussion, electronics, cassette recorder
  • Klaus Dinger – koto ("Japanese banjo"), 11-string guitar, drums, percussion, Farfisa electronic piano, vocals, electronics, record player
Additional personnel

References
  1. Sisario, Ben (4 April 2008). "Klaus Dinger, Drummer of Influential German Beat, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  2. Sirota, Brent S. (5 June 2001). "Neu! '75 review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 August 2016. ...the radical proto-punk of their second album...
  3. Jurek, Thom. "Neu! 2". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  4. Chamy, Michael (13 July 2001). "Neu!, Neu! 2, and Neu! 75 (Astralwerks)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  5. Sirota, Brent S. (5 June 2001). "Neu! 2 review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  6. Taylor, Nicholas (28 May 2001). "Neu!: Neu! 2". PopMatters. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  7. "Neu! 2 review". Q. July 2001. p. 136. In addition to inventing the motorik beat... Neu! also invented the remix album.... these are completed tracks combined with a strategic hand on the turntable...
  8. Blashill, Pat (5 July 2001). "Neu! - Neu! / Neu! 75 - Astralwerks (2001)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 October 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  9. "Neu! 2". Acclaimed Music. Archived from the original on 9 March 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  10. "Krautrock figurehead Klaus Dinger's final album to get posthumous release". Fact. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
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