Strategies Against Architecture IV

It’s odd to think that such musical renegades would make such good historians, but German-industrial kings Einstürzende Neubauten have put forth their fourth album of chronological material. These recordings collect the group’s output from 2002-2010. This extensive look at the band’s latest decade includes material from their symbolic appearance at Berlin’s *Palast der Republik*, the former seat of power of the German Democratic Republik, to tracks from the “Musterhaus” series, a limited edition set of albums available only through the band’s website. Funny to think of there being a single here, but “Perpetuum Mobile” gets the nod as the album’s lead-off cut. A track such as “Dead Friends (Around the Corner)” is a straightforward western ballad. “Insomnia” is an atmospheric piece where the sky feels to be falling. “Good Morning Everybody” slams the gears towards techno. “Wenn dann” plays like a dance track for a ritual hazing. “Birth Lunch Death” whispers its menace. “Weil weil weil” is the German voodoo-blues. Not nearly as abrasive as they once were, EN still use new textures to work against the grain.

Collecting material from 2002 through 2010, this is a good one-stop intro to the ways Neubauten have tried to move beyond their scorched-earth beginnings.

Born out of the Berlin performance-art scene in the early 1980s, Einstürzende Neubauten (along with Throbbing Gristle) staked out the most confrontational, challenging territory of the then-new industrial genre. The group’s deliberately cacophonic approach reverberated in more dance-floor-ready groups like Ministry…

Check out our album review of Artist's Strategies Against Architecture IV: 2002-2010 on Rolling Stone.com.

Considering Einstürzende Neubauten’s early intense, confrontational recordings, they might not have seemed like a creative unit that was built to last.

My last run-in with Einstürzende Neubauten was a purchase of 1983's Drawings of a Patient O.