Guest Review - LAIBACH

I read a few reviews on your website and I thought I can do that as well even if I am just a German Girl. Well, hardly a girl anymore and maybe not such an expert as you all. So therefore I would like to ask you not to be so strict with me, if I have some mistakes in my spelling or writing etc…..

Some reviews inspired me to expand my music taste and I would like to introduce to you one of the most bizarre Slovenian avant-garde music group. Maybe you like it or you hate it. I have to say I hated them the first time I listened to their songs as they sounded a bit disturbed, but then I started to listen to their lyrics and read about the band history. Therefore

some important details about Laibach before listening to them;

The current band members:

• Milan Fras - vocals
• Ivan Novak - lights and projection
• Mina Špiler or Boris Benko or Jadranka Juras - vocals, synthesizer
• Janez Gabrič - drums
• Luka Jamnik - synthesizer
• Primož Hladnik - (member of Slovenian group Silence) synthesizer
• Eva Breznikar - (member of Slovenian group Make Up 2) vocals, percussion
• Nataša Regovec - (former member of Slovenian pop group Make Up 2) vocals, percussion
• Damjan Bizilj - synthesizer

Music and influence :

Some early Laibach albums were pure industrial, with hard industrial percussions, heavy rhythms, and roaring vocals. Later in the mid-80s, the Laibach sound became more richly layered with samples from classical music including from Gustav Holst’s The Planets. The band began their tradition of cover songs in 1987 with the album Opus Dei, where their sound was changed again.

Some early material by Laibach and later neoclassical releases by the band — such as 1990's Macbeth release — were influential on certain artists within the martial music genre.

Also you can find a Wagnerian influence as you might hear in some of their songs such us "Sympathy for the Devil (Time for a Change)".

If you start thinking now they are extreme right wing, because they took some music material of Richard Wagner, you are on the wrong track.

They do not talk so much about themselves or their political attitude, you have to find out and analyse for yourself what you think what they are! One thing is sure, they are neither right nor left – as Laibach said in an interview:

"We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter" .

It is up to you to decide for yourself what they actually are. You can discuss it with your friends having a bottle of red wine or cider, but you will have a different conservation with cider as with red wine- my experience.

Their most famous or popular song was “Life is Life” in German “Leben heißt Leben” covered from a lot of “ I would like to be famous and to be on Tele” people. These covers are all for beer tent packed with a lot of drunk people who cannot sit or stand straight anymore and if you say excuse me, could you please mind yourself here, they say “ Uh, can`t you see I am dancing” – and the next minute you see this fantastic dancer in the last corner getting rid off his beer having probably his last dance. Anyway do not like beer tents too many people and they start getting smelly after two hours sitting and drinking – no thanks.

So I think, that is enough information, if you really like them or you like to know more about them, then visit their official website

Here some song links (hopefully they work, otherwise you have to search for them yourself on youtube or not)

• Life is Life

( this link could work or not, but to me it looks like not – well, have a try)

• Sympathy of the Devil (go on have a try…)
• Geburt einer Nation

(last one and the most historical one of all as it was the song for „Der Mauerfall” West and East Germany 9.November 1989)

I like constructive critic, but I am not accepting nonsense comment by “anonymous” .