Search - Nina Hagen :: Nunsexmonkrock

Weird and great

Gunther | Austin, TX | 06/15/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of my go to cd's. I am the first to admit it takes multiple listens before you like it but once you do, it is like crack (at least what I hear crack is like) once you are hooked you can't stop.



It is a great cd. Not only that, if you are an audiophile, "Born in XIXXAX" is, to this day, considered one of the best produced songs period. Add to that, this CD version is the reference - on a high $ system you can make out parts of the song that are simply 3-dimensional. On a regular, consumer, system it sounds amazing - the sign of a well produced CD.



None of this is meant to take away from the brilliance of the album, it is great on it's on merit."

Brave Experimentation

Pieter | Johannesburg | 06/28/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"
This 1982 album with its religious themes doesn't quite live up to Nina's earlier German albums Nina Hagen Band of 1978 or Unbehagen of 1980. Gone are the superb melodies whilst the still striking vocal gymnastics get too complicated at times, but it's still a formidable listening experience and impressive when measured against the punk and rock of its era. Most of the tracks are bubbling fast-paced new wave numbers except the last three eerie ballads.



Antiworld opens the album, a structurally unhinged song about exorcism with initial English and later German lyrics in often weirdly contorted vocals. The arrangement of Smack Jack is even more varied with frequent tempo changes, frenzied and tranquil segments and extreme vocal variation. There's an oriental feel to Taitschi-Tarot that's more of a chant than a song, whilst Dread Love, though still fringe, approaches the traditional rock song structure.



Future Is Now starts off slow but soon mirrors the aforementioned by its tempo variations and blistering vocals. Next the listener tunes in to Radio Yerevan on the track Born In Xixax where Nina's alto and soprano vocals interweave wonderfully over an insistent beat, while the soprano dominates on Iki Maska, another one with mixed German & English lyrics. The closest English equivalent to this vocal exuberance would be Lene Lovich although she's tame compared to Nina.



Dr Art is an atmospheric, somewhat spooky track with multiple voices expressing a bewildering array of emotions by talking and singing over a gently lilting beat. Lydia Lunch comes to mind here, as well as in the following track Cosma Shiva, a mid-tempo excursion with similar strange vocals, mostly German. Nunsexmonkrock concludes with the hypnotic ballad UFO, a soulful song where the predominantly subdued and sometimes whispered vocals are occasionally pierced by fierce exclamations.

"

May be her best technically, but Fearless is more fun...

Jeff N | Oakdale, CA | 07/26/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Nunsexmonkrock is my second favorite Nina Hagen album. I can see where it is technically the best, but Fearless is my favorite...



I discovered Nina Hagen when a friend loaned me Nunsexmonkrock in the early 80s. I loved Cosma Shiva and UFO, and a few other songs on it. I just thought they were very cool... Then I found the Fearless LP, and it quickly became my all time favorite pop album.



After listening to Fearless off and on for many years, I have never gotten tired of it at all. It's Timeless. It's sweet. It's fun. It's Enlightening. Because I do enjoy it so much, I think Nina is at her best here, and the music itself - the arrangements, the instrumentations, the "sound" and sound quality... It's all just awesome.





NOTE ON THE BEST OF NINA HAGEN:

The Best of Nina Hagen - 14 Friendly Abductions is terribly distorted, and does not have her best songs! If you look at it on Sound Studio (or any other sound editing software) you will see why every song sounds distorted. They cranked up the volume during the re-mastering and almost every note in every song is "clipped" really badly. That's when the curved peaks are cut off and literally missing their tops, because there was no place for them to go, which does result in distortion. Instead of nice wavy lines, it looks like someone spilled too much ink in a rectangular box.



Plus, interesting title, "14 Friendly Abductions" It's missing Flying Saucers and UFO, two of her best songs.



So definitely get Nunsexmonkrock and Fearless instead of the distorted mess that's missing several of her best songs."