''Faust IV'' is the fourth studio album by the
German krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock that developed in Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It originated among artists who blended elements of psychedelic rock, avant-garde composition, and electron ...
group
Faust, released in 1973. The album is included in the book ''
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die'', where it is referred to as a "krautrock classic".
This was the last album by the first incarnation of the band, they returned in 1994 with the release of ''
Rien'' featuring a different line-up.
Recording
The album was recorded at
the Manor Studio in England. As the sessions took too long to complete, producer
Uwe Nettelbeck opted to complete the album with material that was recorded at previous sessions in Wümme in
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
, Germany. These additions include "Krautrock" (previously aired on the
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
show) and "It's a Bit of a Pain" (previously released as the b-side of the "So Far" single in Germany).
[
]
Music
The opener, "Krautrock", is a drone-based instrumental with drums appearing after seven minutes, while later tracks such as "The Sad Skinhead" and "Jennifer" employ more conventional songwriting techniques.[ The closing track, "It's a Bit of a Pain", combines both styles, utilising noise during its chorus. At a point late in the song, following the chorus a woman's voice speaking in Swedish is heard. The track "Just A Second" had the notation "starts like that!" added to the title on the CD reissues. The track numbering on the original CD was incorrect and misleading.]
Track listing
1973 release:
The published track listing contains a number of errors. Track 5, "Giggy Smile / Picnic on a Frozen River, Deuxieme Tableau" is incorrectly listed as "Picnic on a Frozen River, Deuxieme Tableau". Track 6, "Läuft...Heisst Das Es Läuft Oder Es Kommt Bald...Läuft", is incorrectly listed as "Giggy Smile".
Personnel
* Werner "Zappi" Diermaier – drums
* Hans Joachim Irmler – organ
* Jean-Hervé Péron – vocals, bass
* Rudolf Sosna – vocals, guitar, keyboards
* Gunther Wüsthoff – synthesizer, sax
Sound and art work
*Kurt Graupner – engineer
* Uwe Nettelbeck – producer, cover artwork
*Gunther Wüsthoff – cover artwork
Reception
Some fans of Faust's earlier work felt that it was a "sell-out" album, for suggested reasons including more "palatable" songs such as ''The Sad Skinhead'' and ''Jennifer'' which are today praised as some of the band's best lyrical work.[
]Madlib
Otis Lee Jackson Jr. (born October 24, 1973), known professionally as Madlib, is an American record producer, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, and rapper. Critically acclaimed for his eclectic, music sample, sample-heavy production style, he is rega ...
sampled ''The Sad Skinhead'' in 2013 for his album Rock Konducta, Pt. 1 on the track "Far Faust".
Re-release
''Faust IV'' was re-released on two CDs in February 2006 by EMI.
References
External links
''Faust IV''
at faust-pages.com.
at faust-pages.com.
''Faust IV'' Virgin Records (V2004) LP release
at Discogs
Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
.
{{Authority control
1973 albums
Faust (band) albums
Virgin Records albums
Albums produced by Uwe Nettelbeck