''NunSexMonkRock'' is the debut solo studio album by German singer

Nina Hagen Catharina "Nina" Hagen (; born 11 March 1955) is a German singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her theatrical vocals and rose to prominence during the punk and new wave movements in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She is known as ...

. It was released on June 12, 1982 by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

. ''NunSexMonkRock'' marked Hagen's first release since her departure from the Nina Hagen Band, and was also her first album with all songs performed in English.

Background

In 1979, after working on the movie '' Cha Cha'' with

Herman Brood Hermanus "Herman" Brood (; 5 November 1946 – 11 July 2001) was a Dutch musician, painter, actor and poet. As a musician he achieved artistic and commercial success in the 1970s and 1980s, and was called "the greatest and only Dutch rock 'n' ...

and

Lene Lovich Lene Lovich (; born Lili-Marlene Premilovich; March 30, 1949) is an English-American singer, songwriter and musician. She first gained attention in 1979 with the release of her hit single "Lucky Number", which peaked at number 3 on the UK Singl ...

, Hagen met the Dutch guitarist Ferdinand "Ferdi" Karmelk, with whom she later had a daughter Cosma Shiva. Together they started working on new music after Hagen's departure from the Nina Hagen Band. After her European tour was cancelled in 1980, Hagen moved to the United States and signed with Bennett Glotzer, the former manager of Frank Zappa. She began working on songs in English since most of her previous material was in German and after six months she returned to Germany with her new tour. Shortly after discovering she was pregnant, Hagen broke up with Karmelk and moved back to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. In 1982, Hagen signed a new recording deal with

. Hagen recorded the album in New York City with

Mike Thorne Mike Thorne (born 25 January 1948) is an English record producer, arranger, composer, engineer, and musician. He started playing the piano at the age of 10. After studying physics at Hertford College, Oxford, in the late 1960s he worked as a ta ...

and collaborated with Karmelk,

Paul Roessler Paul Roessler (born August 27, 1958) is an American musician and record producer. Roessler was a prominent member of the L.A. punk scene during the late 1970s and 1980s. He played keyboards in bands such as The Screamers, Twisted Roots, 45 Gra ...

, and Karl Rucker when writing the songs for the album. The lyrics deal with various themes including

mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ges ...

hood,

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, drug abuse, and

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

s. Musically, ''NunSexMonkRock'' is an

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

album with influences of

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...

and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''NunSexMonkRock'' received mixed reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. While some praised Hagen's theatrical vocals, others criticized its experimental production. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' called it the "most unlistenable" album ever made. Bil Carpenter at

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave it four and a half stars out of five, calling it "eccentric rock material" and praising Hagen's vocal diversity. Robert Christgau commented that "she does have a new-wave sense of humor - instead of taking on Maria Callas with her umpteen-octave range she does impressions of

Linda Blair Linda Denise Blair (born January 22, 1959) is an American actress and activist. She played Regan MacNeil in the horror film ''The Exorcist'' (1973), for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received a nomination for an Academy Award. The fil ...

and

Mercedes McCambridge Carlotta Mercedes Agnes McCambridge (March 16, 1916 – March 2, 2004) was an American actress of radio, stage, film, and television. Orson Welles called her "the world's greatest living radio actress." She won an Academy Award for Best Support ...

." Commercially, the album achieved a moderate success. In the United States, it peaked at number 184 on the ''Billboard'' 200. In Germany, it reached number twenty-seven, and also peaked inside the top forty in other countries, such as New Zealand and Norway. " Smack Jack" was the only single released from the album. It managed to be successful in Norway where it peaked at number seven.

Track listing

;Notes * "Iki Maska" contains an interpolation of "

Planet Claire "Planet Claire" is the second single released by The B-52's from their self-titled debut album. Based on Duane Eddy's 1959 version of the Peter Gunn theme song, the single was their second to chart anywhere, at no. 43 in Australia and no. 24 on ...

" performed by

The B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

. During the last minute of the song, Nina sings lyrics from David Bowie's " Ziggy Stardust". * "Cosma Shiva" contains an interpolation of " The Changeling" performed by

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential rock acts ...

. *"Antiworld" contains an interpolation of " Third Stone from the Sun" written by Jimi Hendrix. The lyrics are a loose translation of an eponymous 1964 poem by

Andrei Voznesensky Andrei Andreyevich Voznesensky (russian: link=no, Андре́й Андре́евич Вознесе́нский, 12 May 1933 – 1 June 2010) was a Soviet and Russian poet and writer who had been referred to by Robert Lowell as "one of the ...

Personnel

* Nina Hagen – vocals, synthesizer, guitar *

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...

– drums * Karl Rucker – bass, synthesizer *

Chris Spedding Christopher John Spedding (born Peter Robinson, 17 June 1944) is an English musician, singer, guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Spedding is best known for his st ...

– guitar *

Paul Shaffer Paul Allen Wood Shaffer (born November 28, 1949) is a Canadian singer, composer, actor, author, comedian, and multi-instrumentalist who served as David Letterman's musical director, band leader, and sidekick on the entire run of both ''Late Ni ...

– synthesizer *

– synthesizer, piano * Axel Gath – baritone saxophone, contrabass clarinet ;Technical *

– production * Michael Ewasko – engineer * Don Wershba – additional overdubs * Harvey Goldberg – mixing, additional overdubs * Jack Skinner – mastering * Nicolaj Ilieff – design * Juliana Grigorova – photography

Charts

References

External links

* ''NunSexMonkRock''at

* {{Authority control 1982 debut albums Nina Hagen albums CBS Records albums Albums produced by Mike Thorne