Neu – Neu 86

After a brilliant fertile period of compositional creativity that begat three studio recordings ­ NEU!, NEU!2 and NEU! ’75 ­ NEU! shut things down in 1975. Core members Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger moved through a series of creative collaborations which eventually led them to reteam 10 years later. The material on NEU! ’86 reflects both the advanced recording techniques as well as the more elaborate electronic instruments of the time and is a synthesis of their groundbreaking studio work and developments in the genre of electronic/dance music.
On NEU! ’86, “Crazy” captures the sonic drone and attack of the band’s earlier work while “Dänzing” is the duo’s take of the popular dance sound and culture of the time from the likes of Dead Or Alive and Falco. “Drive (Grundfunken)” is appropriately titled, as it’s the ultimate driving song, with a tight drumming beat and slightly effected guitar leads.
While the majority of the album remains alive, fresh and timeless, the inclusion of a technofied version of “La Bomba (Stop Apartheid World-Wide!)” comes off quite dated. Give the band full marks for the song’s sentiment, but major thumbs down for the cheesy keyboard sample that infects the whole cut.
The rest of NEU! ’86 shifts between band eras with mixed results. “Wave Mother” captures the spirit of classic NEU! cuts like “Fur Immer (Forever)” and “Weissensee” while “Paradise Walk” introduces the use of sound effects to the band’s music and seems like a tip of the hat to New Order.