Neu! 75
Which leaves their final, and, arguably, finest album, Neu! 75 (this time a black cover, again with "Neu!" splayed across it). After a deceptive, pretty three-note intro, the opening track "Isi" leaps joyfully into that same, straightforward beat, giving the feeling that you're right back into your first listen to their first album. All is not quite the same, however; this time there are some piano chords overtop, and a decidedly melodic bridge section turns up from time to time. Never has the band sounded like they're having so much fun. Next is "See Land"; never has the band sounded so polished. A more tranquil number, without drifting into the ambient, it is decidedly and openly melodic; lovely, but getting uncomfortably close to the work of people like Fripp and Eno. The final track of what would have been side one, "Leb Wohl," is a visit to similar terrain as the first album's closing track. Slow, trance-like, with a metronomic click somewhere in the background, a gentle, repeating piano motif, the sound of ocean waves over top, and Klaus Dinger's slow, rambling musings overtop - hard to make out, but something about making love on the beach, under the stars - or something like that, devolving into a mysterious, nostalgic, dreamy "Bye, bye... bye, bye... bye, bye..." Again, if this description makes the track sound corny, then I'm not doing my job; it walks a very fine line between naive beauty and absurd, almost dada, camp. Give it a chance.
After exploring their more tranquil, melodic persona on side one, this leaves side two for them to get a little wilder. New wave, punk rock, if it doesn't start here, it at least jumps several steps forward. Nothing in their repertoire really prepares you for "Hero," essentially a pure new wave anthem of the kind that would blow people away five years later, complete with their first proper set of lyrics, a cynical rant that probably still makes John Lydon drool with envy. "E-musik" offers them a last chance to enjoy their trademark, 10-minute, single-minded beat before launching into the closing track, "After Eight," a wild, rocking punk track, with wild, howling lyrics taking up where "Hero" left off.
The album's glory is this clearly delineated dichotomy between the beautiful and tranquil first side, and the raucous and irrepressible second side. The band is at their best for all of it; there is no filler, just pure goodness, be it introspective or full-on aggressive. As their final work, it is remarkable, pointing the way for several of rock music's coming directions all at once. Definitely a strong, unique, and ultimately extremely influential album.
Neu! '75. Astralwerks/Gronland, 1975.
Review by James Andean, BadMonkeyX. 3rd issue, July 2001.