10 Extreme Rock Albums That Will Blow Your Mind
1. Einstürzende Neubauten - Kollaps
Memorably described by Trouser Press as “one of the most shocking visions ever committed to vinyl,” this 1981 debut release by German pioneers of industrial rock, Einstürzende Neubauten, still makes for a wild ride.
Originally formed in West Berlin, 1980 (nine years before the collapse of the Berlin Wall), the band wielded custom-built instruments, predominantly constructed from scrap metal.
Screaming vocals shoot through Kollaps like bolts of lightning. Harsh, metallic percussion, spiraling electronics and even drills pepper an aural representation of a dark, inner-city landscape.
Kollaps certainly is bleak, but to label it unremittingly so would be to miss out the palpable sense of imagination and enthusiastic creativity which, albeit somewhat drowned under the din, are certainly here to be found. Kollaps, and the ensuing career of Einstürzende Neubauten (which translates as 'collapsing new buildings') had a profound influence on the development of noise rock.
You could reasonably argue that the music
of Einstürzende Neubauten, like Hip-Hop and Grime, represents a
coherent, creative response to the rise of the modern city. Whatever
your opinion on that, Kollaps, at the very least, remains a
significant landmark in the evolution of 'popular' music.