Faust IV - a first-timer's perspective

I recently got into Faust. Well, “got into” sounds much more involved than I would really say. “Became interested in,” maybe. I’ve downloaded a couple of their albums from emusic, and find them to be one of the more interesting bands I’ve ever discovered. I have the self-titled album, which I have not been able to listen through more than once, the second album, which I really like, and 71 Minutes . . . , which is hit and miss with me. I’ve been told that Faust IV is the one to get, and I just finally got it. I’ve decided to share my initial listening reactions with you guys because . . . well, why not? So, here goes!Track 1: “Krautrock” Ah, the song that named the genre. I like how this is starting out. I’ve been in the mood for a lot of noise lately, so this is good . . . good subtle chordplay in the background. The tambourine sounds like a drum machine it’s so spot on. Man, this goes on a while, doesn’t it? When the drums finally kick in it’s almost a relief, and even though the band itself stays pretty much doing the same thing it takes a new direction. Good track.Track 2: “The Sad Skinhead” This is Faust? After everything I’ve heard I was kind of expecting an almost “normal” song here, but to actually here it is actually a bit of a surprise. Almost . . . disappointing in a way that they would ever try to do something so . . . normal. The contrast between these first two songs is great, though. Really wrenching.Track 3: “Jennifer” I like the throbbing bass notes as it starts out. Some nice guitar chords and light percussion before the drums start. Again, this song is so far almost normal . . . gone is the insane experimentation that I’ve finally grown accustomed to. I’m starting to see why some of the hardcore fans were so disappointed when this album first came out. I wonder if they decided they had said everything they needed to say about that and decided to move on? I mean—here are two songs in a row with a discernible melody and structure. Okay, halfway through we’re back to noise, keeping the chords of the song, though (barely). Kind of cool. And now what sounds like an out-of-tune piano. THIS is the Faust I’ve been getting used to!Track 4: “Just A Second (Starts Like That!)” Noisy and FAT—a lot of deep end on that guitar. Again, we have a real rhythm, but this song so far has a lot of the same edginess you get on So Far or some of the other earlier recordings. And then, as you can expect, they play with the volume. That chirping is really annoying . . . I like it. This middle bit is pretty cool. The electronic pulsing-type noises are pretty interesting. I think that unstructured noise is good, but a lot of the early bands tended to overuse it. I mean, maybe it was “far out” then, but now it’s become a bit boring and “here we go again.” Thankfully Faust’s unstructured noise is a bit more interesting than most.Track 5: “Picnic On A Frozen River, Deuxieme Tableux” Again with the actual songs! Verses and all. A bit noisy, true, unpolished, but I was really expecting something a bit different. Well, enough about what it isn’t, and let’s look at what it is—decent songs. Even for no “normal” they’re not boring. The rhythms and chords are interesting. Definitely has that 70’s sound. I could almost hear some of these songs making it to the radio, to be honest. In earlier recordings sometimes it would be hard to tell that these guys could actually play when they wanted to. One thing I do like is how the rhythms are never 100% spot on—there’s always the feeling that it could all fall apart at any moment. The longer this song goes on the less normal it sounds. They’re definitely getting a little more involved in the middle, but this almost carnival-like keyboard sound changes the mood. I wonder if that was done on purpose? The longer this is going on it’s starting to sound like one of their other songs, but I can’t remember which one. At least, the bass is. Surprising cut off at the end.Track 6: “Giggy Smile” Very pretty guitar to start this off. It’s hard to think this band could actually be very beautiful when they wanted to be. This one has a good rhythm to it. Hand claps, even! The time signature is just a little off, so when the voice comes in it has to be a little syncopated, which is quite cool. I’m enjoying this one. This is a real “song” too, but different enough to not be quite so common. Sounds familiar, somehow.(note: After doing a bit of listening to some of the other recordings, I think these ones that sound familiar show up on other recordings, like 71 Minutes of Faust, that I have or have heard elsewhere. Is that right, all you hardcore heads out there?)My work break is over now, so I’ll have to wait until later to hear these last two tracks.Track 7: “Lauft..Heisst Das Es Lauft Oder Es Kommt Bald..Lauft” Soft, fragile chords here. Really not much to say about it, but it’s interesting, kind of nice.Track 8: “It’s a Bit of a Pain” Again with a regular song. This one is almost country, but I really like how all of a sudden they throw in those noises and sounds to throw it off. It’s like they’re purposely doing whatever they can to keep themselves off the radio, and those annoying drones would certainly serve the purpose!!Well, those are my initial reactions. No real insights, and I wouldn’t even call this a review—I’m sure I’ll have more informed and thought out opinions later at some point.