2x4

AMG Review of 2x4

Tom Schulte
All Music Guide

This is a first-time CD issue of live material from Einstürzende Neubaten's early-'80s European concerts. This entire recording was performed prior to their U.S. debut in 1984. The presentation is effective in capturing their organized chaos. Not only their effect on industrial music, but their premonitions in applying ambient and world music voices can be heard here. Surprisingly compositional and collectively whole, it is obvious why 20,000 copies of the cassette edition were sold. I can think of no other Neubaten recordings that are as listenable or that show the group's potential as clearly as this one. A darkly beautiful, orchestrated collision of deep rhythms and debris are pressed into service as music. Included are original and updated liner notes. The only drawback to this collection is the sudden, clipped ending to many tracks.