Tabula Rasa

AMG Review of Tabula Rasa

Antti J. Ravelin
All Music Guide

Einstürzende Neubauten's '90s productions may not have been anything like old fans might have expected, but Tabula Rasa tries to maintain the tradition without falling into repetition and instead brings something new to their music. Tabula Rasa is a very diverse album. Even though only songs "Die Interimsliebenden" and "Headcleaner" really stand out, every song has a catch that keeps it interesting. The keyword for Tabula Rasa is "ambience." Neubauten maintain their aggression throughout the end of of the album, and all the power and noise unbend in the 15-minute magnum opus, "Headcleaner." Before that there's 22 minutes of quiet but tight, dark ambient. The opener, "Die Interimsliebenden," may be the only relaxed song on the album, and that's why Tabula Rasa may be difficult to listen to all the way through. The tracks as single songs are very good indeed, but as a whole they form a very tight -- and maybe too tight -- whole. And Blixa Bargeld's weird lyrics don't ease the pressures. Tabula Rasa is not a bad album, it's just not a masterpiece like Kollaps.