List | L | Laibach | 'Opus Dei' CD 1987

Track:	Name:	Time:
1.	Leben Heisst Leben	5:28
2.	Geburt Einer Nation	4:18
3.	Leben - Tod	3:55
4.	F.I.A.T.	5:09
5.	Opus Dei	5:00
6.	Trans-National	4:25
7.	How The West Was Won	4:24
8.	The Great Seal	4:14
9.	Herz-Felde	4:45
10.	Jägerspiel	7:22
11.	Koza (Skin)	3:50
12.	Krst (Baptism)	5:39
	Total	59:02

Comments:

I'm not quite sure how to explain Laibach to someone completely unfamiliar with them. One thing that makes it so hard is that different people tend to have extremely different opinions about them. Ok, here's how I see them:

Laibach play quite heavily on imagery and symbolism, and have adopted the propagandistic style of old totalitarian dictatorships, such as 1930's Nazi, Stalinistic communist and fascist propaganda. This imagery is directly reflected in their music, and is (to me) most obvious when adapted to cover versions of well-known pop songs.

For instance, 'Leben Heisst Leben' is a German version of the old pop song 'Life Is Life' by one hit wonders Opus. Imagine it being sung by, say, the Red Army male choir, backed by the Lenin power-horn section and the blacksmith drummers of the elite industrial workers guild. Then imagine seeing all this marching down the Red Square in Moscow, surrounded by the entire Red Army. Then imagine Brezniev standing on the balcony, wearing a big fur hat and a dull grey coat, waving very, very slowly to the masses below.

There's also an English version of this track, entitled 'Opus Dei', but the vocals are less powerful and more atonal growling, and without the backing choir. Still, it's a fun little piece of pop music.

Another interesting cover is of the old Queen song 'One Vision', here entitled 'Geburt Einer Nation' ('Birth Of A Nation'). The light, fluffy optimistic lyrics are here translated into German and given a sinister totalitarian twist, indicating that there is truly only ONE vision, and everything else is seriously wrong, and if you don't agree, well tough luck, because we're in charge and we say what goes and we really don't care what you think. Accept our truth because it's the only one you get.

The other tracks also rely heavily on this totalitarian view; some are more orchestral than others, some are more industrial sounding (especially in the rhythm department).

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