Forty years ago - Faust S/T 1971

FAUST – S/T, 1971

Yearning for originality within music has always meant either exploring or inventing unfamiliar genres. German band FAUST are these days considered to be firmly part of the Krautrock gesture. The music is much more experimental than balls to the wall four on the floor rock music. In fact, it is difficult to consider the tracks on this album as songs. There are catchy moments such as the hypnotising vocals on “Meadow Meal that command “to stand in line, keep in line” but these are far and few between. On “Why don’t you eat carrots?”, there is singing over synthesiser flatulence and often it sounds like an instrument that was lying around the studio was noticed, picked up, played and then put back down only to picked up again later. There’s no denying that the tracks with all their variations in sounds and the risks taken are musically interesting but it’s not an album that is easy to go back to and have further listens whatever your mood unlike ALICE COOPER’s “Love It To Death”.