Search - Einsturzende Neubauten :: Drawings of Patient O.T.

The effects of e.n.

mf | the city with the wind thing | 03/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can remember my first encounter with en, it was the fall of 91. i was 15 years old, helping a friend strip wallpaper. he was much older then me (23), so knew alot more then me about music. at the time i was rebelious, listening to harcore punk and the rottenist of death metal. he popped in strategies of archetecture 1 into the tape deck and said, "are you ready". yeah, whatever. i know whats up. the first blast of jackhamers filled the room and my eyes widened and jaw dropped. i was in shock, complete.
never had i emagined music being so raw, so powerfull, so energetic as e.n. needless to say i fell in love. they completly changed the way i precieve music. i'd draw their logo anywhere i could. on my school note books, desks, chairs, walls, sharpie it on my hand or arm. i was obsessed. after purchasing drawings of patient ot when i was 16, i found the crowning point of their career. this album seemed the most twisted. the most disturbed. from the pounding bass of abfackeln, the mentaly ill hospitalstische kinder-der vernichtung and the haunting armenia (my favorite song by e.n. to date) just what a teenager needed. everything to scare the parents and surronding adults alike.
even the band i was in became completely obsessed with e.n. we began rummaging for random pieces of metal. stealing huge metal grated carts from the neighboring jewel store (during the bulls half-time, when they were in the championships), those green boxes you see on the side of the road with telephone wires in it and stuff. even a bulldozer claw (sadly the cops came and chassed us away, they were very baffled as to why someone would want something like that, so we told them to make music with, which confused them evern more). we began writing songs with our found objects and encorperated them into our live set (we were a hardcore punk/metal band) needless to say, it wasnt accepted to well.
This album is a must. this band is crutial in existance. mainstream is robbing the art from music. albums like this need to stay vibrant and utilaized for the sake of the future of music.
And i carry the mark on my arm as well. had it tattooo when i was 21. that logo is a reminder to me of how much i love music and what it meant to me as a teenager. a reminder that there is no boundries in music and art in general. and those who say otherwise know nothing of what art truly is."

The roots of "Industrial"

J. Brady | PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States | 02/12/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I discovered Einsturzende Neubauten back in 1983 when this record ( remember those ? ) was first released. I had no idea what I was in for, as I had only read reviews of the band, short mentions in magazines like Trouser Press. Nothing I had read prepared me for the absolute stunning originality and variety I found in Drawings of Patient OT. I never bothered to read the translated lyric sheet, Blixa Bargeld's vocals being as much of an integral instrument as the myriad jackhammers, pounded metal and found sounds. It was at times all one huge wall of sound, of "noise" used for more than "just because we can", it seemed to me to all make perfect sense. Music created for the listener who thought they had heard it all. Some of the selections heard here are quite abrasive and heavily percussive. But some lean more toward the ambient, indeed soothing, in their use of quiet , whipered vocals, and repetitive ( is that a tape loop? perhaps a sampler I hear? ) sounds, both natural and unatural. Minimal use of bass and guitar make Drawings of Patient OT somewhat unapproachable, something so far outside the mainstream that it remains untouched and undiscovered by most. It has been one of my favorites for years, especially after I wore out the record ( I still have the sleeve - an amazing piece of artwork in and of itself )and got this on cd. It still sounds fresh to me, and I to this day find myself falling asleep with this on my cd player, quietly, with earphones on. Last year I saw a copy of this LP in a used record store, hanging on the wall with a tag attached saying "listen to this and find out why all those people have that silly red tattoo." I had to chuckle ( yes, I have one of those "silly red tattoos" of the red EN petroglyph logo)I think the point being once you listen to Einsturzende Neubauten, you fall into one of two camps - you either "get it", and totally immerse yourself in it , or you hate it,and dimiss it as annoying, repetitive and pointless. And if you do "get it", I highly recommend this early work by EN."

One of the best achievements in modern music

magla | Dreamscape | 12/25/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is without any doubt my favorite industrial album. Every single composition is perfect and together they make nightmarish symphony. Screams of tortured souls, humming of grotesque machinery, eerie sound samples are elements which give this album a kind of disturbed, twisted beauty. Yes, this album is beautiful, but only if you open your mind and let your brain concentrate on music vibration. This album is not for everyone and it requires intense listening to be appreciated. But this album is a true gift for every serious music lover."