Nina is IN the house
David Oliver | Encinitas, CA United States | 11/12/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is a gem among many we have recieved from Nina Hagen in what has been quite a prolific past few years,it seems the new millineum has assured us that Nina is in no way slowing down after 25 years of recording and performing.
Since the year 2000 we have seen her 16th studio album"Return of the Mother",a double CD compilation of Devotional Hindu music "Om Namah Shivay",a self produced feature length film devoted to her spiritual teacher Babaji which has been showing at film festivals internationaly since its release,and of course,a long awaited CD of Nina doing what she does best;performing live on stage,thus "Krefelder Appell".
Apparently this recording was a very spontaneous decision on Ninas part,as a concert recording crew approached her last minute and asked if it would be okay to record this performance at what appears to be a large "Peace" festival in Germany.
This recording has arrived at a great time when Ninas pantheon of songs now span from as far back as 1978 with "T.V. Glotzer(White punks on Dope) to her latest recordings as recent as music from "Return of the Mother",such as "Frequency Control" and the brilliantly haunting rendition of "Der Wind hat mir ein lied Erzahlt",originaly recorded by the late Zarah Leander,one of Ninas self professed earliest influences.
What makes this recording so sucessful is its sound quality,the microphone placement,and what sounds like a full spectral range of sound that almost seems to place the listener in the actual physical enviroment in which it was recorded.
Nina is in good form and great voice and her energy carries on till the very end of this spirited performance."
It could have been the live of the century but....
Pierre Cote | 09/26/2004
(4 out of 5 stars)
"It turns out to be a dissapointment to the hardcore fan like me Why ?
you may ask ?
Because, for some reasons this live was done at the last moment with very little preparation.
The sound is good...but not great ! Nina's voice comes from far away...its sounds like a bootleg. Also, when you want to do a good live record you select a specific nights where the artist has had a night off or two before, to allow the voice to be at his max...if you look at Nina's schedule at that time you can see that she was in a middle af a long tour...
You can feel the voice was not at his best.
Another point, the crowds seems so far away ...actually was there a crowd ? They seems so quiet !
And then after, you bring that live into studio to fix the little technicality that needs to be fix, or you can add sounds to make the live even better.
Dont get me wrong i love this record. Maybe because there is no other live around from Nina... this is something incredible. The best female singer of all time without a good live or DVD !! incredible.
Now, if you dont care about Nina's voice or the fact that the sound comes from somewhere in the back of the concert hall then you will like this one. Most of her hits are there and its a double CD."