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The original lineup, which consisted of Beate Bartel, Gundrun Gut, Blixa Bargeld, and N.U. Unruh, used to play at the venue Moon Club in Berlin. After the two females in the group, Gut and Bartel, left the group and drummer F.M. Einheit was added, the band collaborated on an LP, released in November 1981 under the title “Kollaps” or “Collapse” in English. The musical alias “Einstürzende Neubauten” translated to English means “Collapsing New Buildings,” an appropriate description of the abrasive sounds that make up the band’s music.
Neubauten’s third album “Halber Mensch” or “Half Man” which was released in 1985, showed the band’s growth with more structured songs and coherent lyrics. This breakthrough occurred after the louder, more experimental sophomore album “Zeichnungen des Patienten O.T” or “Drawings of Patient O.T.” in 1983. Einstürzende Neubauten supported “Half Man” by touring in the U.S. and Canada, showing up with unexpected and new performance ideas from pyrotechnics to destruction of metal objects on stage. The band received a following in Asia, especially Japan and their fourth and fifth albums “Fünf auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala” (Five on the open-ended richter scale) and “Haus der Lüge” (house of the lie) brought their bizarre industrial sound to the mainstream.
Some of Einstürzende Neubauten more experimental songs that have become well known include “Armenia,” “Yü-Gung (Fütter mein Ego),” “Z.N.S.” and “Feurio!” Lead singer Blixa Bargeld is one of the more active members of the group, having also sung simultaneously in the band Nick Cave and the Band Seeds for a period of time. Einstürzende Neubauten has celebrated over 30 years of music with both studio and live-recorded albums.
In the early gigging days of Einsturzende Neubauten (considering their 34 year history) it was apparently quite common for their concerts to end in complete chaos. Part of their instrumentation in those days would include drills, chainsaws, and cement mixers, and, well, things would get a bit out of hand amidst the onslaught of industrial noise. At one show, shards of glass flew out into the audience, hurting some members. The organisers of the concert tried to intervene and forcibly remove the band. The audience weren’t having it and piled on. You could say they were redefining ‘audience participation’. These days things are quite different, but you can still expect a vast array of instruments - at their Melbourne concert they amplified various bits of scrap metal, tubes, pipes, air compressors, bells, hammers, rocks, tapes, and at one point a television. There were also moments of near silence, a large dynamic range being a feature they’ve started working into their music over the years. Their current lineup consists of Blixa Bargeld (who was absolutely compelling) on lead vocals, guitars and keyboard, Alexander Hacke on bass, guitar, and vocals, N U Unruh vocals and custom-made instruments, Jochen Arbeit on guitar and vocals, and Rudolf Moser, also on custom-made instruments, percussion and vocals. Their almost 2 and a half hour set was noisy, chaotic at times, but also beautiful, humorous, intense. I’ve never seen anything like it.