Neu!

Neu!'s notorious fourth and final album is finally given a full and official issue, to be known henceforth as 'Neu! '86'. Following the untimely death of estranged bandmate Dinger in 2008, Michael Rother relinquished his uncompromising stance on the album, and with the consent of the legendary drummer's heir, he returned to the original master tapes in 2009 in order to rework the elements of what was formerly known as 'Neu! 4', delivering a remastered, remixed and in part, brand new studio album complete with revised artwork. The original tracks were made between oct '85 and April '86, and by any Neu! fan's standards, they certainly weren't their best, but they still had a charm and character which couldn't come from any other unit. Original tracks 'La Bomba (Stop Apartheid World-Wide!), and the gorgeous 'Elanoizen' have been buffed up and edited for the new issue, but it's the exclusive new material that's going to be of interest to long term fans. 'Euphoria' is a cheesy slab of late '80s proto pop-trance chord arrangements but the spiky guitars and urgent, twitchy drums of 'Drive' is definitely one for the heads. It would have been more interesting to hear the outcome if the motorik dynamo Dinger had been involved, but sadly that ain't gonna happen and you'll have to settle for this, forever.