Einsamkeit
Einsamkeit
| Track Listing 1. Tränen der Sehnsucht (Part I & II) - 9.34 2. Reissende Blicke - 10.33 3. Einsamkeit - 5.07 4. Diener eines Geistes - 6.38 5. Loblied auf die Zweisamkeit - 9.39 6. Bresso - 5.01 Running Time - 46.46 1992 Hall of Sermon |
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| More Releases by Lacrimosa: Lacrimosa - Fassade [2001] Lacrimosa - Elodia [1999] Lacrimosa - Live [1998] Lacrimosa - Stille [1997] Lacrimosa - Inferno [1995] |
Worth Checking Out: Dreams of Sanity - The Game [2000] Devil Doll - Dies Irae [1996] The Legendary Pink Dots - The Golden Age [1988] |
| Einsamkeit...German for
isolation...the word really sums it up perfectly. Indeed, beautiful in its loneliness,
vast in its hopelessness, the album - a significant step in Lacrimosa's history. Where
Angst, Tilo Wolff's 1991 debut, was a barren and minimalist foray into mostly one
dimensional, darkwave synth "rock," (and I use the term very loosely) Einsamkeit
brings to the table a much-needed flair for drama and theatricality - two aspects
Lacrimosa would forthwith nurture and cultivate. The songs are generally lengthy and
weighty affairs; isolated vistas of morose, forlorn vocals, drawn out keyboards, sparse
guitars, cellos, violins, accordions. Very intimate and focused in on their common theme
of "einsamkeit," but also quite towering and epic in their tragic grandeur. It's hardly all perfection though. This is still a band (or more correctly, an individual) just starting to become aware of the scope and magnitude of their vision, of what the music may grow into sometime down the line; there are still the occasional flaws and rookie stumbles. And yet I just cannot fault Tilo for his over-ambition; even though the album has a tendency to slip from its lofty perch on more than one occasion, and even if the sound is a fledgling one, tottering on the mere brink of its inception, Einsamkeit is still an immensely satisfying piece of work, transcending the mundane gloom & doom gothic clichés with its rich, vivid, poetic display of unbound emotion and soul. More so, it's a harbinger of things to come, and when seen in the scope of Lacrimosa's entire body of work, a truly mesmerizing harbinger it is indeed. But more on that later... Tränen der Sehnsucht sets the stage with a crystalline piano melody, soon enough settling into a glacial tempo, which creates the absolute perfect backdrop for Tilo's deliberately wearying delivery. The song is slooooooooooooooooow. And eerie. And depressing. Sad as it is, there is a flicker of hope permeating throughout, and before you know it, there comes along the downright upbeat second half. The aspect of happiness is an alien presence amidst all the grays and blacks and gray-blacks and black-grays of the album's mood spectra, and the song's unabashed hope and light at the end of the tunnel conclusion end up feeling a bit jarring and out of place. But then that's probably the idea. Reissende Blicke...a bitter, tragic funeral dirge as bleak as it is picturesque; a true showcase for both Tilo's music and lyrics, the song paints a scene worthy of Fellini - a man in a crowded theater, watching his life unfold on-screen, right before his very eyes. The crowd laughs at his failures, his destroyed ambitions, his shattered goals. Desperate to escape the harshness of reality, he runs out for air; coming back, he sees that his seat - the only seat available - is now taken. And on it goes. Tilo's knack for symbolism is poignant and unforgettable - the mark of a true artist. And then there is the album's namesake...its downright gut-wrenching title cut. Underlying the seemingly jolly, carnival-like accordion medley is a tortured, anguished presence of isolation in its purest, most painful form; hope so humble and yet so false as to appear downright comical. Tilo, with his agonizingly resigned, almost spoken monologue is like a clown with a painted smile, dancing the night away, comforted with the sole assurance that when the show is over he can run off to his tent and hang himself. |
What follows is some
quirkiness and weirdness that, alas, doesn't gel all that well. Diener eines Geistes is an
uncomfortably out of place rawkin' rawker of a tune not unlike Billy Idol, but not nearly
(or even remotely) as catchy. And more than a bit on the odd side of strange. Not the
good, creativity-driven kind of strange, but rather the "oooooh-key...WHAT was that
all about?!" variety. Loblied auf die Zweisamkeit mixes in claustrophobic cathedral
musings with what appear to be the sounds of an Indian marketplace or some such, followed
finally by a choral outro, courtesy Tilo. Yeah. You know, as much as it sounds like it
SHOULD work, I can't really say that it does. |
To be perfectly
honest, I guess I just felt like sharing a few words about a band that as of late I find
myself more and more at a total, utter loss of words for. What Tilo Wolff - and eventually
his inamorata Anne Nurmi - have done transcends description, defies criticism. To call
their recent works albums, to call them grand experiences, to call them some unforgettable
events of life changing proportions...it would be understating just what it is they have
somehow, some way managed to achieve. These works are nothing short of spiritual;
intimate, unspeakably powerful, living, breathing looks at your innermost self...at
existence itself. And that's not even touching the surface. Elodia and now this year's
Fassade are classics, not only epitomizing what true art stands for, but challenging it,
altering its visage. As the infamous Last Tango in Paris review compared the film to the
first ever debut of a Stravinski piece, so I compare Tilo Wolff to da Vinci, to Kurt
Weill, to - once again - Fellini. Managing to redefine greatness with every passing year,
the man more than deserves to be placed alongside the all time artistic greats. Ratings and Wrap Up: |
