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Nico - The End Audio CD

A fair review of the Nico "The End" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Nico reviews here, or go back to the Nico tabs.

Nico Band: Nico
Title: The End
Rating:
Release Date: 1994-03-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: It Has Not Taken Long 2: Secret Side 3: You Forgot to Answer 4: Innocent and Vain 5: Valley of the Kings 6: We've Got the Gold 7: End 8: Lied Der Deutschen

Dark Child
I can't quite figure out exactly what Dave Thompson was writing about at www. I had this album in my iPod and listened to it every day for a week on my commute. allmusic. com when he wrote a really over-the-top review of the album, but it is a great, strange, surreal, avant garde recording, and it does a strange cover version of "The End. " Hearing Nico on the Velvet Underground album is nice, as is the Chelsea Girl CD, or Elliott Smith's cover version of Jackson Browne's "These Days", which she originally sang on Chelsea Girl. Hearing her here is often a challenge, but it has tremendous rewards.

"It Has Not Taken Long" is pure eccentricity, its strange percussion, the droning harmonium, and Nico's matchlessly creepy voice all paints a freaky picture. "Secret Side" may be the best song on the album, although it is filled with Brian Eno's strange electronics and keyboards, but Nico's vocals are, again, superb. "You Forgot to Answer" is supposedly about the last time she saw Jim Morrison, which the review says was on the day he died, but it's not easy to tell that from the lyrics. "Innocent and Vain" is like listening to Merzbow, except there's Nico trying to wade through Eno's noise, sound effects as she finally starts to sing, accompanying her spooky harmonium. "Valley of the King" really focusses on her vocals, although the drone is quite hypnotizing. "We've Got the Gold" is a bit same-samey. "The End" is that well-known song by the Doors, and it takes a bit of getting used to hearing Nico's croak repeat the well-known words. "Das Lied Der Deutschen" is the German national anthem from before 1945, so take that whatever way you like, but she does a pretty version of it. As there's been some dispute over where she was born - some say Hungary, others Germany - it's hard to know what to make of her choice of the song as a political statement. .


Nico's Finest Work
My favorite tracks are "Innocent And Vain", "Secret Side" and of course her amazing reading of the Doors' "The End". Nico's biggest fans swear by "The Marble Index" but in my opinion "The End" far surpasses it.
John Cale does his best production work ever and the Brian Eno electronics have to be heard to be believed. They're far from ambient! Everyone's at the top of their game on this album.


different.

when i got it, i was surprised. after the marble index and desertshore, i was eager for more Nico, and all the reviews promised this to be some of her darkest, most caustic work. if you aren't a big fan of synthesizers, this is SO not for you - - Nico must be lauded for her use of them, tho, years before they came into prominence with New Wave.
she's brave to do it, but it made me miss the sparseness and timeless sounds of her second two solos. toward the end of the album it got to where i wanted it to be: gone were the fairy-tale-theatre synth flourishes, and it was dark, jarring, abrasive, raw. i loved it.
four stars because i felt it was not her best work, but a powerful album by virtue of the last few songs.


Nico ueber alles!
Together they create a bleak and chilling musical landscape for Nico's funereal vocals. Nico on voice and harmonium is assisted by Phil Manzanera on guitar, Eno on synths and producer John Cale on a range of instruments including bass, xylophone, organ, glockenspiel and piano.

All compositions are by Nico, except The End by The Doors and Das Lied Der Deutschen by German romantic composer August Heinrich von Fallersleben. If her contributions to the Velvet Underground were melancholy, this music is way beyond lugubrious, but quite listenable on account of the great arrangements.

Of her own songs, the atmospheric You Forget To Answer, the frightening Innocent And Vain with its terrifying sound efects and the morbid Valley Of The Kings stand out; they all fall within the realm of the art song. Nico's accented pronunciation contributes to the almost classical feel.

The End and Das Lied Der Deutschen are something else. The first is well-produced, as awesome as the original and serves as a suitable introduction to the second, which is the highlight, or lowlight, of the album. Scary stuff, not for the faint of heart. To hear Nico rocking out, I recommend the album Drama Of Exile.

Nico, Songs They Never Play on the Radio

Drama of Exile (Remixed)

The Velvet Underground & Nico.


You will know me again
Nico's music is still minimal, cold, full of fine synth textures and her spectral harmonica sounding in the middle of it all. One of Nico's best albums to date, ''The End'' was again produced by Cale, with help from mate Brian Eno and Roxy Music's Manzanera. The songwriting is among her strongest (''Secret Side'', ''You Forget The Answer''), and her take on the German anthem is a true reconstruction of the song, scary yet beautiful. Her cover version of the Doors-penned title track is a little bit too long, but the overall results of the record are impressive. Among the best and most innovative things I've heard in pop music, ever.


You can see a complete list of all Nico discography, or go back to the Nico tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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