Audio CD review:
Nico - The Frozen Borderline: 1968-1970

Nico - The Frozen Borderline: 1968-1970

Band: Nico Title: The Frozen Borderline: 1968-1970 Rating: Release Date: 12 March, 2007 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Prelude 2: Lawns of Dawns 3: On One Is There 4: Ari's Song 5: Facing the Wind 6: Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie) 7: Frozen Warnings 8: Evening of Light 9: Sagen Die Gelehrten [#][*][Outtake] 10: Ręve Réveiller [#][Outtake] 11: Roses in the Snow [Alternate Version][#][*][Outtake] 12: Nibelungen [Complete Version][#][*][Outtake] 13: Lawns of Dawns [#][*][Version] 14: No One Is There [#][*][Version] 15: Ari's Song [#][*][Version] 16: Facing the Wind [#][*][Version] 17: Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie) [*][Version] 18: Frozen Warnings [#][*][Version] 19: Evening of Light [#][*][Version] 20: Janitor of Lunacy 21: Falconer 22: My Only Child 23: Petit Chevalier 24: Abschied 25: Afraid 26: Mütterlein 27: All That Is My Own 28: My Only Child [#][*][Demo Version] 29: Janitor of Lunacy [#][*][Demo Version] 30: Abscheild Ode (Death/Farewell) [*][Demo Version] 31: You Are Beautiful (Afraid) [#][*][Demo Version] 32: Falconer [#][*][Demo Version] 33: On the Desert Shore (All That Is My Own) [#][*][Demo Version]

Customer Reviews One of the best Nico collections The mastering of "Marbel Index" is fantastic. This is best Nico release I have seen to date. Not only that, but the inclusion of the alternate and unreleased tracks is spectacular. . . it makes the album come alive! When "Marbel Index" was initially re-released we were treated to "Roses in the Snow" and "Nibelungen. " Now we have alternate takes (some of which are better than what was put on the album) and then two more tracks that weren't released. "Desertshore," sometimes considered Nico's masterpiece, contains demos that consist of Nico simply singing whilst playing her harmonium. They are haunting and melodic, and sometimes sound better than the album versions. The exception would be "On the Desertshore," in which Nico starts singing and then stops, almost bashfully saying "I don't think this is quite what I want. . . ". Truly Subversive Music This is very uncommercial music, so much so that it makes the Velvet Underground (her former band) sound like Elton John. This is the definition of "challenging music" that makes serious demands on the listener. This is Nico wandering around the frozen tundra looking for roses in the snow. It is drug music, specifically, Heroin music. Is it any good? Yes, it is. John Cale makes sure it is. Between his production, piano, viola, guitar etc. , he builds Nico a musical cathedral in which she can bemoan her lamentations to her hearts content. In some alternative universe, this probably outsold Michael Jackson's Thriller and won more Grammy's, but the question is , would we want to live in this alternative universe? Listen to these 2 discs before you answer that seemingly obvious question. R. I. P Nico. . be very careful because this music will change your life. they moved me. I got this two cd set and listened to it the way you are supposed to; with powerful speakers, in the dark, alone. i don't really know what to say. . . her voice is so clear, so provocative, like some war goddess speaking to you. her lyrics seem like ancient poetry; my favorites are Julius Caesar, which sounds like classical music - - the way the viola soars and scratches, the see-sawing of the harmonium, her voice. they combine to form a picture of a timeless landscape and a myth. . . and nibelungen, some of the most chilling poetry. the first line: "since the first of you and me/asleep/in a nibelungen land/ titanic curses trap me in/ a banishment of state"; i made the mistake of listening to this during a hard time romantically, and it just about split me in two. the unreleased demos are beautiful in their purity, just Nico and her harmonium making beautiful music together. desertshore i did not really get at first, but after listening to it a whole lot, it crept in too. . . her songs in german, Abscheid and Mutterlein (which was played by her friends on a cassette player at her funeral) are incredible. the whole album is like being trapped in someone elses fantasy, or nightmare. the only one that stood apart i felt was "Afraid", a piano ode. Every review i read seems to think it's trite and out of place - - and i agree it is out of place, but it works. it seems like a nod to a joni-mitchell-esque piano ballad, with nico taking over as the song moves on. Culturally, nico's work should be considered a clarion call to artistic purity and integrity - - in the vein of Bjork, Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell and Tori Amos, Nico is a true artist whose place in the pantheon of great musicians is sorrowfully, shamefully overlooked. She is an iconoclast, groundbreaking and death-defying; her work remains pure and challenging nearly four decades later. i was talking to a few indie friends a while back, having those conversations about music you will have had if you talk about music with your indie friends: "have you heard of blank? oh, wow, have you heard of blank? have you heard of blank?", each person trying to top the last with the level of unknown-ness and uniqueness of their music. i jumped in talking about nico, and hardly anyone knew about her, but those who did, their eyes got wide and we all knew. we had all had the same experience. she changed us. she changed music for us. For anyone who knows of Nico through the velvet underground and her first solo album, these albums will shock you. they are spare, brooding, with this kind of organic authenticity about them in definite contrast to most of the music that was being made during the late sixties and early seventies. when i listen to them, i see durer, dore, blake; heroin, germany, skulls, angels, the bible, tombs, roman myths. . . this music gives you visions. it is useless to classify this music with stars. . . a million stars. all the stars. these are not records. to paraphrase the quote from the liner notes, this is not a commodity. it is an artefact. it is a priceless relic. it is art. . . You can see a complete list of all Nico discography, or go back to the Nico tabs