one you lock the target
beat-driven industrial/adjacent stuff from 1981-87. this is what I've been listening to recently (some of the obvious omissions like Geography, Computer World and Halber Mensch are albums I've overdosed on and wanna look past. some of the other obvious omissions are because I don't like Nitzer Ebb or Ministry lol) |
| 75 |  | The Neon Judgement
The Neon Judgement 1981-1984
"Concrete" (single) - post-punky Belgian stuff. this band's so productive during this period but the guitars are so scrapingly omnipresent and it's hard to hear past the sheer stodge. 2.9 |
| 74 |  | Wiseblood
Dirtdish
"Motorslug" (12") - Foetus doing foetus stuff; rock-'n-roll aesthetics over big industrial gestures, novelty whatever. 2.9 |
| 73 |  | Portion Control
Rough Justice
very brassy ebm dance track with not quite enough glue 3.0 |
| 72 |  | Die Krupps
Entering the Arena
with so much industrial adjacent music being all critically gloomily observant of the world it's fun that this attempts to uplift the listener. a bit Laibach-ish? but I'm too miserable for this to wash lol 3.0 |
| 71 |  | Play Dead
From the Promised Land
"Conspiracy" (12") - a goth post-punk band trying out their midrange EBM blerps, it goes ok 3.0 |
| 70 |  | KMFDM
What Do You Know, Deutschland?
i'm such a big defender of this album but there's actually huge gaping pits of awfulness within. Me I Funk is a classic and I'd 5 the single, but some of the lyrics beyond that tune are such... shaking my head vigorously to show that I disagree with it moments 3.0 |
| 69 |  | Front Line Assembly
The Initial Command
distinctly the 2nd best band on this list with "Front" in their name and it's not even close 3.0 |
| 68 |  | Borghesia
Clones
good tape with some really rude instrumental industrial electro tunes on it. wish I knew more of this band's history... slovenian pro-gay ebm group/art collective? i think??? 3.0 |
| 67 |  | Front Line Assembly
State of Mind
these albums are a bit too long for me. you can see how much I love EPs and singles 'n stuff, it's hard to make a convincing industrial beats album. "Testimony" off this is really good, though, resembling JMJ's style circa Zoolook/Industrial Revolutions 3.0 |
| 66 |  | Front 242
Official Version
"Interception" (12") - just two tunes off the coming album, a bit remixed. I adore this band but this ain't a particular essential era 3.0 |
| 65 |  | Die Form
Es Lebe Der Tod
fairly sparse industrial stuff where the beats sometimes drop away, a bit horror ambient 3.0 |
| 64 |  | Tolerance
Divin
gem from my earlier 1981 search I wanted to revisit. very minimal japanese synth with a glitch side and a cute side (I no longer know what to rate this because it means too much?) |
| 63 |  | Die Krupps
Volle Kraft Voraus!
"Goldfinger" (single) - really funny, really silly pair of punky electronic tunes with anthemic ambitions 3.0 |
| 62 |  | Front 242
No Comment
"No Shuffle" (single) - for the single mix they added guitar to this normally wonderful song and ruined it immediately :D incredible work, boys |
| 61 |  | Skinny Puppy
Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
their album BITES is really high up this list because of the mix of synths and huge bass involved in the songs there which are SO pushed back here its like they voluntarily shed a limb. I understand they changed personnel around this time? kinda? i hate following band context 3.0 |
| 60 |  | Numb
Blue Light
not the nu-metal band, i think? giggle... without really using rock instruments this very much strikes me as industrial rock, much more solid and earphone-filling than most of these entries, even when veering towards atmosphere 3.0 i feel like this is too professional somehow |
| 59 |  | Robert Görl
Night Full of Tension
"Darling Don't Leave Me" (12"?) - robert gorl is half of DAF during their famous period, the guy with his arms folded in bemusement/desire to look cool. he turns out to have a voice that makes me think of Peter Hammill lol the lead single has Annie Lennox on it and his peculiar singing somehow blows her away. 3.x? i must check this whole album to see if he really sings like that |
| 58 |  | David Harrow
The Succession
"No Easy Targets" (12") - good sample heavy industrial electro. this guy has a huge body of work and I just added him to the db haha 3.x maybe some of his aliases are already in |
| 57 |  | Skinny Puppy
Cleanse Fold and Manipulate
same story as below but more catchy to me 3.x |
| 56 |  | The Flowerpot Men
Jo's So Mean
good little EP with some big synth stab basslines. outdoes most Foetus stuff at a similar game imo. members go on to form juno reactor or something, wow! don't blokes get around 3.x |
| 55 |  | Cybotron
Enter
still kills 3.5 ok the guitar sinks some of the weaker tunes, too much heroism which the beats can't compete with at that point. Clear's essential forever and ever |
| 54 |  | The Young Gods
The Young Gods
"Envoye" (12") - frightening uses for your Atari ST 3.5 I think this is one of their earliest things? sample-based industrial rock, but so much more than that description offers, just a great band with a long history |
| 53 |  | SPK
Machine Age Voodoo
"Metal Dance" (12") - strangely good industro-pop song from a previously very difficult band. love her somewhat strict voice |
| 52 |  | Grauzone
Eisbaer
classic little NDW/synth punk thing. the synth skronks, the sax skronks, about as toy as electronic punk can get and so elegant, but because of that sounding strangely timeless... like a really good post-punk revival group could pull up with this song on tiny desk and the comments would be about how I'm 67 and grew up with punk and this is the most exciting group I've heard in my lifetime and my two boys Sid and Dexy agree 3.5 |
| 51 |  | Portion Control
Purge
they redo four of their catchier songs and slightly screw them up. really excellent hyper-aging experiment lol 3.x |
| 50 |  | Revolting Cocks
No Devotion
I tolerate this band until Richard 23 leaves and then I'm done, they are really stupid 3.x wow grauzone should've been higher |
| 49 |  | Pankow
Throw Out Rite
truly exciting weirdo italian punk ebm, 3.5, album makes a huge mess and tries everything. contains some genuine kobold gibbering, Venomous court jester mumbles ov industry. almost Blixa-oid |
| 48 |  | Portion Control
Hit The Pulse
this band is going to be on this list about ninety more times cos I really like them. industrial/synth pop/ebm ambitions, clicky sub-electro beats, unprofessional brit singing with various levels of playfulness, can go serious or LPD-like, songs generally tiny and scrapbookish |
| 47 |  | Foetus
Nail
"Finely Honed Machine" (12") - really madcap bonkbonkcrashcrash kitchen sink industrial goofball tune. not huge on Foetus but this is inventive 3.5 |
| 46 | | Ultravox
Ultravox
"Vienna" (12") - included because I wanted to listen to it again 3.9? the other tunes aren't that good, I understand it's kind of a novelty in their repertoire or whatever but I wish they always got that big 'n pompous, it suits them |
| 45 |  | Borghesia
No Hope, No Fear
the opening tune on this is unbelievably good, a huge defiant EBM party anthem for yelling along with. the synth chord hits are like... mmm they're like chips with piri piri salt on vs normal chips, and boiler plate industrial electro are the normal chips. after that song everything goes in a more thoughtful direction, no vox and more atmosphere and sampling, cyberpunk chinscratcher 3.9 (nicklizard gave this 1.5!!!!!!!!!!) |
| 44 |  | Klinik
Sabotage
styled as "The Klinik"? less propulsive, soundscape-y tendencies that leave you hanging on a synth hook which comes and goes. some unsettling industrial stuff here 3.x dirgy dirk |
| 43 |  | Cabaret Voltaire
The Crackdown
"Just Fascination/Empty Walls" (single) - rating on Empty Walls alone and it calls back to Yashar a little, good atonal industrogamelan two step 3.x |
| 42 |  | Severed Heads
City Slab Horror
this is somehow twee industrial 3.5 look for these guys right at the top of the list once they write a couple of tunes that are hit singles in my eyes |
| 41 |  | Portion Control
Simulate Sensual
a well-picked compilation. PC had so much stuff locked away on casette tapes n stuff, impossible to collect otherwise 3.x |
| 40 |  | Click Click
Party Hate
nervous weirdo industrial with a decided Nick Cave-like influence in the vox; singer has so much fun tasting out all the words no matter how nasty their suggestions be. 3.9, evil little repetitious gems |
| 39 |  | New Order
Power, Corruption and Lies
"Blue Monday" (12") - I just wanted to listen to this again too 4.0 convinced that everything peter hook plays that's good is an accident |
| 38 |  | Tackhead
Tackhead Tape Time
"What's My Mission Now?" (12") - keith leblanc & adrian sherwood putting together really fun industrial hip hop with well-judged news clip samples 4.0 |
| 37 |  | Attrition
The Voice Of God
goths with wild voices and a need to press the lowest note on the keyboard 3.x there's so many bands which slip all over the goth rock axis like this but I favor Attrition because they have killed several presidents |
| 36 |  | CTI
Elemental 7
got the 1987 release but I don't think there's much difference between it and the '84 version. this has Dancing Ghosts on it which is strangely good at prefiguring the dance music ten years to come. band is Chris and Cosey from Throbbing Gristle and, agh, Heartbeat should be on this list too, 4.0? |
| 35 |  | Njurmannen
Cerebral Player
fun electric EP with some serious flanger bass on it. not really that electronic but it came up in my search and I liked its strange folky/psychedelic leanings 3.x |
| 34 |  | Portion Control
I Staggered Mentally
some serious industrial murk. one of those EBM starting points that doesn't sound like DAF so much as Throbbing Gristle, with slightly depraved vox, drunken synths, questionable samples and insanely echoey and clave-y beats. but it's those beats that save it from being a depressing, evil affair 4.0 |
| 33 |  | Die Form
Fetish
commander keen 4 ass album 3.9 |
| 32 |  | Jean-Michel Jarre
Zoolook
le maestro. not many beats, just stretching out simple powerful synth melodies as far as they'll go and piling single syllable vox samples all over everything. less composer-ish and more modern than oxygene type stuff. some people find jmj kitschy and overrated. i find him kitschy and dunno, smoochable 4.0 |
| 31 |  | Keith LeBlanc
Major Malfunction
from what I've read this is essentially the first Tackhead album, which is a wing of On-U Sound, Adrian Sherwood's productions n stuff. very hip hop, very acutely skewering the whole Challenger disaster to the point where it becomes uncomfortable, but in a funky way 4.0 |
| 30 |  | Cabaret Voltaire
Micro-Phonies
"James Brown" (12") - naturally one of the most feel-good and funky cuts from micro-phonies gets an extended version. CV just put out SO MUCH music and you ignore it at yr peril 3.x the various singles sourced from this album are more worthwhile than the album itself imo and, even more imo, albums are themselves the incorrect medium to experience industrial music by |
| 29 |  | Meat Beat Manifesto
Storm the Studio
"Suck Hard" (EP from 1987) - really noise-obsessed industrial hip-hop. why play the snare once when you can play it six times in six microseconds 3.x i know this act goes places and I love those places but this is where it starts, more or less |
| 28 | | Tackhead
Tackhead Tape Time
"Mind at the End of the Tether" (12") - how do I put it? the songs are longer so they're better 4.0 |
| 27 | | Cybotron
Enter
"Cosmic Cars" (single) - just a cute song that doesn't make it to the album (until later) the arrangement is so paranoid, not discordant but elegant, diminished, well-written panic music 4.0 |
| 26 |  | Click Click
Wet Skin and Curious Eye
"Sweet Stuff" (12") - absolutely hammered single, conspicuously like a hard synth Birthday Party even down to some of the word choices 4.0 |
| 25 |  | Ganzheit
Hammer
fairly niche find? very sweet, very political. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsv2WZom15g |
| 24 |  | Front 242
Endless Riddance
in my notes I wrote "huge synth BLARTS are cooler than transitions" and I don't think I can improve on that 4.0 front 242 have this huge Paramilitary Nerd image going which no-one can really replicate in a positive way, half of my ratings come from the way I adore the goofball qualities |
| 23 |  | Skinny Puppy
Remission
here's my score, 4.1, everybody knows it's wrong |
| 22 | | Click Click
Wet Skin and Curious Eye
Skripglow (12") - ambitious and insistent 4.0 in 1988 these guys make a very good synthpop album with actual transitions between verse and chorus, neat and confident to the ear. here they play the same loop for like 9 minutes lol |
| 21 |  | Laurie Anderson
Big Science
"O Superman" (12") - i can cut my taste into pre- and post- listening to this song eras (I heard it first about ten years ago) and it's thus impossible to rate, doubly so cos of the very silly B-side, just wanted to include it on the list because it's part of me |
| 20 | | Cabaret Voltaire
The Crackdown
"Crackdown/Just Fascination" (12") - shopping streets after dark etc. i don't know what to write about songs which are THIS familiar to me, like they got through some sort of membrane and I can't sense them anymore, only be happy I know them. sappy posting sorry |
| 19 |  | Klinik
Plague
really happily surprised by this band and their minimal murk approach to industrial and ebm, 4.x i barely knew anything they'd done before undertaking this whole putting-things-in-my-ears thing |
| 18 |  | Severed Heads
Come Visit The Big Bigot
somewhat uncategorizable music... or: industrial art pop that's partially stable and commercial but which partially reminds me of the residents, tuxedomoon and clock dva. with singing this nervous it must all be down to very good, very subtle SONGwriting 4.x |
| 17 |  | Portion Control
The Great Divide
angry singalong stuff. they get much more synth punk in 1986 but I omitted that album cos ummmmmm. because uhhh 4.x |
| 16 |  | Test Dept.
T.D.A.: The Faces of Freedom 1 2 & 3
Test Dept are a fairly essential industrial band but they bring the dance here, kinda makes me think of Tackhead's approach but with more snippets of classical music they can smash into progressions over otherwise sparse music 4.x compulsion EP is also good, I totally forgot that one too |
| 15 |  | Liaisons Dangereuses
Liaisons Dangereuses
"Los Ninos del Parque" (12") - lead single is totally indispensable. somehow takes DAF's synth-punk breakthrough and makes it more pixielike 5555555555555555555555555555555555555555555555 |
| 14 | | Cabaret Voltaire
The Crackdown
they perfect their marriage between miserable northern industrial and simply fucking cool electro here. I bet it sounds massively dated to people who care about that shit (YOUR ears are telling YOU lies and YOU ARE THE CHEESY ONE) giggle |
| 13 |  | Skinny Puppy
Bites
"the choke" is a song but it should be a genre. it should be the only genre. the way that synth bass machineguns you is imho the high point of all their work 4.5 |
| 12 |  | Cabaret Voltaire
Drinking Gasoline
(from my notes: "whenever an industrial band lands an EP and an album in the same year, get the EP lol") |
| 11 |  | Portion Control
Go-Talk
you can pay as you goooooo backspace backspace backspace. this is their best hard-edged single 4.5 ps these guys and Front 242 both supported Depeche Mode, who everyone keeps going on about, qed you should all listen to both |
| 10 |  | Front 242
Politics of Pressure
part of my reason for this project (this is me calling listening to music a project lol) was working out my thoughts on this EP, cos the track "Don't Crash" is one of my favourite songs and the other three tunes were, so I thought, other pieces of music you might listen to, in order to come down from it but, no, it's all genius, 4.5 remixes or no |
| 9 |  | Tommi Stumpff
Zu Spät Ihr Scheißer. Hier Ist: Tommi Stumpff
this absolutely perfects the DAF school of EBM. more yelping, more song moods and better variation between songs. I tend to treasure pioneering music over the refiners and the improvers and the best-yetters but this belongs in the same breath 4.5 I saw this album first on mutant sounds and didn't take it seriously at all based on the cover; was wrong |
| 8 |  | Severed Heads
Dead Eyes Opened
title track must be experienced to be believed 4.5 |
| 7 |  | The Tear Garden
Tired Eyes Slowly Burning
LPD + Skinny Puppy constructing this superpsychedelic but hard-edged bed that no-one else ever could 4.xxxx |
| 6 |  | 23 Skidoo
The Gospel Comes to New Guinea
despite this being an old fave of mine I wasn't going to include this because with its kit-based beats and lack of synths it doesn't particularly fit in the list but Borracho reviewed it and I immediately listened to it 9 times in a row |
| 5 |  | Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft
Alles Ist Gut
ABSOLUTELY MUTANT dance music of punk origin, so undeniable and SO EDGY and HOT hahaha it took me so long to get this as a rock music doofus but it's transformative. mega gimmicky and unique, clumsy, stumbly genius music |
| 4 |  | Severed Heads
Bad Mood Guy
best band I wasn't paying attention to before this list award. atypically good at making fun yet creatively deep albums, keeping elements that'd clunk in the hands of a less careful project playing all nice and harmonious (ignore the atonal menace which can phase in) |
| 3 | | Front 242
No Comment
i love them |
| 2 |  | Aloa
Aloa
absolutely unique synthpop album. some gloriously silly moments and huge weirdo curveballs, eg the song "Himbeereis" which suggests an entirely new minor key as far as I can understand. ranges from novelty fluff to absolutely maniac oracle composition without warning. obsessed with. 5 5 5 5 5 55 555 555555555 |
| 1 | | Cabaret Voltaire
The Crackdown
"Sensoria" (12") - frankly I don't give a damn |
|
