NICO
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David Dickson <ddickson@rice.edu> (20.06.2005)
Mostly agree with you here--lotta great melodies on this album, especially on "Fairest of the Seasons" and "Chelsea Girls." The final three songs are kinda bland, and that's why I have to give it an 8 out of 10. But there's one thing we have to part ways on--"It Was a Pleasure Then" is a masterpiece, in my opinion, and the best song on the album. Mind you, this is coming from someone who normally hates twelve-tone weirdo avant-garde stuff. I strongly disagree that it's worse than all of the Velvet Underground's work--both "European Son" and "Black Angel's Death Song" are far less listenable than this. Here, at least she sings in the same key as the guitar noise. Just try not to pay too much attention to the violin screeching and you'll be fine. Nico really shines vocally on that--the song has just as much raw emotional ominousness (new word! yee-haw!) as "Heroin" and then some. I give it a "Cool Beans" award.
Michelle Derus <mushmelo3@hotmail.com> (21.10.2005)
John Cale DID NOT CONDUCT the orchestration. He and Lou wanted the whole to be like Pleasure but the producer(?) didn't want it. RESEARCH SON
Olaf <olaf@tref.nl> (23.07.2000)
1. 'Le Petit Chevalier' is sung by Nico and Alain Delon's son Ari.
2. Nico simply loved the harmonium and carried it around anywhere she went. Great live instrument too, and she probably never intended it to sound like a churchorgan. 3. Her best album must be The Marble Index. 4. If you already think Desertshore is spooky, forget about The Marble Index. It's even darker. 5. I'm not suicidal, yet I love all of Desertshore with the exeption of 'Le Petit Chevalier'.<Browningzool@aol.com> (11.01.2003)
I;m not afraid to say that I really love this album, I mean I like all her work but I like this much more than chelsea girl and the end. I think this is the one where it all came together for nico. So what If this album is depressing, so is life. I also think you should hear the Marble index. It is the greatest album she ever cut
Olaf <olaf@tref.nl> (23.07.2000)
A bit of history: 'Das Lied der Deutschen' is just the German national anthem, and there is nothing Nazistic about it, although some people prefer to see it like that anyway. To those people this song might be very provocative, but in fact the sentence "Deutschland Deutschland uber alles" refers to the partition of Germany in many different states at the time the song was written by the liberal Von Fallersleben. It's a song that calls for union, telling the German people they have more similarities than differences and should stop being eachother's enemies. Nothing wrong with it really...
[Special author note: actually, it should be noted that Nico sings the complete text of the song, including the first verse referring to Germany's former territorial boundaries and banned from the text of the song after 1945. In its full version, the anthem was only used from 1922 to 1945, with half of that period falling on the Nazi period; people don't usually call it 'Nazi anthem' for nothing...]didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (17.02.2001)
You're right.Now the young german people don't know the whole text I asked once a german young man to hear and translate the Nico version,but he told me he didn't understand this old gothic german (or he didn't want to?)But you've got to understand i'm French and if you remember history....
A month later he sent me the last verse "einigkeit und recht und freiheit für das deutsche Vaterland..." which he found in an encyclopedia and which is the only part that the German people still sing. Nico's version is artistically fully successful.There's a gothic almost eerie atmosphere in her rendition,but...... I feel guilty while listening to it;even if it was written by August Heinrich von Fallersleben in the 19 th century,it's now forever linked with images of concentration camps and nazi ideology and Leni Riefenstahl 's artistically successful too propaganda films.DidierT.S. <bugy_bunny@gmx.de> (04.10.2003)
Let me add just some facts about "Das Lied der Deutschen":
The music was written by Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809) and the lyrics by Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798 - 1874). The full version contains 3 verses. The first verse begins with the notorious line "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles", but there's nothing reprehensible about it, if you consider the history and the fragmentation of Germany into lots of principalities in the first half of the 19th century. In contrast with the French, the German couldn't develop a kind of national spirit. Von Fallersleben appeals to these spirit, and there's no hegemonic intention behind it. He just describes the former German territorial boundaries (from Meuse to river Memel, from Adige to The Belt). The second verse essentially refers to German culture (land of poets and thinker), values (faithfulness), women and wine. There's a note of proud in these lines... From 1922, "Das Lied der Deutschen" (with all 3 verses) became national anthem. Since World War II, the official national anthem contains only the 3rd verse. However not because of any reprehensibility of the first two verses but because of the abuse (and propagandistic interpreation) of the national anthem by the Nazi's. So far... I think, the Germans younger than 60 don't know exactly the first two verses at all. I had to download it, before I was able to write these lines! Compared with other nations in "Old Europe" (especially France), we Germans have a weak developed national spirit. We have a high foreigner rate (I think about 8 %) -- and in particular the after-war-generation as well as the teens and twens are peaceful- minded for the most part (consider the demonstrations before and during the Iraq War, for example). Hope it helps to reduce suspicion, misunderstanding and hate.
<Browningzool@aol.com> (11.01.2003)
I figured I;d mail something for this album since no one else has. It is a bit of a letdown to be sure, and I think it kind of sucks. Because even though she has a good band to back her up they do not suit her as well as John Cale when he worked with her. This is her weakest album definately. Even I havent listened to it more than a few times. Good review though