Die Krupps - Volle Kraft Voraus!

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The second Krupps-album is a far cry from the experimental industrial sound of their great debut Stahlwerksynfonie. Instead, it's quite similiar to, if not sometimes downright derivative of, the stripped-down, aggressive electro-rock of DAF's earlier Alles Ist Gut, even down to the flirtations with militancy and totalitarism. (Song titles include Neue Helden (New Heroes), Zwei Herzen, ein Rhythmus (Two Hearts, One Rhythm) or the title track which translates as Full Speed Ahead! And then there's also the band's name itself, of course, chosen in the typical punk fashion of the times to wind up both the bourgeoisie and the hippie generation.) The relative lack in originality may be a bit disappointing considering the unique-sounding debut, but Volle Kraft Voraus! is still a fine album. Along with the classic DAF albums it also layed the blueprint for the whole EBM genre and Wahre Arbeit - Wahrer Lohn deservedly ranks as a true electro-new wave classic. With a producer like Conny Plank, who provided DAF's records with a clean, crisp punch, Volle Kraft Voraus! could probably have been even great.

Oh yeah, and avoid like the plague everything the revived Krupps released in the nineties and 00's, it's cheesy sub-Ministry EBM-metal of the worst kind.