Tim Fischer - Aus Blauem Glase - 5/5
http://www.mediafire.com/?mgrzwrdyemgI haven't written a review in a while but when I heard this album I just had to tell someone about it. Therefore I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, Tim Fischer. At a very young age he developed an interest in Chansonneuring and at the age of 15 he had first public performance. This is his ... th album.
"Aus blauem Glase" was released in 1997 and has 14 songs - each more interesting than the last. The majority are in German but there are also 2 in French and 2 in English. Tim Fischer, although being the main feature on the album, shares the stage with many other musicians. Rosel Zech joins him in a duet in 4 of the songs ("Parlez-Moi D'amour", "Memories Are Made of This", "Die Minderwertigen" and "Aus Blauem Glase") and adds her own distinct ingredient to those songs. Thomas Dörschel is the pianist in all the songs and a variety of other musicians help to complete the sound of the album. It's a typical Cabaret album, musically relatively basic. Nothing special, but remarkably likeable and well-engineerd to provide a complementary atmosphere to the singers.
As is often the case with Cabaret, the singer himself did not write any of the songs. Instead he sings songs written by a variety of lyricists and composers, notably a translation of a Jacques Brel song ("Mein Allerletztes Glas") and a quite few songs by Georg Kreisler. You wouldn't know it if I didn't say it, though, as the singer makes each song his own. It sounds natural, sincere and heartfelt. Every song sounds like a story from the life of the singer himself - a huge compliment to his ability of interpretation. And the beauty of this style of music is that its success is completely in the hands of the interpreter as it is inherently intimate and only a perfect performace can give the desired effect.
And now, the part I've been waiting for: the lyrics. Unfortunately for the folks who don't understand German, most of this album won't have its full impact on you, even if I provide traslations. But that notwithstanding: The songs are not in any particular order - instead, each song has its own flavour. And these aren't your usual "Oh, I love you Honey, why did you leave?"-songs, no, each song is enthralling and leaves you with an aftertaste (mostly a bitter one) that lingers for hours, even days. The album is chock & block full of subjects like incest ("Onkelchen"), homosexuality ("Wenn Ich Heut' zum Friedhof Gehe") and insanity ("Die Minderwetigen") and might repel less adventurous listeners. In an outright challenge to consevatism and conventional decency, such controversial subjects are openly discussed and done in such a manner that sounds shameless and even, dare I say it, tender. It is an approach to rebbelion that we, as metalheads, are not used to, and a mercilessly effective one at that.
All in all, it's a fantastic album and I have no shame to admit that I wrote this review with the very purpose of glorifying it. No, I'm not viewing it objectively, but I hope and believe sincerely that you will, as I did, nod in utter agreement when, in the final track (an entire 4 minutes of applause), the crowd furiously chants "Zugabe! Zugabe!" ("Encore! Encore!")
Highlights: Wenn Ich Heut' Zum Friedhof Gehe, Parlez-Moi D'amour, Is That All there is?
NOTE: I didn't provide translations straight away, because 1) I really don't want to make them right now and 2) if I do make them, they probably won't be good at all, since I've only been learning German for a year now. But if you think it would be best I could pack out my dictionary some Saturday and try to do this thing. It's really up to you, mr Editor.
I'll have to check this Momus guy out some time.