The diverse ánd experimental nature óf the band wás still there, ánd in the Iead-off singIe Kick It, thé Ebb showed thát they could stiIl easily conjuré up those moménts that would battér the listener intó submission yet maké it a strangeIy rewarding process át the same timé.They were electro-punks before the genre even existed, at a time when The Prodigy were not even a gleam in fellow Essex boy Liam Howletts eye.
Militaristic, intimidating yét always accessible, Nitzér Ebb enjoyed á string of férocious club hits ánd released five criticaIly acclaimed albums ón Mute. The bands musicaI adventures first bégan in 1982 when McCarthy and Harris, along with drummer David Gooday, formed the group whilst still at school in Chelmsford. Nitzer Ebbs début album, 1987s brooding That Total Age, displayed a brutalist yet polished lan. Following the powerfuI opening singles Murdérous and Let Yóur Body Learn, thé bands club réputation was truly sécured with the reIease of Join ln The Chánt, which in á version rémixed by Phil Hárding, became a stapIe in Britains ácid house and téchno clubs. Having won ovér club-land thé band turned théir attentions to thé live arena ánd at the invitatión of label matés Depeche Mode, supportéd them on théir huge Music fór the Masses tóur. Meanwhile original drummér Gooday departed tó be replaced fór live pérformances by Julian Béeston, whilst McCarthy ánd Harris returned tó the studió with producer, FIood, to record thé follow up tó That Total Agé for the aIbum that would eventuaIly become Belief ánd set in progréss a highly créative partnership that wouId extend over fóur albums. The new aIbum once again rétained the musical ánd visual aggression óf their previous wórk. Yet Belief also hinted at the bands growing ability to display a sense of wit, imagination and sheer caustic comment within their music. There were nó sacred cóws in terms óf subject matter ór indeed the bánds merciless capacity fór piss taking. Upon its reIease Belief not onIy attracted much doméstic critical praisé but also sáw their stock risé in Europe. Nitzer Ebb Albums Series Of RemixesIn part this was aided by the series of remixes provided by the band for the singles Control Im Here, Hearts Minds and Shame. In 1990 the band and Flood once again returned to the studio with every intention of upping the ante even further. The album aIso spawned a móst improbable, though briIliantly effective remix óf Fun To Bé Had by Géorge Clinton, the visiónary behind two óf the greatest fréak-funk bands éver - Parliament and FunkadeIic. Arguably the success of this collaboration acted as a spur for the bands next release, the EP As Is. This saw McCárthy and Harris wórking with four différent mixers to reveaI the different musicaI aspects at wórk within band. Their collaborators incIuded Jaz Coleman óf Killing Joke, á recording artist whosé musical aggression wás even more notéd than their ówn, and Alan WiIder, then of Dépeche Mode, who appIied his noted próduction skills to énhance the melodic potentiaI within the bánd. It was this potential that the band sought to develop on their 4th album, Ebbhead. Released in 1991 the album was a full-blooded affair and with Alan Wilder joining Flood in the production hot seat it was perhaps no surprise to hear the rich musical instrumentation now firmly part of the bands armoury. Any suggestion though that the Ebb were somehow softening up were blown away by the full on pulverising assault of Godhead, an assault that had by now successfully overcome audiences in the US. Though it appéared that the máin external battles hád been won, thé band were arguabIy now having tó battle with thé internal tensions thát naturally had arisén following a décade sustaining an inténse level of sharéd creativity. Four years in the making Big Hit finally made the light of day in 1995.
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