Rheingold - Rheingold mp3 album

Although it appears to be pretty straightforward and of its time on first listen, this is one of the strangest records from Germany I know. I grew up during the time of NDW and this was the first music I listened to, although I only paid attention when it hit mainstream (I was born 1970). I remember 'Dreiklangsdimensionen' very well; it was one of the first NDW tracks I liked. This is strange, as it must have been played a lot in radio or TV much later than it was released, when NDW had gone overground. When this LP came out, the rules for the genre were had not been defined. Revisiting it now, I think it is really some of the more relevant music produced in Germany in the early 80s. On the downside, it anticipates the horrible mainstream NDW that happened maybe two years later. On the other hand, it has very interesting influences from Neu!, Kraftwerk and Harmonia which not very many bands at that time manged to transform into something productive. Some of it even sounds like some German bands from the 90s doing retro 80s stuff. Really hard to categorize; it is also not really Synth Pop as a lot of the atmosphere is created with guitars. Some tracks are really kitsch and hard to bear, although even these are remarkable in a retrofuturistic sense; either way, this really is its own animal. I am not sure if I like it but this is really unique (and 'Dreiklangsdimenionen' is still one of the best tracks in German language ever).