Hammering the gods
| Hammering the gods | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by Udo Lindenberg | ||||
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Publication |
1984 |
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| Label (s) | Polydor | |||
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Format (s) |
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Title (number) |
12 |
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running time |
≈ 37:66 |
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| occupation |
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Dave King, Udo Lindenberg |
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Götterhämmerung is the 14th studio album by the German pop-rock singer Udo Lindenberg , who was supported by his companion band, the Panikorchester .
background
The album was the second on Polydor . It was published on January 30, 1984 as the successor to the Odyssey and was stylistically based on this predecessor. Elements of punk and disco fun in combination with brash lyrics were typical for Lindenberg in this phase and something new in German music for the time. Some of the topics taken up in the lyrics, such as the privatization of broadcasting and the emerging new formats in the song Cod Family or right-wing populism in the song You Need No Guide , were still topical even at the end of the 2010s. With the title of the album Lindenberg alluded to Richard Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung from the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen .
Concerts
The tour began on March 14, 1984 in Kaunitz (Ostwestfalenhalle) and ended on May 26th in Frankfurt am Main (ice rink). At the previous concert series, Lindenberg had already tried to surpass all previous concert appearances - including by international bands such as the Rolling Stones - in terms of size, volume and show elements. Despite having a cold, Lindenberg did not cancel the tour. As in the previous tour, the stage show came in a huge staging with constantly changing sets and around 20 actors - who were repeatedly costumed. The previous tour Dröhnland Symphonie , staged by the theater director and artistic director Peter Zadek , served as a template for the "circensic spectacle of rock musicians, dance girls, dwarfs, muscle men, all kinds of acrobats and breakdancers, always accompanied by the groovy, slightly overdriven rock of the panic orchestra" described concert. Performances under the motto “For peace in the world” were also planned in Rostock , Dresden , Weimar and Karl-Marx-Stadt in the GDR . Lindenberg and his concert organizer Fritz Rau met the party leadership in the negotiations by offering an extension of the tour until June of that year. But not least at the urging of Egon Krenz , who feared damage to his image, the concert tour through East Germany did not take place. Commercially the tour in West Germany was a complete success. The criticism of the lyrics of the punk-heavy LP spared neither the totalitarianism of the GDR nor the narrow-minded, conservative capitalism in the West. The fans received the large-scale rock show very well, even if the press occasionally - like the picture after a concert in Hamburg - accused the artist of running out of ideas.
Lindenberg (with hat) discussing his appearance with Harry Belafonte and Egon Krenz in 1983 in what was then the GDR
Udo Lindenberg sings in front of fans on stage; Ostwestfalenhalle, Kaunitz, "Götterhämmerung" tour '84
When rock against right "stand together"
Live show from the 1980s - here at Rock am Ring
The singer performing in the 1980s
Single releases
As a maxi single with a playing time of 6:50 minutes, the funky number Nonnen was released as the second track in May 1984 . Previously, You Don't Need A Guide was released as a single.
Track list
| No. | title | length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Commander Superfinger | 4:18 |
| 2 | Russians | 3:18 |
| 3 | Anesthetic ghost | 4:04 |
| 4th | Gerhard Merciless | 2:02 |
| 5 | She wanted love | 3:49 |
| 6th | Hello GDR | 3:04 |
| 7th | nuns | 3:55 |
| 8th | Extremists | 3:30 |
| 9 | You don't need a guide | 4:35 |
| 10 | I love me myself | 3:19 |
| 11 | Cod family | 3:14 |
| 12 | The great peace | 2:32 |
reception
After it was presented live by Lindenberg Nonnen as part of a TV sports program on Radio Bremen , the title, which featured dancers disguised as nuns, quickly landed on the list of media harmful to young people ("Index") . The Bildzeitung ran the headline of a scandal. Against the background of the zeitgeist of the time, the lyrics of the song were provocative. Lindenberg criticized the official church more often. His brutal manner was already felt to be exaggerated in 1984, but was part of the standard program of the interpreter. Thirty years later, however, the song seemed quite harmless. Despite the media scandal, the release was not very successful commercially.
The single You don't need a guide is played live by Lindenberg to this day. Although it was not able to place itself in the charts after its release, the title is a classic in Lindenberg's repertoire. He is a good example of the artist's political attitude and his constant commitment against right-wing populism and right-wing extremism . Werner Burkhardt characterized the effect of these and other texts by Lindenberg against the background that at the time he was “wading ankle deep in the jargon of this youth”. At the same point, however, in an update, Die Zeit comes to the conclusion that 30 years later the texts only have a certain “naive pathos” inherent, which only serves “the healthy popular sentiment of the left”. Against the background of the attacks by the National Socialist underground that came to light, the forums assumed that the text was very topical - and the author assumed a certain foresight. Lines like “then roaring Germanic gang throws grenades into the kebab shops” reflect today's conditions more than those of 1984. He performed with other musicians on December 2, 2011 at the concert against the law in Jena and performed, among other things, “Because they don't need a leader”. The supposed topicality of the title included the fact that the singer repeatedly criticized the in his view insufficient investigations authorities involved in the NSU trial. Other media occasionally took up Lindenberg's title as a quote in reporting on the shift to the right in society.
Charts and chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
|---|---|---|
| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
|
3 (21 weeks) | 21st |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
|
10 (3 weeks) | 3 |
See also
literature
- Siegfried Schmidt-Joos , Wolf Kampmann : Rock Lexicon . Volume 1. ISBN 978-3-499-62132-1 , pp. 992 f.
Web links
- Götterhämmerung on discogs.com (partly in English), accessed on January 8, 2019
- Chart placement of the album for Germany, accessed on January 9, 2019
- Lindenberg website
Individual evidence
- ↑ Udo Lindenberg - biography. In: eventim.de. Retrieved January 7, 2019 .
- ^ Holger Stürenburg: Forever Young. Books on Demand , 2001, p. 161, ISBN 3-8311-1616-4
- ↑ The Setlist Wiki website , accessed on August 25, 2020
- ↑ The Setlist Wiki website , accessed on August 25, 2020
- ↑ Thomas Loeck: Us Udo Lindenberg - or what? epubli, 2013, ISBN 978-3-8442-7126-3 , p. 32
- ↑ Quoted from Siegfried Schmidt-Joos, Wolf Kampmann: Rock-Lexikon . Volume 1. 2008, ISBN 978-3-499-62132-1 , p. 992.
- ↑ Lindenberg: But easy . In: Der Spiegel . No. 20 , 1984, pp. 223-225 ( online ).
- ^ Holger Stürenburg: Forever Young. Books on Demand , 2001, ISBN 3-8311-1616-4 , p. 162
- ↑ Udo Lindenberg - Götterhämmerung. In: austriancharts.at. Accessed January 30, 2019 .
- ↑ Udo Lindenberg - Götterhämmerung. In: deutsche-mugge.de. Retrieved January 8, 2019 .
- ^ Holger Stürenburg: Forever Young . Books on Demand , 2001, ISBN 3-8311-1616-4 , p. 159 ff.
- ↑ Nationalism is betrayal of the youth. In: Der Tagesspiegel. December 15, 2018, accessed March 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Music with the steam hammer . In: Die Zeit , No. 41/1985
- ^ Die Zeit , November 22, 2012
- ↑ Because they don't need a guide. In: ultratop.be. Retrieved March 13, 2019 .
- ↑ 50,000 rock against the right. In: Spiegel Online . December 3, 2011, accessed March 13, 2019 .
- ↑ Udo Lindenberg criticizes Penner from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In: Abendblatt. August 17, 2012, accessed March 14, 2019 .
- ↑ You don't need a guide. In: New Westphalian. April 27, 2012, accessed March 14, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Chart sources: DE CH