Nico | ||
Allmusic Biography : One of the most fascinating figures of rocks fringes, Nico hobnobbed, worked, and was romantically linked with an incredible assortment of the most legendary entertainers of the 60s. The paradox of her career was that she herself never attained the fame of her peers, pursuing a distinctly individualistic and uncompromising musical career that was uncommercial, but wholly admirable and influential. Nico first rose to fame as a European supermodel, also landing a bit part in Fellinis La Dolce Vita film and giving birth to a son by Alain Delon. In 1965, she attracted the attention of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham, who gave her a chance to record for his Immediate label, though the resulting single, which also featured Brian Jones and Jimmy Page on guitars, flopped. Shortly afterward, she moved to New York, where Andy Warhol installed her as a vestigial presence and occasional lead singer for the Velvet Underground. The band never really accepted her as a bona fide member and she departed in 1967, but not before contributing unforgettable deadpan vocals to three of the songs on their classic 1967 debut album. Nico embarked on a solo career, recording folk-rock-flavored songs for her debut Chelsea Girl album with assistance from Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, and John Cale. Her 1969 follow-up, The Marble Index, was a dramatic departure that unveiled her doom-laden, gothic persona, produced by Cale and prominently featuring her deep vocals, impenetrable lyrics, and ghostly harmonium. Her subsequent 70s albums explored much the same territory, with assistance from Cale and influential art rockers like Eno and Phil Manzanera. Her career fell into disarray during the rest of the 70s and the 80s as she struggled with a massive drug habit and tangled personal life. She released several live albums on various labels, but the ill-planned Drama of Exile and the more successful Camera Obscura were her only coherent studio efforts until she died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Ibiza in 1988. The original goth rocker, Nicos albums are demanding and bleak, but map a unique and starkly powerful vision that has become more influential with age. An intimate of Bob Dylan, Jackson Browne, the Velvet Underground, the Stones, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, and others, her fascinating story is recounted in the biography Nico: The Life & Lies of an Icon by Richard Witts, published in Great Britain by Virgin books; The End by James Young is a seedy look at her drug-addled final years by a member of her touring band. | ||
Album: 1 of 29 Title: The Velvet Underground & Nico Released: 1967-03 Tracks: 11 Duration: 48:56 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Sunday Morning (02:55) 2 I’m Waiting for the Man (04:39) 3 Femme Fatale (02:39) 4 Venus in Furs (05:10) 5 Run Run Run (04:22) 6 All Tomorrow’s Parties (06:00) 7 Heroin (07:12) 8 There She Goes Again (02:41) 9 I’ll Be Your Mirror (02:14) 10 The Black Angel’s Death Song (03:13) 11 European Son (07:46) | |
The Velvet Underground & Nico : Allmusic album Review : One would be hard-pressed to name a rock album whose influence has been as broad and pervasive as The Velvet Underground & Nico. While it reportedly took over a decade for the albums sales to crack six figures, glam, punk, new wave, goth, noise, and nearly every other left-of-center rock movement owes an audible debt to this set. While The Velvet Underground had as distinctive a sound as any band, whats most surprising about this album is its diversity. Here, the Velvets dipped their toes into dreamy pop ("Sunday Morning"), tough garage rock ("Waiting for the Man"), stripped-down R&B ("There She Goes Again"), and understated love songs ("Ill Be Your Mirror") when they werent busy creating sounds without pop precedent. Lou Reeds lyrical exploration of drugs and kinky sex (then risky stuff in film and literature, let alone "teen music") always received the most press attention, but the music Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker played was as radical as the words they accompanied. The bracing discord of "European Son," the troubling beauty of "All Tomorrows Parties," and the expressive dynamics of "Heroin" all remain as compelling as the day they were recorded. While the significance of Nicos contributions have been debated over the years, she meshes with the bands outlook in that she hardly sounds like a typical rock vocalist, and if Andy Warhols presence as producer was primarily a matter of signing the checks, his notoriety allowed The Velvet Underground to record their material without compromise, which would have been impossible under most other circumstances. Few rock albums are as important as The Velvet Underground & Nico, and fewer still have lost so little of their power to surprise and intrigue more 50 years after first hitting the racks. | ||
Album: 2 of 29 Title: Chelsea Girl Released: 1967-10 Tracks: 10 Duration: 45:36 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Fairest of the Seasons (04:08) 2 These Days (03:33) 3 Little Sister (04:26) 4 Winter Song (03:20) 5 It Was a Pleasure Then (08:05) 6 Chelsea Girls (07:25) 7 I’ll Keep It With Mine (03:20) 8 Somewhere There’s a Feather (02:20) 9 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (05:09) 10 Eulogy to Lenny Bruce (03:46) | |
Chelsea Girl : Allmusic album Review : Although Chelsea Girl (1967) was the first long-player from the German-born Christa Päffgen, it was not her debut solo effort. Prior to becoming involved with the Velvet Underground and while under the direction of Andrew Loog Oldham, Nico issued an obscure 7" on the mod pop Immediate label. The song selection on that 1965 single -- which featured a cover of Gordon Lightfoots "Im Not Sayin" and an Oldham co-composition with Jimmy Page called "Last Mile" -- foreshadowed the eclectic nature of this LP. Although the dissolution between the vocalist and core instrumental quartet was not without its share of acrimony, the non-percussive contingent of the Velvet Underground is heavily featured on Chelsea Girl: along with then-unknown singer/songwriter Jackson Browne (guitar) -- the vocalists concurrent love interest -- there is Lou Reed (guitar), Sterling Morrison (guitar/bass), and John Cale (piano/bass/viola), who contrast what they had been doing with the larger combo. These sides are decidedly "unplugged," providing a folky and Baroque setting for Nicos dark and brooding vocal inflections. There is an introspective foresight in Brownes "Fairest of the Seasons," "These Days," and "Somewhere Theres a Feather." The minimalist string section features a quaint, yet effective arrangement giving the material a distinctly European feel. These orchestrated folk leanings are similar to the sound emanating from other burgeoning groups such as the Incredible String Band, Pentangle, and the Fairport Convention spin-off Fotheringay.The same can be said of her almost unrecognizable reworking of Bob Dylans "Ill Keep It With Mine." The noir black-widow charm ultimately saves the performance, as does Cales remarkable classical intonations. With Reeds "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" -- a track which actually predates the Velvet Underground -- there is a sense of history that Nico brings to her interpretation, as if the melody were, in fact, a traditional German folk tune. There is a palpable distinction between those lighter cuts and the menacing Velvet Underground-conceived material. At the center of the project are the extended "It Was a Pleasure Then" and the stunning semi-autobiographical Reed/Morrison title track. The juxtaposition of such honest and at times harrowing imagery to Nicos inherently bleak delivery is nothing short of an inspired artistic statement which has since long outlasted its initial socially relevant context -- similar to the more modern contributions of Laurie Anderson, Ann Magnuson, and Patti Smith. An unqualified masterpiece. | ||
Album: 3 of 29 Title: The Marble Index Released: 1968-09-19 Tracks: 10 Duration: 37:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Prelude (00:59) 2 Lawns of Dawn (03:11) 3 No One Is There (03:37) 4 Aris Song (03:21) 5 Facing the Wind (04:55) 6 Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie) (05:02) 7 Frozen Warnings (04:02) 8 Evening of Light (05:40) 9 Roses in the Snow (04:09) 10 Nibelungen (02:42) | |
The Marble Index : Allmusic album Review : The quirky, orchestrated folk-rock of Nicos 1968 debut album, Chelsea Girl, in no way prepared listeners for the stark, almost avant-garde flavor of her 1969 follow-up, The Marble Index. The chanteuse presented an uncompromisingly bleak, gothic soundscape on her second album. Dominated by spare harmonium and Nicos deep, brooding vocals, this album unveiled her singularly morose songwriting (her first record featured none of her compositions). Owing more to European classical and folk music than rock, it found little favor with 1969 audiences. But like the work of the Velvet Underground, it proved to be quite influential in the long run on a future generation of black-clad goth rockers. | ||
Album: 4 of 29 Title: Desertshore Released: 1970-12 Tracks: 8 Duration: 29:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Janitor of Lunacy (04:05) 2 The Falconer (05:43) 3 My Only Child (03:31) 4 Le Petit Chevalier (01:15) 5 Abschied (03:05) 6 Afraid (03:31) 7 Mütterlein (04:41) 8 All That Is My Own (03:28) | |
Desertshore : Allmusic album Review : While Nico was the member of the Velvet Underground who had had the least experience in music prior to joining the group (while she had recorded a pop single in England, shed never been a member of a working band before Andy Warhol introduced her to the Velvets), she was also the one who strayed farthest from traditional rock & roll after her brief tenure with the band, and by the time she recorded Desertshore, her work had little (if anything) to do with traditional Western pop. John Cale, who produced and arranged Desertshore, once described the music as having more to do with 20th century classical music than anything else, and while that may be going a bit far to make a point, even compared to the avant-rock frenzy of the Velvet Undergrounds early material, Desertshore is challenging stuff. Nicos dour Teutonic monotone is a compelling but hardly welcoming vocal presence, and the songs, centered around the steady drone of her harmonium, are often grim meditations on fate that are crafted and performed with inarguable skill and intelligence, but are also a bit samey, and the albums downbeat tone gets to be rough sledding by the end of side two. Cales arrangements are superb throughout, and "My Only Child," "Afraid," and "The Falconer" are quite beautiful in their own ascetic way, but like the bulk of Nicos repertoire, Desertshore is an album practically designed to polarize its listeners; youll either embrace its darkness or give up on it before the end of side one. Then again, given the thoroughly uncompromising nature of her career as a musician, thats probably just what Nico had in mind. | ||
Album: 5 of 29 Title: Pop History Released: 1971 Tracks: 18 Duration: 1:23:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Duke of Prunes (05:09) 2 Absolutely Free (03:26) 3 Status Back Baby (02:52) 4 America Drinks & Goes Home (02:43) 5 Invacation & Ritual Dance of the Young Pumpkin (06:57) 6 Flower Punk (03:57) 7 You Didn’t Try to Call Me (03:53) 8 I’m Not Satisfied (02:37) 9 The Idiot Bastard Son (03:27) 10 The Chrome Plated Megaphone of Destiny (06:30) 1 The Murder Mystery (08:35) 2 I’m Set Free (04:05) 3 Lady Godiva’s Operation (04:52) 4 Winter Song (03:15) 5 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (05:15) 6 The Gift (08:15) 7 Some Kind of Love (03:35) 8 Eulogy to Lenny Bruce (03:45) | |
Album: 6 of 29 Title: The End... Released: 1974 Tracks: 8 Duration: 42:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 It Has Not Taken Long (04:11) 2 Secret Side (04:08) 3 You Forgot to Answer (05:07) 4 Innocent and Vain (03:51) 5 Valley of the Kings (03:57) 6 Weve Got the Gold (05:44) 7 The End (09:36) 8 Das Lied der Deutschen (05:29) | |
The End... : Allmusic album Review : It is one of the most entrenched visions in the rock critics vocabulary; Nico as doomed valkyrie, droning death-like through a harsh gothic monotone, a drained beauty pumping dirges from her harmonium while a voice as old as dirt hangs cobwebs round the chords. In fact she only made one album which remotely fit that bill -- this one -- and its a symbol of its significance that even the cliché emerges as a thing of stunning beauty. Her first album following three years of rumor and speculation, The End was consciously designed to highlight the Nico of already pertinent myth. Stark, dark, bare, and frightening, the harmonium dominant even amid the splendor of Enos synthesized menace, John Cales childlike piano, and Phil Manzaneras scratchy, effects-whipped guitar, it is the howling wind upon wuthering heights, deathless secrets in airless dungeons, ancient mysteries in the guise of modern icons. Live, Nico took to dedicating the final cut, a sparse but heartstoppingly beautiful interpretation of the former German national anthem, to terrorist Andreas Baader, even as the song itself conjured demons of its own from an impressionable Anglo-American audience. Nico later admitted she intended the performance in the same spirit as Jimi Hendrix rendered "Star Spangled Banner." But "Das Lied der Deutschen" -- "Deutschland Uber Alles" -- has connotations which neither tribute nor parody could ever undermine. It is only in the 90s that even Germany has reclaimed the anthem for its own. In 1974, it was positively leperous. Listen without prejudice, though, and you catch Nicos meaning regardless, even as her voice tiptoes on the edge of childlike, all but duetting with the little girl she once was, on a song which shed been singing since the cradle. The ghosts pack in. Former lover Jim Morrison haunts the stately "You Forgot to Answer," a song written about the last time Nico saw him, in a hired limousine on the day of his death; of course he reappears in the title track, an epic recounting of the Doors own "The End," but blacker than even they envisioned it, an echoing maze of torchlit corridors and spectral children, and so intense that, by the time Nico reaches the "mother...father" passage, she is too weary even to scream. The cracked groan which emerges instead is all the more chilling for its understatement, and the musicians were as affected as the listener. The mutant funk coda with which the performance concludes is more than an incongruous bridge. It is the sound of the universe cracking under the pressure. But to dwell on the fear is to overlook the beauty -- The End, first and foremost, is an album of intimate simplicity and deceptive depths. Nicos voice stuns, soaring and swooping into unimagined corners. No less than "Das Lied der Deutschen," both "Valley of the Kings" and "It Has Not Taken Long" make a mockery of the lazy critical complaints that she simply grumbled along in a one-note wail, while the arrangements (most of which were Nicos own; producer Cale admits he spent most of his time in the studio simply marveling) utterly rewrote even the most generous interpretation of what "rock music" should sound like. The End doesnt simply subvert categorization. It defies time itself. | ||
Album: 7 of 29 Title: June 1, 1974 Released: 1974-06-06 Tracks: 9 Duration: 45:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Driving Me Backwards (06:07) 2 Baby’s on Fire (03:53) 3 Heartbreak Hotel (05:19) 4 The End (09:15) 5 May I? (05:31) 6 Shouting in a Bucket Blues (05:07) 7 Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes (03:28) 8 Everybody’s Sometime and Some People’s All the Time Blues (04:35) 9 Two Goes Into Four (02:38) | |
June 1, 1974 : Allmusic album Review : It isnt just that the four credited lead players are together, its also that Robert Wyatt and (if one is excited by such a thing) Mike Oldfield are helping out as well. The whole result should have been a mind-blowing example of one moment of twisted brilliance after another, captured for the ages. And is it? Well, close enough. The weeks rehearsal mentioned in the liner notes seems to have gotten everyone more or less on the same wavelength for the chosen songs, but Ayers, who was the headliner, just sounded too laid-back in the end to match the chilling brilliance of his guests, even with old Soft Machine mate Wyatt along for the ride. The first half of the album is the real winner as a result, not least for the sharp song choices. Enos two selections are inspired; "Driving Me Backwards" gets even more freaked out than the studio version, turning into a lacerating death crawl thanks to Cales violin, while "Babys on Fire" in contrast almost turns friendlier at the end. Both Cale and Nico make strong marks with two of their most notable and notorious cover versions. The formers "Heartbreak Hotel" keeps much of the spaced-out paranoia familiar from the studio cut, just ominous enough. Meanwhile, Nicos take on "The End" easily equals her own studio take, the song creeping with dread and fear. Ayers selections take up the remainder of the album and theyre, well, nice. But after the earlier shadows and psychosis, theres a little too much guitar mellowness and bongwater lounge grooves in contrast, aside from a wonderful, dramatic take on "Two Goes into Four." His between-song asides are fun, though, while his voice is in fine shape, even if the French part on "May I?" just makes him sound like a dirty old man instead of Serge Gainsbourg. | ||
Album: 8 of 29 Title: Drama of Exile Released: 1983-11-23 Tracks: 10 Duration: 40:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 One More Chance (04:14) 2 The Sphinx (04:02) 3 Saeta (03:42) 4 Genghis Khan (03:36) 5 Heroes (05:48) 6 Henry Hudson (03:47) 7 Sixty Forty (04:37) 8 Orly Flight (02:51) 9 Vegas (03:32) 10 I’m Waiting for the Man (04:14) | |
Drama of Exile : Allmusic album Review : It was a shock at the time and today, the thrill still lingers. Almost 15 years after she quit the Velvet Underground, and with four stunningly stubborn solo albums under her belt, Nico was finally ready to return to rock & roll, with a conventional band and a clutch of great songs which proved that, whatever else shed lost during a career spent on the bleakest fringe of the idiom, the arts of composition and interpretation were not part of it. As a member of the Velvets, shed performed two songs, the stately "All Tomorrows Parties" and the fragile "Femme Fatale." Now she added a third to her bow, a relentless "Waiting for the Man" which took its lead from composer Lou Reeds own recent revisions of the song but never lost sight of the trademark primitivism which gave it its original power -- thats not Maureen Tucker on drums, but close your eyes and it could be. Elsewhere, David Bowies "Heroes" was given an almost militaristic going over, the chopping guitars, rolling drums, and a triumphant Davey Payne sax solo conspiring to prove that while Bowie had written about what he saw in Berlin, Nico sang of what she knew. It was stirring stuff and, again, all the more surprising for who was behind it. Nico reveled in the confusion. "It was really boring, all that quiet stuff," she said of her past albums and, as if to hammer home the point, ensured that even her most reflective moments now swam within a brittle swirl of new wave-inflected rock, and the traditional Eurasian influences which band members Philippe Quilichini and Mahammad Hadi added to Nicos own unique references. Across her own compositions, Drama of Exile explored the faces and places Nico witnessed during her own dramatic exile -- she had spent the first half of the 1970s in hiding, convinced that the Black Panthers had a contract out on her; she resurfaced and was then forced to retreat once again, after an interview quote was interpreted as espousing brutal racism. The haunting, almost Indian-sounding "Orly Flight," the rattled funk of "The Sphinx," and the droning/hypnotic "Purple Lips" all suggested adventures which never made the newspapers, while "One More Chance" made it obvious that she didnt regret one of them. Nor, once this album was assimilated by the world at large, would she ever need to. | ||
Album: 9 of 29 Title: Camera Obscura Released: 1985 Tracks: 9 Duration: 44:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Camera Obscura (03:46) 2 Tananore (04:28) 3 Win a Few (06:13) 4 My Funny Valentine (03:29) 5 Das Lied von einsanen Mädchens (05:43) 6 Fearfully in Danger (07:30) 7 My Heart Is Empty (04:42) 8 Into the Arena (04:16) 9 König (04:08) | |
Camera Obscura : Allmusic album Review : The most noticeable thing about Camera Obscura, only Nicos sixth solo album in almost 20 years, is how relaxed she seems. Maybe it was a result of the security that now enveloped her, following her rediscovery and total reinvention in the arms of the British post-punk/goth scene -- people say that artists do their best work while theyre living on the edge, and Nicos canon was living proof of that. But it was all behind her now and, if Camera Obscura does not sound positively comfortable, its at least less despairing than its predecessors. Not that she had changed her stance too much -- listening to Nico remains a cathartic, solitary experience. But the claustrophobia that was so essential to each of her albums as far as Drama of Exile has given way to vistas that, aided by John Cales wide-open production, render Camera Obscura an easy listen by comparison. Indeed, the reliance on the studio is so pronounced that there are moments when the albums closest antecedent lies in Cales own past albums, with Nicos voice buried so deeply inside the mix that its almost unnoticeable. Both the (studio improvised?) title cut and the lengthy "Fearfully in Danger" are absolutely Cale territory and, if Nico is allowed to shine at all, its on "My Funny Valentine," executed precisely as one would hope shed do it -- all sad and dark, with just a faint smile playing around her lips -- and "Das Lied Von Einsanen Madchens," a strident Teutonic ballad that, were its source better known, would doubtless be as universally effective as her rendition of "Deutschland Uber Alles" proved a decade before. The title, incidentally, translates as "the song of the lonely girls," a subject about which Nico certainly knew a thing or two. Camera Obscura is not classic Nico, but its by no means disposable. Indeed, accepting that Cales overwhelming presence should at least earn him a co-billing in the credits, there really is no one else who could have made a record like this. | ||
Album: 10 of 29 Title: The Blue Angel Released: 1985 Tracks: 10 Duration: 53:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Femme Fatale (02:36) 2 All Tomorrows Parties (05:55) 3 Ill Keep It With Mine (03:17) 4 Chelsea Girls (07:21) 5 Janitor of Lunacy (04:11) 6 Heroes (06:08) 7 One More Chance (05:40) 8 Sixty Forty (04:52) 9 I’m Waiting for the Man (04:14) 10 The End (08:42) | |
The Blue Angel : Allmusic album Review : This peculiar compilation album was unleashed by the U.K.-based label that briefly (and controversially) held Nicos contract for one album, Drama of Exile, but has somehow stretched that legacy out over many, many more. The collection is built around the standard mix of early-80s live and studio material, but expands its brief to touch the one back catalog album that Nico herself always hated, her Chelsea Girl debut. Both the foreboding title track and a surprisingly sweet version of Bob Dylans "Ill Keep It With Mine" are here, and indeed they make curious bedmates for the rocking excerpts from Drama of Exile and its in-concert cousins. They, of course, line up precisely as one would expect and the most interesting point is that just two of the songs here are Nicos own compositions -- "One More Chance" and "Sixty Forty." But with David Bowie, Lou Reed, and the Doors joining Dylan on parade, Blue Angel will at least appeal to collectors of Nicos best-known cover versions. | ||
Album: 11 of 29 Title: Nico in Tokyo Released: 1986 Tracks: 11 Duration: 55:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 My Heart Is Empty (05:22) 2 Purple Lips (04:25) 3 Tananore (04:21) 4 Janitor of Lunacy (04:07) 5 You Forget to Answer (03:08) 6 60/40 (06:39) 7 My Funny Valentine (04:03) 8 All Tomorrows Parties (02:57) 9 Das Lied Einsanen Madchens (06:30) 10 Femme Fatal (04:05) 11 The End (09:21) | |
Album: 12 of 29 Title: Behind the Iron Curtain Released: 1986 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:01:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 All Saints Night From a Polish Motorway (09:14) 2 One More Chance (03:48) 3 Frozen Warnings (03:33) 4 The Song of the Lonely Girl (06:08) 5 Win a Few (08:55) 6 Koenig (04:27) 7 Purple Lips (04:32) 8 All Tomorrows Parties (03:03) 9 Tananoori (04:07) 10 Janitor of Lunacy (04:19) 11 My Heart Is Empty (05:15) 12 Femme Fatale (03:49) | |
Behind the Iron Curtain : Allmusic album Review : Amid the sheer quantity of "live in the 1980s"-style Nico live albums that commenced raining down in the early 80s, and which have barely abated in the years since her death, few stand out as being more (or less) valuable than any other. Inasmuch as it captures an entire concert, Behind the Iron Curtain is one of the few exceptions, a classy recording of a late-1985 show in Warsaw, Poland, as she toured on the back of Camera Obscura. Backed by the ever-faithful Faction band, the show was played out before an audience of almost unbecoming politeness -- keyboard player James Young, recalling the event in his The End memoir, described the onlookers as "serious and subdued...I think the problem was that, for once, Nico was out-doomed." As the album title notes, Poland still lay behind the Iron Curtain at that time, a land where audience participation was seriously discouraged. Young wrote that the "performance was as reserved as the seating," but that is to the albums advantage. With a live set that ranges throughout Nicos career, from old road warriors like "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrows Parties" to new additions "My Funny Valentine" and "Das Lied Vom Einsamen Madchen," the playing is precise and Nico is in excellent voice. "The End" is as chilling as it always should be (but, all too often on live recordings, isnt), and the version of "Janitor of Lunacy" has an edge that still sends shivers down the spine. And what more could you want from a Nico album? | ||
Album: 13 of 29 Title: Hanging Gardens Released: 1989 Tracks: 9 Duration: 40:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Hanging Gardens (06:16) 2 The Sound (04:56) 3 You Forgot to Answer (03:27) 4 Vegas (03:42) 5 Im Waiting for the Man (04:23) 6 Your Voice (05:40) 7 Your Word Against Mine (04:13) 8 I Will Be Seven (04:47) 9 The Line (03:35) | |
Hanging Gardens : Allmusic album Review : Loudly touted as Nicos final studio album, Hanging Gardens was, in fact, something of a mishmash, comprising a handful of tracks from her last-ever concert, at the Berlin Planetarium in June 1988, and a clutch more drawn from sessions back in the early 80s. As such, it was a considerable letdown to anybody hoping for a legitimate follow-up to Camera Obscura, although such criticisms can in no way detract from the overall beauty of the collection. Of the four new songs on display, the lyrically brief "I Will Be Seven" is absolutely redolent of the direction in which Camera Obscura might have headed without John Cales scene-stealing production, while versions of "Im Waiting for the Man," "You Forgot to Answer," "Vegas," and "Saeta" (mysteriously -- or deliberately -- mistitled "The Line") are only tiresome if youve already gathered up every other available version. As with so many of the posthumous albums issued in Nicos name, Hanging Gardens can in no way be described as essential. But fans will not be disappointed by anything other than the albums brevity. | ||
Album: 14 of 29 Title: Do Or Die! Released: 1993 Tracks: 14 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Janitor of Lunacy (?) 2 All Tomorrows Parties (?) 3 Saeta (?) 4 Saeta (Piccadilly radio session) (?) 5 Vegas (?) 6 No One Is There (?) 7 Abschied (?) 8 Secret Side (?) 9 Procession (?) 10 Heroes (?) 11 Femme Fatale (?) 12 All Tomorrows Parties (?) 13 Waiting for My Man (?) 14 The End (?) | |
Do Or Die! : Allmusic album Review : When the tapes which comprise this album first appeared, on the bootleg Nico Sings the Void cassette sold at her 1982/1983 live shows, they were the only evidence of her live performance you could find. Today, theres close to a dozen such collections out there, including several radar-sharp recreations of entire performances. But Do or Die, salvaged from both that original tape and a handful of other period concert and radio performances, ranks among the finest of them all. And heres why. Culled from five European gigs during 1981, and featuring the finest of Nicos latter-day live bands, the Blue Orchids, the 12 songs (but 14 performances -- two songs appear twice) are drawn from almost every phase of her career, essentially lining up as the definitive "greatest hits" album Nico is still awaiting. And no, The Classic Years, well-meaning hodgepodge though it was, doesnt fit the bill. From the Velvets to Drama of Exile, the emphasis is on the crowd-pleasers -- even if one acknowledges that the things which pleased a Nico audience werent necessarily those which would thrill anybody else. Kicking off with a chilling, echo-laden "Janitor of Lunacy," closing with a positively medieval rendering of "The End," Do or Die sweeps from the knowing bombast of "Heroes" to the skillful beauty of "Abscheid"; from a positively lovely "Femme Fatale" to an a cappella "All Tomorrows Parties"; and peaks with a funereal "Saeta," recorded for Manchesters Picadilly Radio in 1981, and the seldom heard "No-One Is There," originally written for Richard Nixon, but dedicated now to Ronald Reagan. None of the performances are themselves definitive -- for all her live experience, Nico worked best in the studio, surrounded by silence, darkness, and friends. The concert environment paid the rent (and financed a few other little necessities) and, particularly through the mid-80s, Nico gigged for little other reason -- you could hear it in her voice, see it in her movements, and, years later, still recount it on so many live posthumous albums. But not every flight was on auto-pilot, not every night caught her staring blankly ahead. Do or Die is important because those are the nights it captured. | ||
Album: 15 of 29 Title: Chelsea Girl Live Released: 1994 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:11:23 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Tananore (06:34) 2 One More Chance (07:28) 3 Procession (04:18) 4 My Heart Is Empty (05:02) 5 Janitor Of Lunacy (04:29) 6 The Sphinx (03:12) 7 You Forget To Answer (03:39) 8 Fearfully In Danger (04:49) 9 Sixty Forty (04:36) 10 All Tomorrows Parties (03:11) 11 Purple Lips (04:00) 12 Femme Fatale (04:23) 13 Saeta (06:23) 14 The End (09:19) | |
Chelsea Girl Live : Allmusic album Review : Upon departure from the Velvet Underground camp, following the recording of their debut album, Nico established herself as a solo artist with the John Cale produced Chelsea Girl in 1967. The conventional folk-rock stylings of that album (the songs were written by Jackson Browne, Bob Dylan, Tim Hardin, and former bandmates Cale and Lou Reed) soon gave way, however, to the more avant-garde leanings of The Marble Index. Stripped of Tom Wilsons carefully crafted organic arrangements, Nicos voice was immersed in the sort of bleak, icy soundscapes it always seemed to belong in. The new approach would define the majority of her work into the 1980s. Hardly a live reading of Nicos Chelsea Girl, not a single song from that debut is present on Chelsea Girl Live. In fact, save for interpretations of "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrows Parties," Nico doesnt even rely on the acclaimed Reed/Cale songbook. Instead, she draws largely from 80s solo albums like Drama of Exile and Camera Obscura. At the core of the performance are "Janitor of Lunacy," "The Sphinx," and "You Forgot to Answer" -- songs that set Nicos wintry voice adrift on a harmonium drone (the instrument she first adopted on The Marble Index). Elsewhere her voice is given the minimal backing of a skeletal drum clatter, sickening synthesizers, and keyboards that produce a range of appropriate tones from gamelan-style cascades of notes to Fender Rhodes imitations. As stirring a testament as any to Nicos unique vision, Chelsea Girl Live is also a fine compliment to her album work. | ||
Album: 16 of 29 Title: Nicos Last Concert "Fata Morgana" Released: 1994 Tracks: 8 Duration: 57:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Sound I (10:42) 2 The Hanging Gardens of Semiramis (09:17) 3 Your Voice (07:17) 4 I Will Be Seven (06:41) 5 Fata Morgana (06:49) 6 All Saints Night (06:23) 7 The Sound II (06:20) 8 You Forget to Answer (03:59) | |
Album: 17 of 29 Title: Heroine Released: 1994-08 Tracks: 13 Duration: 48:57 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 My Heart Is Empty (04:18) 2 Procession (04:03) 3 All Tomorrows Parties (02:53) 4 Valley of the Kings (03:20) 5 The Sphinx (03:07) 6 Weve Got the Gold (04:14) 7 Mütterlein (04:15) 8 Afraid (03:44) 9 Innocent and Vain (02:53) 10 Frozen Warnings (04:30) 11 Fearfully in Danger (03:52) 12 Tananore (04:10) 13 Femme Fatale (03:38) | |
Heroine : Allmusic album Review : There is a plethora of live recordings by Nico from the last decade of her life, enough to discourage even fans from investing a lot of time and effort in acquiring each one. Heroine, however, must rank not only among the best of those recordings, but among her best 1980s work. Recorded at the Library Theatre in Manchester around 1980 (an exact date is not available), it immediately has a leg up on her studio work of the era (as heard on her Drama of Exile album) in its minimal, at times almost-bare arrangements. Nico was not made to be a rock star, as some of her production seemed to insist on trying to make her. She was best as a lonely voice peering out of the darkness, and though shes backed by a band (the exact musicians are unidentified) on this set, the accompaniments spare and spooky, as it should be. The repertoires a good cross selection of material, spanning the Velvet Underground to her then-current songs, including "All Tomorrows Parties," "Weve Got the Gold," "Frozen Warnings," "Valley of the Kings," and "Femme Fatale." Vocally shes pretty focused and cutting, though in a somber fashion, on this recording. It has pretty good sound too, though youll sometimes need to crank the volume a bit, so spacious and subdued is the instrumentation, which leans heavily on synth and harmonium. The 2002 CD edition on Anagram has an enhanced track/video of her singing "My Heart Is Empty," presumably from around the same time or from the exact performance documented on the album, as well as a remix of "Reich Der Traume," with vintage and remix doctors unspecified in the notes. | ||
Album: 18 of 29 Title: Icon Released: 1996 Tracks: 11 Duration: 1:15:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Vegas (03:41) 2 One More Chance (03:53) 3 The Sphinx (04:10) 4 Orly Flight (04:05) 5 Henry Hudson (02:50) 6 Sixty Forty (03:46) 7 Genghis Khan (04:39) 8 Mutterlein (03:32) 9 Weve Got the Gold (04:08) 10 Saeta (04:02) 11 Nico Interviews 1977-1986 (37:05) | |
Album: 19 of 29 Title: The Classic Years Released: 1998-09-15 Tracks: 19 Duration: 1:16:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Im Not Saying (02:52) 2 The Last Mile (02:30) 3 I’ll Be Your Mirror (02:14) 4 Femme Fatale (02:39) 5 All Tomorrows Parties (02:52) 6 The Fairest of the Seasons (04:10) 7 These Days (03:34) 8 Little Sister (04:26) 9 Chelsea Girls (07:25) 10 No One Is There (03:37) 11 Aris Song (03:21) 12 Frozen Warnings (04:06) 13 Nibelungen (02:47) 14 Janitor of Lunacy (04:05) 15 Abschied (03:05) 16 Afraid (03:31) 17 Secret Side (04:08) 18 You Forgot to Answer (05:07) 19 The End (09:30) | |
The Classic Years : Allmusic album Review : The Classic Years is an excellent, portable introduction to the challenging and singular work of Nico. Its questionable as to why Chronicles opted to include her three vocal contributions to The Velvet Underground and Nico, however. What are the odds of someone not owning that record prior to checking out the ice queens solo material? Nonetheless, the tracks certainly dont sound out of place. A handful of songs are taken from each of her first four (and best) albums, including her debut single for Immediate from 1965. | ||
Album: 20 of 29 Title: In Europe: Do or Die, Diary 1982 Released: 2000-05-23 Tracks: 14 Duration: 1:00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Janitor of Lunacy (04:09) 2 All Tomorrows Parties (04:48) 3 Sãeta (04:24) 4 Sãeta (03:01) 5 Vegas (03:19) 6 No One Is There (04:06) 7 Abschied (02:28) 8 Secret Side (03:49) 9 Procession (03:12) 10 Heroes (05:58) 11 Femme Fatale (03:06) 12 All Tomorrows Parties (02:48) 13 Waiting For My Man (06:35) 14 The End (08:17) | |
Album: 21 of 29 Title: Janitor of Lunacy Released: 2001-06-12 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:14:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Vegas (04:36) 2 Saeta (04:52) 3 Genghis Khan (04:27) 4 Janitor of Lunacy (04:50) 5 Tanadore (04:36) 6 Afraid (05:20) 7 Purple Lips (04:09) 8 Femme Fatale (03:42) 9 All Tomorrows Parties (03:09) 10 No-One Is There (04:46) 11 Frozen Warnings (03:57) 12 Closing the Door (04:19) 13 Heroes (08:59) 14 Saeta (studio) (03:50) 15 Vegas (studio) (03:39) 16 Interview (05:22) | |
Album: 22 of 29 Title: Femme Fatale Released: 2002 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:15:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 All Tomorrows Parties (Full version) (05:36) 2 Procession (04:48) 3 Frozen Warnings (04:07) 4 Saeta (05:06) 5 Purple Lips (03:16) 6 These Days (04:11) 7 Ill Keep It With Mine (04:44) 8 Heroes (08:33) 9 Procession (03:44) 10 Sixty/Forty (06:21) 11 The Sphinx (02:46) 12 König (01:43) 13 Femme Fatale (03:01) 14 Im Waiting for the Man (06:48) 15 Orly Flight (03:20) 16 Secret Side (03:48) 17 Femme Fatale (03:14) | |
Album: 23 of 29 Title: Femme Fatale: The Aura Anthology Released: 2003-05-26 Tracks: 31 Duration: 2:21:59 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Genghis Khan (03:54) 2 Purple Lips (04:12) 3 One More Chance (05:41) 4 Henry Hudson (03:56) 5 I’m Waiting for the Man (04:14) 6 Sixty Forty (04:49) 7 The Sphinx (03:32) 8 Orly Flight (03:59) 9 Heroes (06:07) 10 One More Chance (outtake) (04:07) 11 The Sphinx (outtake) (04:03) 12 Orly Flight (outtake) (02:50) 13 Henry Hudson (outtake) (03:45) 14 Sixty Forty (outtake) (04:39) 15 Genghis Khan (outtake) (03:32) 16 Saeta (single) (03:52) 17 Vegas (single) (03:40) 1 Tanamore (06:35) 2 One More Chance (07:25) 3 Procession (04:31) 4 My Heart Is Empty (04:52) 5 Janitor of Lunacy (04:25) 6 The Sphinx (03:11) 7 You Forget to Answer (03:34) 8 Fearfully In Danger (04:49) 9 Sixty Forty (04:56) 10 All Tomorrows Parties (03:01) 11 Purple Lips (03:47) 12 Femme Fatale (04:22) 13 Saeta (06:21) 14 The End (09:17) | |
Femme Fatale: The Aura Anthology : Allmusic album Review : Femme Fatale: The Aura Anthology is a lofty euphemism for this two-disc expanded reissue of Drama of Exile, Nicos surprisingly straightforward 1981 return. Though the original artwork unfortunately plays no part in this package, the first disc, subtitled "Drama of Exile...Plus," adds both sides of the "Saeta"/"Vegas" single, in addition to very rough outtake versions of six songs that are found in much better shape within the original album. The second disc consists of her 1985 set at Chelsea Town Hall, which isnt of great quality -- both sound-wise and performance-wise -- but its a fascinating and rather jarring listen for die-hard fans. Another attraction is the numerous press clippings that are scattered throughout the booklet. | ||
Album: 24 of 29 Title: Le Bataclan 72 Released: 2003-11-17 Tracks: 16 Duration: 1:05:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Waiting for the Man (05:42) 2 Berlin (05:10) 3 Black Angels Death Song (04:25) 4 Wild Child (05:43) 5 Heroin (06:44) 6 Ghost Story (03:22) 7 The Biggest, Loudest, Hairiest Group of All (03:42) 8 Empty Bottles (03:01) 9 Femme Fatale (03:21) 10 No One Is There (04:54) 11 Frozen Warnings (04:40) 12 Janitor of Lunacy (05:10) 13 Ill Be Your Mirror (02:20) 14 All Tomorrows Parties (encore) (03:01) 15 Pale Blue Eyes (rehearsal) (02:06) 16 Candy Says (rehearsal) (01:44) | |
Le Bataclan '72 : Allmusic album Review : After decades of being circulated on inferior-sounding bootlegs, the January 1972 reconvergence of Velvet Underground (VU) co-founders Lou Reed (vocals/acoustic guitar), John Cale (guitar/viola/piano/vocals), and Nico (vocals/harmonium) in Paris at Le Bataclan has been committed to commercial release. A suitably noir mood hangs over them as they stonily amble through VU staples and key entries from their concurrent solo endeavors. They commence with a slow and almost methodical "Waiting for the Man" as Cale offers up a simple piano accompaniment to Reeds casual guitar and lead vocal. Reed aptly describes the bleak torch reading of "Berlin" as his "Barbra Streisand song" before unveiling a profoundly minimalist interpretation. It captures the unnerving mood inescapably defining the city in the wake of WWII. They return to the early VU for an inspired "Black Angel Death Song." Reeds rhythmic chiming guitar incongruously fits beside Cale as he whittles away an austere viola counterpoint. Back briefly to Reeds eponymously titled debut for a very Dylanesque delivery of "Wild Child." The reconnection between the duo begins to jel significantly, if not audibly throughout an intense "Heroin," immediately recalling what makes the Cale/Reed combo so appealing. Cale seizes the reigns for the melodically and lyrically involved "Ghost Story" from Vintage Violence (1970). One rarity is Cales "Empty Bottles," which he contributed to Jennifer Warnes Jennifer (1972) album. Nico finally takes the spotlight for a healthy sampling of her work, couching a trio of post-VU efforts around three of her most memorable sides during her brief time in the band. They saunter into an intimate and warmly received mini-set featuring "Femme Fatale," "No One Is There," and "Frozen Warnings" of off Marble Index (1969), as well as "Janitor of Lunacy" from Desertshore (1970). The show concludes with another trip into the VU songbook on a comparatively optimistic "Ill Be Your Mirror" duly juxtaposed against an edgy and sinister "All Tomorrows Parties." While fans and pundits hopefully proclaimed the performance as the return of the Velvets, alas it would not be so. Le Bataclan 72 (2004) is a no-brainer for all dimension of VU, John Cale, Lou Reed, and/or Nico enthusiasts. | ||
Album: 25 of 29 Title: All Tomorrows Parties: Live Released: 2007 Tracks: 27 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 One More Chance (?) 2 Saeta (?) 3 My Heart Is Empty (?) 4 Sixty / Forty (?) 5 Janitor of Lunacy (?) 6 Valley of the Kings (?) 7 Vegas (?) 8 Purple Lips (?) 9 All Tomorrows Parties (?) 10 Tananore (?) 11 Femme Fatale (?) 12 Afraid (?) 13 The End (?) 14 Orly Flight (?) 1 Vegas (?) 2 Saeta (?) 3 Genghis Khan (?) 4 Janitor of Lunacy (?) 5 Tananore (?) 6 Afraid (?) 7 Purple Lips (?) 8 Femme Fatale (?) 9 All Tomorrows Parties (?) 10 No One Is There (?) 11 Frozen Warnings (?) 12 Closing the Door (?) 13 Heroes (?) | |
Album: 26 of 29 Title: The Frozen Borderline Released: 2007-02-26 Tracks: 34 Duration: 2:23:29 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Prelude (00:59) 2 Lawns of Dawns (03:10) 3 No One Is There (03:36) 4 Aris Song (03:20) 5 Facing the Wind (04:58) 6 Julius Caesar (Memento Hodie) (05:01) 7 Frozen Warnings (04:01) 8 Evening of Light (05:44) 9 Sagen Die Gelehrten (03:52) 10 Rêve Réveiller (04:07) 11 Roses in the Snow (alternate version) (04:00) 12 Nibelungen (complete version) (03:15) 13 Lawns of Dawns (alternate version) (03:15) 14 No One Is There (alternate version) (03:40) 15 Aris Song (alternate version) (03:14) 16 Facing the Wind (alternate version) (05:05) 17 Julius Caesar (alternate version) (05:02) 18 Frozen Warnings (alternate version) (04:21) 19 Evening of Light (alternate version) (05:41) 1 Janitor of Lunacy (04:05) 2 The Falconer (05:43) 3 My Only Child (03:31) 4 Le Petit Chevalier (01:15) 5 Abschied (03:05) 6 Afraid (03:31) 7 Mütterlein (04:41) 8 All That Is My Own (03:36) 9 My Only Child (demo) (04:15) 10 Janitor of Lunacy (demo) (03:58) 11 Abschied Ode (Death/Farewell) (demo) (03:01) 12 You Are Beautiful (Afraid) (demo) (03:17) 13 The Falconer (demo) (05:46) 14 On the Desert Shore (All That Is My Own) (demo) (12:44) 15 Frozen Warnings (04:24) | |
Album: 27 of 29 Title: All Tomorrows Parties Released: 2008-04-01 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:03:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 All Tomorrows Parties (04:39) 2 Saeta (7" version) (03:53) 3 Vegas (7" version) (03:43) 4 All Tomorrows Parties (extended Jam) (08:45) 5 Femme Fatale (04:05) 6 You Forgot to Answer (03:11) 7 Das Lied vom einsamen Mädchen (06:30) 8 Sixty-Forty (06:39) 9 Janitor of Lunacy (04:08) 10 My Funny Valentine (04:03) 11 The End (09:21) 12 All Tomorrows Parties (04:15) | |
All Tomorrow's Parties : Allmusic album Review : Examining Nicos solo career is at once a fascinating and frustrating experience; while she made a handful of truly compelling albums following her short tenure with the Velvet Underground, after 1974s The End most of her discography is a puzzling morass of dodgy live albums, half-baked studio sessions, and cobbled-together collections. All Tomorrows Parties is a patchwork effort that falls squarely into the third category; the bulk of the album is drawn from an April 11, 1986, concert in Tokyo that has already seen release on the imaginatively titled Live in Tokyo. As such things go, it captures Nico in strong form; her voice is in good shape, her performance is committed, and her band sounds simpatico, and though this isnt the best place to hear her sing either "Femme Fatale" or "Janitor of Lunacy," it certainly stacks up as one of the better live recordings of Nico from the 1980s. Tacked on for no easily explained reason are four studio tracks -- both sides of a single of "Vegas" and "Saeta," and two versions of "All Tomorrows Parties" recorded with a group that is obviously not the Velvet Underground (but trying desperately hard to fool listeners), with Nicos vocals apparently grafted on from her a cappella performance of the song from the Tokyo concert. (This package offers no credits for musicians or producers, and while it gives the recording date for the Tokyo concert, theres not a shred of information about the studio material, making this package all the more puzzling.) Rounding out the set is a truly nonessential remix of "All Tomorrows Parties" from the Norwegian industrial act Apoptygma Berzerk. All Tomorrows Parties is a odd little collection that places worthwhile material besides stuff with little reason to exist, and it further tarnishes the legacy of an artist whose body of work already suffers from a spotty reputation; a shame, since a quality reissue of the Tokyo concert would be quite welcome. | ||
Album: 28 of 29 Title: My Funny Valentine Released: 2009-01-23 Tracks: 15 Duration: 1:13:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Heroes (08:20) 2 Procession (04:45) 3 My Funny Valentine (04:13) 4 All Tomorrows Parties (05:27) 5 Secret Side (03:13) 6 Femme Fatale (03:08) 7 The End (09:52) 8 The Fairest of the Seasons (04:08) 9 These Days (03:33) 10 Little Sister (04:26) 11 Winter Song (03:22) 12 Chelsea Girls (07:28) 13 Ill Keep It With Mine (03:24) 14 Somewhere Theres a Feather (02:21) 15 Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (05:19) | |
Album: 29 of 29 Title: Reims Cathedral - December 13th, 1974 Released: 2012-11 Tracks: 11 Duration: 53:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Janitor of Lunacy (04:38) 2 The Falconer (05:55) 3 Valley of the Kings (03:39) 4 The End (09:38) 5 Abschied (03:05) 6 Mutterlein (04:27) 7 Frozen Warnings (04:44) 8 You Forgot to Answer (04:50) 9 Weve Got the Gold (04:51) 10 No One Is There (04:05) 11 Aris Song (03:09) |