Nina Hagen Band - Unbehagen

And so, are we ready for a flying visit to Germany and the Neue Deutsche Welle? Of course we are, so pull up a comfortable chair, sit back and enjoy...

After the success of the debut, the atmosphere within the band literally became more and more uncomfortable. After Nina boycotted the band's joint departure from Berlin to the studio in Frankfurt / Main for the recordings for the second album, the future Spliff drove alone to the studio and recorded their part for the album in Hagen's absence. "Uncomfortable" was therefore recorded in 1979 for purely contractual reasons with the CBS by the four musicians of their already ex-band in the studio and the Hagen vocals then added without the intervention of the later Spliff. The album title had long since become an absolute program despite the funny play on words with the surname of the singer!

At the same time, the end of the Nina Hagen Band was sealed.

Nevertheless, the second and at the same time last album of the Nina Hagen Band still has real potential, whereby especially the radical, Led Zeppelin-like “Herrmann Was Called” , which revolves around the drug addict Hermann, stands out: “Hermann shits on life!”, is the key phrase.

The material for this album was created on the 79er promo tour for the first album.

After the tour, the band and Nina were completely at odds. So "Uncomfortable" took its uncomfortable course - which was musically a little free program, even if it has some fillers, like the live recording of "If I Were A Boy", which was cobbled in the middle of the A-side, or that "No Way" instrumental that completes the LP. It seemed there wasn't enough material to lead the album to a coherent, peaceful ending.

The rest anyway is history.

Conclusion: You can say whatever you want about Nina Hagen, but as a singer of the Nina Hagen Band she did remarkable work for two albums with "Nina Hagen Band" (1978) and "Uncomfortable" (1979). What came after the two albums was mostly schizophrenic garbage, which is why the importance of the band that accompanied them at the time, which later became Spliff, cannot be overstated. Basically we are dealing with two early Spliff albums, in which Nina Hagen sings and writes. Viewed from this point of view, the sheet will fly away smoothly!

Thoralf Koß

Ripped from the CD reissue to very uncomfortable MP3 @ 320kbps

Nina Hagen Band – Unbehagen

1.      African Reggae

2.      Alptraum

3.      Wir Leben Immer... Noch (Lucky Number)

4.      Wenn Ich Ein Junge War (Live-Version)

5.      Herrmann Hiess Er

6.      Auf'm Rummel

7.      Wau Wau

8.      Fall In Love Mit Mir

9.      No Way (Instrumental)

Nina Hagen Band can be found behind the wall here