Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Alles Ist Gut

Stripped down to the core duo of Robert Görl and Gabi Delgado and with Conny Plank again behind the boards with crisp, focused production, with Alles Ist Gut (Everything Is Fine) DAF turned into an honest-to-goodness German hit machine, as detailed in the 1998 Mute reissue's liner notes by Biba Kopf. Even more important and impressive was how they did it -- keeping the electronic brutality that characterized them, but stripped down to nothing but Görl's massive drumming, electronic bass and synth tones, and Delgado's deep, commanding singing. The result was and remains massively influential -- Nitzer Ebb, to mention one later industrial disciple, would be nothing without this album as a template, while the genre of electronic body music, or EBM, got its undisputed start with the doom-laden death disco here. It isn't all just because of machines and politics, either. Delgado's lyrical fascination seems to be as much with sex as with power, thus the grunting sounds throughout "Mein Herz Macht Bum" (My Heart Goes Boom), to pick one point. Add to that the striking, simple cover design -- Delgado on the front, Görl on the back, stripped to the skin and covered in sweat -- and maybe Wax Trax never needed to exist in the first place. "Der Mussolini," DAF's breakthrough hit, still sounds fantastic years later. A perfect case could be made for it as the ultimate industrial music song, with Delgado's at once insistent and sensual singing, lyrics referencing not just Mussolini but any number of fascist figures (as titles of dance crazes, no less!), and Görl's astonishing percussion crunch and bassline. DAF wisely vary things at points, thus the slow, deliberate pulse of "Rote Lippen" or the twinkly keyboard line throughout "Der Räuber und der Prinz." With songs like "Als Wär's das Letzte Mal" and "Alle Gegen Alle" leading the way, though, DAF mainly concentrate on head-on assaults to brilliant effect.

Der Mussolini

"Der Mussolini," DAF's breakthrough hit, still sounds fantastic years later. A perfect case could be made for it as the ultimate industrial single, with Delgado's at once insistent and sensual singing, lyrics referencing not just Mussolini but any number of fascist figures (as titles of dance crazes, no less!), and Görl's astonishing percussion crunch and bassline.

Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft - Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen

After the near-apocalyptic shrieks of Ein Produkt, DAF toned down just a touch, but only just, for Kleinen und die Bösen. Coming out on Mute as the album did, it helped not merely in establishing the group's cachet, but the label's and, in turn, the whole genre of experimental electronic music in the '80s and beyond. The cover art alone, with the group's name boldly printed white-on-black in all capitals, next to part of a Soviet propaganda poster, practically invented a rapidly overused industrial music design cliché. At the time, though, the group was ironically the most rock they would ever get, with bassist Chrislo Haas and guitarist W. Spelmans joining Robert Görl and Gabi Delgado (aka Gabi Delgado-Lopez). The first half of Kleinen was a studio recording with Krautrock-producing legend Conrad Plank, who did his usual fantastic job throughout. The beats are sometimes hollow and always ominous, treated with studio touches to make them even more so, while the squalling, clipped guitar sounds often make nails-on-chalkboards sound sweet in comparison. Delgado's husky vocals and Görl's spare-but-every-hit-counts drumming on "Osten Währt Am Längsten" are particularly strong, while the electronic rhythms of "Co Co Pino" (Delgado's vocal trills are a scream) and all-out slam of "Nacht Arbeit" can't be resisted. The live side, recorded at London's Electric Ballroom, is even more all-out most of the time, starting with the complete noise fest "Gewalt," and then shifting into a series of short, brusque tracks. Delgado pulls off some blood-curdling screams (and Görl some fairly nutty harmonies as well -- check the opening to "Das Ist Liebe") over the din. The musicians themselves sound like they decided to borrow Wire's sense of quick songs while cranking the amps to ten; the resultant combination of feedback crunch and electronic brutality is, at times, awesome to behold.