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Go to Klaus Nomi's Main Page... Klaus Nomi Song Reviews
Klaus Nomi (1981)Read the full review:
Keys of Life B This is the only song credited exclusively to Klaus Nomi, and it's not exactly a triumph of composing. It's a creepy song, though, and introduced this weird guy to some degree of success. There's a fade-in with Nomi's vocals singing the title over and over. And then, Nomi's lead vocals come in singing in a robotic style ... something about outer space. His voice is obviously the biggest interest here, and it definitely has an appealing, unusual tone even though he might not be showing off his operatic chops here. All the while, there's a very sparse drum machine playing and a number of strange atmosphere and random spaceship sound effects going off. Weird! Lightnin' Strikes A+ This is possibly his most famous song---a cover of Lou Christie's 1966 hit, and it's known for both its novelty value and serious musical quality. The rhythm is bouncy, which fits it nicely within the new wave movement. The verses features Nomi rhythmically play-acting to some '50s-ish undertones. The female backup singers and the Muppet-sounding voice growling the word “stop” were both nice touches. But most memorable part of the song doesn't occur until he starts singing the chorus with his countertenor operatic voice; it's like the apocalypse hit! Awesome. Needless to say, this is miles and miles better than the original. (Oddly enough, I find Lou Christie's voice more creepy than Nomi's...) The Twist A I could accuse this one of being too weird for weird's sake, but it's a genuinely interesting interpretation of the Chubby Checker song. This is the first time, I think, I've ever heard a New Wave reinterpretation of a '50s song that actually has been slowed down. And I think this is the first time I've ever heard an extra-terrestrial doing the twist... Nomi gives a spooky vocal performance using his operatic voice, and he likes playing with the volume! They bring in an array of weird sound effects (so many that it's hard to keep track of them) to keep it as weird as possible. And the image this puts in my mind is probably exactly what these guys were shooting for ... space aliens slowly boogieing at some weird, slightly sadistic looking party. Yes, this is nuts. Nomi Song A I suppose this was being groomed as his signature tune. It's an original (written by one of his cronies). It starts out like an operatic aria and then some jerky new wave rhythms come in. The melody is pretty catchy and some of the instrumental ideas are clever. I like that lone synthesizer loop we hear as the song opens and the bass-line during the new wave bit. Very nice! You Don't Own Me B+ According to Wikipedia, Rush Limbaugh plays this song during the gay news segment of his show probably because of Nomi's thick German accent and he sings “Don't tell me I can't play with other boys.” As long as you don't mind mind these sort of flamboyant songs, this can be a remarkably enjoyable experience for you! The original melody was catchy (I'm sure you've heard it before) and the instrumentation is crisp and sparkly. Nomi's performance was probably not flamboyantly gay on purpose... he's just doing some playful acting with his operatic voice. (OK, the end of the song sounds ridiculously gay... holy moly...) This is a real blast, though! The Cold Song A Here is a fairly straight-played operatic song based on a progression from 17th Century composer Henry Purcell with synthesizers. The instrumentation is an array of nicely chosen synthesizers, but I can assume that they're played the same way that the Baroque instruments would've done them. Anyway, this is positively haunting and mesmerizing... Nomi delivers his operatic lines with grace! That's probably why it still sounds weird. Wasting My Time B This was co-written by Nomi. It's not bad, but it's probably one of the album's weaker numbers. It's a moderately paced new wave song with the typical instrumentation. The hook is fine, but it's not super-strong, and it does seem to repeat itself an awful lot! By this time, the novelty of his voice had worn out also, and he doesn't do anything else interesting with it. Total Eclipse A+ That suddenly fades into this brilliant little pop song! It was written by the same guy that wrote “The Nomi Song,” and it's catchy as hell! Nomi repeats the apocalyptic sound that he delivered in “Lightnin' Strikes” except this time he's singing “Tooootal Eclipse.” So who knows? The world might end with a total eclipse? The instrumentation is just about as good as New Wave gets... The disco undertones keeps it snappy, and those guitars couldn't be bouncier. This is total blast. Nomi Chant B- This track consists just of some synthesizer waves... Nomi doesn't sing on it at all. This was probably a leftover from his stage show... he probably emerged from a spaceship or an inter-dimensional rift while this music played. They didn't really have to put it on the album, but whatever... It was kinda short and they needed to fill up some space! ... It's not bad as far as these things go. I could take it or leave it. Sampson and Delilah (Aria) B+ Almost as an afterthought, they include this snippet from an opera written by romantic composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It's straight sounding opera, which sounds great, although it probably doesn't give you the desired effect unless you were watching it in person. The shock value must've been something else! This is wonderfully performed, of course. What a pretty voice! There's some space ship noises at the end... Farewell, thy weird alien! Reader Comments:NONEHave any thoughts? Fill out a comment form. Simple Man (1982)Read the full review:
From Beyond B+ Similar to the final song from Klaus Nomi in that it's mostly just a wave of synthesizer notes. But this time, Nomi's singing some pretty notes in a Gregorian chant style (a snippet by early 17th century composer John Dowland), which makes it seem much richer. A few sound effects from gongs and such and some wind sounds places this in the latter half of David Bowie's and Brian Eno's Heroes. This is hardly a groundbreaking work, but it's rather haunting! After the Fall A+ A classic! Here's a hugely enjoyable pop-rock number in a similar vein to “Total Eclipse” (a song that's referenced in these lyrics) and in fact written by the same person. It not only features a remarkably catchy melody, but those gorgeous countertenor vocals from Nomi again giving me visions of the apocalypse. This is even seemingly better developed than most of the songs from the previous album... This is nearly five minutes long, which seemed appropriate, and they even found reason for a sloppy guitar solo. Very nice. Just One Look B- Not bad... this is a cutesy cover of an old pop-rock tune. The groove consists of some brief beeps, which probably wasn't the best thing they could have done. This doesn't cover any new ground for Nomi, but it still has a fun novelty quality to it. (Around the 2:10 mark, I really have no idea what's going on!) They probably could have thought of something different... but I guess this guy didn't have all the time in the world, and he might have been aware of it by then. Falling in Love Again B+ Much better... This is a drugged up disco song with a simple, catchy groove that sounds a tad twisted. A few weird ideas for sound effects keep this an utterly quirky effort... It also almost turns into a cowboy piano bit in the middle of it, which was an interesting touch. It's a silly novelty song! ICUROK C I guess you can't accuse this album of being samey! Although you wonder why Nomi would even consider singing a song like this. It's a robotic synth-pop song, and Nomi sings half of it in a voice synthesizer. This is extremely repetitive, as this genre tends to be, and it's not especially hooky. This sort of thing is a dime-a-dozen, which doesn't belong on such a unique performer's album! Rubberband Lazer B+ Pretty good... This is a funny attempt to bring country-western to the electronic age. They're playing around with some of the melodic cliches of the genre including an electronic instrument sounding like a galloping horse, country bumpkin violins and a hoe-down style chorus. The lyrics are sci-fi, but they use country-western-esque phrases like “living on the space range all the live long day” and “ride side by side when worlds collide.” (I think that's what he's saying---I can't find the lyrics anywhere.) Plus, there are Star Wars laser sound effects going off all over the place! This is an enjoyable novelty song! Wayward Sisters A- Following up on “The Cold Song” from the debut, this is another cover from 17th Century composer Henry Purcell. I do see what fans of Nomi's operatic side are coming from... this stuff definitely seems more serious than all these strictly novelty songs that he'd been doing lately. It also proves how fine a singer he was... Just like “The Cold Song,” they use dark synthesizers for the accompaniment, and Nomi's singing as if it was the last day on earth. Ding Dong A- As a matter of fact, I was aware of this song before I know who Klaus Nomi was. For a brief time, when I was in the 8th grade, I used to listen to Dr. Demento midnight on Sunday. And they loved playing this song! ... This is certainly a silly rendition of the ditty from The Wizard of Oz fully equipped with silly munchkin sound effects. Nomi's vocal performance is especially goofy... you could tell that he wanted to have fun with it. The instrumentation is cutesy sort of like “Just One Look” except more involved and polished. Three Wishes B This is a silly fast-paced song with a rather uninteresting melody and chord progression. Although, give it credit for still sounding weird... Nomi's vocal performance keeps things entertaining, and so do those crazy violin and electric guitar synthesizers going off everywhere sounding every bit as deranged as Nomi does. Simple Man A This is extremely catchy, and it's another contribution from the guy who wrote “Total Eclipse” and “After the Fall.” It also gives us a great combination of his new wave pop side and operatic tendencies. The verses is a catchy synth-pop song, but the chorus is more of a bombastic, operatic aria. It's a very catchy song, and one of Nomi's most memorable. (I love the irony in the lyrics! That was a great title for the whole album, too!) Death B+ Yet another Henry Purcell cover... This is very good though nowhere near as compelling as “The Cold Song” was. Again, this is a great showcase for his operatic skills. As the title suggests, it's very dark sounding! ... It's pretty sad considering how close he was to his own death at this point. Return B It's the same sort of thing we heard in the album opener, except it's just Nomi's voice singing what sounds like a Gregorian chant (by English composer John Dowland). I do suppose some purists love hearing what he sounds like a cappella! Well, here you go! (Granted, there's a lot of reverb.) |
All reviews are written by Michael Lawrence.
