Das Spiel Ist Aus
Tanz Mit Laibach
Final Countdown
Alle Gegen Alle
Wirtschaft Ist Tot
God Is God
In The Army Now
Get Back
Sympathy For The Devil
Leben Heisst Leben
Geburt Einer Nation
Opus Dei
Die Liebe
Panorama
Drzava
Brat Moj
Mama Leone

Das Spiel Ist Aus
Liewerk
Wir Tanzen Ado Hinkel
Final Countdown
God Is God
War
God Is God
Final Countdown
Wirtschaft Ist Tot
Jesus Christ Superstar
Wirtschaft
Brat Moj
Smrt Za Smrt
Wat

So who exactly is going to appreciate and buy this latest double CD of Laibach music then? Hands up those of you who have never heard any of Laibach’s music before. Excellent. What planet have you been hiding on then? This is the perfect introduction to their music as it covers tracks from all their main recordings from "Laibach" up to "Wat". Who else? Ok…hands up those of you who only have a couple of Laibach recordings in your collection. Again this will be up your street as you can see how their music has progressed or regressed depending on your point of view. Anyone else? How about…hands up those of you who are obsessed and need every burp and fart produced by a band. Just for people like you they have included the unreleased track ‘Mama Leone’. You lucky lucky people. Actually this track sounds like the music sung by dusky South Sea maidens as seen in films like ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’. Strange but true. And finally…hands those of you who ejaculate madly at the thought of re-mixed tracks. How does 14 tracks of disco fucked up shit rock you? It’s here waiting with a supply of paper tissues.

"Anthems" is a retrospective / best of / introduction to the recorded works of Laibach which will appeal to those I’ve just mentioned. It’s good…but it could have been fucking GREAT. As a veteran who has stayed with Laibach through thick and thin I’m a little disappointed with this release. I’ll not knock the track listing as you could argue ‘till you’re blue in the face the merits of certain tracks over others. I just feel that there’s been a missed opportunity here that doesn’t do full justice to Laibach. Where’s the edit from "Macbeth" which I consider to be one of their most essential and substantial releases? Where’s the 12” single releases that differed from the LP versions? Where’s the tracks from their many and varied live recordings? Surely Mute could have licensed them out to give a more complete overview to their music? And what about tracks from "Krst Pod Triglavom - Baptism" or even "Neu Konservatiw" which would have held more meaning than an extra cd full of bloody re-mixes. Even re-mixes by the group themselves would have been an acceptable and far better proposition than what’s been served up here. Let’s be brutally honest. How many times will anyone return to a re-mix CD after they have heard it once or twice? Not many I would hazard at a guess. No matter how insightful or twisted they are. Bummer.

But let’s not be negative here as I’m just a crabby old twat who’s far too set in his ways and I wouldn’t want anyone feeling that "Anthems" isn’t a worthy purchase. It is. Just not for me that’s all…and I bought the fucking thing.

ANM