Tank Battles Explained

Tank Battles
Type:studio
Artist:Dagmar Krause
Cover:DagmarKrause AlbumCover TankBattles.jpg
Released:1988
Genre:Cabaret, jazz, avant-garde
Length:58:20
Label:Island
Producer:Greg Cohen
Prev Title:Supply and Demand
Prev Year:1986
Next Title:Voiceprint Radio Sessions
Next Year:1993

Tank Battles: The Songs of Hanns Eisler is a solo album by German singer Dagmar Krause released by Island Records in 1988. It is a collection of 26 songs by German composer Hanns Eisler sung by Krause in English. She also sang the songs in the original German which were released by Island at the same time on a companion album, Panzerschlacht: Die Lieder von Hanns Eisler.

Tank Battles was reissued by Voiceprint Records in 1994 with all its original tracks, plus ten bonus tracks taken from the German edition, Panzerschlacht.

Reception

In a review of Tank Battles at AllMusic, John Dougan called it "[a] worthy follow up" to Krause's previous album, Supply and Demand. He said her vocals here are "stunning" and the instrumental backing is "impeccable".

Writing in The Wire, Philip Clark called Tank Battles a "laudable attempt" by Krause to present a modern interpretation of songs by Eisler-Brecht. He said producer Greg Cohen's "sensitive arrangements" of the album's material "winningly evokes 1920s Berlin". Clark stated that Krause's "vocal production, the shaping of her melodic contours and the brittle, staccato phrasing" all owes itself to Eisler's work.[1]

Legacy

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[2]

Track listing

All songs composed by Hanns Eisler; texts by Bertolt Brecht except where stated.

Tank Battles

  1. "The Song of the Whitewash" – 2:07
    • Translation: N. Gould-Verschoyle
  2. "(I Read About) Tank Battles" – 1:30
    • Translation: John Willett
  3. "You Have to Pay" – 1:43
    • Text: Walter Mehring
    • Translation: Jim Woodland, Malcolm Green
  4. "Chanson Allemande" – 1:20
    • Text: Berthold Viertel
    • Translation: Andrew Dodge
  5. "The Ballad of the Sackslingers" – 3:24
    • Text: Julian Arendt
    • Translation: Dagmar Krause, Jim Woodland
  6. "Mother Beimlein" – 1:16
    • Translation: Lesley Lendrum
  7. "The Perhaps Song" – 1:50
    • Translation: Bettina Jonic, Katherine Helm
  8. "Lied von der Belebeden Wirkung des Geldes (The Song of the Invigorating Impact of Cash)" – 4:32
  9. "Mankind" – 0:59
    • Text: Hanns Eisler
    • Translation: Dagmar Krause, Jim Woodland
  10. "Bettelied" – 1:27
  11. "Song of a German Mother" – 2:31
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  12. "Change the World – It Needs It" – 2:07
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  13. "Bankenlied (Banking Song)" – 2:59
    • Text: Siegmar Mehring
  14. "Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking (Legend of the Origin of the Book of the Taote King)" – 6:43
  15. "Balad of (Bourgoise) Welfare" – 2:53
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
    • Translation: Jim Woodland
  16. "Mother's Hands" – 2:02
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
    • Translation: Malcolm Green
  17. "Berlin 1919" – 2:30
    • Text: Anonymous
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  18. "And I Shall Never See Again" – 1:52
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  19. "Genevieve: Ostern ist Ein Ball sur Seine (Genevieve: Easter There is a Ball on the Seine)" – 1:05
  20. "The Wise Woman and the Soldier" – 3:43
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  21. "Failure in Loving" – 1:04
    • Text: Heinrich Heine
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  22. "Und Endlich Stirbt" – 1:12
    • Text: Peter Altenberg
  23. "The Rat Men – Nightmare" – 1:18
  24. "The Homecoming" – 1:34
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  25. "The Trenches" – 3:44
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  26. "To a Little Radio" – 1:05

Panzerschlacht

  1. "Lied von der Tünche" – 2:09
  2. "Panzerschlacht" – 1:31
  3. "Zahlen müsst Ihr" – 1:44
    • Text: Walter Mehring
  4. "Chanson Allemande" – 1:17
    • Text: Berthold Viertel
  5. "Ballade von den Säckeschmeißern" – 3:23
    • Text: Julian Arendt
  6. "Mutter Beimlein" – 1:21
  7. "Das Vielleicht-Lied" – 1:50
  8. "Lied von der belebenden Wirkung des Geldes" – 4:32
  9. "Der Mensch" – 0:57
    • Text: Hanns Eisler
  10. "Bettellied" – 1:28
  11. "Lied Einer Deutschen Mutter" – 2:33
  12. "Ändere die Welt – Sie braucht Es" – 2:06
  13. "Bankenlied" – 2:58
    • Text: Siegmar Mehring
  14. "Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking" – 6:43
  15. "(Ballade von der) Wohltätigkeit" – 2:53
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  16. "Mutterns Hände" – 2:05
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  17. "Spartacus 1919" – 2:31
    • Text: Anonymous
  18. "Und ich Werde Nicht Mehr Sehen" – 1:51
  19. "Geneviève: Ostern ist Ball sur Seine" – 1:04
  20. "Ballade vom Weib und dem Soldaten" – 3:41
  21. "Verfehlte Liebe" – 1:04
    • Text: Heinrich Heine
  22. "Und Endlich Stirbt" – 1:11
    • Text: Peter Altenberg
  23. "The Rat Men – Nightmare" – 1:19
  24. "Die Heimkehr" – 1:35
  25. "Der Graben" – 3:43
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  26. "An den Kleinen Radioapperat" – 1:05

Tank Battles (reissue)

  1. "The Song of the Whitewash" – 2:07
    • Translation: N. Gould-Verschoyle
  2. "(I Read About) Tank Battles" – 1:30
    • Translation: John Willett
  3. "You Have to Pay" – 1:43
    • Text: Walter Mehring
    • Translation: Jim Woodland, Malcolm Green
  4. "Chanson Allemande" – 1:20
    • Text: Berthold Viertel
    • Translation: Andrew Dodge
  5. "The Ballad of the Sackslingers" – 3:24
    • Text: Julian Arendt
    • Translation: Dagmar Krause, Jim Woodland
  6. "Mother Beimlein" – 1:16
    • Translation: Lesley Lendrum
  7. "The Perhaps Song" – 1:50
    • Translation: Bettina Jonic, Katherine Helm
  8. "Lied von der belebenden Wirkung des Geldes (The Song of the Invigorating Impact of Cash)" – 4:32
  9. "Mankind" – 0:59
    • Text: Hanns Eisler
    • Translation: Dagmar Krause, Jim Woodland
  10. "Bettellied" – 1:27
  11. "Song of a German Mother" – 2:31
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  12. "Change the World – It Needs It" – 2:07
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  13. "Bankenlied (Banking Song)" – 2:59
    • Text: Siegmar Mehring
  14. "Legende von der Entstehung des Buches Taoteking (Legend of the Origin of the Book of the Taote King)" – 6:43
  15. "Balad of (Bourgoise) Welfare" – 2:53
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
    • Translation: Jim Woodland
  16. "Mother's Hands" – 2:02
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
    • Translation: Malcolm Green
  17. "Berlin 1919" – 2:30
    • Text: Anonymous
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  18. "And I Shall Never See Again" – 1:52
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  19. "Genevieve: Ostern ist ein Ball sur Seine (Genevieve: Easter There is a Ball on the Seine)" – 1:05
  20. "The Wise Woman and the Soldier" – 3:43
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  21. "Failure in Loving" – 1:04
    • Text: Heinrich Heine
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  22. "Und endlich stirbt" – 1:12
    • Text: Peter Altenberg
  23. "The Rat Men – Nightmare" – 1:18
  24. "The Homecoming" – 1:34
    • Translation: Eric Bentley
  25. "The Trenches" – 3:44
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  26. "To a Little Radio" – 1:05
  27. "Panzerschlacht" – 1:33 *
  28. "Vielleicht Lied" – 1:51 *
  29. "Der Mensch" – 0:55 *
    • Text: Hanns Eisler
  30. "Lied von der Deutschen Mutter" – 2:32 *
  31. "Mutterns Hande" – 2:03 *
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  32. "Spartacus 1919" – 2:31 *
    • Text: Anonymous
  33. "Ich werde nicht mehr sehen" – 1:53 *
  34. "Die Heimkehr" – 1:35 *
  35. "Der Graben" – 3:43 *
    • Text: Kurt Tucholsky
  36. "Den kleinen Radioapparat" – 1:06 *

* Bonus tracks taken from Panzerschlacht

Personnel

External links

Notes and References

  1. Clark . Philip . The Primer: Henry Cow . . April 2008 . 290 . 45 . 0952-0686.
  2. Book: Robert Dimery. Michael Lydon. 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. 23 March 2010. Universe. 978-0-7893-2074-2.

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