Disco de Falco: “Wiener Blut”



Wiener Blut contains two things very rarely heard on a Falco CD: a belch and a cover of someone else's hit single. More about them later.

Before you read any farther, consider that this review is being written by a Falcophile, and immediately knock one-half star off the rating if you are not. I can think of two reasons to buy this CD. Wiener Blut is a cold grey day on the Southern California coast. The few places where the sun breaks through are special. The second reason is the unfortunate reality that there will never be new Falco music again, and when some of us crave new creations to explore, even this album has its fascination.

Here's what you get in this CD. Wiener Blut, the title track, is classic Falco, and promises great things for this CD. Those high expectations are dashed with the next track, (Falco) Rides Again. How desperate for material was Falco to produce these regrettable lyrics and music? Untouchable delivers, but the song unfortunately reminds me of Angel in a Centerfold by J. Geils Band. Just when I was beginning to despair of this CD, Tricks comes along which brings us back to the humorous touch, rhythmic lyrics, and bright pop flourishes of which Falco is master. Following Tricks is Falco's tribute to Garbo. She would not have been flattered if she ever heard it. Garbo ends with a belch, which could be Falco's editorial comment on that tune....it certainly would be mine. Satelite to Satelite is interesting, and is one of the few tracks on this album that echo with any real passion. Read a Book catches in the mind. Walls of Silence, Solid Booze and Sand Am Himalaya are pleasant pop tunes, worth listening to but not very remarkable. The CD ends with the cover of Steely Dan's Do It Again, which is one of the CD's few surprises. Falco makes the song his own, with a version at least as good as the original.

Weiner Blut is an interesting experience. It holds up well today when compared to current hip-hop infected pop. The production is more sophisticated and smoother than early Falco efforts. However, after listening to Wiener Blut, just slide into the CD player the great Falco classics such as Falco 3 and Emotional, and by comparison this collection seems self-absorbed, less alive and just not nearly as much fun.

It's been years since I first purchased this album. I did so while I was an exchange student in Vienna, Austria in the Fall of 1988. Austro-pop is quite different from anything that American's have, but one can also draw a simmilar compairison with the beer and the women that one find in Austria, verses the ones you might find in the United States (sorry for the MALE point of view). During that Fall term I spent in Austria during 1988, this album was just one of the many things with which I became instantly smitten. But enough about me....Falco was an artist who embodied all things Austrian. He encompased their herritage, their culture, thier political ideology (the liberal one's), thier kitch-y tastes, and of course thier trendy nature. From the first cut off of this album ("Wiener Blut" - which is pronounces "VEEN-er BLOOT" - it means "Viennese Blood"; it's the nickname of Vienna's local maffia sindicate), one get's a splendid taste of the late 1980's Austro-pop scene. All of the following tracks are equally good, and are a window into Viennese youth culture of that era. With that in mind, I've always thought of Falco as a cross between Billy Joel and New Order (scary thought). At that time most Vienese were nuts over Falco (save the Austria girl that I was dating at the time; she thought he was a "complete idiot". But she was a huge exception to the rule). This is by far my favorite album by Falco. And unfortunately we'll not see any further work from him; as that he died in a car crash a few years ago while vacationing in the carribean. However, if one really wants a taste for the youth-scene in Vienna just prior to the end of the Cold War, "Wiener Blut" is a GREAT place to start!!!!

While some *Falcisti* (Falco fanatics) will disagree, "Wiener Blut" ranks as one of this performer's weaker albums, and one best enjoyed by fans of this underrated artist instead of newbies. This isn't to say that it's necessarily bad; "Wiener Blut" shows Falco's uncertainty in the direction he wanted to take his music for the first time, and is a bit schizophrenic as a result. The highs are indeed high and deserve praise, but it's the lows that rank as some of the worst songs Falco ever released.

I don't want to do a song-by-song analysis, though a couple tracks deserve mention: If one is to believe Wikipedia, the title track was actually recorded at the "Falco 3" (the "Rock Me Amadeus" album) sessions from 3 years previous, and certainly sounds like it. The next song "Falco Rides Again" has to rank as something below album filler-- it's flat-out awful, and a desperate grab for his old audience, complete with spoken word intro from the same performer that did the intro for the "Amadeus" Salieri remix (the one on the US pressings of "Falco 3"). It's as close to unlistenable as I can think.

Like so many Europop performers of this period, it is the production team that figures very heavily into the album's sound. One of the prime reasons why "Wiener Blut" sounds as uneven as it does is because there are multiple producers behind this record. The Bolland brothers-- the production team behind Falco's biggest selling albums ("Falco 3" & "Emotional")-- are behind the boards for albums' first 6 songs. The team of Mende & Derouge then produced the next 4 tracks, and the final cut was co-produced by Falco himself. It's those final 5 tracks that redeem this album and show a different direction for Falco, away from the occasionally (and deliberately) gimmicky and quirky style of the Bollands, and towards a smoother-- dare I say commercial-- bent for Falco. The cut "Read A Book" reminds one of contemporary critic's darlings Toto at their finest-- not bad company to keep.

Like I said, Falco's hardcore fans tend to love this album, referring to it as something of a flawed masterpiece. As difficult as it is, I like it too (best played on "shuffle" to mix up the song sequence) but there are better and more accessible points of entry for casual fans to sample Falco's work-- his earlier albums mix fun and playful music & arrangements with occasional social commentary, while his later albums were more assurred and slowly veered away from Top 40 pop. "Wiener Blut" shows Falco at acrossroads-- it's a document of the necessary step from his massive early popularity towards a new direction and sound. But because it shows a little bit of both sides (and some of the songs are on the lukewarm end of the spectrum), I can only recommend this to true blue fans. It's a bit telling that whenever Falco compilations are issued, tracks from this album and its follow-up (the out of print, early electronica-tinged "Data de Groove") get very little representation. Count this as significant in the growth of this artist, but a near-miss for the listener.

I didn't know that this one existed. It is a treat!

This my friends is a genius at the top of his game. Dare I say that if a car crash hadn't taken him from us, falco would be hanging out in the same stratosphere occupied by none other than Hasselhoff. Weiner Butt is what happens when great german songwriting meets great german delivery meets a stage presence like Hasselhoff. Rock me Amadeus was just awesome but it's not on this album. You know what is though? WEINER BUTT!!!! That song is good for about a day and a half of good laughs. What really makes it funny is if you're stumbling drunk and have gas. Nothing brings on the giggles more than a german guy singing Weiner Butt when you are plastered off your rocker and farting like a champ. I was hysterical one night as I was watching Karate Kid three plowed on some Mad Dog 20/20. I threw Weiner butt on the stereo and it was over. I couldn't stop laughing for an hour. I called me ex girlfriend and put the phone up to the speaker when Falco says Weiner butt. Then I farted into the phone. I bet she totally knows she missed out on a winner when she dumped me for no apparent reason. I'm so not a loser and she is. So I laugh at things a jr. high kid laughs at. That's me and if she can't accept it, she can just enjoy life with her new lawyer boyfriend. I bet he doesn't say weiner butt and fart at her.