Opus Dei is the third studio album by Slovenian band Laibach, released in 1987. It features "Geburt einer Nation" ("birth of a nation"), a German language cover version of Queen's "One Vision", and two reworkings of the Austrian band Opus' sole international hit single "Live Is Life". The Opus song became the German language "Leben heißt Leben" and the English language "Opus Dei". "The Great Seal" is the national anthem of the NSK State, the lyrics taken from Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" speech. A new arrangement of the song appears on Laibach's album Volk, with the title "NSK". On Volk, the song is credited to Laibach and Slavko Avsenik, Jr.
| Opus Dei | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 23, 1987 | |||
| Genre | Martial industrial, neoclassical dark wave | |||
| Length | 37:17 (LP version), 58:60 (CD version) | |||
| Label | Mute | |||
| Producer | Rico Conning | |||
| Laibach chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [2] |
There are two further connections with Queen's A Kind of Magic album. Although the drum loop in "Trans-National" is nearly identical to that in Queen's "Don't Lose Your Head", it is composed in fact from samples from the introduction musical theme from the movie Battle of Neretva, composed by Bernard Herrmann.[citation needed] The elements of "How the West Was Won" (specifically the rhythm and harmonised guitars) are inspired by Queen's "Gimme the Prize".[citation needed]
The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[3] In 2023, Consequence ranked it at number 6 in its list of the "50 Best Industrial Albums of All Time".[4] Al Jourgensen of Ministry named it one of the ten essential industrial records.[5]
Track listing edit
- "Leben heißt Leben" (Live Is Life) (Opus) – 5:28
- "Geburt einer Nation" (Birth of a Nation) (Queen) – 4:22
- "Leben - Tod" (Life - Death) (Laibach) – 3:58
- "F.I.A.T." (Laibach) – 5:13
- "Opus Dei" (Opus) – 5:04
- "Trans-National" (Laibach) – 4:28
- "How the West Was Won" (Laibach) – 4:26
- "The Great Seal" (Laibach) – 4:16
+ On CD editions, 4 tracks from "Baptism":
- "Herz-Felde" (Heartfield) (Laibach) – 4:46
- "Jägerspiel" (Hunters' Game) (Laibach) – 7:23
- "Koža" (Skin) (Laibach) – 3:51
- "Krst" (Baptism) (Laibach) – 5:39
References edit
- ^ "Opus Dei - Laibach". Allmusic.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (1998). "Laibach". Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Groves Dictionaries. pp. 3110. ISBN 1-561-59237-4.
- ^ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
- ^ "50 Best Industrial Albums of All Time". Consequence. 17 July 2023. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
- ^ Kaufman, Spencer (19 July 2023). "10 Industrial Albums Ministry's Al Jourgensen Thinks Every Music Fan Should Own". Consequence. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
External links edit
- Opus Dei (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)