| | | Ratings (51) |
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| 0.0 | emester | April 4th 16 |
seldom have I had music nearly bring me to tears, but Kristallnacht is one the examples of an album that did such a thing to
me. The sheer abrasiveness of the fear and chaos exuded by Zorn's composition is practically organic, with its imagery
displaying the evils of the "Night of Broken Glass" not through the eyes of the mob but rather the victims witnessing a
reality where evil has taken over. When the chaos does calm, the music remains substantially challenging, portraying the
continuation of the trials of the Jewish people through the holocaust and beyond to the turmoils faced by jews to this very
day. Even when the idea of a divine power is hard for me to believe, if I even can believe for that matter, there is no
questioning the resonance I feel with this record as part of the jewish community.
1 Bumps | Bump |
| 5.0 classic | EasterInTheBatcave | June 11th 16 |
One of the most important records in John Zorn's discography. Kristallnacht marks Zorn's first exploration into his Jewish roots (in his own words, it was "a whole lifetime of denying my Jewish heritage coming out in one piece") and thus laid the groundwork for his subsequent projects covering similar ground, like Masada. Kristallnacht is based on the 'Night of Broken Glass,' which occurred in November 1938 and saw Germans in Germany and Austria destroying Jewish-owned shops and murdering Jewish people. The 11-minute sound collage/noise piece "Never Again" represents the Night itself (it is also pretty much unlistenable, and even Zorn writes in the liner notes that he does not recommend listening to it often or loudly because the high frequencies on it can cause hearing damage). Opener "Shtetl (Ghetto Life)" represents the period before the attacks-- a traditional Klezmer melody is periodically interrupted by German speech throughout the track's runtime. "Gahelet (Embers)" comes after "Never Again" and represents walking through the destruction. The remaining tracks deal with the Jewish people rising again. Rating Kristallnacht is difficult-- it's extremely effective, but it's also, as aforementioned, unlistenable at points.
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| 4.5 superb | Oobaloo | February 20th 23 |
| 5.0 classic | KuyJuk | November 15th 22 |
| 4.5 superb | ZIG | February 19th 22 |
| 4.0 excellent | Pheenix | December 28th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | JS19 | November 22nd 16 |
| 5.0 classic | Henry | September 20th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | Veldin | October 4th 14 |
| 3.5 great | zundza | December 8th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | bgf97 | November 13th 13 |
| 4.0 excellent | smeaf | May 13th 12 |
| 3.5 great | cuki92 | August 18th 11 |
| 5.0 classic | nkbr | April 9th 11 |
| 5.0 classic | Krictic | November 28th 10 |
| 4.0 excellent | IAJP | August 19th 10 |
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