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robertgoerl daf nurnocheiner
Artist: Robert Görl & DAF
Title: Nur Noch Einer
Genre: Electro Punk / EBM / Avant-garde
Release Date: 26th November 2021
Label: Grönland Records


Album Review

A brand-new album of the legends DAF has been awaited by the band’s enormous international community of fans for many, many years. Now after almost two years after singer Gabi Delgado’s tragic death the fans are rewarded for waiting. The new record ‘Nur Noch Einer’ is a goodbye waving album, solely recorded and performed by the last remaining DAF member Robert Görl. DAF themselves obviously do not need a deeper introduction as they are well-known legends, inspiring many bands and genres since their heydays in the early eighties. But does the new music work as a single-man show? Wasn’t it Gabi’s special presence of performance and singing what made DAF to a wholesome experience both on records and during concerts?

As the press statement says, Robert researched the original DAF sound and feeling through listening to old tapes that the duo recorded back in the days. The majority of sequences was found on these unreleased tapes and have been reused now. The same statement declares that most of the songs would have been ready for the vocals to be recorded before Gabi sadly died. So at least the collection of songs might have been done together with him. One word should be spoken in advance: Gabi is being missed on every single track of ‘Nur Noch Einer’. Robert told in the statement that he never tried to replace Gabi’s proportion and he was right on this. Because Gabi Delgado was simply much more than the singer of any band.

But let us take a look inside without mentioning every single song. The album opener ‘Erste DAF Probe’ is a reissue of the very first DAF rehearsal. The song was the first promotional single that was let loose on the listeners. It immediately throws you straight back to the late seventies without any doubt. The sound on the album in general is not up to date. The record sounds as if it was recorded and mixed back then in the very early years of DAF. Compared to the last output ‘Sprache Der Liebe’ in 2017 it feels a bit out of place. But surely Robert would have had his intentions. Is it because the sequences are taken from old tapes?

A song that stands out of the album as a whole is ‘Kunststoff’ which has been released as a single in advance too. This might be the only song in which Gabi isn’t completely missed. Robert performs this number very close to what Gabi would have contributed to it. In other songs like ‘Du Bist So Zart’, ‘Loslassen’ or ‘Neue Welt’ the original singer would have been the only option to sing and perform the lyrics. In these Robert doesn’t even come close to the expectations. But respect where it is due, he tried. And Gabi’s ghost is all over it for sure. Unfortunately, some of the songs are not the best in matters of how varied and powerful the drums are played. We definitely are used to much better service on this behalf. Probably it is because Robert might have focussed a bit too much on the substitution of Gabi on the vocals and subsequently lost the drums out of sight. But how truthful can this be? We can only speculate.

‘Im Schatten’, ‘Wir Sind Wild’ and ‘Gedanken Lesen’ on the other hand are performed much better and closer to the original DAF commitment. At least the drums meet the expectations and with a lot of imagination you can hear Gabi Delgado singing the songs. Other songs on ‘Nur Noch Einer’ fall behind at all. However, after a few rounds of spinning the record, the reception of those tracks improves. But what stayed so far is the wish to bring the sound and mix into this century. Robert’s vocals are too often totally covered by huge reverbs. Another highlight on the album is ‘Das Geschenk’, but it seems to be ultimately connected to the point that this one is way more Robert Görl than DAF. ‘Nur Noch Einer’ closes the album and an era.

‘Nur Noch Einer’ falls short of almost all expectations. But what have we expected then? Sure, the album is anything but meant for first listeners rather than last listeners. The old fans would love the new tracks, even though they might only provide them a nostalgic feeling. To be fair, the time for inventions was when DAF recorded their trilogy of ‘Alles Ist Gut’, ‘Gold Und Liebe’ and ‘Für Immer’. And that time was nearly 40 years ago. Now, Robert does DAF all credit without losing respect for the entire work and heritage. You can easily add some extra points for the courage to record something that was always meant to be a two-piece on Robert’s very own, knowing that one half would be missed in it. DAF has now closed its book, leaving behind a very great legacy for generations to come.


Tracklist

01. Erste DAF Probe
02. Im Schatten
03. Kunststoff
04. Wir Sind Wild
05. Das Pur Pur Rot
06. Gedanken Lesen
07. Du Bist So Zart
08. Ein Kind Aus Dem Ratinger Hof
09. Loslassen
10. Neue Welt
11. Kein Ausweg
12. Es Muss Ans Licht
13. Holland Road
14. Das Geschenk
15. Nur Noch Einer


Line-up

Robert Görl – Vocals, Sequences, Drums


Website

https://www.facebook.com/deutschamerikanischefreundschaftD.A.F


Cover Picture

robertgoerl daf nurnocheiner


Rating

Music: 7.5
Sound: 6.5
Total: 7 / 10




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