Laibach

Opus Dei, the band’s first album for Mute, was mixed by Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, William Orbit) and the band’s classic Laibachian interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (here presented in English as ‘Opus Dei’ and in German as ‘Leben heisst Leben’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (reworked as ‘Geburt Einer Nation’) soon saw them emerge from the shadows as they garnered support from the likes of MTV and ITV’s The Chart Show. This mainstream spotlight, coupled with memorable features in the music press, opened up opportunities for the Slovenian collective that included their first world tour. Performances from the tour from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and “somewhere in Europe” make up the second CD of the expanded remastered edition.

Opus Dei, the band’s first album for Mute, was mixed by Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, William Orbit) and the band’s classic Laibachian interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (here presented in English as ‘Opus Dei’ and in German as ‘Leben heisst Leben’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (reworked as ‘Geburt Einer Nation’) soon saw them emerge from the shadows as they garnered support from the likes of MTV and ITV’s The Chart Show. This mainstream spotlight, coupled with memorable features in the music press, opened up opportunities for the Slovenian collective that included their first world tour. Performances from the tour from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and “somewhere in Europe” make up the second CD of the expanded remastered edition.

Opus Dei, the band’s first album for Mute, was mixed by Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, William Orbit) and the band’s classic Laibachian interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (here presented in English as ‘Opus Dei’ and in German as ‘Leben heisst Leben’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (reworked as ‘Geburt Einer Nation’) soon saw them emerge from the shadows as they garnered support from the likes of MTV and ITV’s The Chart Show. This mainstream spotlight, coupled with memorable features in the music press, opened up opportunities for the Slovenian collective that included their first world tour. Performances from the tour from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and “somewhere in Europe” make up the second CD of the expanded remastered edition.

L'une des rares formations à avoir dépassé les frontières de Slovénie (ex-Yougoslavie). Influencé par New Order, Kraftwerk et l'avant-garde viennoise et berlinoise, ce groupe de provocateurs joue sur le terrain douteux de l'ambiguïté en utilisant toute une symbolique extrémiste (aussi bien stalinienne qu'hitlérienne ou mussolinienne). Inaudible pour certains, novatrice pour d'autres, leur musique mélange rock industriel, techno, détournements situationnistes… et satanisme ! Laibach s'est signalé par des reprises iconoclastes des Beatles (« Let It Be ») et des Stones (« Sympathy For The Devil », bien sûr), difficilement reconnaissables.

Opus Dei, the band’s first album for Mute, was mixed by Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, William Orbit) and the band’s classic Laibachian interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (here presented in English as ‘Opus Dei’ and in German as ‘Leben heisst Leben’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (reworked as ‘Geburt Einer Nation’) soon saw them emerge from the shadows as they garnered support from the likes of MTV and ITV’s The Chart Show. This mainstream spotlight, coupled with memorable features in the music press, opened up opportunities for the Slovenian collective that included their first world tour. Performances from the tour from London’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris and “somewhere in Europe” make up the second CD of the expanded remastered edition.

Slovenian collective Laibach revisit their 1987 masterpiece, Opus Dei, with brand-new interpretations by the group, along with remixes from the record’s original producer and mixer, Rico Conning. Opus Dei (translation: God’s Work) was the band’s first album for Mute, garnering acclaim and shining a worldwide spotlight on the unique Slovenian collective. This led to the album being listed in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (edited by Robert Dimery), where it was called “…a masterpiece of its genre.” Opus Dei Revisited presents two distinct new versions of the work, an approach in keeping with the original album, where they reimagined Opus’s ‘Live Is Life’ (as ‘Opus Dei’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (‘Geburt einer Nation’), two key highlights of the album. The first disc is a reworking by Laibach themselves, initially crafted and then refined for their current Opus Dei Revisited Tour. Never a band to take an easy route to any destination, the challenge to re-evaluate, reinterpret, and rebuild the tracks was an artistic imperative. The band was so pleased with the results that they entered the studio immediately after Phase 1 of the Opus Dei Revisited Tour was completed to capture these new versions.

This 2023 Laibach album, through a new/fresh interpretation, examines the conflict-ridden genesis of the band's formation in the industrial town of Trbovlje in 1980 and questions the band's aesthetic, sonic and ideological roots from the distance of time.

Slovenian collective Laibach revisit their 1987 masterpiece, Opus Dei, with brand-new interpretations by the group, along with remixes from the record’s original producer and mixer, Rico Conning.

Having gained a fair amount of underground attention throughout Europe, particularly in both Germany and England, Laibach made its first attempt at crossing over – in a way – with Opus Dei. An alliance with Mute records led to Rico Conning handling the production, while the group decided to spell out the connections between mega-arena rock & roll and fascist spectacle all the more directly.