Press Info:
Billie Holiday recorded her iconic version of ‘Strange Fruit’ on 20 April 1939. The track, originally written by a Jewish school teacher Abel Meeropol (using the pseudonym Lewis Allen), was in response to lynching in US southern states. A year later, Meeropol, a socialist, was called to testify before a committee investigating communism and asked whether the US Communist Party had paid him to write ‘Strange Fruit’. Later, in 1999, it was named the song of the century by Time magazine.
Laibach go on to explain, “There’s something that’s still very radioactive about the song; it’s still relevant because race is still relevant. The impulses that Meeropol was talking about are very much still with us, on the front pages of our newspapers and across our social media every day. For us, ‘Strange Fruit’ evokes racial injustice, representing not just lynchings, but racism generally.”
They expand, “Racism is a virus that mutates, taking on different forms as it adapts to a changing environment. Its mutation is made harder to observe by it being deeply embedded, not only in our traditions and institutions, but also in our unconscious lives.”
Laibach’s interpretation of this famous protest song is aimed at this new context of eternal but ever-changing and adaptive racism
CD2-07. How The West Was Won (Rico Conning’s Inner Ear Remix 2024)
CD2-08. The Great Seal (Rico Conning’s Inner Ear Remix 2024)
Press Info:
LAIBACH continue a 12-month salute to their classic 1987 album Opus Dei with striking new versions which radically interrogate the source material. Opus Dei Revisited is set for release on Mute on 13 December 2024 on double vinyl and double CD.
Opus Dei (translation: God’s Work) was the band’s first album for Mute, garnering acclaim and throwing a worldwide spotlight on the unique Slovenian collective. Opus Dei Revisited presents two distinct new versions of the work, allowing the band to challenge perceptions and expectations, in keeping with the original where they reimagined Opus’ ‘Live Is Life’ (as ‘Opus Dei’) and Queen’s ‘One Vision’ (‘Geburt einer Nation’), two key highlights of the album.
The first disc of the Double LP / CD is a reworking by Laibach themselves which was 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 were so pleased with the results they entered the studio immediately after Phase 1 of the Opus Dei Revisited Tour was completed to capture the results.
For the second disc they invited Rico Conning (Wire, Pere Ubu, Swans, Front 242, William Orbit), who produced and mixed the 1987 version, to also Revisit the material. Conning was given an open brief to explore new territories with what was on the original master tapes. The results emphasise and eviscerate in equal measure, bringing wide ranging new perspectives and a strident aural attitude. Whilst many expected elements of the artistic masterpiece remain, they sit in exciting new landscapes and frames, which are anything but expected.
Snippets:
Video:
“Geburt Einer Nation (Rico Conning’s Inner Ear Remix 2024)”
Tracklist Vinyl: A1. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (2024 Remaster)
A2. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (2024 Remaster)
A3. Leben-Tod (2024 Remaster)
A4. F.I.A.T. (Let It Be) (2024 Remaster)
B1. Opus Dei (Life Is Life) (2024 Remaster)
B2. Trans-national (2024 Remaster)
B3. How The West Was Won (2024 Remaster)
B4. The Great Seal (2024 Remaster)
Tracklist Short Digital *: CD1-01. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-02. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-03. Leben-Tod (2024 Remaster)
CD1-04. F.I.A.T. (Let It Be) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-05. Trans-national (2024 Remaster)
CD1-06. How The West Was Won (2024 Remaster)
CD1-07. Opus Dei (Life Is Life) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-08. The Great Seal (2024 Remaster)
CD1-09. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (Eine Richtung Und Ein Volk Version – 2024 Remaster)
CD1-10. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (Marche Funèbre Version – 2024 Remaster)
CD1-11. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (3. Oktober – Kraftbach – Version – 2024 Remaster)
Tracklist CD & Long Digital Version: CD1-01. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-02. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-03. Leben-Tod (2024 Remaster)
CD1-04. F.I.A.T. (Let It Be) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-05. Trans-national (2024 Remaster)
CD1-06. How The West Was Won (2024 Remaster)
CD1-07. Opus Dei (Life Is Life) (2024 Remaster)
CD1-08. The Great Seal (2024 Remaster)
CD1-09. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (Eine Richtung Und Ein Volk Version – 2024 Remaster)
CD1-10. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (Marche Funèbre Version – 2024 Remaster)
CD1-11. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (3. Oktober – Kraftbach – Version – 2024 Remaster)
CD2-01. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (Live From London, Queen Elizabeth Hall, 1987)
CD2-02. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (Live From Somewhere In Europe/US, 1987-1989)
CD2-03. Leben-Tod (Live From Somewhere In Europe/US, 1987-1989)
CD2-04. F.I.A.T. (Let It Be) (Live From Paris, Espace Ornano, 1992)
CD2-05. Trans-national (Live From Somewhere In Europe/US, 1987-1989)
CD2-06. How The West Was Won (Live From Somewhere In Europe/US, 1987-1989)
CD2-07. Opus Dei (Life Is Life) (Live From Somewhere In Europe/US, 1987-1989)
CD2-08. Leben Heißt Leben (Opus Dei) (Live From Berlin, Quartier Latin, 1987)
CD2-09. Geburt Einer Nation (One Vision) (Live From Berlin, Quartier Latin, 1987)
CD2-10. Leben-Tod (Live From Berlin, Quartier Latin, 1987)
CD2-11. How the West Was Won (Live From Berlin, Quartier Latin, 1987)
CD2-12. Geburt Einer Nation (Live From Vienna, Messepalast, Kaiser Franz Josef Reitschule, 1988)
CD2-13. Leben-Tod (Live From San Francisco, The I Beam, 1989)
CD2-14. Trans-national (Live From San Francisco, The I Beam, 1989)
CD2-15. How The West Was Won (Live From San Francisco, The I Beam, 1989)
CD2-16. Opus Dei (Life Is Life) (Live From San Francisco, The I Beam, 1989)
Press Info:
Laibach’s classic album from 1987, Opus Dei, has been remastered and redesigned.
The album that first brought Laibach to a mass consumption audience, with their unique interpretations of Opus’ ‘Live is Life’ and Queen’s ‘One Vision’, and heavy rotation on MTV’s alternative shows and ITV’s The Chart Show. Produced by Rico Conning, it stands as a defining statement of intent and prophecy that the band continues to uphold nearly 40 years later.
The album, remastered from the original tapes, includes an extensive 16-page booklet with new text by Alexei Monroe and photos from the time. The album cover artwork has also had a distinctive redesign that draws on the original and pushes it forward.
The CD box set includes an additional CD of 16 live tracks from the Opus Dei touring that happened between 1987 and 1989.
One of the “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die” – the comprehensive guide book edited by Robert Dimery (Universe/Quintet Publishing Limited).
some digital version is shorten to 11 tracks – marked with *
Snippets (CD & Digital Edition):
Videos:
“Opus Dei (Life is Life) (Live Version)” new video
