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Rating: Aggressiveness released in small doses (but constant) and winks to the dance floor (but of an alternative club) are equally distributed in this third album by Nitzer Ebb, a British duo that left us with a handful of works between the late '80s and early '90s.
Champions of the so-called EBM, acronym for Electronic Body Music (a "physical" and danceable variant of traditional electronics), Douglas McCarthy and Bon Harris showcase in "Showtime" an aggressive and relentless vocality from the former, invasive and fierce percussion from the latter. All seasoned by a sound background entrusted to the omnipresent synthesizers of both.
The almost aseptic simplicity in the choice of sounds employed constitutes at the same time the strength and the limitation of Nitzer Ebb: energetic music, reminiscent of the excesses of punk and industrial, is indeed what is listened to in "Showtime", released in 1990, but the massive and exclusive use of electronics and percussion translates, in the long run, into a certain sonic monotony. Adding to this is the fact that Doug McCarthy does not sing, i.e., he does not intonate notes, rather he declaims; his is a spoken delivery that stirs on the electronic background while differentiating depending on the imprint to be given to the pieces.
Nine tracks, not therefore "songs", for 37 minutes of music, "Showtime" still offers us noteworthy moments: such as "Lightning Man", at the time a dance floor anthem, or "Fun To Be Had", with its obsessive and pounding vocality. Listening to this work again one finds in embryo much of the evolution that electronics would have in the years to come: one name above all is that of Prodigy, who took a lot from Nitzer Ebb.
A "minor" group by force of circumstances, the duo had the honor of the spotlight mainly as the opening band for Depeche Mode's concerts (their labelmates at Mute Records, a reference label in those years for the various stylistic currents of electronics, and beyond) who wanted them with themselves on the European tour of "Music for the Masses" (1987-88) and the American one of "Violator" (1990).
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Getting Closer (04:13)
One step
Two steps
Getting closer
Let them believe me
Let them wonder if I lie
I know what you buy
But I'm not selling
I know what you buy
I'm not gonna try
You never take
You think that you're just right
You never did that just right
[Doesn't matter
Just right]
Is it good?
[Doesn't matter
Just right]
Done for you
[Just right]
You're gonna miss out
[Doesn't matter]
Done for you
I've got to say that it hurts
One step
Two steps
Getting closer
Let them believe me
Let them wonder if I lie
I know what you buy
And it's wall to wall
I know what you buy
And you know just what you want
Who said it matters
[It doesn't matter]
What's missing?
[Just right]
You're gonna miss it
[It doesn't matter
Just right]
06 Lightning Man (04:58)
It seems some story was told
but what is there to tell?
Well, some song had been sung
but none of it sings
so let's spell it out
a, b, and c.
Up and down from a is to z
you meant zed, you said zed
From nothing to something
and something for nothing.
From no one to someone
from someone to same one
same old thing.
The only way out
leads to no way back.
What can you do?
Easy
You shove it back where it came
Easy
You never let yourself down
So you got up
and you ran
and you run to get up.
Through chinatowns
to slip right down
soho's a town in every downtown.
Drinking friends
who've drunk in bars
whose drunken friends
in drinking bars, waiting
for the lightning man to strike.
Icing on your cake.
well if i knew you were coming
i'd cut you you a piece.
Baby come to daddy
baby come to daddy
baby come to daddy
daddy's come to baby
daddy's come to baby
come to daddy
baby
baby come to daddy
Easy
You shove it back where it came
Easy
You never let yourself down
You better be careful out there
You be careful out there
You better be careful out there
You be careful
You ain't gonna get far
You better be careful out there
You ain't gonna get far
You ain't gonna get far
You be careful out there
You ain't gonna get far
You ain't gonna get far
You be careful out there
You better be careful out there
We're gonna pluck you off
You better be careful out there
You ain't gonna get far
You ain't gonna get far
We're gonna pluck you off
We're gonna pluck you off
We're gonna pluck you off
Baby come to daddy
daddy's come to baby
daddy's come to baby
come to daddy
come to baby
baby come to daddy
daddy's come to baby
come to daddy
Easy
You shove it right back down
Easy
You never listen to this
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