Oomph!
Delikatessen

A coherent, smart, and interesting collection, a summary that properly encapsulates the diverse musical universe of Oomph!; this is not the first best-of for the band from Wolfsburg: "1991-1996: The Early Works" gathers the best of their "independent" years with Machinery/Dynamica Records but it's a pleonastic and conventional operation, much better to listen to the various "Sperm," "Defekt," and "Wunschkind," "1998-2001: Best Of Virgin Years" is a mere decoration published for contractual obligations, filled with mediocre tracks from the lackluster "Ego." If you want a truly useful and interesting Oomph! concentration, you absolutely have to go for "Delikatessen" from 2006, as much a part of the band's impressive comeback following the Virgin era struggles as the albums "Wahrheit Oder Pflicht" and "GlaubeLiebeTod." 

"Delikatessen," in its deluxe version reviewed here, presents itself as a double CD: the first one is the standard best-of, revisiting all the stages of the complex evolution embarked by the trio with a solid 19 iconic tracks: from the martial electronics of their early singles, "Ich Bin Du" and "Der Neue Gott" to the near-Clawfinger rap-metal of "Ice-Coffin", passing through the remarkable "Sex," "Wunschkind," and "Unsere Rettung", great songs that have marked the history of Oomph! just as much as "Das Weisse Licht" and "Fieber", splendid peaks of the controversial "Plastik." Honorary mention for the only two notable extracts from "Ego," that is, the launch single "Supernova", of good level, and especially the excellent "Niemand", inexplicably not included in the 2001 album. Obviously noteworthy is the inclusion of the quartet of singles from the then freshly released "GlaubeLiebeTod" and also those from the previous album, the super-hit "Augen Auf!", "Sex Hat Keine Macht" and (alas) even "Brennende Liebe", directly from the deluxe edition of WOP, but it is a forgettable mess: commercial and crude gothic, mediocre, forced, melodically weak, sycophantic; better skipped. Two icing on the cake: "Gekreuzigt 2006", a more electronic reworking of the "Unrein" single from 1998, complete with an amusing video clip: a comparison between this new version and the original gives a good idea of Oomph!'s stylistic evolution from the '90s to today, also in Dero's singing style, which shines on the other unreleased track of "Delikatessen," namely "The Power Of Love", a cover of the famous hit by Frankie Goes To Hollywood: here, the frontman delivers the best of his magnificent voice in a sensual, hypnotic, and captivating performance, worthy of the glory of "Das Weisse Licht." Oomph!'s "The Power Of Love," thanks also to the skilful rearrangement by Crap and Flux, demonstrates how starting from a less than stellar base, one can recreate a great song, with the right alchemies, and above all with the right voice. 

CD #2 is instead an interesting collection of assorted B-sides: a few remixes, really excellent those of "Gott Ist Ein Popstar" and "Das Letzte Streicholz", with "Feiert Das Kreuz" being even more direct and effective than the original; still on the topic of old-school Oomph! note a very raw and entertaining "Asshole", on the brink of punk for its lyrics, attitude, and vocal approach. No objections to the more recent tracks, those from the WOP/GLT period, all of good quality, with "The World Is Yours", the band's first ballad, built on a sweet and enveloping electronic soundscape, and the opening track "Weisst Du Wieviel Sterne Stehen", an excellent B-Side of "Gott Ist Ein Popstar," being particularly outstanding, edgy and epic, of great impact and a perfect example of the new stylistic course embarked by Oomph!, of which it is hard to explain its exclusion from "GlaubeLiebeTod." However, the true surprise turns out to be the massive presence of covers of artists from the Neue Deutsche Welle, the flourishing German synth-pop scene of the '80s, which they faithfully reinterpret with stunning results; it's impossible not to be fascinated by the estranging beauty of a melody like "Eiszeit" by Ideal interpreted by a Dero more shamanic than ever, as well as the dark and hypnotic "Polizisten" and "Der Prasident Ist Tot" by Extrabreit and the more alluring "Zauberstab" by ZaZa, which clearly has had a decisive influence on Oomph!'s style. 

It is precisely the presence of such hidden treasures that positively influence the final judgement of "Delikatessen" as an operation per se rather than as a record product, which nonetheless provides a comprehensive 360° view of everything that Oomph! are and have been, essentially a best-of truly crafted to perfection, which comes precisely at a time of great inspiration and already solid maturity for the trio from Wolfsburg, making it perfect for a retrospective.