Faust - The Faust Tapes (1973/2021)

This was the release that "broke" Faust to a British audience, mostly because of a marketing gimmick whereby the then-infant Virgin label sold it in shops for half a pound. Still, it's no mean feat to sell 50,000 copies of rock this avant-garde, no matter what the cost. A continuous 43-minute piece with about 26 discrete passages (which makes it hell to zero in on a specific bit on CD), it roams from crash'n'mash drums and fierce art rock jamming to rather pretty, if inscrutable, bits of folk-rock and spoken word, with odd shards of melody sticking out like glass in a tire. There are rough reference points to Zappa in the torrid editing and British Canterbury bands in the goofier, more rock-driven parts, but this is even less immediately accessible, taking a few plays to get a grip on, though most pop-oriented listeners won't get that far. ~ Richie Unterberger

Tracklist:
1.01 - Faust - Several Hands on Our Piano (0:53)
1.02 - Faust - Don't! (0:22)
1.03 - Faust - Flashback Caruso (4:01)
1.04 - Faust - Voices and Trumpet and All (1:48)
1.05 - Faust - J'ai mal aux dents (7:15)
1.06 - Faust - Beim nächsten Ton ist es (1:04)
1.07 - Faust - Two Drums, Bass, Organ (1:43)
1.08 - Faust - Dr. Schwitters Intro (0:25)
1.09 - Faust - Several Hands on Our Piano (Continued) (1:11)
1.10 - Faust - Beam Me up, Scotty (1:18)
1.11 - Faust - Elerimomuvid (0:50)
1.12 - Faust - Dr. Schwitters (Continued) (0:50)
1.13 - Faust - Have a Good Time Everybody (1:04)
1.14 - Faust - Above and Under Our Piano (0:48)
1.15 - Faust - Hermanns Lament (1:33)
1.16 - Faust - Donnerwetter (2:19)
1.17 - Faust - Was ist hier los? (0:35)
1.18 - Faust - Rudolf der Pianist (0:52)
1.19 - Faust - Ricochets (1:18)
1.20 - Faust - I've Heard That One Before (2:29)
1.21 - Faust - Watch Your Step (0:20)
1.22 - Faust - Under Our Piano Again (1:13)
1.23 - Faust - Fluid Chorus (0:59)
1.24 - Faust - Stretch out Time (1:37)
1.25 - Faust - Der Baum (3:52)
1.26 - Faust - Chère chambre (3:09)