(Original auf www.kaizers.no, Backup des Textes hier)
Sorry - nur auf Englisch...The critics praise Kaizers Orchestra's fourth album "Maskineri" in unison. With a few exceptions that prove the rule there's five stars over the whole Kaizer horizon this time!
- Of course it is a relief to hear it is appreciated, Captain Kaizer himself, Janove Ottesen, says.
- For the fourth time out of four times we are getting good reviews. If you ask me, I feel that the reviewers have really listened to the album this time and to what we have said we would do this time. That they really like what they hear makes the joy even bigger, at least for me. I get the feeling that this time, we have actually been taken more seriously, that we don't ride on a good live reputation, but that we have an album that stands for itself. As far as it goes, we have received even better ratings before, but this time I think the reviews are more insightful, in a way. Don't know, maybe it is just me who has become more insightful, he he.
- What do you think, how important are good reviews for your career?
- It tends to be easier to reach people who are a bit in the periphery of Kaizers when you get good reviews, pique the curiosity of people who normally don't care for us. For the fans, it doesn't really matter much what the critics say, because they trust us and prefer to make up their own minds anyway. But anyway it is nice to get good reviews, it also makes things easier regarding shops getting in our records and stuff like that, so this is really good for us.
- Anything special you notice after going through the papers? Do you agree with what they point out?
- Yes, as I said I think they lay weight on the right things. We have stressed that intensity and "madness" is not necessarily the same as hysteric gypsy punk and noisy oil barrels, but that there is more to it than just that. The fact that they point out the songwriting this time, more than ever before, is something we are very happy about. We have worked a lot on the songs, so it is great to see it is appreciated. And it's fun that the duet with Terje's wife, Ragnhild, has been pointed out. "Den andre er meg" is a ballad after all, and for us who are mostly known for intensity and tightness, it is nice to hear some confirmation that we have more strings to play on than just this stuff. As I said before, we wanted to make an album this time that stands out without the live feeling behind it, and we think people understood that.
- But apart from this, the reviewers all choose different songs as the best?
- Well, this is pretty typical with Kaizers that completely different songs are pointed out as strong or less strong songs. That shows how relative and taste and pleasure based such reviews are. We read that only as a sign that this must be a solid record, as so many different songs are pointed out as the best ones!
- Examples for this?
- Stein Østbø in VG points out "Kaizers 115. drøm" as one of the strongest tracks, while the guy in Addresseavisen thinks that all other songs are better than this one. Then Risnes in DN states that "Med en gong eg når bånn" is too ironically crooner like, while Rakvåg in Dagsavisen points this one out as one of the better songs on the album. Most agree on the fact that "Apokalyps meg" is great, but for some it stands out as well. All in all, there are lots of examples... Apart from that, I like it that people compare this album to "Maestro", our last record, instead of comparing it to "Ompa" from 2001. This shows that Maestro stands strong and that we are allowed more freedom regarding the success we had with Ompa. We prefer to look back at the last one we did and forward instead of way back, if you know what I mean.
- We understand, and to sum it up: Congratulations for fantastic reviews for the fourth record in a row!!
- Thanks a lot!! This is great fun!!
By the way, have a look at the picture special from the recordings, made by Paal Audestad, here.