There are certain albums which can crush any collecting completionist's financial stability, because it feels like they're just getting remixed, remastered, reissued in varying formats all the time*:
Pink Floyd - "The Dark Side of the Moon"
Dire Straits - "Brothers in Arms"
Fleedwood Mac - "Rumours"
The Kraftwerk catalogue after "Ralf und Florian"
Anything Beatles or Queen...
Anything Beatles or Queen...
And now after "Opus Dei" (recently remastered AND revisited) also Laibach's self-titled debut album?
LAIBACH - Laibach40 (4CD + DVD Box) (1985/2025)
Given that 1. this particular album is already a part of the "Laibach Revisted" box (the most expensive item in my whole music collection) and 2. there's not too much actually new material in this new fourty years anniversary set, it took me a while to consider if I actually needed it - and which version (five LP's or four CD's) would be the preferable one.
Pro vinyl: Two big Laibach boxes side by side would definitely look cool. Contra: Even though it's not nearly as expensive as the self-released "Revisited" box, it's still a sevenscore Euro (plus shipping) investment for a lot of stuff I already. Ultimately I went for the compact disc variant, which has the exact same musical content and extras, and seriously is beautiful enough for me.
The debut itself is included under its originally intended name "Nebo žari" ("The Sky Is Glowing") here. Like on all previously released versions the tracklist varies a little in the second half, but otherwise it's the same familiar essential Experimental Industrial classic.
Two of the three live albums in the box have also been released before:
"Ljubljana - Zagreb - Beograd", which documents Laibach's raw and provocative first Yugoslavian shows in 1982, hasn't even been in my collection for very long yet - but since it has been remastered and the last four pieces are all individual tracks now, there is at least a little improvement.
The same goes for the also remastered version of "M.B. December 21, 1984", a recording of the legendary show that officially never was, when the band was banned from live activities and forbidden to use their name. Just like the vastly different versions of "Država" on the previous CD this album is an excellent example of Laibach's versatility right from the start during their early years, when besides drums they were mostly relying on cheap self-made instruments and tape loops of samples from records to build their menacing wall of sound. Here it's especially the inclusion of a clarinet / trumpet player and Jazz improvisations, which still sticks out as a rare abnormality in their discography to this day.
The last CD finally brings us to the exlusive, previously unreleased part of this compilation. It's not the first album called "We Forge The Future", but actually an even more recent 2025 recording of another special show recreating Laibach's infamous scandal performance at the Zagreb Music Biennale 1983.
And since modern Laibach calling back to their Eighties' mechanical Industrial days is always a treat and this show "Live at the Cuktama Gallery" is different enough from the 2017 re-enacting "Live at Reina Sofia", this disc was the crucial factor pro purchase for me. I just love these kinds of retro-historic performances featuring original members Dejan Knez and Ivan Novak back on stage. And since I'm of course a little bit sad that I've only just missed one of those at the band's 45th anniversary in their hometown Trblovje, this is at least a decent consolation prize.
The first years of Laibach are surrounded by a lot of both mundane and mythical lore. So while perceived contradictions may naturally arise, ultimately every serious attempt of digging into the history - from their inception, over the suicide of frontman Tomaž Hostnik, struggles with authorities, the "exile" in London and first European tour to the recording and very delayed release of their debut - adds new perspectives and thus other pieces of knowledge to the puzzle.
"Laibach40" does so with a booklet with recent and historic liner notes and even more intriguingly presented old and new insights on a DVD featuring the Slovene TV documentary "Music is the Art of Time - LP film Laibach" - plus another extra booklet dedicated to it.
This week I will finally get my long overdue first reading glasses, so I hopefully won't need the aid of my smartphone flashlight to actually read that stuff anymore. But apart from the small font the layout is fine. The whole solid box with seperate covers for each disc is a great item, which I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone who isn't already familiar with most of its musical content.
In case you already own three of the four albums I cannot unburden you from your personal decision, if it's worth spending your money for the rest - especially the vinyl box. I can only tell you that every single part of this box is convincing - and that you probably should decide soon, because the limited stock obviously won't last forever.
Pro vinyl: Two big Laibach boxes side by side would definitely look cool. Contra: Even though it's not nearly as expensive as the self-released "Revisited" box, it's still a sevenscore Euro (plus shipping) investment for a lot of stuff I already. Ultimately I went for the compact disc variant, which has the exact same musical content and extras, and seriously is beautiful enough for me.
The debut itself is included under its originally intended name "Nebo žari" ("The Sky Is Glowing") here. Like on all previously released versions the tracklist varies a little in the second half, but otherwise it's the same familiar essential Experimental Industrial classic.
Two of the three live albums in the box have also been released before:
"Ljubljana - Zagreb - Beograd", which documents Laibach's raw and provocative first Yugoslavian shows in 1982, hasn't even been in my collection for very long yet - but since it has been remastered and the last four pieces are all individual tracks now, there is at least a little improvement.
The same goes for the also remastered version of "M.B. December 21, 1984", a recording of the legendary show that officially never was, when the band was banned from live activities and forbidden to use their name. Just like the vastly different versions of "Država" on the previous CD this album is an excellent example of Laibach's versatility right from the start during their early years, when besides drums they were mostly relying on cheap self-made instruments and tape loops of samples from records to build their menacing wall of sound. Here it's especially the inclusion of a clarinet / trumpet player and Jazz improvisations, which still sticks out as a rare abnormality in their discography to this day.
The last CD finally brings us to the exlusive, previously unreleased part of this compilation. It's not the first album called "We Forge The Future", but actually an even more recent 2025 recording of another special show recreating Laibach's infamous scandal performance at the Zagreb Music Biennale 1983.
And since modern Laibach calling back to their Eighties' mechanical Industrial days is always a treat and this show "Live at the Cuktama Gallery" is different enough from the 2017 re-enacting "Live at Reina Sofia", this disc was the crucial factor pro purchase for me. I just love these kinds of retro-historic performances featuring original members Dejan Knez and Ivan Novak back on stage. And since I'm of course a little bit sad that I've only just missed one of those at the band's 45th anniversary in their hometown Trblovje, this is at least a decent consolation prize.
The first years of Laibach are surrounded by a lot of both mundane and mythical lore. So while perceived contradictions may naturally arise, ultimately every serious attempt of digging into the history - from their inception, over the suicide of frontman Tomaž Hostnik, struggles with authorities, the "exile" in London and first European tour to the recording and very delayed release of their debut - adds new perspectives and thus other pieces of knowledge to the puzzle.
"Laibach40" does so with a booklet with recent and historic liner notes and even more intriguingly presented old and new insights on a DVD featuring the Slovene TV documentary "Music is the Art of Time - LP film Laibach" - plus another extra booklet dedicated to it.
This week I will finally get my long overdue first reading glasses, so I hopefully won't need the aid of my smartphone flashlight to actually read that stuff anymore. But apart from the small font the layout is fine. The whole solid box with seperate covers for each disc is a great item, which I would unhesitatingly recommend to anyone who isn't already familiar with most of its musical content.
In case you already own three of the four albums I cannot unburden you from your personal decision, if it's worth spending your money for the rest - especially the vinyl box. I can only tell you that every single part of this box is convincing - and that you probably should decide soon, because the limited stock obviously won't last forever.
* DISCLAIMER: I haven't actually controlled the accuracy of my "gut feeling" examples.
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