• Record Label: Mute
  • Release Date: Feb 10, 2004
Metascore
71

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Negative: 1 out of 14
  1. Alternative Press
    70
    Blixa Bargeld's singing voice lacks distinction, but Mobile's emotional intensity, cinematic grandeur and eerie beauty render that a moot point. [Mar 2004, p.110]
  2. Perpetuum Mobile is an album of skeletal songs, many of them little more than percussion, bass, and vocals. What's remarkable is the band's ability to create an effective atmosphere with so little -- and much of the credit must go to Bargeld's ever-astonishing voice.
  3. As the album wears on, however, it becomes clear that Einstürzende Neubauten has spent more time cultivating their bristling sonic elements than exploring compositional variety or subtlety.
  4. 80
    This is uncommonly powerful music, created from common instruments.
  5. Mojo
    80
    Evern more so than on Silence Is Sexy... a few telling elements are deployed to dramatic effect here. [Feb 2004, p.98]
  6. On the whole, this is the quietest Neubauten album to date, frequently lowering to a mere whisper, but don't let this fool you-- no album this band has made in the past has bristled with so much latent violence or been haunted by a more palpable sense of unseen menace.
  7. It feels like one of the most uncompromising and oddly impactful offerings they've produced in many years.
  8. It is difficult to say which is more tedious and painful to listen to, the lyrics or the orchestration.
  9. Q Magazine
    70
    Where once they clanged, Neubaten now purr, the pervading mood of restrained grandeur, leavened with itchy, almost pop touches. [Apr 2004, p.110]
  10. Perpetuum Mobile offers a more moving and engaging experience than you would expect from an album whose primary instrumentation involves an air compressor and a car tyre.
  11. The Wire
    70
    Rather than fetishing these sound sources, Neubaten vacuum-pack the lot inside a hermetic and constricting production that is immensely disturbing. [#241, p.57]
  12. Urb
    40
    Doesn't fit comfortably into either the current musical landscape or the leftfield. [Mar 2004, p.109]
  13. In the beginning, Neubauten's music sounded urgent and vital, created out of necessity; now it sounds effortless and natural, moving forward because it has no other place to go.
User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. BrunoP
    Jan 18, 2006
    9
    This is amazing album. After one year of listening to it, I can say its one of their best albums, much better then silence is sexy.
  2. urhok
    Mar 3, 2004
    10
    May be their best work yet. unbeliveable.