| The End... | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1974 | |||
| Recorded | Summer 1974 | |||
| Studio | Sound Techniques, London, England | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 42:02 | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer | John Cale | |||
| Nico chronology | ||||
| ||||
The End... is the fourth studio album by German musician Nico, released in November 1974 through the label Island. It was recorded in summer 1974 at Sound Techniques studio in London and produced by John Cale.
Nico had performed two songs from the album a few years prior to the album release; "Secret Side" had been performed at a John Peel session for the BBC on 2 February 1971 and she had also performed "You Forget to Answer" on TV in France and the Netherlands in early 1972.
The End... is her fifth collaboration with John Cale and second with him as producer. It carries the same harmonium-based sound heard on The Marble Index (1968) and Desertshore (1970), with the addition of Brian Eno's synthesizers and electronic instruments.
The song "You Forget to Answer" tells of the misery felt by Nico when she failed to reach ex-lover, and Doors' singer, Jim Morrison by phone only to find out later that he had died. The album was her first since Morrison's death in 1971. All but two of the songs on the album were written by Nico: the cover of the Doors' "The End" and a version of West Germany's national anthem "Das Lied der Deutschen". Brian Eno plays synthesizer on "It Has Not Taken Long", "You Forget to Answer" and "Innocent and Vain". [1]
The front and back covers feature stills from the Philippe Garrel film Les hautes solitudes (1974) in which Nico appears with Jean Seberg.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | C [3] |
| Drowned in Sound | 8/10 [4] |
| Head Heritage | favorable [5] |
| Tom Hull | B [6] |
The End... was released in November 1974, on record label Island, her only album on the label. Despite strong reviews from some publications,[ citation needed ] like its predecessors, it was not a commercial success and Nico's partnership with Island ended.
Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote (partly in a faux German accent): "I don't know vy she's moaning about unved virgins and vether to betray her hate, and I don't vant to know. The Manzanera-Eno-Cale settings, which I believe is what one calls this sort of elevated sound effect, are suitably morbid and exotic. But funereal irony aside, her parlay of the Doors' 'The End' and the Fuehrer's 'Das Lied Der Deutschens' contextualizes both tunes more pejoratively than is intended. Nico is what happens when the bloodless wager their minds on the wisdom of the blood and the suicidal make something of their lives. If this be romanticism, give me Matthew Arnold—and gimme shelter." [3]
All tracks are written by Nico, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It Has Not Taken Long" | 4:12 |
| 2. | "Secret Side" | 4:08 |
| 3. | "You Forget to Answer" | 5:08 |
| 4. | "Innocent and Vain" | 3:52 |
| 5. | "Valley of the Kings" | 3:57 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6. | "We've Got the Gold" | 5:44 | |
| 7. | "The End" | John Densmore, Robby Krieger, Ray Manzarek, Jim Morrison | 9:37 |
| 8. | "Das Lied der Deutschen" | Hoffmann von Fallersleben, Joseph Haydn | 5:29 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Secret Side" (John Peel Session, February 20, 1971) | 4:04 |
| 2. | "We've Got the Gold" (John Peel Session, December 3, 1974) | 3:58 |
| 3. | "Janitor of Lunacy" (John Peel Session, December 3, 1974) | 4:34 |
| 4. | "You Forget to Answer" (John Peel Session, December 3, 1974) | 4:30 |
| 5. | "The End" (John Peel Session, December 3, 1974) | 9:07 |
| 6. | "Secret Side" (The Old Grey Whistle Test, February 7, 1975) | 4:07 |
| 7. | "Valley of the Kings" (The Old Grey Whistle Test, February 7, 1975) | 3:35 |
| 8. | "Das Lied der Deutschen" (Rainbow Theatre live version, June 1, 1974) | 5:36 |
| 9. | "The End" (Rainbow Theatre live version, June 1, 1974) | 9:18 |
Christa Päffgen, known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, actress, and model. Reviewer Richard Goldstein described her as "half goddess, half icicle" and wrote that her distinctive voice "sounds something like a cello getting up in the morning."
John Davies Cale is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music.
The Marble Index is the second studio album by the German musician Nico, released in November 1968 on Elektra Records. The avant-garde sound introduced in the album—a stark contrast with her folk pop debut, Chelsea Girl (1967)—was the result of the combination of Nico's droning harmonium and somber vocals, and the producer John Cale's musical arrangements, which were inspired by modern European classical music. Nico envisioned the release as an attempt to get artistic legitimacy and changing the looks that had made her famous as a fashion model.
Kevin Ayers was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely associated with the Canterbury scene. He recorded a series of albums as a solo artist and over the years worked with Brian Eno, Syd Barrett, Bridget St John, John Cale, Elton John, Robert Wyatt, Andy Summers, Mike Oldfield, Nico and Ollie Halsall, among others. After living for many years in Deià, Mallorca, he returned to the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s before moving to the south of France. His last album, The Unfairground, was released in 2007. The British rock journalist Nick Kent wrote: "Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett were the two most important people in British pop music. Everything that came after came from them."
Desertshore is the third studio album by German musician Nico. It was released in December 1970 on the Reprise label and co-produced by John Cale and Joe Boyd.
Camera Obscura is the sixth and final studio album by German singer Nico, featuring the backing band the Faction. It was recorded in March–April 1985 and released later that year by Beggars Banquet Records. It was produced by John Cale, marking their first studio collaboration since The End... in 1974. It was Nico's final studio album before her death.
June 1, 1974 is a live album of songs performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London on the titular date. The album is officially attributed to all principal performers Kevin Ayers, John Cale, Brian Eno and Nico, although other well-known musicians, including Mike Oldfield, Robert Wyatt, and Ollie Halsall, also contributed to the concert. The record has often been referred to as the "A.C.N.E." album, for the initials of Ayers, Cale, Nico, and Eno.
Fear is the fourth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released on 1 October 1974 by Island Records.
Here Come the Warm Jets is the debut solo album by Brian Eno, released on Island Records on 8 February 1974. It was recorded and produced by Eno following his departure from Roxy Music, and blends glam and pop stylings with avant-garde approaches. The album features numerous guests, including several of Eno's former Roxy Music bandmates along with members of Hawkwind, Matching Mole, Pink Fairies, Sharks, Sweetfeed, and King Crimson. Eno employed unusual directions and production methods to coax unexpected results from the musicians.
Phillip Geoffrey Targett-Adams, known professionally as Phil Manzanera, is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music, and was the lead guitarist with 801 and Quiet Sun. In 2006, Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On an Island, and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programmes for station Planet Rock entitled The A-Z of Great Guitarists.
For Your Pleasure is the second studio album by the English rock band Roxy Music, released on 23 March 1973 by Island Records. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno.
Wrong Way Up is the sole collaborative studio album by Brian Eno and John Cale, originally released on October 5, 1990 on Opal and Warner Bros. Records. The album sits between the electronic, prog-rock and art rock genres and features some of both Eno and Cale's most mainstream work.
801 were an English experimental rock supergroup band, originally formed in London in 1976 for three live concerts by Phil Manzanera, Brian Eno, Bill MacCormick, Francis Monkman, Simon Phillips and Lloyd Watson.
801 Live is the first live album by 801. It was originally released by Island Records in the UK in November 1976. It was subsequently released by Polydor Records in North America in March 1978.
Slow Dazzle is the fifth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released on 25 March 1975, his second album for record label Island.
HoboSapiens is a solo studio album by John Cale, his first album since 1996's Walking on Locusts. HoboSapiens was released by EMI in October 2003, and was preceded by the EP 5 Tracks in May 2003. A single was released for "Things" shortly after the album's release. Cale co-produced the album with Nick Franglen of Lemon Jelly, and Brian Eno provided the drum loop for the song "Bicycle". The album was met with widespread critical acclaim.
Helen of Troy is the sixth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released in November 1975. It was the last of his three studio albums for Island Records.
Guts is a retrospective compilation album by John Cale, released by Island Records in February 1977. It includes the songs "Leaving It Up to You", which was deleted from Helen of Troy (1975), and the previously unreleased "Mary Lou". It was compiled by Howard Thompson.
"Baby's on Fire" is the third track on English musician Brian Eno's 1974 debut solo album Here Come the Warm Jets.
Diamond Head is the first studio album by English rock musician Phil Manzanera. It was released in 1975, originally on Island Records in the UK and in the US on Atco Records. The sound quality on the US album was deemed to be worse than the UK album, so the UK import became a popular seller in the speciality record shops who sold Roxy Music and other UK bands. The diesel locomotive featured on the cover art is an EMD E9.
