Here you’ll find something truly special. It’s the video for Laibach’s “Life Is Life.” I’ve watched it maybe a half a dozen times since being introduced to it by a Laibach fan. I casually asked where I might start with the band; I didn’t really know anything about them aside from their highly regarded position in goth and industrial music circles. This is what he showed me, and boy, I was sold.
Talk about nailing it. I rarely get so excited about a music video that I feel the need to show all my friends, family, strangers, pets, etc. but “Life Is Life” rules SO hard that’s what I have to do! I want to project this video on the side of the White House!
Anyway, Laibach was formed in the early 80s as a sort of art collective in Slovenia (then a part of Yugoslavia). They worked closely with some theater companies providing music for experimental plays early in their career, and put out their first album in 1985. Opus Dei, the album “Life Is Life” comes from, was released in 1987 and began the band’s tradition of covering other artists’ songs, often changing the interpretation of the song not by changing lyrics but by radically altering the musical style of the track. In fact, “Life Is Life” is a cover of popular French rock band Opus! Hear the Opus version here. Laibach also did covers of “The Final Countdown,” “Sympathy For the Devil,” and the entire Beatles album Let It Be.
Well, thank you Laibach for bringing something beautiful into this world. I am not bullshitting or being ironic when I say this video is a piece of art.
Titties!
Leibach “Let It Be” is great! A classic.