Originally signed to Chris Parry's Fiction Records, the band released Disco Rigido in the late 1980s (distributed in the United States by Atlantic Records), which featured "Welcome To America", "Land of the Free" and "I've Got To Make Sense". Though the album falls solidly into the EBM genre, it contains hints of the experimentation and genre-bending that later recordings would feature (e.g. "Y Tagata en Situ").
A second album, Big Electric Metal Bass Face, built on the foundation laid with Disco Rigido and upped the ante with excursions into funk (listen to "Funkopolis" as well as the live take of "Coming Down"). Contributors to the band at the time included Chris Vrenna and James Woolley, who both served time in Nine Inch Nails during the mid-Nineties.
Marcus and Christie then teamed up with Jane Jensen to form Oxygiene 23, and released an album ("Blue") on Fifth Column Records.
Engine, a 1995 release on WaxTrax!, was a huge jump forward and found critical acclaim for its decimation of genre boundaries. Die Warzau could no longer be simply pigeonholed into the "industrial" category, as their music became more organic, rounder on the edges yet still retaining their trademark knack for insistent rhythm and pure, unrefined electronic noise. "Liberated" and "All Good Girls" became trademark songs for the group. Fellow WaxTrax! act Sister Machine Gun "inherited" an unused song from this period ("Hole In the Ground"), which they included on their Burn album.
Die Warzau as a group then went on hiatus for a number of years, with Marcus and Christie working on other projects--Jim Marcus founded the pure funk group Everplastic while Van Christie worked on Eco-Hed.
By 2005, though, the duo had reconvened and released Convenience (on their Chicago-based Pulseblack Records). A continuation of the path they started on with Engine, songs like "Radiation Babies", "Kleen" and "Linoleum" further blur any genre lines and leave something truly original. More output is expected from the group in 2006, including a collaboration with funk pioneer George Clinton.
Crack Radio
Die Warzau Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Subliminal on TV
Release your mind
It's in your head this time
This is a substance I can understand
Down, down, down, down, down
Crack
Generate
It's in your head this time
This is a substance I can understand
Down, down, down, down, down
Crack
On TV
On the radio
Feel, feel the merry go round
Get up, take your time and unwind
Get up, shoot up
Take your muscle
Down, down, down, down, down
Crack
It's into your head
Take your time, material muscle
It's into your head
The lyrics to Die Warzau's song "Crack Radio" are about the power of media and how it can influence our thoughts and behavior. The first line, "On the radio, listen to me," is an invitation to the listener to pay attention to what is being said. The next line, "Subliminal on TV," hints at the idea that there might be hidden messages in the media that can affect our subconscious minds without us even realizing it.
The chorus of the song, "Down, down, down, down, down, Crack, Generate, Material time, It's in your head this time, This is a substance I can understand," suggests that the media is like a drug that can generate material desires and that we are susceptible to its influence. The repeated use of the word "down" may also be a reference to the drug culture of the 1980s, when this song was released.
The lyrics also encourage the listener to "get up, shoot up, take your muscle," which can be interpreted in a few different ways. It could be a reference to drug use, but it could also be a call to action, urging people to stand up against the power of the media and take control of their own thoughts and actions.
Line by Line Meaning
On the radio, listen to me
Tune in to the radio and pay attention to what I'm about to say
Subliminal on TV
There are subconscious messages being communicated through the television
Release your mind
Let go of your thoughts and surrender control
It's in your head this time
The influence is coming from within your mind
This is a substance I can understand
I can relate to this feeling or experience on a personal level
Down, down, down, down, down
Sink deeper and deeper into the sensation
Crack
An auditory cue that represents the experience of the substance
Generate
Create or produce energy within yourself
Material time
The experience has a physical aspect to it
On TV
The influence is also being transmitted through television
Feel, feel the merry go round
Become aware of the cyclical nature of the sensation
Get up, take your time and unwind
Stand up and give yourself time to relax and decompress
Get up, shoot up
Physically inject or introduce the substance into your system
Take your muscle
Use your strength and abilities to embrace the sensation
It's into your head
The influence is affecting your thoughts and perceptions
Take your time, material muscle
Allow yourself to fully experience the physical aspect of the sensation
It's into your head
The influence is affecting your thoughts and perceptions
Contributed by Mila G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.