{{Infobox album | name = NEU! 2 | type = studio | artist = Neu! | cover = Neu2_albumcover.jpg | alt = | released = 1973 | recorded = January 1973 | venue = | studio = | genre = *Krautrock<ref name="nyt"/> *experimental rock<ref name="nyt"/> *proto-punk<ref name="Pitchfork"/> | length = 42:14 | label = Brain, United Artists | producer = Conny Plank, Neu! | prev_title = Neu! | prev_year = 1972 | next_title = Neu! '75 | next_year = 1975 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = Klaus Dinger | type = studio | prev_title = Neu! | prev_year = 1972 | title = Neu! 2 | year = 1973 | next_title = Neu! '75 | next_year = 1975 }} {{Singles | name = Neu! 2 | type = studio | single1 = Super/Neuschnee | single1date = 1972 }} }} {{Album reviews |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/neu%21-2-mw0000004469 |title=Neu! 2 |website=AllMusic |last=Jurek |first=Thom |access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> |rev2 = ''The Austin Chronicle'' |rev2score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2001-07-13/82355/ |last=Chamy |first=Michael |date=13 July 2001 |access-date=16 August 2016 |title=Neu!, Neu! 2, and Neu! 75 (Astralwerks) |website=The Austin Chronicle}}</ref> |rev3 = ''Pitchfork'' |rev3score = 7.5/10<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5757-neu-2/ |title=Neu! 2 review |last=Sirota |first=Brent S. |date=5 June 2001 |website=Pitchfork |access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> |rev4 = ''PopMatters'' |rev4score = positive<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/neu-2/ |title=Neu!: Neu! 2 |website=PopMatters |last=Taylor |first=Nicholas |date=28 May 2001 |access-date=16 August 2016}}</ref> |rev5 = ''Q'' |rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Neu! 2 review |magazine=Q |date=July 2001 |page=136 |quote="In addition to inventing the motorik beat... Neu! also invented the remix album.... these are completed tracks combined with a strategic hand on the turntable..."}}</ref> |rev6 = ''Rolling Stone'' |rev6score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neu/albums/album/183955/review/5943428/neu_2 |title=Neu! - Neu! / Neu! 75 - Astralwerks (2001) |magazine=Rolling Stone |last=Blashill |first=Pat |date=5 July 2001 |access-date=16 August 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002032748/https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/neu/albums/album/183955/review/5943428/neu_2 |archive-date=2 October 2007}}</ref> |rev7 = Martin C. Strong |rev7score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book |last1=Strong |first1=Martin C. |title=The Great Rock Discography |date=2004 |publisher=Canongate |location=New York |page=1072 |ol=18807297M}}</ref> }}
'''''Neu! 2''''' is the second studio album by the krautrock band Neu!. It was recorded in January 1973 and mixed in February 1973, both at Windrose-Dumont-Time Studios in Hamburg, West Germany, and released in 1973 by Brain Records. It was reissued by Astralwerks in the US and by Grönland in the UK and Europe on 29 May 2001.
Critic Paul Morley included it in a list of the "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" in 2003.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Morley |first1=Paul |title=Words and Music: A History of Pop in the Shape of a City |date=2003 |publisher=Bloomsbury |location=London |isbn=0747557780 |page=317}}</ref>
== Overview == This album further focused the classic Neu! krautrock sound,<ref name="AM"/> with the opening track "Für Immer" being an archetypal example of their style — a forward-driving vamp propelled by Klaus Dinger's motorik drumming and Michael Rother's layered guitars. ''Pitchfork'' described the album as featuring a proto-punk sound,<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web |last=Sirota |first=Brent S. |title=Neu! '75 review |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5756-neu-75/ |website=Pitchfork |accessdate=16 August 2016 |date=5 June 2001 |quote="...the radical proto-punk of their second album..."}}</ref> while ''Fact'' labeled it "spartan psych-rock set to power-driven drum tracks."<ref name="FACT">{{cite web |title= Krautrock figurehead Klaus Dinger's final album to get posthumous release |date= 15 March 2013 |website=Fact |url=https://www.factmag.com/2013/03/15/krautrock-figurehead-klaus-dingers-final-album-to-get-posthumous-release/ |accessdate= 20 July 2016}}</ref>
Side 2 of the record caused consternation at the time. Neu! had run out of money to finish recording the album, so the second side consists entirely of their previously released single "Neuschnee/Super", manipulated at various playback speeds on a record player and a cassette recorder. Critics at the time dismissed this as a cheap gimmick. While it was born of necessity, it was entirely in keeping with Neu!'s pop art aesthetics, taking a "readymade" sound object and re-presenting it with a series of manipulations, and also in keeping with the way Neu! deconstructed and pared down rock music. Dinger subsequently pointed to side 2 as being a prototype of the multiple remixes which typically accompany contemporary pop singles.{{Citation needed|date=April 2026}}
==Legacy== Ben Sisario of ''The New York Times'' described the album, along with ''Neu!'' and ''Neu! 75'', as "landmarks of German experimental rock".<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |last1=Sisario |first1=Ben |title=Klaus Dinger, Drummer of Influential German Beat, Dies at 61 |work=The New York Times |date=4 April 2008 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/arts/music/04dinger.html |accessdate=25 January 2020}}</ref>
"Super 16" appears in the films ''Master of the Flying Guillotine'' and ''Kill Bill''.
== Track listing == {{track listing | all_writing = Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother | headline = Side one
| title1 = Für Immer | note1 = "Forever" | length1 = 11:17 | title2 = Spitzenqualität | note2 = "Top Quality" | length2 = 3:35 | title3 = Gedenkminute (für A + K) | note3 = "Minute's Silence (For A + K)" | length3 = 2:06 | title4 = Lila Engel | note4 = "Lilac Angel" | length4 = 4:37 }} {{track listing | headline = Side two | title5 = Neuschnee 78 | note5 = "Fresh Snow 78" | length5 = 2:32 | title6 = Super 16 | length6 = 3:39 | title7 = Neuschnee | note7 = "Fresh Snow" | length7 = 4:07 | title8 = Cassetto | note8 = "Cassette" | length8 = 1:48 | title9 = Super 78 | length9 = 1:36 | title10 = Hallo Excentrico! | note10 = "Hello Excentrico!" | length10 = 3:44 | title11 = Super | length11 = 3:11 }}
== Personnel == ;Neu! * Michael Rother – guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, zither, percussion, electronics, cassette recorder * Klaus Dinger – drums, percussion, taishōgoto ("Japanese banjo"), 11-string guitar, Farfisa Professional Piano,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Topits |first=K |title=Farfisa Professional |url=http://farfisaprofessional.com |url-status=live |access-date=Jan 1, 2026}}</ref> vocals, electronics, record player
;Additional personnel * Conny Plank – producer, engineer * Hans Lampe – engineer
== References == {{reflist}}
{{Neu}} {{Authority control}}
Category:1973 albums Category:Albums produced by Conny Plank Category:Neu! albums