Nico - Behind The Iron Curtain

"Amid the sheer quantity of "live in the 1980s"-style Nico live albums that commenced raining down in the early '80s, and which have barely abated in the years since her death, few stand out as being more (or less) valuable than any other. Inasmuch as it captures an entire concert, "Behind the Iron Curtain" is one of the few exceptions, a classy recording of a late-1985 show in Warsaw, Poland, as she toured on the back of "Camera Obscura". Backed by the ever-faithful Faction band, the show was played out before an audience of almost unbecoming politeness -- keyboard player James Young, recalling the event in his "The End" memoir, described the onlookers as "serious and subdued...I think the problem was that, for once, Nico was out-doomed." As the album title notes, Poland still lay behind the Iron Curtain at that time, a land where audience participation was seriously discouraged. Young wrote that the "performance was as reserved as the seating," but that is to the album's advantage. With a live set that ranges throughout Nico's career, from old road warriors like "Femme Fatale" and "All Tomorrow's Parties" to new additions "My Funny Valentine" and "Das Lied Vom Einsamen Madchen," the playing is precise and Nico is in excellent voice. "The End" is as chilling as it always should be (but, all too often on live recordings, isn't), and the version of "Janitor of Lunacy" has an edge that still sends shivers down the spine. And what more could you want from a Nico album?" - allmusic.com

Actually the album features a concert recorded at De Doelen Concertgebouw, Grote Zaal (Great Hall), in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 9 October 1985. The concert was held as part of the Pandora's Music Box music festival.
Although the release states it was "recorded live in Warsaw, Budapest and Prague between 29.9.85 and 31.10.85"—thus behind the Iron Curtain—it was in fact entirely recorded at the one concert in Rotterdam.


Tracklist:

1 All Saints Night From A Polish Motorway 9:14
2 One More Chance 3:48
3 Frozen Warnings 3:32
4 The Song Of The Lonely Girl 6:10
5 Win A Few 8:55
6 König 4:27
7 Purple Lips 4:32
8 All Tomorrow's Parties 3:03
9 Tananoori 4:07
10 Janitor Of Lunacy 4:19
11 My Heart Is Empty 5:15
12 Femme Fatale 3:49


Nico - Behind The Iron Curtain
(ca, 220 kbps, cover art included)