When All Else Fails... (2005 16-17 album)
2005 compilation album by 16-17
The two-CD collection, When All Else Fails...a.k.a. Early Recordings, gathers together three different recordings by Swiss trio 16-17: 1984's Hardkore & Buffbunker (disc one, tracks 8–12), 1987's 16-17 (disc one, tracks 1–7), and 1989's When All Else Fails (disc two). This live album by the industrial punk jazz band was released on May 20, 2005, by Savage Land.
Reception
AllMusic staff writer William York calls the formula simple: "maniacal drumming, noisy guitar, and paint-peeling saxophone steamrolling ahead for three to five minutes at a time".
And the Dusted Magazine writer Doug Mosurock reviews: "By the time of 1989’s When All Else Fails LP, 16-17 had become, unbelievably, even more aggressive, this time as a result of Kneubühler adding new technologies and a whole palette of unconventional sound-generating devices to his setup. The approach here is positively industrial at times, as on “Pedestrian Dub,” where sax and guitar are infused with enveloped, processed barbs that make each bleat and downstroke sound like wavering sheet metal, and Remond's shell tones all the more alien. The cyclic rhythms of their earlier work reappear on “Who Planned All This?” and “Clap Trap,” but the rictus of dance rhythms and the drive to innovate moved the band beyond earlier works..."
Track listing
All tracks composed by Alex Buess, Markus Kneubuehler, Knut Remond (16-17)
Personnel
Adapted from the When All Else Fails... liner notes.
The public source identifies “When All Else Fails... (2005 16-17 album)” as 2005 compilation album by 16-17. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around When, Else and Fails.
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Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 9, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q28231390. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1984, 1987, 1989 and 2005.
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This entry incorporates text from “When All Else Fails... (2005 16-17 album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.