History Music / KaizersOrchestra

* CreatorBreakdown: Sort of. Practically all the band members were undergoing personal trials during the recording of ''Evig pint''; in fact, the master take of the title track was recorded while Janove was particularly distraught, which can be heard in his pained vocal performance. Made even more poignant when you consider the song's title (see DarkerAndEdgier below).
* CreatorCouple: Ottesen/Zahl, to a minor extent considered the [[Music/TheBeatles Lennon/McCartney]] of Norwegian music.

* FanNickname: "Kaizers". Even picked up on by the media, what with the headline-friendliness of the shorter title.

* FlipFlopOfGod: Regarding whether the subject of the song "170" won or lost the war in which he fought.

* MagnumOpusDissonance: ''Ompa til du dør'' is widely considered their MagnumOpus, although ''Maestro'' (to a lesser degree) is often given the same consideration; in fact, the band themselves appear to consider ''Maestro'' to be their masterwork. This doesn't stop them from claiming their newest effort is their best whenever they have a new album coming out. These convictions seldom last.

* ThePeteBest: Jon Sjøen, who left the group in 2004. Øyvind has since displaced him to the point where few fans remember Sjøen, and Sjøen is frequently mistaken for Øyvind in older photos and videos (which can be excused to a certain extent, as they do share certain physical similarities.)

* SoMyKidsCanWatch: Janove has written music for a family friendly musical.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Came ''this close'' to performing as a support act for DepecheMode in 2005 (Dave Gahan had seen them perform before, and was eager to meet them), but plans fell through.

Their extensive catalog of quirky GenreRoulette songs prevalently features cryptic, surrealistic "storytelling" lyrics in the vein of Music/TomWaits, that are often part of an interconnected, cross-album MythArc. Their lyrical subject matter includes WorldWarII, TheMafia, parapsychology, (and its often resultant) [[SanitySlippage insanity]], and [[MurderArsonAndJaywalking cocktail drinks]]. Most songs are composed by frontman and multi-instrumentalist Janove Ottesen, with a lesser share of compositions credited (or co-credited to) to second guitarist Music/GeirZahl.

[[caption-width-right:300:From left to right: Janove Ottesen, Terje Winterstø Røthing, Helge Risa (and [[IconicItem The Mask]]), {{Music/Geir Zahl}}, Rune Solheim, and Øyvind Storesund]]
->''Norwegian storm-trooping tarantellas with savage rhythms and innovative textures. Thinking man's circus music. Way out''.
->-- '''TomWaits'''

A Norwegian alternative rock band who have also attained significant international popularity despite (or, maybe because of) singing in their native Norwegian dialect. They are well known for their raucous live shows, during which they utilize oil barrels and other unusual items for the purposes of percussion.

Their catalog of quirky GenreRoulette songs prevalently features cryptic, surrealistic "storytelling" lyrics in the vein of TomWaits, that are often part of an interconnected, cross-album MythArc. Their lyrical subject matter includes WorldWarII, TheMafia, RussianRoulette and [[SanitySlippage insanity]].

All in all, they can be considered the epitome of CrazyAwesome and HotBlooded.

* {{Music/Geir Zahl}}: Lead guitar, vocals, percussion

* AlbumTitleDrop: Sometimes it even gets dropped as a song title!

* AnachronicOrder: Hooboy. Always present, but the ''Violeta'' trilogy really takes it UpToEleven. What's considered the very first song (out of a total of thirty) is the final song on the first installment.

* AudienceParticipationSong: Go to most Kaizers concerts (at least domestically) and you figure out pretty quickly that the band could probably do without their vocalist half of the time. The band tends to leave most refrains and call-and-response parts to the audience, at least on songs that are relatively well-known: Some songs will have the audience singing along on the entire song, prompted or no.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: "Damplokomotiv", from the ''Ompa til du dør'' demo. "Dieter Meyers Inst." also gradually becomes this, as Janove's voice becomes more and more unhinged as the song goes on.

* CoverVersion: A cover of Norwegian rocker Joachim "Jokke" Nielsen's song "Action" was released on a bonus disc bundled with the special edition version of ''Maestro''. Furthermore, they have spontaneously covered parts of songs in-concert, such as integrating the bassline of MichaelJackson's "Billie Jean" into "Mann mot mann" (which features a relatively similar bassline to begin with), and (even more atypically) using the chorus of Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" during performances of "Naade", among several other examples.
** Notably, they performed "Goin' Out West" at a birthday celebration all-star show in celebration of their idol (and reciprocal fan) TomWaits.

* FlamingDevil: The devil in the Begravelsespolka music video has some definite camp moments.

* RockMeAsmodeus: ''Begravelsespolka''

* NonAppearingTitle: "Rullett", "Katastrofen", "Hevnervals", "Moment", "Kaizers 115. drøm", "Romantisk salme i F-dur", and "Christiania". The latter was given an outro refrain of "Bevar Christiania" ("Preserve Christiania") during live performances, however; fittingly, one such performance was recorded for the ''Viva La Vega'' DVD recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark.[[hottip:*: For those not in the know, "Freetown Christiania" is a self-proclaimed autonomous neighborhood of Copenhagen.]]

* BigScrewedUpFamily: The relatives of one Violeta Violeta. And in another sense of the word, the mafia family of ''Ompa til du dør''.

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: The vinyl release of ''Volume III''.

** "Satan i halsen"... wait, what do you mean it's not Music/LeonardCohen?

* FaceOfTheBand: Generally averted, Janove almost always brings along other band members for interviews, and his choices vary intensely. It helps that he's not the sole songwriter.

* MrFanservice: [[http://www.drmowinckel.com/images/gallery/1551.jpg Fallback in case their musical career failed.]]

* ICannotSelfTerminate: Implied with the character Dominique after [[FailureToSaveMurder he fails to keep Tony Fuciante from]] [[BoomHeadshot shooting himself in the head playing]] RussianRoulette.

->"The mask... it came to me... and I just took it. And... we were friends."

** "The devil made that guitar for him. ...But the LAAAAAWD made him that suit!"

* TheBeatles: One consistently name-dropped source of inspiration. They may even be more of an influence than previously thought, as the distinctive oil barrel section in "Bastard" was directly inspired by RingoStarr's drumming on "Drive My Car".

* CreatorCouple: Ottesen/Zahl, to a minor extent considered the [[TheBeatles Lennon/McCartney]] of Norwegian music.

* ''Live i Oslo Spektrum'' (2011)

* AlternativeRock: Subverted. Often referred to as this, but the band themselves counter this with the argument "alternative to what?"

* BlacksheepHit: They refrained from including "Prosessen", an up-tempo, relatively straight pop song, from their first album specifically to avoid this. Ironically, it was eventually released on ''Våre demoner''; while released as a single, it was not much of a hit, even by the band's standards.

* ContinuityNod: "D-Dagen" makes a lyrical reference to the character of Dominique, four years after the release of ''Ompa til du dør''.

* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Evig pint'' (Norwegian for [[IntentionallyAwkwardTitle Eternally Tormented]]) was a deliberate attempt to avoid the accusations that they were purely a gimmicky-party band. So with ''Evig pint'' the guitar was pushed into the foreground, less attention was put to the weird percussion and the lyrics got way darker. The funny thing though, is that ''Ompa'' was a pretty dark album too. Most of the critics seems to forget that.

* DrivenToSuicide: "Min kvite russer". Also "Den romantiske tragedien".
* EpicInstrumentalOpener: The first few minutes of "Medisin & Psykiatri", from ''Våre demoner'', qualifies as this.

-> '''TomWaits'''

Band members:

Albums Kaizers Orchestra has released:

* ''Ompa til du dør'' (2001)
* ''Evig pint'' (2003)
* ''Maestro'' (2005)
* ''Maskineri'' (2008)
* ''Våre demoner'' (B-Sides, 2009)
* ''Violeta Violeta Volume I'' (2011)
* ''Violeta Violeta Volume II'' (2011)

!!Tropes Associated With Kaizers Orchestra:

-->"The mask... it came to me... and I just took it. And... we were friends."

* CreatorCouples: Ottesen/Zahl, to a minor extent considered the [[TheBeatles Lennon/McCartney]] of Norwegian music.

* MinimalisticCoverArt: The ''Kaizers Orchestra EP'' (better known as the ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Gul EP]]'') has a
plain yellow cover, adorned only by a barcode.

[[caption-width-right:300:From left to right: Janove Ottesen, Terje Winterstø Røthing, Helge Risa (and [[IconicItem The Mask]]), Geir Zahl, Rune Solheim, and Øyvind Storesund]]

* Geir Zahl: Lead guitar, vocals, percussion

* TheMusical: "Sonny" has shades of this, featuring Kaizers Orchestra songs re-recorded for the occasion. The play itself is based on the interconnected lyrical universe of the band's first three albums.

* Public Domain

* EstrogenBrigadeBait: [[http://www.drmowinckel.com/images/gallery/1551.jpg Fallback in case their musical career failed.]]

Kaizers Orchestra are a Norwegian alternative rock band who have also attained significant international popularity despite (or, maybe because of) singing in their native Norwegian dialect. They are well known for their raucous live shows, during which they utilize oil barrels and other unusual items for the purposes of percussion.

* DrivenToSuicide: "Min kvite russer".

* IconicItem: The gas mask. How it came to be in the band's possession (or is it the ''the other way around''?!?), as explained by Helge:

* LostLoveMontage: "Hjerteknuser" from ''Violeta Violeta Volume I'' and "Fanden hakk i hel" from ''Våre demoner'' have elements of this.

* MotorMouth:

* ScrewTheWarWerePartying: "Mr Kaizer, hans Constanze og meg".

* StageNames: All the members have stage names: Janove is "The Jackal", Geir is "Hellraizer", Terje is "Killmaster", Rune is "Mink", Øyvind is "Thunder", and Helge is "Omen". Past member Jon Sjøen was invariably referred to as "Lion King" and "Rasmus", among others. Additionally, Janove was initially called "Rat". The origin of these names are uncertain, however, the band have remarked that Rune is so named due to his excessive amount of body hair.

* EpicRiff: Plenty. "Ompa til du dør", "Maestro", "På ditt skift", "170", the list goes on...

* HoYay: Plenty between most of the members of the band. Janove has kissed (at least) two of his bandmates on-stage. And they're most of them married men, make of it what you will.
** Also, have a look-see at the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7ew1oGXQPs "Kontroll på kontinentet" video]].

* ''Violeta Violeta Volume III'' (2012)

* CreatorBreakdown: Sort of. Practically all the band members were undergoing personal trials during the recording of ''Evig pint''; in fact, the master take of the title track was recorded while Janove was particularly distraught, which can be heard in his pained vocal performance. Made even more poignant when you consider the song's title (see below).

* EverythingIsAnInstrument: Oil barrels and crowbars, and for a time, trash can lids. Oh, and there's the inclusion of a distinctive red trash can in Rune's drum kit.

Their catalog of quirky GenreRoulette songs prevalently features cryptic, surrealistic "storytelling" lyrics in the vein of TomWaits, that are often part of an interconnected, cross-album MythArc. Their lyrical subject matter include WorldWarII, TheMafia, RussianRoulette and [[SanitySlippage insanity]].

** The title of ''Ompa til du dør'' is featured both in the lyrics for "Ompa til du dør" (no shit, Sherlock) and the infamous chorus of "Resistansen".

* IconicItem: The gas mask. How it came to be in the band's possession (or is it the ''the other way around''?!?), as explained by Helge Risa:

* LargeHam: Janove Ottesen is known to slip into this, especially live.

* StudioChatter: Snippets of dialogue in studio recordings have been heard occasionally, the most famous example being "Bris", which ends with a fit of laughter from the band due to organist Helge Risa ending his organ part in the completely wrong key. Another is "Under månen", a bonus track from the ''Våre demoner'' album: at the end of the song, Ottesen says to the others that they need to "work on the solo", as his improvisational instrumental break eventually ended up out of key and out of sync with the others.

* ThisIsSparta: The climax of "Dieter Meyers Inst." builds up to this.

Kaizers Orchestra are unique owing to the fact that they are the first non-black metal Norwegian band that sings in their own language to get famous out of Norway. They are also known for their raucous live shows, the mixing of Balkan inspired punk with unusual percussion (oil barrels) and Tom Waitsian-like cryptic lyrics that form an interconnected MythArc. These lyrics often focus on WWII, the mafia, RussianRoulette or insanity.

* WordSaladLyrics: Surfaced occasionally throughout the years, before reaching an apex with ''Maskineri'' and the ''Violeta Violeta'' trilogy, on which there are few songs that do not invoke this.