Play Oomph!’s “Truth or Dare” and you’ll come out a winner no matter what. The German Industrial trio’s 20th anniversary compilation revisits many of their greatest hits, many re-recorded in English for the first time. This career defining album touches on everything the band is capable of, fully inclusive of their influence on the Industrial scene and their ability to write sexually charged, violent, and religiously mocking lyrics.
Catchy and heavy, the songs on “Truth or Dare” are ready to be released on an unsuspecting audience. “Ready or Not” is the album kick-off and notice that Oomph are here for the long haul. The song is heavy with Oomph!’s trademark style and gets the party started. Travel on to “God is a Popstar” and enter a world in which the big guy is a great showstopper, reveling in the attention received.
Had enough? Oomph! hasn’t. They continue on to songs of sex and love with “Sex is Not Enough” and “The Power of Love” Each present tales of the lust for another and how even the most gratifying sexual experience still leaves the heart wanting more. Using their traditional eerie interludes and crunching rhythms, these songs could grace the PA systems of strip clubs world wide and work a crowd into an orgy on the dance floor at the bar.
“True Beauty Is So Painful” is a look of the Botox and silicone existence of so many people dying to have the perfect body and ageless image no matter what the cost or price of pain. This is a song I’m sorry never made it to the sound track of Nip/Tuck as it would have been a perfect fit to a show about plastic surgery and the demons it brought along to both patient and doctor.
“Truth or Dare” truly provides a look into the career of Oomph! and solidifies their place along Ramstein as masters of the German Industrial Metal. Fans of Ramstein or Industrial Metal should not hesitate to pick this album up and play “Truth or Dare” with the pros.

— Deuce \m/