Pancake ~ Germany

No Illusions (1979)

No Illusions is Pancake's third album, and an improvement compared to its two predecessors. Again, guitarist Walter Negele was forced to rebuild the band almost from scratch. Here, Pancake presents a typical German symphonic progressive album with female vocals which veers towards the sound of bands like Octopus circa Boat of Thoughts or Streetmark's Eileen. While the first two albums tended to meander, No Illusions demonstrates a mature band, with tighter arrangements, and a more forceful approach.

Cool cover arts that crosses the harsh realities of the late 70s with the psychedelic dolls of the original Ohr LP's.

The CD adds six bonus tracks. The first three are a set of demos from 1980 that was to be their 4th album. The other grouping is a live reunion from 2002. 

Ownership: 

1979 Blubber Lips (LP)

2012 Garden of Delights (CD). Six bonus tracks. Booklet with liner notes and photos. 

3//06 (LP acquired); 1/3/10; 2/21/13 (CD acquired / review)

Out of the Ashes (1977)

On Out of the Ashes, original guitarist and main songwriter Walter Negele basically had to build the band from the ground up from the prior release. For this lineup he added a keyboardist along with a talented singer, to provide a more symphonic sound than prior. As with Roxy Elephant, same period Jane would have to be looked upon as an influence, since they too had switched to a more spacey sound reflecting their new interest in all things Pink Floyd. This type of sound was hugely popular in Germany at this time, as not only major indigenous bands such as Eloy and Grobschnitt had migrated in this direction, but a host of more unknown groups like Indigo, Fly, and Shaa Khan had also tried their hand had emulating Animals-era Floyd. Overall, Out of Ashes demonstrates a more confident Pancake, and is a slight improvement on the debut. But they were to accomplish even more on their final album No Illusions.

Ownership: 2008 Garden of Delights (CD). Booklet provides a full history of the album, with copious photos plus one bonus track.

6//90 (LP acquired); 1996; 9/26/07; 2/18/13 (CD acquired / review)
 

Roxy Elephant (1975)

Pancake's debut is a good representative of the German rock sound of the mid 1970s. So it's not really Krautrock per se, nor Deutschrock, but it definitely has a progressive mindset, with plenty of good ideas. There are no keyboards, and the songs are driven by dual guitars. From a composition perspective, mid 70s Jane and Birth Control would probably be a good guidepost here, but other obscure references would include Poseidon, Madison Dyke, and Prosper. Obviously, Pancake is not where you start your German progressive collection, but for deep divers like myself, this is worth owning. They were to improve from here.

I wish they'd included the two Nyrvana Pancake singles as bonus, rather that putting them on one of GoD's Psychedelic Gems' series of albums. I haven't heard these singles myself, but will check them out on YouTube when I get a chance.

 One fun fact: Back in the early 90s, when we had a weekly radio show here in DFW, I asked the host how he would describe the album cover. He dutifully started to do so, until he heard myself and others in the studio start busting out laughing. Yea, I know, sophomoric humor right out of Porky's or American Pie. Who said the UMR was highbrow anyway?

Ownership: 2003 Garden of Delights (CD). Booklet with liner notes and photos. 

8//90 (LP acquired); 1995; 12/3/07 (CD acquired); 2/17/13 (review)

2/17/13 (new entry)