One of the earlier Krautrock albums for me to obtain, Brainticket's debut could almost be considered an exploitive album for the movement, if such a movement existed real time. It's obviously very self-conscious of promoting its LSD nature, and the music goes to great lengths to prove it. For my tastes, I've always enjoyed the opening two tracks with the Leslie affected vocals. Adding flute and female vocals to 'Places of Light' makes that song the highlight of the album for me. The album is most known for its 2 part self-identifying 'Brainticket' opus. And like a lot of people, I feel it's too much of the same thing. Were I to edit, I would have taken 'Brainticket, Part II', which encapsulates best what the group is trying to accomplish. That would have left 12 to 15 more minutes of tracks like 'Black Sand' one would hope. In any case, this last portion has some of the most intense and freaked out parts of "Dawn"'s psychotic rambling. The bits with "Arthur" and the "communication breakdown between you and you" represent some of the crazier highlights. The improvised choppy Hammond riff, the insane female narration, and the sound effects are all legendary by now. Just wish there wasn't so much repetition.
Ownership: LP: 1971 Hallelujah (Italy). Gatefold. I had been in the market for a true first pressing, and I finally obtained one online in 2015. You can spot the first edition by the numbered ticket "X 606" on the front cover. Sometimes I think I like the cover more than the music. Though some of the quotes are a bit silly in retrospect, but probably had impact at the time. As I said above - a bit exploitive.
LP: 1977 Bellaphon (Germany). Gatefold. Picked up at the Austin Record Show in the fall of 1988. This is the first copy I bought and was my introduction to the album and group. Today it is displayed on my wall of albums. Definitely an eye catching cover. I also used it as the cover for my first Creativity and Chaos (pre-Purple Peak) catalog back in 1995.
CD: 1989 Bellaphon. Music like this is fun to have a mobile copy to play. Otherwise the CD is a straight jewel box reissue with no extras of any kind.
10/8/88; 9//12; 6/30/22 (new entry)
xx
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