Almost 25 years ago I wrote the following for Expose (edited for relevancy):
On Ash Ra Tempel's third album Join Inn we're introduced to Manuel Göttsching's longtime lovely girlfriend Rosi Mueller (who previously only had cameos on Schwingungen and Seven Up). And we get to hear the pleasure of Klaus Schulze back in the drumkit saddle. On this album he provides less drums and more keyboards than on the debut. 'Freak N' Roll' opens the album in typical heavy fashion. Schulze's trademark machine gun drumming technique comes to the fore very early this time - and one would almost expect them to outdo the phenomenal 'Amboss' from the first album. But they climaxed a bit too early and had to settle for Göttsching's unique guitar rambling combined with the Enke/Schulze energetic rhythm section to make it until the finish. 'Jenseits', however, is Ash Ra Tempel's crowning spatial moment. Here, Schulze shows his brilliance with electronics, laying down a tranced out locust-at-night sound while Hartmut Enke defines what a bass guitar can do for space music. Göttsching's guitar just shimmers and flows. But the highlight on this song for me is Rosi's seductive yet fragile and innocent voice whispering on top. I have absolutely no idea what she's going on about, which adds to the exoticism and mystery for non-German speakers.
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Like with Sandrose and East of Eden's Mercator Projected, I'm not sure I'm going to get more peak moments out of Join Inn. Even though it's been 12 years since my last listen, it's as if I knew every note when hearing it last night. I've played this album a ton over the years. That being said, it also maintains its Gnosis 14 rating. One of my all-time favorites.
Ownership: LP: 1973 Ohr. Single sleeve. Online acquisition from the early days of ebay (1999).
LP: 1973 Italy PDU. Single sleeve. My first copy purchased from a mail order dealer out of Goldmine while still in college (1987). This version has Klaus Schulze's name in the marquee. I keep it for the memories.
CD: 2010 Belle Antique / MG.ART (Japan). Papersleeve edition.
1987 (first listen); 8/21/99 (review); 2/2/01 (update); 12/9/11; 11/30/23 (update/new entry)
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