Eloy - Inside. 1973 Germany

Interesting to research my notes and journals to realize I haven't heard this album since my Gnosis review in 2006, nearly a full 18 years ago. I entered this early on into the UMR because I had a full review, but didn't hear it then either. My tastes have not changed at all regarding this album, and my perspective remains as below. Other than a few word and grammar changes, the review below continues to hold court for me. Worth pushing forward.

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Inside is Eloy’s second album and their first foray into progressive rock. This was one of my very first Continental European albums to own, and would have to consider it a strong influence on my personal preferences, especially upon initial discovery in the mid 1980s.

More overtly complex than most albums from Germany, and not really Krautrock in the traditional sense of the word. Blindfolded, and not knowing any better, I’d say Eloy - on Inside anyway - sounds more like an early 70s group from England. While vocal/guitarist Frank Bornemann is the clear leader of the band, the musical focus on Inside is squarely on the shoulders of organist Manfred Wieczorke. He carries most of the solos, as well as many of the melody lines. In fact, the organ virtuosity displayed here is some of the finest to ever be committed to a rock album (and that’s quite a statement!). In some ways, it almost seems they’re hiding Bornemann’s guitar playing. Without question he’s competent, especially during the composed melody runs, but does seem uneasy in the improvisational solo sections. Bornemann’s accented vocal style heavily resembles Ian Anderson, which I think leads to the frequent Jethro Tull comparisons Eloy gets tagged with (during this stage of their career at least). Also of note is the rhythm section of Fritz Randow and Wolfgang Stöcker, which is strikingly crisp and fiercely driving.

Side long opener ‘Land of No Body’ contains Manfred’s jaw dropping organ performance (both the atmospheric sections and in the ripping solos). Following this, the title track demonstrates the group’s complex compositional side. ‘Future City’ is Eloy at their most creative, with the musical emulation of a wind-up toy gone mad. ‘Up and Down’ is more in line with what other Germanic groups were doing at the time, recalling the haunting work of Paternoster or the more inward looking songs by Twenty Sixty Six and Then, My Solid Ground, or Murphy Blend. Interesting to note that Wieczorke took on the vocal duties here, and his heavy German accent gives it a completely different feel than Bornemann’s more refined (yet still accented) English. Without a doubt, this is a Hall of Fame album, and one of the finest German symphonic rock albums ever made.

Ownership: LP: 1973 Electrola. Uni-pak gatefold design, which is the true first pressing. Found at the Sound Exchange in Houston (1986) for all of $4. Another one of those purchases that helped define my collection direction. 

Former ownership: CD: 1985 Electrola. Standard jewel case release with no extras or enhancements. Straight from the tape. Not sure when I obtained this, but probably the early 90s.

1/6/86 (first listen); 8/19/06 (review); 6/21/09 (new entry); 7/21/24 (update)

Emerge - Now! 2006 USA-California

Emerge's debut CD is exactly the type of album I look for while haunting the thrift shops. It was over two years ago when I found this with some other intriguing jazz rock / fusion CDs. Some I kept, others I sold. But this one had no provenance so I stuck it in a pile of unknowns that I planned to review. I do this a lot - have projects ready to go - and yet never actually get around to doing them. Finally I'm plowing through a large pile of CDs just sitting here from buys going as far back as 2016.

Oakland's Emerge is unknown - but not really. This is one of the most hidden-in-plain-sight albums that I've run into in a long time. It's not in Discogs, nor RYM. But the label website is still going strong, some 18 years after this release. As well as a Facebook page that is active. Supposedly the label "reissued" this album in 2015. Hard to imagine there was that much demand in the first place. Where are all the existing original copies?

I could tell the tale above for many albums I find, but the music doesn't warrant the prelude. Now! obviously does. On the surface Emerge are nothing more than your garden variety guitar fronted jazz rock trio with competent lightly amplified six strings and funky rhythms. All well and good, but not enough to find room in my collection. That space is long occupied. You have to bring something else to get my attention.

And that's where this review has been going. The tone that Peter Jong Chang obtains here is absolutely delicious. We're talking heavy fuzz tone right out of the 1971 cookbook. He doesn't wail everywhere, but when he plugs in and gets the effects going - look out! A very unusual sound for the middle 2000's. This isn't the overamplified stoner sound of modern metal, no no, this is something from the 70s analog past. On most tracks, Chang savors the moment and unleashes his fury in the middle or end of the song. But if you want a stiff drink up front, go for 'Pipeline' which will get your attention quickly.

Ownership: CD: 2006 Station of Dreams. Jewel case. Four page booklet with recording details. Found at a thrift shop (2022).

7/18/24 (first listen / review / new entry)

P.L.J. Band - Armageddon. 1982 Greece

For the Tin Pan Alley review I wrote: "Context matters. Especially in those crucial years from the late 60s to the middle 80s... ...We have to remember that the 80s were considered anathema to the collectors of the day. If it wasn't from the 60s or 70s, then it wasn't very desirable. Might seem a silly notion now that it's been 33 years since we left that decade, but in the 90s it was still very fresh on the minds of the true believers."

With that in mind, I can remember very well the discussion around P.L.J. Band's Armageddon. Dealers went to great lengths to explain the album didn't sound anything like an 80's album. Mostly to keep the dollar value high. However, in this case, they were absolutely right. Armageddon is completely out of time. Sounding every bit like a 1974 album, the music is both doomy and psychedelic with a folk undertone. The lyric content and theme also draws heavily from one of Greece's most popular albums: Aphrodite's Child - 666. An obsession with the end of times it would seem. The music here reflects that, and is more focused than Vangelis' group. The two narration tracks are particularly chilling. Seen a lot of naysayers over the years regarding this album, mostly coming from the traditional progressive rock camp. They decry its simplicity and song structure. One should view Armageddon in the same way you would hear a Krautrock album - it's about the atmosphere and stark reactionism to the status quo.

Context matters.

Ownership: LP: 1982 Vertigo. Gatefold. Online acquisition (2019).

Former ownership: CD: 1994 Vertigo. Simple jewel case release with no further info.

The above CD replaced the first copy I owned which was the Second Battle CD (acquired in 1992).

1992 (first listen); 2/5/95; 1/22/23; 7/15/24 (review / new entry)

Missus Beastly - Minden 1976. Germany (archival)

You would be hard pressed to find a more ardent fan of Missus Beastly than myself. Especially their jazz rock era starting in 1974 and concluding in the early 80s with Dr. Aftershave. This would include their festival recordings as well. However when it comes to archival releases, their two prior could only be considered disappointments. The SWF Session is largely a live radio alternate take of their 1974 self-titled album and is debatable that it should have been released in the first place. The Bremen 1974 performance with Dzyan guitarist Eddy Marron sounded like a home run on paper, yet it was mostly a free jazz exercise, noisy and tuneless.

With that backdrop I reluctantly plucked down for Minden 1976 with obvious trepidation. And the good news is I was rewarded with a unique recording that sounds like an improvised 75 minute concert based on familiar Missus Beastly themes. Garden of Delights went to great lengths to point this out, seemingly addressing my concerns personally, and they were right to do so. The sound is fantastic, and they point out it wasn't from the soundboard but rather two professional microphone recordings mixed together. They stated they didn't want the soundboard (which I guess exists too) because it would have been a different mix than intended. Never thought about that before. So the feeling you get is that you're actually there listening to a concert played 48 years ago. The instrumental music is very good with some long solo opportunities, to be expected on a lengthy concert. Perhaps best of all is Norbert Domling's use of the Framus Triumph bass. Essentially it was an electric upright bass, but much thinner and lighter more ideal for travel. Has a cool sound, and one wonders why it wasn't more popular in its day. Though I'm sure it wasn't cheap. Keyboards, flute, sax, and drums round out the sound. Guitar wasn't part of their usual lineup during this era.

Ownership: CD: 2023 Garden of Delights. Jewel case. Full historical liners and photos.

7/15/24 (first listen/review/new entry)

Saqqara Dogs - Thirst. 1987 USA-New York

Thirst is one of those albums you would discover through Option magazine where they couldn't figure what the hell it was and they'd compare it to a band it had nothing in common with. But this listen pointed me to the possible source: David Torn. Cloud About Mercury was one of those revelations for anyone that scanned every single record in the 1980s mall record store hoping for just one new album that looked interesting. Saqqara Dogs takes Torn's loud guitar ethic and throws a little Middle Eastern mysticism into the mix. And you're not too far from Black Sun Ensemble either - another Option treasure find. In the end, Saqqara Dogs belongs to neo psych, though maybe not obvious at first. This has aged beautifully.

Ownership: CD: 1987 Pathfinder. Standard jewel case. Four page booklet with recording details.

I first bought the LP in 1988 not long after release. Not sure when I picked up this CD, but it would have been one of my very first LP replacements. Looking at current prices, I may have been onto something there...

1988 (first listen); 2/10/07 (review); 7/11/24 (new entry / update)

Dhope - Musical Exhibitions. 1978 Germany

---9/16/13

Musically, this one takes a bit to get going. The opening track, while a finely crafted piece, is somewhat straightforward, but with some fine Moog, and features that unique lower register German voice singing English. Perhaps not quite as dour as Paternoster (what is?), but that's too far off. Later on he sings in a higher register, which I found a bit more appealing. Now I'll be honest here, this album didn't floor me on the whole. Or maybe I should say it didn't really match the reviews I've read. There's no mellotron (as confirmed by a band member), and the time changes are more like theme shifts rather than metric gymnastics embedded within each measure. The compositions sort of bounce along harmlessly, with plenty of fat bass and 4/4 drumming, sometimes in a pseudo disco beat. There's some fine, though not exceptional, guitar soloing, and most of the keyboards are organ and Moog. And all of the above is fine for me honestly, as the music definitely fits the time and place. But... you will not be thinking this is the German album from 1973 Italy as perhaps the Tonic album does in places. However, if you like the late 70s German symphonic sound, and get a bit tired of all the Kraut Fusion from this era. 

Comparisons? Perhaps an amalgamation of all 3 Indigo albums, Fly, Novalis, Gloria's Children, Minotaurus, Shaa Khan, Anyone's Daughter, Waniyetula (Galaxy), and others of its ilk. Or a male vocal equivalent to Werwolf, Rebekka, and Eden. 

---7/11/24

OK. That was a pretty thorough examination with lots of name dropping. As I heard the album twice last night for the first time since I penned those notes (+1 rating), the sound of the late 70s German progressive rock most certainly rose to the top. In North America, or even England, this would have been a proggy AOR album. But in Germany the commercial aspirations aren't as apparent. Perhaps even a bit incompetent in their attempt, which makes the music all that much more alluring. It's just this amateur status that allows the music to breathe and be more true to the artist. I also really appreciate Dhope's melodic style, a sound that with the right producer and publicist, could have broken the group to a larger audience. A common tale.

Ownership: CD: 2021 Garden of Delights. Jewel case. Historical liner notes and multiple photos. After the history section, the liner notes are becoming too contemporary, with references to Discogs, RYM, and other media sites. Those statistics won't be relevant in the future. They're barely relevant now...

Through those liner notes we learn the name of the band was originally called Deutsche Hoffnung which means "German Hope". They later abbreviated that to D. Hope and stylized to Dhope. So not a drug nor a "what a dope" reference. Though today, dope is a positive word ("It's Dope!"), so they were ahead of their time inadvertently.

Original LPs remain very expensive.

The date of the original release still remains a mystery, that GoD tried to clear up, but left doubt with the following phrase: "In truth, the LP was recorded and released at the end of 1978, as far as the band members can remember". Not exactly hard data. That's the Freeman's style of choice too - hearsay evidence. Band memories have proven to be unreliable since the beginning of time.

On the CDRWL, a reliable contributor from Germany commented (in 2013): "Could find some info from the bands bass player and one of the guitarists. Band was formed by students of the Paderborn University after lose sessions in 78/79. The album was recorded in 5 days in 1980 and 500 LP where pressed."

Forgiving the grammar, we already display an internecine discrepancy that wasn't cleared up by the liner notes. I'll leave 1978 for my own records, but it's subject to change.

9/16/13 (first listen / review); 7/10/24 (new entry / update)

Gabrielle Roth and The Mirrors - Dancing Toward the One / Sacred Rock. 1982 USA-New Jersey

Dancing Toward the One is exactly the kind of tape I seek in the wilds. There was a lot of very interesting music released in the world during the 1980s that never saw a vinyl pressing, nor a CD later in the decade. Both were too expensive to produce whereas the lonely tape was much cheaper to get out to the masses.

Based on what I've read, Roth was a key mover and shaker in the health and body dance movement, something she invented to overcome a skiing accident. This kind of thinking was coming to prominence in the 80s. There are many tapes in the new age genre, the key is finding the ones that are musically interesting. It appears to me that most of Roth's output is electronic / trance dance oriented, and that started with her creating the Raven label (I'm sure Discogs has the wrong appellation for the label here). I did buy one of her other later tapes so we'll see how it compares.

In any case Dancing Toward the One / Sacred Rock represents her debut, and I would submit this is one of those "accidental" cool albums we often find here in America. Her sound hasn't been shaped yet, and there are at least 15 musicians on the album. It's more tribal than dance, and best of all for us, it can get very psychedelic! The overall sound isn't that far removed from what was happening in England during time with the UK festival psych scene. I really don't think that was her intent, and yet the end result is very satisfying, and comes from a completely different perspective.

There are only two side long tracks here and neither are named 'Dancing Toward the One' or 'Sacred Rock'. Rather side one is 'Sing the Body' described as thus by Roth: "Is the first power chant I received from the spirit..." Wellll....good. I almost put the tape back after reading that. I thought to myself "here we go...". But I also thought "it's only 69 cents..." lol. The second side longer is titled 'Can You See Me' and this has the following description: "Was created in a healing circle as a dance meditation to be done in pairs." Nothing beats a healing circle... as long as it has loud psych guitars! Honestly the trance like rhythms aren't that far removed from what Can had created only a decade earlier. And while the vocals are not near as psychotic as Damo, they aren't too bad on the whole.

The world is an interesting place. Worth grabbing this one.

Ownership: MC: 1982 The Moving Center. Recent thrift shop find (2024).

7/6/24 (first listen/review/new entry)

Buddy Rich - The Roar of '74. 1974 USA

The Roar of '74 represents the type of album I've been looking for in the wilds for some time. That of the rockin' funky big band sound. As a former stage band performer, we occasionally played some pretty cool tunes that made it fun. We also played standards that were necessary for a school band. The Roar of '74 opens with three very hot tracks that just won't let up. It shows the potential of big band in a rock setting. After this about half the rest maintain the funky goodness while the other three tracks are more of what would be expected. Reviews suggest - at best - this is nothing more than "cop show sh*t". Well... I happen to like "cop show sh*t". Buddy Rich was 56 or 57 when this was recorded. He was going hard late in life, especially for his generation. 

Ownership: LP: 1974 Groove Merchant. Single sleeve. Recent thrift shop find (2024). Neat cover that represents the era well.

7/6/24 (first listen/review/new entry)