---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)
No comments:
Post a Comment