Wallenstein - Mother Universe. 1972 Germany

By 1990, I'd heard 3 of the 4 classic Wallenstein albums, but I didn't get around to hearing this title until 2007. Primarily the reason for that is that I'd been told this was a "folk album". And since I wasn't all that enthused with the band in the first place (back then, except for Blitzkrieg), I laid off acquiring it. That was a mistake. Not only has my overall view of Wallenstein increased, but this album fits the mold of their trademark sound quite well. If anything, the stigma Wallenstein must overcome is that they're a Krautrock band. And if you're on the Pilz label, that's the expectation going in. And the debut Blitzkrieg certainly had strong Krautrock elements, especially on the track 'Lunetic'. Essentially, though, Wallenstein are a standard German prog rock band. While the opening title track does contain folky elements, the next song is mostly hard rock. So it's curious that the early dealers struggled to listen to more than 9 minutes of the album. I'm quite fond of A3 and B1 myself. While there are no peak moments here, Mother Universe is a solid entry for progressive rock fans.

Ownership: LP: 1972 Pilz. Gatefold. Online acquisition (2011). 

11/10/07 (first listen); 11/8/11; 4/17/23 (review/new entry)

Wallenstein - Blitzkrieg. 1972 Germany

I've often joked that winning a Spelling Bee competition in Germany must be one of the hardest things in the world to achieve. It seems half the words are 10 characters or more! So who knows why this album features two glaring blunders within the titles. Perhaps their American on board flunked out of English... Not as uncommon as one would initially think. In any case, with that out of the way...

'Lunetic' (perhaps they could have called it 'Loontic') is absolutely one of Krautrock's finest moments. Jurgen Dollase's frantic and nimble fingered chromatic scales on the electric harpsichord, are juxtaposed against Bill Barone's decidedly cosmic blues jamming - meanwhile the rhythm section is in hyper-drive mixing things up at a rapid and dizzying pace. And all of this is then blended through Dieter Dirk's patented studio trickery - with phasing galore. After 12 minutes of that brilliance, nothing else will register - and I often find myself at a loss for words for the remainder. But on a careful listen, one can hear the band operating on a more purely symphonic progressive level - eschewing the Krautrock tendencies of the opener. And each track features memorable breaks, similar to how Nektar would do on occasion. For me, Blitzkrieg is easily Wallenstein's finest moment, though I still highly recommend the next three albums as well.

Ownership: 1972 Pilz (LP). Gatefold. Acquired in 2010.

First copy: 1982 Pop Import (LP). Gatefold. Acquired in 1990.

1990; 1996; 10/8/11; 9/3/17 (review)

Wallenstein - Cosmic Century. 1973 Germany

Wallenstein are not an easy band to pigeonhole. Generally lumped in with the Cosmic Joker crowd, and for good reason given various band members' participation, their albums proper are nothing of the sort. Well maybe the debut Blitzkrieg has some classic Krautrock styling (and we'll cover that at another time), but by their 3rd album Cosmic Century, the band were trying their hand at 70s English symphonic rock. So the title of the album is quite misleading, not to mention their appearance on the venerated Kosmische label. Even though one can still find the Dieter Dirks phasing tricks thrown about here and there to keep it interesting. Definitely a swell album, if not particularly groundbreaking or inspiring.

LP: 1973 Kosmische Musik
CD: 2011 Belle Antique (Japan)