AMON DÜÜL II

When I got around to actually listening to them, I wasn't disappointed at all. I think at the time I first listened to 'Phallus Dei' and then 'Yeti.' Yet, this album fell short of the high expectations I'd gotten through browsing reviews in books and online music sites. 'Phallus Dei' felt like the stronger release to me then, and 'Yeti' took up in my memory as being somewhat overhyped.

Revisiting this album now, about 15 years later - I think I listened to 'Yeti' in intervening years, though it didn't really leave an impact - I'm hearing it fresh, and I think it's probably stronger than I gave it credit for. The last half of the album is admittedly bogged by aimless jamming, but I guess that's part of what makes AD II the band they are. Long on duration, rich in imagery and aesthetic, only a bit shorter on content.

The front half of the album comes running right out the gate. I won't review each individual track, but will only comment on the overall sound of the band and the album here.

The guitar is very distinctive, crunchy, playing many quick chords - I think I hear two guitars, and Wikipedia confirms there are two guitarists. The bass often plays quick, arcing lines. And the drums almost constantly play a skittering, driving beat. There is a violin in many of the songs, giving the band a slightly more rustic sound. The production helps it all gel in an appealing way. Compositionally, one of my favourite things about AD II, which they do a lot, is to sink into long, jammy sections, feeling very free and loose and organic. Then they break suddenly into more composed, melodic sections, always with those distinctive guitars leading the way. This quick contrast of sections is aurally intriguing and pleasing. And from track to track there is enough variation to keep it interesting. The final half of the album, while not bad, doesn't have the same tight transitions that were, to me, the most enjoyable aspect of the album. All in all, I'll be listening again. Very good album.

On the positive side, this is a very fresh, creative, and original album. Much of it is improvised. The last track is probably a fully free improvisation whereas the first three have some composition but are performed in a very free way. This is not nostalgic in the least, it has its very own character that uses some modern elements and sounds while at the same time pointing to the free and somewhat naive nature of the earliest material of the band; it is also dominated by traditional electric guitar, bass and drums, if with some electronic additions. My two favourite tracks are the second and third one. "Du kommst ins Heim" means "You go to the care home" in a way that this could be said in an authoritative manner to an elderly person who has lost their marbles. The musicians were in their early sixties at the time when this was recorded, and I hope still in good shape, still I like them taking on this topic at advanced age, with some allusion to the fact that Amon Düül II have always been crazy and wild and were at the very least in the early days misunderstood and sniffed at by mainstream culture. This (and the whole album) is a clearly a statement that they don't plan to become civilised ever, and that there have been and will be voices telling them "Du kommst ins Heim" at any time of their career and surely still (or again) at old age. The music on this one is quite structureless and mostly improvised, very well fitting the theme of the track, with some crazy word play by Renate, who comes over on this album as even more crazy and witchy than ever, and Chris, who sticks to his well known smoky anti-singing. (Stay away from the album if you need beautiful voices and melodic in-tune singing - this is all about expression of moods and mostly probably better understood as artfully spoken text than singing!)

"Standing in the Shaddow" is what most resembles a rock song on the album with a very solid rhythmic spine, and traditional Amon Düülish bass and guitar. The beginning is composed, but it later devolves into another improvisation. It comes with some fun electronic noises adding to the rhythm that work very well. The first track "On the Highway" is something of a hymn to the freedom of expression and against narrow views, with which they were apparently confronted a lot. It's the track I like least on the album, because it is let down by very static drumming (there is some pretty good and some outright annoying drumming on this album - not sure why obviously existing ability was underused here) and it is quite repetitive - actually they are repetitive all over the place, which makes sense in an improvisation and can come with its own appeal - just on this track I don't think what they are repeating is that worthwhile.

The album ends with a 26 minutes improvisation Back to the Rules/Walking in the Park, which has its highs and lows. It starts off in a very subtle manner and has some nice free experimentation. It is pretty dynamic and varied; on the negative side I think that they devote some more time and repetition to less interesting parts, and some other parts would have deserved more focus.

It is half refreshing and half annoying to hear such a supposedly naive and direct approach of seasoned and experienced musicians. There are times when I totally love this, but at some other time I think "try harder"... devoting some more time and elaboration to this album could have improved a number of parts of the album, although they would probably have thought that it could have destroyed the spontaneous character of the album.

It takes some guts to come out with an album like this, and surely they always had them. Ultimately I'm happy that we have this. 11 years after this was recorded there is no sign of maybe another album coming (they were playing live as late as 2018 though), and if this will be their last album, they will have finished their discography with something unique and fresh. Fine by me. If I devote myself properly to listening and I'm in the right mood, I love it (or let's say most of it), but the provocatively amateurish character of some of this can annoy me at times. 3.4 stars.

It definitely has qualities of such an early blueprint of what the genre was to become however, as there are some rough edges to be found within, although these rarely tend to be an issue, as they are far overshadowed by simply how crazy this album is, with madcap lyrics and vocals making appearances everywhere, ranging from drawling chanting to insane screams and wails. This works exceptionally well when paired with the absolutely incredible sound created, a truly psychedelic mix, heavier on the bass, while incorporating great deals of world music into the mix, giving it a tribal feel. Each song incredibly expansive and explorative, bringing in a plethora of different soundscapes and moods while consistently maintaining a very trippy atmosphere. One of my favourite moments of this is in the second song, Dem Guten, Schönen, Wahren, where after some dissonant chords and an offbeat feel are being projected to the listener, everything briefly falls apart and becomes much more energetic and fun as some more standard vocals enter the mix after the previous high pitched squealing has dominated the track. I also adore the upbeat nature of Lucifer's Ghilom's intro, and find it to continue the somewhat dark, yet ultimately zany and fun nature of this album as a whole, as this song in particular is infectiously upbeat and fun, while still keeping up a mysterious air. This song is definitely just a fun romp in every way, with even the slower section being quite entertaining due to the violin used contrasting the distorted vocals in a perfect way, both being very unusual in their execution, but both working so well in tandem, especially with the exceptional drumming and bassline keeping pace. The highlight of the album however is undoubtedly the 20 minute eponymous jam, which takes a much darker approach compared to everything else the album has to offer, along with a far more free flowing one. The multiple crescendos, often baced up by some impressive guitar solos. The furious energy of the drumming further intensifies this soundscape, creating a complex, immersive atmosphere, ever changing and ever brilliant, with interweaving guitar sections, dissonant violins, and downright ominous sonic imagery. The shift into more strange territory just past the halfway point makes this incredible song even better, feeling as if an entire world is being created within the vigourous tribal drumming and screams, feeling as if I've just walked in on some sort of sacred ritual, all before the intensity drops out and introduces some of the most delightful vocal work I've heard. Each line sung is equal parts charming and mad, with each word sounding heavily slurred, but executed in such a loveable way that simply screams "fun".

Overall, as one of the first krautrock albums, this is a masterwork, being extremely dense in atmosphere and not breaking it even with some extremely avant garde concepts being thrown in the mix. There is a definite roughness that this album has, similar to how Can's Monster Movie showed, except in this case it works excellently, rather than taking away from the music, it adds a certain primal edge to it that just further pushes it up into absolute greatness. This is definitely a krautrock masterpiece and definitely an album that I recommend you check out if you're either a fan of krautrock or simple strange music in general, because wow, this album is something else.

Best tracks: Lucifer's Ghilom, Phallus Dei

Weakest Tracks: None

Verdict: This album is incredibly impressive, fusing styles amazingly to create what I can only describe as an absolute masterpiece. If you're into krautrock by any stretch of the imagination, I implore that you give this a listen if you haven't already.

The approach on here is similar to their debut both in its delivery and musical character but the ideas are rather more distilled. While 'Phallus Dei' relied on building atmosphere and groove in a rather sedate manner, most notably on the extended title track, Amon Duul II opted here for shorter song formats and more panache in their song-writing. Even the multi-part suite 'Soap Shop Rock' is merely a loosely connected set of distinct songs with musical bridges linking the whole. But this seemingly patchwork approach doesn't actually detract from the flow and integrity of the music. There are such a plethora of bold ideas thrown onto this album, yet with such attention to maintaining the darkly unsettling vibe, that it never fails to titillate. One moment you will be swaying along to buzzing psychedelic riffs and languid leads, then a few bars of unhinged madness will devolve into a glorious mess of shrieking atonality before a caterwaul of screeching violins carry you on a mystical Eastern tinged magic carpet ride. And that's just the first 10 minutes or so of this psychedelic masterpiece.

'Archangel Thunderbird' is possibly the coolest song title of all time and it lives up to its promise. Renate Knaup's vocals soar above the irresistible freak-beat style riffs, flappy bass lines and scraggy rhythms. The ponderous 'Eye Shaking King' introduces itself with a grinding Zeppelin-esque groove before evolving into a head-swaying morass of swirling psychedelic Daleks, jarring keyboards and bluesy guitar licks. But this album isn't only about fuzzy riffs and strident rhythms. 'Cerberus' is a meandering instrumental piece full of undulating lines, South Asian style percussion and grunting angular licks and 'Sandoz In The Rain' is a lysergic trip full of hypnotic cadences, haunting violin and lavish flute.

There is a 'loose jam' feel across the whole record, even during the more succinct pieces, but on the title track (explicitly referred to as an improvisation) Amon Duul II really let go and space out in style. The ideas are spread rather thinner over this 18 minute jam than elsewhere on the record but it is eminently suitable as a musical inspiration to chill out and spliff-up, as is the shorter improv 'Yeti Talks To Yogi'. However, it is within the tighter compositions that the true magic of 'Yeti' lies and finds Amon Duul II at the peak of their prismatic powers. This record is a truly mesmerizing experience from start to finish and, along with 'Phallus Dei', an essential listen for anyone remotely interested in psychedelic music.

Different from "Eternal Flashback", this one is almost purely instrumental (there is the odd choir sample singing apparently a lullaby, which also ends the album) and relies in several places heavily on drum loops, which provide the spine for an otherwise very psychedelic experience. It's very repetitive in places, but despite being looped, the original rhythms have enough dynamic breathe in them to give the music a pulsating, hypnotic quality with some pointers to early Can. The sound aesthetic of Pink Floyd until Meddle is another reference that comes to mind. There are some repetitive guitar riffs either taken from "Tanz der Lemminge" or in its style, but mostly guitars and keyboards produce psychedelic soundscapes and noises, which I find often fascinating and tasteful.

It is easy to criticise "Kobe" for the presumably little effort that was put into it, resulting in a lack of direction and composition and at times in overlaying parts that are neither meant to be together nor work seamlessly in this way. Also, even though you may like here what you liked on "Tanz der Lemminge" already, you may not be willing to count that in favour of this kind of remix album.

Still, I find this entertaining and quite special; I think that whoever created this succeeded in creating something new from the original bricks that has some merit on its own. AD II have done other long improvisational pieces, but particularly the hypnotic element is strongest here, and I can find something fascinating in the circular directionless way this is set up, like an endlessly jamming band in a time capsule. One can't deny that there is some variation on here, too - it's not like the same drum loop carrying the listener through the full 65 minutes; the producers dug at least a bit deeper into the original recordings to provide some change.

I don't think that a majority will appreciate this but if you're open minded and have a weak spot for psychedelic jamming and sound exploration, there's something to be found here.

Still, this is not some kind of "Best of", rather the material was put together in a new way, partly overlaying bits that did not originally belong together. This is all one track here. A 67 minutes fantasy jam was created, that never really happened, using many known elements. I've got to say though that it doesn't feel like a single track. There are a number of sudden changes that feel like starts of a new track; the creators just decided to keep everything together "officially". On the other hand, elements used early reappear at times toward the end, so one could find, with some generosity, some kind of arch holding things together.

They succeeded in giving this a feel that is somehow different from the original recordings, so you can get something new out of this. The unfamiliar bits are interesting, although they are probably often the oldest ones and the musicianship on these is quite pedestrian, to put it nicely. Unfortunately there is hardly any singing by Renate; vocals are male, by Karrer and somebody else. Overall this is very psychedelic, structures are even less transparent than in the original recordings (although there's much rhythm and guitar soloing) , and some people will say that you have to be stoned for enjoying this, although I'm not and I can get something out of it at least.

Ultimately there's some fun to be had listening to this endless jam going through a number of familiar snippets, although some transitions and overlays are rather unmotivated, and surely this will not convert anybody who is not yet a fan (there's a good chance you'll hate it if you're not already in love with the band). The Düüls have done crazy things on regular albums, too, though. You should expect this kind of wackiness from this band, and whatever you may object against this, it is unmistakably the weird Amon Düül II.

As a fan I find this free-flying 67 minutes pretty good entertainment, although no match for their sublime regular albums from that period.

There's a sister piece of this, "Kobe (Reconstructed)", that in several places is described as pretty much the same as Eternal Flashback. I actually disagree, Kobe is based much more on drum loops and creates a quite different atmosphere.

2 stars; can't be one because it's fun, can't be three because that'd be stretching it too far really.