SCHLAGERNS MYSTIK

I remember distinctly buying this at a musicstore back in 1995. I was searching for swedish left-wing progressive music from the 70's and bought anything and everything I could get my hands on. I had heard of Samla Mammas Manna before but bought this CD mainly because of the record label, Silence, and the fact that they released a whole bunch of great records of the genre. Now, I wasn't prepared for this. I wasn't put off but rather stunned, mainly because the band seemed to distance themselves from the rest of the pack, even mocking music as a whole in producing an album of silly music. Actually it is more than that. It is silly, I'll grant you that, baut it is so brilliant and for me, born and raised in Sweden, the lyrics brings baffled smiles to my face again and again.

The music is, as always, a mixture of folk, circus music, prog, jazz, fusion, avant-garde, insanity, hard rock, intelligence, free form and beyond. The music ranges over everything, which is quite astonishing. The album is accessible and highly unaccessible. This is not music for those who cannot take musical bewilderment and chaos, yet it is structured and melodic in a weird way.

I may make it sound as if the music is not melodic, well it is. It is highly melodic. I suppose the key word is eclectic music through a bunch of musicians whims and chaotic notions. Harsh yet tender in places. Zamla Mammaz Manna is a unique group which is deserving of a greater place in music, not just just in Sweden but elsewhere aswell.

My favorite track is 'det (The fate). It is progressive rock at it's finest. The feeling is that of a group bursting at the seams. The riff is great and 'det has to be the most "proper" song of the album. It is a gem! The remainder of the tracks are amusing, yet brilliant in their own right, but it is 'det that takes the price.

All in all, I'd say it is a strange but clever album. Highly recommended for fusion fans as well as proggers of all trades, as it were. Mrvellous stuff.