WEISSES GOLD

STERN-COMBO MEISSEN were an East German band who played a keyboard driven brand of prog with a lot of orchestration and choirs.There is also quite a bit of narration in this album spoken in German.The vocals as well are in German.

"Ouverture" has some mellotron in it, but it's hard to tell with all the orchestration.The keyboard playing is very flashy and fast paced. "Der Traum" is a pastoral tune, while "Des Goldes Bann" features more uptempo keys to open and vocals."Der Goldmacher" is pretty much all monologue.

Organ, synths and drums lead the way in "Die Flucht". "Zweifel" opens with more words as synths come in as well as the choir. More monologue followed by choirs. It gets dark with a haunting soundscape 4 minutes in.That was the best part. "Die Erkenntnis" has drums, organ, keys and vocals. "Weisses Gold" opens with pulsating keys as the choir comes in.

There is so much that I don't like about this record.The flashy keyboard play, the German narration and choir, and the orchestration. I know i'm in the minority here but I do not like this one bit.