CARNIVAL IN BABYLON

Amon Duul II is a band I love because I just can't get my head around their songwriting and way of thinking. "Carnival in Babylon" is said to be a more straight-forward song-based album, but it's still very vague when it comes to sound and format of the songs. On this album the band seems to have taken an interest in the English folk-rock of the late sixties. Songs like' All Years 'Round', 'Tables are Turned' and in a lesser way opening track 'C.I.D in Uruk' all sound like a heavily drugged up version of Fairport Convention. I love that band and I'm loving this. The short song 'Kronwinkl' is a nice little progressive rock cut, albeit a bit directionless. Which - by the way - applies to all songs on this album. Ending track 'Hawknose Harlequin' is a spacey jam band track that sound like early Pink Floyd. The last track to mention is 'Shimmering Sand' which sounds like a moody psychedelic track, but fails to impress due to poor performances of every-one involved. Listening to the album I wonder if the obscuring sound of the production enhances the music, or if perhaps a remix & remaster could result in a miraculous re-emergence of its hidden beauty. Follow-up album (and one my all-time favorites) 'Wolf City' would show some similarities in sound. Carnival in Babylon is however way more stretched-out, laid-back and folky, missing out on the fierce moments that would define their finest moments. Still, I find myself listening a lot to this album. It incites the drive to 'get it', whereas that just might be impossible. The pristine folk influences combined with the totally drug-out performances & sound are beautifully beyond comprehension. Three and a halve stars for that I guess. And I must say, I love the artwork and the inner sleeve photo of the band in a purple garden.