ILLUSIONS ON A DOUBLE DIMPLE

"Illusions On A Double Dimple" is the second studio album of the German symphonic progressive rock band Triumvirat and was released in 1974. It was a breakthrough for the band after their debut studio album "Mediterranean Tales (Across The Waters)" which was released in 1972. It increased the popularity of the band in a number of countries.

The line up on the album is Jügen Fritz (vocals, Steinway grand piano, electric piano, Hammond organ and moog synthesizer), Helmut Köllen (lead vocals and bass, acoustic and electric guitars) and Hans Bathelt (drums and percussion). The bassist of their previous debut studio album "Mediterranean Tales", Hans Pape, left the band and was replaced by Helmut Köllen midway through the recording of this album. Beyond the band's members some guest artists also appear on "Illusions On A Double Dimple". So, we have, Peter Cedera (spoken the words on "Illusions On A Double Dimple"), Karl Devo (saxophone solo on "Mister Ten Per Cent"), The Cologne Opera House Orchestra, The Kurt Edelhagen Brass Section and also Hanna Dolitzsch, Vanetta Fields, Brigitte Thomas and Ulla Wierner (backing vocals).

This is an album divided into two distinct musical parts, "Illusions On A Double Dimple" and "Mister Ten Percent", which correspond to the side A and side B of the LP, respectively. Each part is also also divided into six small parts. Relatively to "Illusions On A Double Dimple": The first track "Flashback" written by Jügen Fritz and Hans Bathelt is a kind of an introduction to the theme of the first part. It's a short melancholic piece of music with piano and where the vocals resume the spirit of the theme. The second track "Schooldays" written by Jügen Fritz and Hans Bathelt is a song that represents the opposite of the previous song. This isn't a sad and melancholic song but a shining and happy song. Here, we have the performance of all band's members with special emphasis to the fantastic guitar work. The third track "Triangle" written by Jügen Fritz is an amazing piece of music. This is a very progressive song, very complex and with some hard and aggressive musical sections. All band's members have an absolutely fantastic performance with special highlight to the bassist and the drummer. It has also nice chorus on the back of the song. The fourth track "Illusions" written by Jügen Fritz and Hans Bathelt is also a very short song, but despite this, it's also one of the most beautiful songs on the album. It's another sad and melancholic song that reminds us the first track. The fifth track "Dimplicity" written by Jügen Fritz and Hans Bathelt is another fantastic song very progressive and also very complex. It's a song with constant rhythmic and dramatic musical changes with complex musical passages very well supported by beautiful and fantastic chorus, providing us a wonderful musical moment. The sixth track "Last Dance" written by Jügen Fritz is another great song on the album, more in the rock style, and also very progressive and complex with constantly rhythm changes. It's, in my opinion, the song with more influences of Emerson, Lake & Palmer on this first part of the album. Relatively to "Mister Ten Percent": The first track "Maze" written by Jügen Fritz is a little bit aggressive song clearly influenced by the jazz style. It's a song with great rhythm section especially with solid drumming and a strong bass line. The second track "Dawning" written by Jügen Fritz is the shortest song on the album. It's a song with beautiful piano, performed only by Jügen Fritz and is a kind of introduction to the next song. The third track "Bad Ideal" written by Jügen Fritz and Hans Bathelt is another short song. It's a very energetic song with great keyboard work that ends with a touch of jazz style. The fourth track "Roundabout" written by Jügen Fritz is another great song with a nice line rhythm section. This is another song strongly influenced by jazz and with very dramatic changes. It's also the second song that more reminds us the influence of Emerson, Lake & Palmer on this album. The fifth track "Lucky Girl" written by Helmut Köllen and Hans Bathelt is a song completely different from the others. It's a beautiful and soft song, in a ballad style, which is probably a reference to "Lucky Man" of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. I particularly like this song because is very enjoyable and brings to us a kind of a new musical atmosphere to the album. The sixth track "Million Dollars" written by Jügen Fritz and Hans Bathelt is a very good song to close the second part and the album itself. It's a calm, nostalgic, beautiful and sad song, all at the same time, and so we can consider that summarizes the ambient on the whole album.

Conclusion: "Illusions On A Double Dimple" is, without any doubt, a great album. The first part of the album "Illusions On A Double Dimple" is better than the second part "Mister Ten Per Cent". Despite the division of each theme into six parts, we can say that the music in each theme flows naturally as if they were only two songs. "Illusions On A Double Dimple" is one of the greatest albums released in the 70's, very progressive, and it's also an album where its music is extremely creative and original. Despite, the influences of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Triumvirat proved they were able to create a very own sound with high level. This album proved why Triumvirat is one of the best German prog rock bands.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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