TAGO MAGO

Ah, this album is one that I know so well yet don't really want to review because I know words really can't do justice to how much I love it. This was my second Krautrock album, after Amon Düül II's Phallus Dei, and though I dearly love that album now as well, this one tunneled deep into the darkest caverns of my brain upon first listen and made itself comfortable, knowing that it had finally found itself a place that it could stay for a long time. This has it all, folks - Damo's mostly indecipherable rambling, the bombastic rhythm section of Jaki and Holgar, Michael and Irmin, but mostly - Jaki and Holgar. Those two are the glue that hold the world together while listening to this album. They're the ones that really make this a hypnotic, all-encompassing experience to listen to. Everything else here is just the "icing on the cake" as it were. Amazing icing, though, and of course the album (or the band, for that matter) wouldn't be the same without the other three. This is one of the very few albums which doesn't have a single dull moment or note out of place for me. From the moment Paperhouse kicks in until the last note of Bring Me Coffee or Tea, everything just clicks wonderfully. There are two clear standouts, though - Halleluhwah and Aumgn. Those two tracks...just sort of crawl into the very center of my being while I listen to the album. They are right up there at the top of my "Desert Island" songs.

This album would be one of the contenders for that fabled position if I had to choose only one. Thankfully, I'll hopefully never have to make that decision, though. I'll take this album to the grave with me, though - I never want to be separated from the wonderful, incredible music that unfolds across this sprawling 73+ minutes. An essential album, not only for prog fans, or Krautrock fans, but for music fans. It will blow you away every time you listen to it if you're anything like me.