SPACE GUERILLA

The boys of silliness are back--at least two of them (wind player Friedemann Josch and keyboard maestro Burkard Schmidl). Also, the band's number is down to a quartet as they have obviously gotten more comfortable with multi- tracking.

1. "Space Guerilla" (10:48) a three-part suite in which the second movement is full of experimental keyboard work, while only the final super-fast, super-fun section is really high quality Jazz-Rock Fusion. (18/20)

2. "Guitar For Sale" (7:57) a murky, funky vehicle for some superb Al Di Meola/Jan Hammer-like guitar synth and/or synth play from keyboardist Burkard Schmidl (who is also providing the rich electric piano chords in the rhythm section beneath). My big question is: Is that really a guitar doing the soloing over the first three minutes or a synth mimicking a guitar? Great sound and mix with the bass and drums sticking right out there with Burky's axe-like keyboard. At 3:50 everybody dials down their volumes for a delicate passage over which flute, piano (Possibly a very nice electric piano-- which would be unusual for 1978 but, knowing German ingenuity, could be possible), and tuned percussion solo (mostly piano), carrying forward the same descending chord progression from the first half. Great "guitar" soloing in the first half, solid Jarrett-like piano solo in the second half. Odd, though to have it expressed like this in a two-part song. (13.5/15)

3. "Rahsaan Roland Kirk" (2:50) obviously a tribute to recently-deceased Indiana-born American sax and flute player of the same name. Multiple tracks of layers of flutes imbedded with multiple tracks of percussive voicings. Interesting. (4.5/5)

4. "Fuzzy, Don't Go To The Disco" (3:21) like an étude in funk. Can a Jean-Luc Ponty violin play funk? Can Burkard adapt to the clavinet. Can flute and sax accents supplant a brass section? etc. (8.75/10)

5. "Hoffmannstropfen" (6:04) another very mathematical and stringently-constrained construct that sounds like a study/practice session in funk mastery. Though I'll give them props for going further than Thijs Van Lier's FOCUS ever went. (8.75/10)

6. "Cose Dola" (5:17) a song whose music shows the band approaching, almost encroaching upon the new style taking over Jazz-Rock Fusion: commercially-driven Smooth Jazz. Competent but rather dull. (8.666667/10)

7. "For Flü" (6:57) piano and flute playing some frantic melodies at first together, then harmonically, at break-neck speeds. Then synth (synth guitar?) takes the rhythm section along a more Eastern European direction before flute rejoins to mirror Burkard's breathtaking melody lines. A quiet section in the third minute is filled with only solo piano and sonorous kazoo-like vocalese before flute rejoins. The two speed up, insidiously, until 4:35 when the rest of the band (the rhythm section) rejoins to support the crazy-fast drive through the Carpathian Mountains. Burkard rejoins a synth in place of his piano to duke it out with Friedemann's flute. Very impressive performances from the two remaining holdovers from the band's two previous albums. (13.5/15)

8. "King Garlic" (6:40) piano, electric bass, and simple yet-solid drumming present a powerful presence despite still retaining a bit of the lounge musicians' sound. I'm very much reminded of ANNETTE PEACOCK's "Real and Defined Androgens" from her X Dreams albums from this same year: the sound and structure and chords and drumming are so similar! Did one borrow from the other? I'd like to know since Annette's song is definitely one of my favorite songs of hers (and Bill Bruford's). (9/10)

Total Time: 49:54

The engineering of the sound on this album definitely shows a new era and new attitudes toward high-end and compression. (I don't like it.) The drums and bass feel muted and dull while the keyboards are so bright. Also, I hear much more effort going into the musicians attempts to "master" American funk.

B+/4.5 stars; a near-masterpiece of very solid Jazz-Rock Fusion. Highly recommended.