THE BOAT OF THOUGHTS

Octopus were one of the last German bands to play in a really early-70's Heavy Kraut Prog style after 1975.They were formed in 1973 in Frankfurt by guitarist Pit Hensel and bassist Claus Kniemeyer.The band was completed with female singer Jennifer Hensel,keyboardist Werner Littau and drummer Frank Eule.In summer 1975 the bad was supposed to record their debut,but their producer ran out of money.Octopus decided to self-finance ''The Boat of Thoughts'',share it around as a demo,before Sky Records sign them and release it in 1977.

''The First Flight of the Owl'' opens the album in a nice way with strong guitars,complex organ and psychedelic vocals by Jennifer Hensel,much in an early ELOY vein.Same style with ''Kill Your Murderer'',complicated guitars,dated psychedelic haunting organ,good breaks and Jennifer Hensel in full form.''If You Ask Me'' flaws in slow temo,this is Heavy Psychedelic Rock of good quality with obscure moog synth passages and heavy guitar orientation.The short ''The Deleyable Rise of Glib'' is more in a GENESIS vein with BANKS-influenced work on organ and moog synths,even some acoustic guitars are thrown in,but moments of electric explosion are again present. ''We Are Loosing Touch'' shows a return to the previous style,Psych-Kraut-Prog with weird electronic effects,strong guitars,dated organ and a magnificent performance by Jennifer again.The eponymous almost 10-min. composition will close the album.It will open with acoustic guitars and harsichord,before returning to the familiar Heavy-Kraut Rock style,the middle section with the nice guitar soloing and the last notes include even some mellotron.The keyboard work is quite symphonic-oriented with organ on the front,Pit Hensel shines in some long soloing and needless to refer again the decent performance of Jennifer Hensel.

Octopus were certainly a band denying to face the truth of change around progressive music.If you like early-70's Kraut Psych/Prog with strong guitar and keyboard work,or if you are simply fans of ELOY,ANALOGY or even CURVED AIR,this album is a nice listening.Recommended.