Triumvirat Appreciation Thread

^Hey, Steve, thanks for thinking of me! Doing not too badly, thanks. Hope things are well with you.

Presdoug in ze haus!

ProfPanglos wrote: I'm a big fan of Triumvirat.  Mediterranean Tales and Illusions are my faves, but I actually like all their studio albums, and despite the frequent comparisons to ELP, I think Triumvirat have plenty of originality. verslibre - love your avatar.  Stuntman is one of my favorites by Froese.  Epsilon in Malaysian Pale is my top favorite of his solo stuff, but Stuntman is a real gem.

Welcome to this thread! And thanks for reviving it.

ProfPanglos wrote: verslibre - love your avatar.  Stuntman is one of my favorites by Froese.  Epsilon in Malaysian Pale is my top favorite of his solo stuff, but Stuntman is a real gem.

JD wrote: Well let's see if we can keep it moving along then... I first heard T-Rat when i was in a small indie record store on a second level location in London ON. I was browsing when all of a sudden I heard the opening riff from Mediterranean Tales. I immediately stopped browsing and headed right to the counter. I bought the only copy they had, which had just come in that morning. It was an import so I think it cost me $15 or so (it was opened after all). I saw/see the reasons for comparisons but I tend to agree they have their own voice. Far more Classical Jazz then ELP's Classical Rock format. But I love them both. So I haven't read back all the posts here, but has anyone listened to or have any opinions of the Live at Ultrasonic Studios, NY 1974 recording. I understand there's not a lot else in this area.

Yes, as you have surmised, there is no real official complete live Triumvirat concert recording; nonetheless, I would highly recommend the Ultrasonics recording you mention; I have a Japanese cd remastering of it (Highland Project) and the performance is THE best live one of T'rat out there. There are several other boots of shows from the fall of 1974 out there and Ultrasonics has also better sound quality than them. Of course, a partial concert from 1975 has been circulating for some time, with the three tracks from Spartacus, and this in it's best remastering is tacked onto the Friday Music cd pressing of Spartacus (though the remastering of the studio album is not the best available) 

ProfPanglos wrote: I remember seeing Triumvirat's albums in the record stores in the 70's and 80's, but wasn't exposed to the actual music until much later in life.  What finally drew me in was when I walked past a record store in Saarbrucken, Germany - and the window display had vinyl copies of Remember The Future, Magma Live/Hhai, and Mediterranean Tales.  Being a huge fan of the other two albums, I figured it would not be remiss for me to finally buy a Triumvirat album.  So glad I did!  (And that was one of the coolest record stores I ever shopped at!)

That is a cool story. I first saw Illusions On A Double Dimple in used record stores in Ottawa in the early 1980s but never actually heard the band until a friend lent me lp copies of that album, and also Old Loves Die Hard in the spring of 1985, and they soon became my favorite band and are to this day; I found a used import lp copy of Mediterranean Tales in 1989 at an Ottawa used record store, and like the others was instantly floored by what I was hearing. I did not discover Spartacus until a year later, also a used lp.

Edited by presdoug - October 07 2021 at 16:41

Some photos of Triumvirat at the Academy Of Music in New York City in the fall of 1974, where they opened that night for Blue Oyster Cult. At the left is Helmut Koellen, and to the right Juergen Fritz and Hans Bathelt.

Edited by presdoug - October 08 2021 at 20:34

Rare photo of early Triumvirat-from left, Fritz, Bathelt, Koellen

I heard Illusions On A Double Dimple on the radio. It was probably on WMMR or WYSP out of Philadelphia. I ran out and bought the album that week. Then I saw them on IN CONCERT. I brought the album to a friend's house. I said to her.."This is a new band and this is their first album "...She said.."They are not a new band and it is not their first album " Then she pulled out Mediterranean Tales and said.."This is their first album "

It was an import album with a flimsy cover..and a sticker on the front which red..."Another Import From Jem" That's how I ended up obtaining a copy of the album..through Jem Records mail order service. From that point onward I collected every Triumvirate album as they were released. Curt Cress played drums on a later release..probably Pompeii...and I was a huge fan of Passport so it was exciting that he was working with Triumvirate.