FUTURE DAYS

As one of the essential Can albums, Future Days may be the most balanced of them all. Leaving behind the experimental prog rock that the band had established on previous albums, this record is much more ambient in terms of music. Damo Suzuki's voice is also lower in the mix this time. This would be his last LP with the band before leaving and starting solo projects. It was probably the right decision, because this album would be a difficult one to follow up.

The title track, "Future Days", starts off the album with sound effects and the tune slowly picks up into a mellow funk groove. After this, vocals are introduced with repeated lines such as "save the money for a rainy day, for the sake of future days". A very good opener that sets the mood for the rest of the music to come. The next track "Spray" is a more frantic composition, with some of the best drumming on a Can record. After about five minutes it slows down and sounds quite similar to "Paperhouse" off Tago Mago. If this record had any single, it would probably be "Moonshake". This is a fun three minute track with a mid-song breakdown featuring many percussive instruments and even a slide whistle.

"Bel Air" is this album's side-long track, and it's a good one. The composition sounds like it's pieced together from different recordings like "Halleluhwah", but it serves a different goal. That goal is to be calming and ethereal, and at that it succeeds. The song may drag on a bit. I usually have to be in the mood to hear it. I find side one to be slightly more satisfying. It may sound like I dislike this track, but that's only comparing it to the other three on the album that are immediately more enjoyable.

Many reviewers have observed that Future Days is Can's "summer" album, and I would have to agree. For example, track three ("Moonshake"), is the type of music I would imagine playing at a beach party. At least it's the ideal beach music. The rest of the songs have a soothing ocean-side atmosphere to them.

Just a quick observation but this album is structured exactly like Monster Movie, their debut album. I don't know if that was intentional. There isn't much else I can say about Future Days, other than it's a blissful forty minutes. Listen to it however you can and try to forget about life's troubles, if only for a short period of time.