VORTEX

Another interesting early 80s album of a band that had somehow lost its direction but produced something rather enjoyable while toying around with different ideas where to go next (actually they disbanded after this record, so their quest wasn't really successful). The title track Vortex works very well as an opener; a somewhat minimalist dark instrumental that builds up quite nicely toward the end. Holy West, Mona and We Are Machine are rather conventional rock songs, nothing special regarding composition, but tastefully arranged, well played and very well sung by Renate, who has reached her peak voice-wise on this record. Die sieben fetten Jahr, Wings of the Wind and Vibes in the Air are more original songs with more surprising contrasts, although they don't exactly explode traditional song structures - not really the most innovative ones AD II has every written. Die 7 fetten Jahr has some of Karrer's oriental influences. One may enjoy their originality or wonder whether they in some placed are stitched together too awkwardly, but with Amon Duul II this is the stuff you have to expect. Gestern ist das Heute von Morgen is the one song that really stand out, it's fast and driving, has powerful vocals by Renate and a great sax solo. This song is worth 5 stars. Overall it's not really consistent, not really complex, but a quite special and versatile collection of songs, most of which are good to listen too, with some real highlights. 3 1/2 stars.