2ND

For me, Agitation Free's "2nd" is the quintessential Krautrock album. While not as recognized as bands like Amon Duul II, Can, or Faust, Agitation Free was an exemplary Krautrock band. "2nd," being their last album (at least until the 1990's), was their finest moment. Many reviewers have faulted this album because of it's rather recognizable influence of West Coast bands like the Grateful Dead, and the Allman Brothers, somehow making it not "true" krautrock. I wholeheartedly disagree. Yes, the influence of those aforementioned bands are there, but Agitation Free injected a large dose of krautrock weirdness into the mix, and the results are magical.

When I first listened to this album, I knew that I liked it, but once I listened to it in a "different frame of mind," I was completely blown away. It reminded of, many years ago, when I first listened to Pink Floyd's DSOTM in a similar frame of mind. While this album is sonically nothing like DSOTM, it is one of the pivotal albums of it's genre. I won't go into detailed reviews of each song (that has been done at length in previous reviews), but I would best describe the sound of the album as a whole as a very jammy krautrock, with excellent guitar work by short-lived member Stefan Diez. Bassist Michael "Fame" Gunther and drummer Burghard Rausch lock in grooves throughout various moments, while the remaining members' instrumentation float over the top in a hypnotic, spaced-out jam. No boring, overdone freak-outs here, just pure audio euphoria.

The only fault that the album has are the awkward vocal pieces during "Haunted Island," which could have just as well been left out. Not enough to bring it below 4.5 stars, so I easily round the rating to a 5. Highly recommended!