FROB

First off, no disrespect to those here at PA, but Frob is not Krautrock. I honestly do not hear any Krautrock influence on their sole LP, as I do with other German jazz-rock/fusion bands of 1970's (like Embryo, for example). They are, however, one of the finest examples of European jazz-rock bands of that era. Frob only managed to release one album, but what they laid down was some serious jazz-pych-rock, displaying some fantastic musicianship. All of the members of Frob shine at points throughout the album, most notably guitarist Philippe Caillat, who went on to have a fairly successful career as a solo artist.

All eight tracks are superb slabs of 70's jazz-rock, injected with a dose of pysch. Peter Schmits' keys dominate several of the tunes, while the machine gun attack of drummer Peter Meuffels is relentless. Caillat's stellar, often acid-jazz guitar work, gleams throughout, especially on "Hektik." At times his guitar is mixed down to make way for Schmits' workouts on the keyboards, which most of the time is fine for the most part. However, there are moments when you can hear Caillat wailing away, but off in the distance and it's difficult to make out.

Another rare gem, Frob's self-titled LP should please most fans of the genre (jazz-rock/fusion). Unless you can find an original vinyl copy (which is probably expensive), the only physical version currently available is the Garden of Delights CD reissue. It's too bad these guys never saw much success, but at least we have one great album to chill to late at night. Highly recommended: 4 stars.