SOON OVER BABALUMA

"Soon Over Babaluma" is the 6th full-length studio album by German Krautrock/experimental rock act Can. The album was released through United Artists/Spoon/Mute in November 1974. Japanese lead vocalist Damo Suzuki jumped ship soon after the release of "Future Days (1973)" to marry his German girlfriend and become a Jehovah's Witness, so "Soon Over Babaluma" was a kind of new start for the band. Can opted to continue as a four-piece and not hire a new lead vocalist. The vocals on the album are handled by guitarist Michael Karoli and Keyboard player Irmin Schmidt.

"Soon Over Babaluma" features 5 tracks, distributed over a 43:22 minutes long playing time. The two opening tracks "Dizzy Dizzy" and "Come sta, La Luna" are the most accessible tracks on the album. Both feature vocals and Michael Karoli plays violin which is a new feature in Can´s soundscape. The rhythm section are still one of the greatest assets of Can´s music. Repetitive yet complex adventurous playing. The overall impression of the tracks are that they are organized jams that have evolved into structured songs, which is pretty much like it´s always been with Can. "Splash" touches jazz rock/fusion territory while the 11:12 minutes long "Chain Reaction" has time to go through different atmospheres and features many adventurous ideas. "Quantum Physics" closes "Soon Over Babaluma". It´s an atmopheric and ambient track.

The sound production is of good quality but not as great as the sound productions on earlier releases by the band. Actually both sound production, songwriting, and musicianship have declined slightly since "Future Days (1973)". Not to a degree where "Soon Over Babaluma" isn´t worth listening to or anything like that, and it´s still a recommendable release, but ultimately it´s slightly less interesting than it´s predecessors. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.