NINE DAYS' WONDER

One of the stranger bands to emerge from Germany's early Krautrock scene, NINE DAYS WONDER (also stylized as NINE DAYS' WONDER) emerged from Mannheim in 1966 as The Graves led by lead vocalist / percussionist Walter Seyffer who had led many bands throughout the 1960s. Heavily influenced by diverse musical acts such as King Crimson, Frank Zappa, Soft Machine, Traffic, Family, Jethro Tull and Deep Purple just to name a few, NINE DAYS WONDER which adopted the new name in 1970 released one of the most diverse albums in the early German Kraut scene with its self-titled debut in 1971.

Part of the band's eclecticism stems from the fact that only two of the five members were German. While Seyffer (lead vocals, percussion) and Rolf Henning (guitar, piano) hailed from the motherland, John Earle (sax, flute, guitar, vocals) was Irish, bassist Karl Mutschlechner was Austrian and drummer Martin Roscoe came from the United Kingdom. Given this strange lineup, NINE DAYS WONDER considered itself an international band and were at odds with the more psychedelic stylistic approach of jam bands like Amon Duul II, Embryo and Guru Guru. On the contrary, NINE DAYS WONDER was very much about complex polished compositions that were well rehearsed and calculated, seemingly the antithesis of the ethos of the early Kraut scene.

Likewise, NINE DAYS WONDER's bizarre debut indeed sounds like something that should've emerged from merry ole England with all the references on board including spoken word English with a British accent! The album was also notable for originally having been released in an attention-getting green foam rubber cover designed by Seyffer himself. The album appeared in other countries with completely different cover art which depicted a pile of dead fish staring you in the eye! Later releases simply show a green cover with the band boxed into the middle section. Visual gimmicks aside, NINE DAYS WONDER crafted a powerhouse of A.D.D. with so many styles of music whizzing by so fast that it must've been impossible for an audience to comprehend what in the world was going on hence the album's relative underground status even fifty years after its release although true eclectic progheads will surely know about this freak of nature.

If the early 1960s and 1970s symbolized musical freedom then NINE DAYS WONDER took it to heart to unleash one of the most ambitious albums of the year 1971. This album featured four tracks that meandered all over the place, never staying put for too long. While the near 16-minute opener "Fermillion" begins in the realms of hard rock with sizzling guitar riffs and solos, bantering bass grooves and percussive explosiveness, it doesn't take long for a Jethro Tull inspired flute run to join in and then it just gets weirder as a jazzy saxophone joins and then around the 4 1/2 minute mark degenerates into a strange electronic experimental section, then a drum solo and then back to the main melodic groove. For all its eccentric and eclectic leanings, NINE DAYS WONDER did provide a framework of musical compositions to then radically deviate from. The name of the game with this album is that it ebbs and flows. It flows along as somewhat "normal" sounding brass rock on steroids and then drifts off into experimental side trips.

If you can get through the first track the album just keeps on delivering more and more outrageously creative outbursts of the unexpected. While the short track "Moss Had Come" exists as the most "normal" track on board sounding something like a Deep Purple / brass rock inspired Allman Brothers tune, "Apple Tree" becomes more knotty prog delving more into Frank Zappa inspired quirkiness only taking the Zappa inspiration to its most proggy and experimental conclusions. The tempos completely change, moods, instrumentation and musical styles make hairpin turns and the album progressively becomes more unhinged with moments of pure sanity breakdown with Seyffer literally going off on bizarre vocal tangents! The closing "Drag Dilemma" at nearly 13 minutes finally allows everything to go completely bonkers with the band finding permission to really let its freak flag fly. There is also a wild call and response vocal rant and guitar discussion that reminds me of what David Lee Roth and Steve Vai would create on the intro of Roth's 1985 hit "Yankee Rose."

This is definitely not one for the feint of heart as the unorthodox changes are quite dramatic even fifty years later. While NINE DAYS WONDER released more albums as a band, the following releases were much more "normal" prog with completely different lineups therefore this debut stands alone not only in the world of German prog but in the band's own canon. This lineup disbanded the following year with saxist / flautist John Earle moving to England to join Gnidrolog in time for "Lady Lake." Seyffer joined Michael Bundt's band Medusa briefly before reforming NINE DAYS WONDER. This one is truly unique and highly recommended for those who celebrate musical freedom in the vein of Frank Zappa only with heavier doses of progressive rock knottiness. Perhaps the weakest link here are Seyffer's unrefined vocals as he oft sounds like a raving lunatic who just happened to join the band but as far as the creative aspects of the album, they are top notch. Without a doubt NINE DAYS WONDER crafted a true musical anomaly which remains an undiscovered gem from the early prog underground having crafted a style of ever changing prog that would become common place in the next couple of years. In other words, these guys were well ahead of their time.