PHALLUS DEI

Stopping just short ofa five-star mark, (its worth 4.5 definitely) the first LP by Amon Dull II is still one of the all0time greatest space-rockP's going. The opus that is the title track just fizzes along with er...fuzz-ball energy - this is early UFO with talent! Building up a trancey psych-prog marathon Amon Duul II's instrumentation ensures something interesting is arond the corner great Teutonic oohs and aahs usher forth out of the myriad layers of mix - spaced out to ****. Around four percussion players make sure there is poly-rhythms so complex and infinite they become like a cloud of percussion. It is something to be hold - then BAM a sudden stop and a more proggy riff begins to take over - sounding more kin to their absolute masterpiece YETI - but Phallus Dei was a debut Lp and this is what really impresses. Their versatility shows when the violin goes into hoe-down mode about 8 mins in verging into a percussion freak out of the highest order before the band go into a mad vocal chimp-out like Tangerine Dream used to on those very early LP's.

The reason I stop short of 5 stars is more to do with my own restraint - as brilliant as it is - it doesn't have that x factor that wouldtake it to the next level - but there next LP YETI did.....in spades.

Side One's just as good - "kanaan" having that great Eastern mystery to its psychedelic melange - great swirls of floydian hammond organ - really 1968-9 Floyd was the blueprint for a lot of these German bands, Duul, AshRaTempel and Tangerine Dram included. the british counterparts of the LATE psychedelic movement (Andromeda) pale in comparison to the sheer creativity of early Duul. "Dem Guten Schonen, Wahren" reminds one of early Roxy Music with its strange atmospherics and the lead bass is another delight, very agile. OK to be fair - the singing on this track in particular probably robs the LP of that fifth star but its a minor quibble. Space-Prog just doesn't get any better than this and when it does it on this bands next's LP!! But YETI - bu then buy this ASWELL.