NOSFERATU

The "krautrock" classification made me think to something different so when I first listened to it it was really a surprise: Hard and psychedelic the first track, quite RPI the second because of the flute which reminds to New Trolls or Alphataurus. A jazzy touch on both and a link to Canterbury, too.

The central part of "Willie the Fox, with a repetitive bass and guitar base overcrossed by a sax and very acid keyboard is comparable to Bo Hansson's Lord of the Rings, only more psychedelic. The "noisy" section sounds like the Ummagumma version of Saucerful of Secrets, then it's back to Canterbury, with a touch of blues...it can't be described. It's an orgy of subgenres, a very complex track that can be considered an epic despite the fact that it's less than 11 minutes long.

The third track, ""Found my Home" is still close to Canterbury, only the voice is closer to Deep Purple or Uriah Heep than to Sinclair or Latimer. Also, the German accent is not so evident as in other German speaking groups like Eloy or Clepsydra. Respect to the pastoral athmospheres of early Caravan, this is more acid. The combination of organ and flute is typical of that era, but one thing is clear: this was a band made of very skilled musicians with a lot of ideas and excellent arrangements.

There's probably a bit of Humour in calling the 4th track "N.4", even if they could have given it the title and decided after the position on the disc. This time we are on Ummagumma. The drumming is close to "Set the controls..", the piano is tortured as Rick Wright did on Saucerful. Also the melody of the first sung part is on this line. The difference is that after 3 minutes it becomes jazzy and sounds like Magma's Kobaia. If you think that Pink Floyd at Pompeii, Kobaia, Lord of the rings are all successive to this album, this can give you an idea of how much Progressive they was.

"Work day" if played today could be likely put in the Post/Rock section. THis is the most eclectic track of the album, even if it's clearly derived from a blues idea. All of this in the first 3 minutes, then we are back to the deep space of psychedelia (isn't this guitar sounding as Porcupine Tree in the Coma Divine version of Radioactive Toy?) Very in advance with their time. Another bluesy section completes the track. Impressive.

"Vanity Fair" is another example of what is called progressive. There's a bit of everything in this song.

I started writing with the idea to rate it 4 stars, but while writing I have realized that this album is a clear example of what progressive music was in 1970. Without fitting into a specific standard or sub-genre, any part of it is clearly progressive. So I have changed my mind. This is a masterpiece that came to my library totally unexpected. "Vanity fair" is still sounding in my earphones when I'm about to rate it 5 stars.