ECHO

after a very promising debut, Achim Reichel didn't take his time to bring forward his masterpiece (probably due to the enormous band he was backed up by). Actually the familliar Klaus Schulze name is strage in the line up, because no one has ever witnessed Schulze "singing" on stage or elsewhere (he himself admits not even having used a microphone on stage for quite some time) - but it wouldn't surprise me if he touched some keys during the production...

actually Schulze inspiration in the album itself is more than just a coincidental appearance of his name on the line-up. The tracks are lengthy, one piece per side -only with the exception on side two, and those being two half-side-long tracks- and the music builds up just in the fashion Schulze would later employ. The difference is in the number of instruments used, and the variety of music. Schulze usually relies on the same type of instrument (at least in his '70's releases) and builds up without much change in tempo. A.R. on the other hand starts with the guitar (an obvious missing piece in Schulze's music) and gradually adds other instruments, until they blast altogether.

Yet another similarity with another prominent name of Schulze's own scene, indeed, a long time friend of Schulze himself, is Manuel Göttsching. And this similarity would go on for another couple of albums, actually even the last two pieces of A.R's concise catalogue bear similarity, if not much evident.

This album and the next two are absolute necessities for Krautheads. Warning: you may not appreciate the album's status as a masterpiece if you're not already into the aforementioned artists (along with Ash Ra Tempel) and other definitive bands of the genre, such as Can, Amon Düül, Tangerine Dream etc. It is a masterpiece in its own genre, that is, Krautrock. If you're looking for a symphonic rock masterwork, look elsewhere...