NEVERGREEN!

This is the singular release by little known band MISSING LINK hailing from Munich and being lucky to meet UA-agent Gerhard Augustin who coached as well Amon Düül II and was looking for young talented musicians. They got a contract for three album but unfortunately disbanded already one year after the release of their debut. As mentioned already in their biography Dieter Miekautsch joined MISSUS BEASTLY and EMBRYO and Holger Brandt was drumming for BETWEEN and SAHARA thereafter. The seven own compositions presented on "Nevergreen!" are absolutely noteworthy and can be described as intricate jazz rock with occassional echoes of classical harmonies quite obviously inspired by British bands like COLOSSEUM, MOGUL THRASH or WARM DUST. Especially Miekausch shines on "Song for Ann" presenting it solo on piano. But apart from that more mellow one all other tracks are dominated by a vital rhythm section and powerful, blues-tinged vocalss serving as a backbone for the jazzy harmony lines presented on electric guitar and sax highlighting in expressive solos. Keyboards like e-piano, Hammond or as well Mellotron (in"Spoiled Love") have been used rather additionally for rounding up their sound. Some slightly odd and disharmonic parts are very well integrated into the compositions.

Although this album is not considered a classic by many experts of the German 70's progressive scene I'd say it's absolutely on par with releases by EMBRYO, KRAAN or THIRSTY MOON and I'd highly recommend it to fans of those or mentioned British counterparts. Maybe not an essential but certainly an excellent addition to any Prog collection!