ANTHOLOGY

A pair of years ago I found this double cd compilation in a music shop in Padua for the bargain price of 11,50 Euro. I immidiately thought I was lucky, considering the total running time: over 70 munites for each cd. It had to be a complete collection of the band's entire production from the very first psych-spectral-obscure-oriental-experimental steps toward their more mainstream period.

I was enthousiast, obviously. But when I opened the double set box what I found was a very poor booklet. To be honest, to say poor is too much a positive remark. Any information about the compiled tracking list , the musicians, the authors of the songs was absent. Nor I had the opportunity to know which track was an original studio one, a live recording or a re-arranged version. That's the most great complaint for me. These are the necessary things to make a compilation truely useful and appealing to the aficionados.

Then I checked the Amon Düül II's progarchives' hugediscography and realised that only part of the tracks are taken from the seventies, between 1969 and 1973 in particular: "Phallus Dei", "Yeti", "Tanz der Lemminge", "Carnival in Babylon" and "Wolf City" (Flower of the Orient is from Piragony X, 1976). Some of the tracks are taken live (Surrounded by the Stars, for instance). Others seem not to be the original sound version. But, who knows?

More than a half of the tracking list (14 songs: Nada Cairo, Castaneda da Dream, Dry Your Ears et cetera) is taken from the two most recent records of the band: "Nada Moonshine" (1995) and "Flawless" (1997).

It seems there is not a clear and understandable reasoning behind the compilation. Nothing after "Wolf City". Too much from their recent years which does not represent correctly their production. It would be very difficult to have the latest two studio albums of Amod Düül II, so I have to thank the who has thought and realized this box-set. Sad for the lack of any information and this is, perhaps, the main reason for me to avoid a higher rating.