JOIN INN

At first I wanted to know what krautrock meant so I started searching for an Ash Ra Tempel CD and for a CAN CD. I found this one... At first it was quite good, but arround the 4th minute of freaknroll I became crazy, is an intense disc, and hypnotic, you can't stop listenning. The second track is relaxing, after the first track is excactly what you need. If you like never-ending music, this is what you need, this songs are not a great composition but they had a great effect on me, Join inn is a great choice...

Don't come into Ash Ra Tempel looking for songs, or anything that could be reckoned composition. The idea of composition here is "hey, after ten minutes of jamming, I'll turn on my echo pedal!! then I'll turn it off again." Basically, you just have three guys (drums, guitar, bass), each in front of a mic, and they say "go!" and start playing. But this stuff simply works. I really like Klaus Schulze as a drummer -- actually, I wish he'd spent more time playing drums in his career than messing with synthesizers: he has a hyperactive, irrepressible style that I wish I could find more recordings of. And Manuel Gottching, the guitarist with the aforementioned echo pedal, is one of my favorite listens when it comes to an extended jam. The first track is that jam, the second track is the "calm after the storm." Consider this album the less ominous, more freewheeling succesor to the first, self-titled Ash Ra Tempel album, which is of course one of the most devastating kraut recordings of all time.

In my opinion another essential German early 70's progressive rock gem. Not unlike their first brilliant album, "Join Inn" contains 2 songs with the first track 'Freak 'N Roll' representing a masterful wild acid laced guitar/keyboard jam... pure magic to your ears. The second track "Jenseits" taking on a much slower, sombre, moody keyboard driven piece of electronic space music. Musicians include Manuel Gottsching (guitar), Hartmut Enke (bass) and Klaus Schulze (drums, organ, synthesizer). Overall this album is quite tasty and if you are looking for a really wonderful spaced out piece of music then you must "Join Inn".

The return of Schulze on drums and it is also the last classic ART album, IMO. Indeed, Klaus would drop by again in ART before releasing his first solo album: Irrlicht in 74 on the Ohr label, which is also the case for the last time for ART. The trio is again in top form, as is Rosi on vocals (not very present, though) ,but the deception is a very "poor" artwork, that seems to point to some kind of segregation towards Schulze: he's a framed pictured, compared to the rest of the band. anyway much less spell-binding as previous works.

This album follows again the blueprint of their debut. The first number makes me think of the best Hawkwind (but I am not suggesting who inspired who) and is a must. Slightly more refined than Amboss on the debut Freak'n Roll is very much that!!! A great 19-mins of jammed packed musical freedom, not stretching itself beyond its limits. Again the quieter side 2 is much scarcer in the music depth, relying on the ambiance and waiting the last five minutes to take off. Although much better than the S&B track from their Schwingungen album Jenseits cannot seem to develop past a good even excellent Floydian plan with bluesier jams, with the last parts dedicated to calm vocals (almost whispered) and cool heavenly organ drones..

I hate to speak in terms of Price/Quantity/Quality factor for music, but if such thing was acceptable, ART would not be well placed, because there is vacuous side to their usual side 2 tracks: very little substance and all ambiances. This third album is however much worth a spin and attentive listenings, like its predecessors.

As I said in my review of ARTs self titled debut, this is a cd that anyone can get into if you have the patience and are open to new music. Side one is heavier compared to side 2 which is more relaxed. Both tracks are very long and blend space/psychadelic, ambient, hardrock, krautrock and jamming into one beautiful prog beast. I call this cd a beast because ART is a very under-rated band when you think about how talented they are. Along with the debut, pick this one up.

"Join Inn" carries on improvisations, electro acoustic experimentations and space rock. As in their two first classics, inspiration and devotion to the "cosmic" philosophy are always there, apparently continuing with the same effective ingredients. Klaus Schulze who leaved the band after the band's first self titled album is invited for the occasion to provide frantic, rolling and ritual drum rhythms to accompany Gottsching's bluesy improvisations. "Freak 'n' roll" is an experimental free form rock composition of a great quality. The climax progressively rises into a hysteric dimension. The second track is more peaceful and contemplative. The trippy atmosphere gently descending into introspection and serenity. "Jenseits" is a very attractive, seductive tune which combines a penetrate, dreamy synth / guitar structure to female recitations. An intimate tune which culminates ART's work. Original and galvanizing, this album is essential!

This is so far the best release I have heard from Ash Ra Tempel, and it's also among the finest studio recordings focusing to psychedelic improvised music which I remember. All of the elements are arranged almost perfectly. This song which takes the whole first side of the LP is a psychedelic rock blow, reminding early The Jimi Hendrix Experience by its sound and aesthetics, but it develops the free form improvisation to a higher degree, and the players manage to do a cosmic voyage to much deeper regions than the band mentioned in comparison ever did. This kind of musicianship is highly appreciated by me, they have had to trust and honor each other in order to keep their powerful but fragile aural entity intact. The only small question arose from me considering the beginning of the album, as the Freak'n'Roll" starts with a fade-in solution. Luckily this event does not occur at the end of this track, allowing the improvisation to find a proper ending. This seems too rare achievement on the records of this kind, and I honor it very much. "Join Inn" offers the listener also a very serious and solemn experience, reaching religious heights at second side of the LP. "Jenseits" shimmers with radiant soothing light, and it builds an astonishing cathedral of sounds. The soft pulses of bass guitar and Rosi's soothing voice calms the amazed listener, as the presence of force bigger than life radiates with energy like a sun. There is an abstract, ultimate nucleus of power somewhere close, being so strong that it has to be perceived only from a distance in order not to be burned. The whole track running over twenty minutes offers the possibility to warm oneself near this mysterious healing power, and for me this was a totally awakening experience. If you are interested of psychedelic and improvised music, I would recommend finding this holy album immediately.

Basically this album contains two side-long jams covering two faces of the early krautrock scene.

Freak'n'Roll is the first of the two songs, an extended jam, rock and roll guitar backed with jazzy rhythms gradually building up to a grand final of stellar seize, but never going over- the-top (which is a pity i think). the second song. notably called Jenseits is a more intrinsic cosmic experience, more carried by cosmic keyboards than guitar. really soft and ambient it works it's way to the end in waves of electronic sounds and occasional spoken words (very few really).

Certainly not amongst my favourites of the genre, but worth a listening, the great part about this album is the fact that both sides are completely different, yet seem to fit together very well. worth a spin if you like cosmic music.

Peace Out

Can the Can

A pair of extended jams forms this late-night session backing track of an album.

The first is not unlike any garage band, in terms of guitar and bass work - right down to the musicians apparently not noticing that the instruments drift out of tune - and why would they, with the level of concentration that's required to keep a jam going for 20-odd minutes.

This album was clearly made for the musicians' own entertainment, and contains nothing particularly experimental or progressive - nothing, in fact that you might not already have heard on albums released years earlier.

The most remarkable thing about the first jam, "Freak'n'Roll", is Schulze's drum work, which is desparately on edge the whole way through, perfectly carrying the somewhat lost and aimless guitar and bass noodling giving an overall impression of something that Can might have produced in their free time. Most of the guitar is either pentatonic or modal bluff, or simple 2-chord rhythms, and the bass tries hard to settle into a simple groove at every given opportunity, but completely lacks the flair of Holgar Czukay.

The biggest problem with it is that it builds to a climax around 2:20 - and, having given everything so early, has little to contribute in the remaining 17 and a half minutes. As I said, Schulze's drumming holds most of the interest, so if you can ignore the annoying, buzzing gadfly of a guitar, and the lethargic and lugubrious bass, keeping them in the background of your mind, then this piece is reasonably engaging until the end. The re-introduction of the oscillator in the closing few minutes, over the hideously extended burn out, apparently based on "Born to be Wild" adds a light early Hawkwind touch, but by now the bass is too out of tune for comfort!

Jenseits is the best part of 25 minutes of the same, but different. Tremulous synths and Rosi Müller's space whispers conjure up a Gong-like soundscape, mercifully free of Davied Allen, and a Waters style bass, still suffering from intonation issues, predictably drives the soundscape towards, well, a much more unpredictable section in which the bass is dropped!

Here we're more in Tangerine Dream territory - until the painful bass returns. It's so bad that I find this track very difficult to listen to - which is a shame, as there are plenty of rich synth sounds, all drifting along nicely and painting a nicely lysergic watercolour of sound to the closing minutes.

In summary, a reasonable addition to an existing Kraut/Komische collection, but not one for people who are sensitive to intonation issues. There are plenty of better examples for those new to the genre - and plenty of earlier examples for historians. For example, Freak'n'Roll is a bit like Cream, but without the heavy and fuzzed-up bits, or Can without the composed minimalism - "Monster Movie" would be a better alternative album to own.

**Collectors Only**

Klaus Schulze is back, so we have the same lineup as was on their amazing debut. They even follow the same pattern as their debut with two side long songs,the first a guitar / drum led track, followed by a synth / electronic spacey side long track. This album seems more mature or restrained then their debut was, but it's still an incredible Krautrock record. Schulze would concentrate on his solo career after this. Manual's girlfriend Rosi makes an appearance on the second track with some spoken words.

"Freak & Roll" opens with gentle guitar and light drums as it starts to build with bass joining in. The first climax of sound occurs 2 1/2 minutes in. The second climax of sound happens 6 minutes in as bass throbs away with some scorching guitar melodies. A great section of music 12 minutes in before we get the final climax of sound 17 1/2 minutes in and then the song calms right down to it's conclusion. "Jenseits" might be even better than the first track. I didn't feel that way about their debut though, I liked the first song better there. Spacey synths with Rosi's spoken words that come and go until before 11 minutes in. This is such a drifting song that at times comes in waves. Simply beautiful.

I really do think that "Join Inn" and their debut are must-haves when it comes to Krautrock music. This is legendary folks.

Yay! , the old style from the first album is back......and the annoying screaming that appeared in the second album is nowhere to be found..... The first track sounds like a bluesy jam session....The second track is psychedelic ride with quiet spoken lyrics that are a nice addition.....4 solid stars

KRAUTROCK INDEED!

A very nice album! Join Inn was, in fact, a simple night jam-session, but it turned to a major success!...and we have two major members of the mid-70' s german music: Manuel Gottsching and Klaus Schulze, pioneer of electronic music at that time. Couldn't be better! The result is great! Two very different songs joined in a 43 minutes of pure Krautrock music. The first track, Freak'n Roll is mainly jazzy and in an avant-garde style. It is noticeable Gottsching artistic perfection in guitar solos (a master of electric guitar, IMO), and his unique guitar sound...proved in his perfection two years later on Inventions for electric guitar. Everything is filled in with synth effects and bass guitar infusions. The mix of drum solo(Schulze's first music specialization), guitar solo and electronic effects seems to be endless...I must remark here that I feel a little dose of boredom listening to this song. Mea culpa... The other track is very different than the first one. We're talking here about space-rock. A cosmic voyage from the first second. The song is amazing (Jenseits means parallel worlds). It is indeed a voyage to another world. A crescendo of electronic sounds becoming the musical cosmic background (it can be heard even a pumping heartbeat), a warm guitar, a permanent intervention of bass-guitar and introducing Rosi Muller reciting voice in german. Simply gorgeous! The middle of the song is the most progressive part of the album, IMO. Rosi Muller stops from reciting and the other three members are forming a unique and excellent instrumental trio of cosmic music. The second part is almost perpetual musical journey ending on the same electronic background (Schulze specificity). My regret: I tried to put my hands on the original lyrics and never found them.

I found this album difficult to rate: I would not give 5 stars, only 4 stars because of the monotony of the first song ( for me, at least the jazzy note is not my musical taste), but, overall and excellent progressive album. Recommended!

My favorite album by Ash Ra Tempel (their debut comes next..). Basically the same format as their eponymous debut but Freak n' Roll is more interesting to me than "Amboss" and "Jenseits" more compelling, reflective and emotive than Traummaschine. It is strange that "Freak n' Roll fades in, but it doesn't feel like it matters. Much better production/sound and more polished than their debut, though with a slightly leaner and more refined sound. Klaus Schulze is back on this album, well on "Freak n' Roll". "Freak n' Roll' is an outward cosmic journey while "Jenseits" is an inward spiritual journey. Very highly recommended!

4.5

Dear Klaus joined in for another round of Ash Ra Tempel extravaganza.

Krautrock freaks know what to expect from such albums: dementia, total chaos, unpredictable jamming session, loose song writing (?), uncontrollable development, and dissolute craziness. In one word: a very special musical experience.

The first side long track is featuring wild guitars and huge drumming for the future keys guru. If you're looking to some consistency in the song writing, this might probably not be the best work to listen to. Free inspiration, free rock, and free music.

Jamming for about twenty minutes. Not devoted to any standards. Live in the studio should I say. The closing section is strongly reminiscent of "Born To Be Wild" from "Steppenwolf".

The second epic is more in line with my expectations: more spacey, more structured, more keyboards oriented, more melody, more beauty, more elegance, more feeling, more sweetness, more sophistication. To cut a long story short, I quite like this "Jenseits": an admirable space trip with languishing keyboards and immense flavour.

Seven out of ten for this work. Rounded up to four stars.

Between 'Join Inn', it's predecessor 'Schwingungen', and the group's eponymously-titled debut album, Berlin-based Ash Ra Tempel cooked up some of the most freaked-out cosmic krautrock ever known to man. By 'Join Inn's release date of 1973, the group's founder-and-leader Manuel Gottsching had well-and-truly established his psychedelic blueprint: two lengthy, experimental jams covering each side of vinyl, the first piece intense and fiery; the second sedate and mellow. Of those first three albums 'Join Inn' interpreted the formula best, with Side One's firery 'Freak & Roll' doing exactly what the title says and the entrancing 'Jeinseits' guiding the listener through 20-plus minutes of seriously blissed-out, other-worldly psychedelic rock. By this point, the group was a three-piece, with Gottsching(synth, guitar) augmented by ex-Tangerine Dream member(and soon-to-be electronic solo star)Klaus Schulze(keyboards, drums) and Hartmut Enke(bass). Rosi Muller(vocals) lent her soft, teutonic tones to 'Jenseits', whilst Dieter Dierks and Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser handled the production at Dierks own studio. The album belongs to a small set of beautifully-crafted 'cosmic rock' albums that featured epic - and mainly instrumental - compositions which build slowly from simple origins into full-blown psychedelic soundscapes filled with shimmering synths and keyboards, misty drumming, sitar-like guitar licks and the occasional chant or vocal murmur. 'Freak & Roll' took the formula to extremes, with intense, almost tribal-like drumming, manic keyboards and Gottshcing's wild guitar rising to a powerful creschendo which is then followed by the meditative and zen-like calm of 'Jenseits', thus offering up the full psychedelic-trip feel. In some ways 'Join Inn' is similar to the beautifully-wrought 'A Meditation Mass' by fellow Germans Yath Sidhra, which is another album featuring lushly-crafted and intensely-mellow song-suites, though one with a slightly more ethnic feel. The loose, rolling groove of 'Jenseit's is a truely beautful thing, and, imbued with Rosi Muller's spoken vocals, becomes almost an act of meditation for the listener, such is the warmth and depth of the song's overall atmosphere. Ash Ra Tempel's style is very different to the likes of fellow, internationally-known German groups Can, Neu! and Grobschnitt, but their vein of Krautrock is one of the cornerstone's the genre was built upon, i.e. the idea of creating sonic experiments that were as different as possible from the anglo-american pop music that dominated the German airwaves during the 1960's and early 1970's. Their first three albums are all virtual-classics, yet it is 'Join Inn' which makes the most indelible mark. The album's stylistic juxtaposition is much more pronounced than it's predecessors, and the almost-improvisational feel provides a lush, sonic tapestry of cosmic sounds that resonate with both fear and beauty. 'Join Inn' found this experimental group at the peak of their abilities, and, led by Manuel Gottsching's un-bending dedication to all things 'cosmic', created a wonderful example of prime German spacerock. STEFAN TURNER, LONDON, 2010

After the experiments with vocals on Schwingungen, Join Inn returns to the same structure as the debut, a wild rocking psychedelic improvisation on side A and an drawn out cosmic soup of fluid guitar and synth sounds on side B.

Göttsching forgot one thing when copying the formula from the debut and that was to add inspired lead guitars. Freak 'n' Roll doesn't measure up to Amboss. Schulze is back on the drums and he handles them very proficiently again. Enke's bass guitar is more prominent then it used to be and it's interesting to listen to just the drums and bass here, as Göttsching's really not into the groove here. His endless 'Instellar Overdrive' strumming comes off derivative and bland. Somehow nothing appears to be tuned very well neither, a punk thing to do for sure but it doesn't work here. Not for me at least.

The evocative ambience of Jenseits is a lot better. It's the known kind of cosmic soup created by sound effects and endlessly flowing guitar melodies, swelling in and out of focues. This track should be mandatory listening for every GYBE fan really. Schulze plays desolately beautiful waves of electronic organ sounds and Enke adds morose minor key bass lines halfway in.

Overall, Join Inn doesn't reach the quality of the previous albums for me. Jenseits is fantastic but Freak 'n' Roll doesn't measure up to the wild rage of the similar jam of the debut. 3.5 stars

After the uneventful album that was called Schwingungen, Ash Ra Tempel turned back to form, though with a new guest. Klaus Shulze returns to the drumkit for an amazing performance, and gives the newer and refined sound of the previous album a blast from the past. The two tracks that inhabbit this album are fairly good, and follow the same structure as their debut. Great Krautrock, to say the least.

1.Freak n Roll - A heavy blues based jam is always a good way to start off an album, as this one tries to follow the path of the debut, with, not a suprise, different results. Guitar effects are much more present, and bass playing is set the the extreme depths of the mind, as the drumming keeps the beat happy and fresh. The electronics take a backseat for this song as they are much less present than before albums. A classic, overall truely trippy and mind blowing in some cases. (9.5/10)

2.Jenseits - Join Inn couldn't be complete without its mellow track, leading with a female vocalist? Yes, it's true, Rosi Müller joins the Krautrock masters for some average singing, more like chanting, that almost ruin the song. The heavy electronics and guitar playing are excellent though, and they almost make up for the awkward vocal performance that was let down by Müller. Almost a nature - like type of sound that is coming from the guitars and electronic effects. (7/10)

Though the album has its ups and downs, its still listenable and one of the better Tempel albums, and it even has its own classic track. 4 stars, as you could not go wrong with adding this to your collection of Prog Rock or Krautrock.

With this album, Klaus Schulze is back on the drumkit and he also brought his VCS3 synth with him. He stepped out for the last album Schwingungen to record his debut solo album Irrlicht. He did not use any synth on that album, but did on the follow up Cyborg. I don't know which was recorded first: Cyborg or Join Inn; either way 1973 was the first year you hear Schulze using synth. Guitarist Manuel Gottsching brings along his girlfriend Rosi Mueller to add some vocals.

Like the previous two albums, the music here is based on improvisation and jamming. Like the self-titled debut from 1971, there are two long tracks; one a rocker, the other an ambient piece. I prefer "Amboss" from the debut to "Freak'n'Roll" here, but "Jenseits" is much better than "Traummaschine".

"Freak"n'Roll" starts off with typical late '60s/early '70s bluesy jamming. The synth noises used sparingly throughout the track are a nice addition. It keeps the music from being *just* another blues-rock improv. After the bluesy jamming the music goes into more free and frantic sections before going back to the bluesy jamming. Schulze does some interesting drumming after 13 minutes. Gottsching almost plays a riff at the end.

"Jenseits" is over 24 minutes long and must have been one of the longest tracks on one side of vinyl at the time. This 'song' deserves 5 stars alone. An early ambient masterpiece. You hear the voice of Rosi talking in German throughout the piece. I like Gottsching's tremoloed soundscapes here. There is more synth here than in "Freak'n'Roll". Hartmut Enke's bass playing is more minimalistic than on the other track. Schulze mostly plays organ on the track. There really is no drums or percussion, but there is a heartbeat type sound around 17 minutes which comes back later. The music gets very spacey at times with the synth and guitar effects. There is a synth near the end which almost sounds like a cello.

Not as rough around the edges as previous ART. A good sound and certainly not overproduced. This is my favourite ART album, although the bluesy jamming in "Freak'n'Roll" sometimes outstays it's welcome. In "Jenseits" you can hear glimpses of later solo Schulze and the more electronic Ashra. Great album. 4 stars.

The Cosmic Couriers stable of bands - during the brief lifespan of that controversial label - often acted as backing musicians for various individuals' solo albums. So it was that the members of Ash Ra Tempel found themselves collaborating with their old bandmate Klaus Schulze during the recording of Walter Wegmüller's Tarot album. Some breaks came up in the recording schedule, so the old friends took the opportunity to record a new Ash Ra Tempel album in the meantime.

The two sides sum up the two creative minds at work here perfectly. Freak 'n' Roll sees Manual Gottsching's guitar skills taken to the fore, whilst Jenseits leans more towards Klaus's own compositional approach, an extended synthesiser-laden piece with Rosi's vocals emerging from an electronic haze. As far as Klaus Schulze synthesiser opuses backed with a female singer go, I tend to prefer his work with Lisa Gerrard, but it works reasonably well in this context.

Between these two tracks, Join Inn is a decent Ash Ra Tempel release that certainly outshines their other 1973 releases; in particular, it's the only one of their three albums from that year in which Ash Ra Tempel is actually allowed to take centre stage, since on Join Inn they were backing Timothy Leary and on Starring Rosi they were drafted in to act as a vehicle for Rosi Muller. At the same time, it doesn't seem to represent much musical development over their previous work, or what Klaus Schulze was doing in his solo career at the time for that matter, perhaps because of the rushed and spontaneous nature of the recording.

After the truly unhinged schizophrenia of "Schwingungen", this far more balanced album must have been a relief to many fans, at least judging by its higher overall rating here at Progarchives. Klaus Schulze was back on board (albeit looking more like a guest in the oddly segregated cover photo), and the arrangement of music followed the same, side- long, yin and yang formula of the band's 1971 debut.

But the more casual spontaneity of this recording worked against it. The twin jams were constructed on the spur of a moment during rehearsals for the Walter Wegmüller Krautrock all-star album "Tarot", and despite some heroic playing the extemporaneous nature of the session lends the music a more relaxed dynamic than earlier efforts, especially during the aptly titled album opener "Freak 'n' Roll".

With Klaus Schulze again behind his drum kit the trio managed to summon up quite a bit of kinetic energy. But an awesome title isn't enough to hide what really amounts to one of Ash Ra Tempel's more polite guitar thrashes. Not unlike NEU!'s groundbreaking "Hallogallo" it fades in on a jam already in progress, and over the next nineteen-plus minutes hardly develops at all, sounding more like the orphaned middle section of a much longer performance. I've heard the music described elsewhere as 'ego-less' (plagiarizing an observation first made by Julian Cope), which sounds like an empty intellectual compliment: the attraction here isn't a lack of any concept of self in the playing, it's the plateau of undiluted joy attained by three likeminded friends reunited after a two-year separation.

The ethereal 24-minute "Jenseits" ("Hereafter") sticks to the usual Ash Ra album model, contrasting a high energy guitar jam with a low radiation drift study. In this case the results owe more to the efforts of Klaus Schulze than Manuel Göttsching, offering a link between the band and Schulze's early solo career. Expect a healthy measure of ambient atmospherics and suspended energy, with the dreamlike voice of Rosi Müller floating in and out of the mix, in translation sounding not unlike Teutonic narration from a Terrence Malick film:

"We are dancing on the wet grass... Isn't it beautiful? Do you know the way? A little bit. ...Mother..."

And so forth. All very haunting, and sehr kosmische, but clearly the language barrier is a welcome benefit here.

This would be the last of Ash Ra Tempel's classic albums; soon afterward the band would be reduced to Göttsching and his girlfriend Rosi, and finally to Göttsching alone. As a throwaway effort it holds together extremely well, but with a little more forethought it might have emerged as another Krautrock masterpiece.

Klaus joins in

After the odd and somehow impersonal "Seven Up", this fourth studio album strictly respects the formula ASH RA TEMPEL established since their self-titled debut: the first side rock-oriented, the second side ambient and spacey. This will also be the band's last opus with this track structure. Released the same year as its predecessor, "Join Inn" features the participation of original member Klaus Schulze and, for the first time, Rosi Müller, Manuel Göttsching's girlfriend.

"Freak'n'roll" carries well its name. Göttsching, Enke and Schulze at guitar, bass and drums, a few sound effects and here we go. No bluesy or vocal passages, no complex changes, just a pure psychedelic / space rock jam, like a raw sonic magma. Nothing less, nothing more. The ending rocks!

Entirely electronic with discrete vocals from Rosi Müller in German, "Jenseits" ("Beyond" in English) clearly reminds Klaus Schulze's compositions at the time. The slow and delicate synthesizers textures weave contemplative and ethereal soundscapes, sometimes a little futuristic, sometimes a little mystical too.

A bit less immersive as the well-known self-titled debut, "Seven Up" nonetheless remains the second best, as well as the album the most faithful to the spirit of the band. As ASH RA TEMPEL in its purest form, this record will unfortunately be the last of its kind too...

Krautrock and early Klaus Schulze lovers are invited to join this trippy inn!

I have to confess that I'm a Klaus Schulze fan, so my angle on Ash Ra Tempel is a bit skewed. I only own three of the group's albums, and Schulze is credited with drums and electronics on two (their 1971 debut and Join Inn). Meanwhile, Manuel Göttsching is generally acknowledged as the leader and decisionmaker of Ash Ra Tempel; in fact, Schulze left the band after their first album and appears to have just "joined in" for the recording session that produced this album.

Side One of Join Inn is the aptly named "Freak 'n' Roll," a semi-coordinated jam featuring some of the most proficient - - and most straightforward - - drumming I've heard from Schulze. Guitarist Göttsching is at least as good as he had been "Amboss," the opener from Ash Ra Tempel, and overall, "Freak 'n' Roll" has a clearer sound than "Amboss." Other than that, the two tracks are quite similar.

Mirroring "Traummtaschine," the second side of Ash Ra Tempel, "Jenseits" (English: "the hereafter," "afterworld," "afterlife") is an excellent ambient piece in period Schulze style, with Schulze playing a heavily tweaked organ instead of the drumkit. Although some of Schulze's experiments later in the decade with voice as an accompaniment were successful (e.g., Ernst Walter Siemon on Blackdance, 1974), others were decidedly not (e.g., Arthur Brown on Dune, 1979); Rosi Müller's contributions to "Jenseits" work quite well. And of course, "Jenseits" is not a Schulze solo track. Its composition is credited to Göttsching, Schulze, and bassist Hartmut Enke (though not to Müller, although she would figure in writing Ash Ra Tempel's follow-up album later in 1973), and Göttsching's improvisation is essential to its success.

Join Inn is strongly reminiscent of Ash Ra Tempel's self-titled debut: in both cases, Side One is a nineteen-minute power-trio jam, and Side Two is a 25-minute ambient cooldown. But in retrospect, the moderately effective Ash Ra Tempel sounds like a practice run for Join Inn, which nicely exemplifies these two sides of Kosmische Musik: an experimental approach to western rock instrumentation and a studio-as-instrument minimalism. While falling short of "masterpiece" status, Join Inn is a very good album, and one I'd recommend to those interested in this subgenre of progressive rock.

P.S.: Whereas "Amboss" seems to be the progenitor of "Freak 'n' Roll" on Join Inn, "Der Vierte Kuss," recorded by Göttsching, Schulze, and Enkein 1970 but unreleased until 1996, may be the ancestor of "Amboss." "Der Vierte Kuss" ("The Fourth Kiss") was released on the Rhino compilation Supernatural Fairy Tales: the Progressive Rock Era.

Review Nº 507

Ash Ra Tempel was a German progressive rock band formed in Berlin, Germany, in 1970. Ash Ra Tempel was linked to the Krautrock music scene. The group was originally founded by the guitarist Manuel Gottsching, the percussionist and drummer Klaus Schulze and the bassist Hartmut Enke. All three founding members had already played together as part of the short lived band Eruption, created by Conrad Schnitzler. Before that, Schnitzler and Schulze had worked together in Tangerine Dream. Besides that, Gottsching had played in Steeple Chase Blues Band, a band that also featured Enke.

Along with Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel was one of the first bands to convert the trippier side of late 60's psychedelia into the Kosmische rock of the 70's. Most of Ash Ra Tempel titles were solely the work of Gottsching, plus other additional players. The band released four studio albums in the 70's, "Ash Ra Tempel" in 1971, "Schwingungen" in 1972 and "Join Inn" and "Starring Rosi", both in 1973, plus a collaboration album with Timothy Leary, "Seven UP". In the 90's, Ash Ra Tempel released a soundtrack album "Le Berceau De Cristal" in 1993. A final album was released in 2000, "Friendship". It represents a kind of a return to the origins with Gottsching and Schulze working together again.

But, somehow, it was a coincidence that gave birth to this album. Schulze, a founding member of Ash Ra Tempel who had already given up after their first heavily psychedelic album "Ash Ra Tempel", suddenly and surprisingly he returned behind his drums and the keys on "Join Inn". Still, in this time he was here exclusively as a "special guest" alongside with Gottsching, Enke and the singer and poet Rosi Muller, Gottsching's girlfriend at the time. The cover of the album clearly shows that Schulze is no longer part of it, as he is only inserted as a photo. As a viewer, one has the impression that the personal chemistry is no longer right, but the listener of can get a completely different impression.

"Join Inn" was the last album of Ash Ra Tempel with their classic line up, Gottsching, Schulze and Enke, a completely unplanned work, but in the end a masterpiece of very great improvisational art, which is probably one of the most unusual and extraordinary phenomena in the German music history. This is why Ash Ra Tempel is considered today a model of that time and music called Krautrock, one of the most creative and inspired German progressive rock bands.

As is usual with all Ash Ra Tempel albums in that time, "Join Inn" has also two lengthy suites equally divided between the psychedelic style of Gottsching and the cosmic style of Schulze. The first one is an energetic jam with about nineteen minutes long. It's Gottsching's crazy, thrilling guitar performance accompanied by a solid Krautrock rhythm section and few electronic additions. The second one is an atmospheric and floating track with about twenty four minutes long, dominated by keyboards and electronics. It has a more atmospheric, psychedelic ambient recording, with lots of keyboard sounds, with hypnotic bass and a subtle guitar that appears only after a long time. A reference to the two previous albums of them is the presence of a short vocal part performed by Rosi Muller in the latter of these songs.

As the title may suggests, "Freak'n'Roll" is the rocking track but isn't as "freaky" as its title can suggests. As always, Gottsching clearly sets the tone contributing with a great spacey guitar playing. It's an improvised piece characterized by guitar and bass, on which Schulze also plays drums and keys. It's a guitar dominated piece with a humming bass driving and flat keyboards and accompanied by a precise drumming work. The whole track is quite inspired. Sometimes it's a bit heavier, yes almost heavy, but mostly very soulfully. All in all, this is an excellent piece, really. But, personally, I like most of the electronic side of the band and "Jenseits" is no exception. This is a great dreamy, spacey, mystic and very atmospheric track that takes you to a far away and dreamy place. The track also featured some lyrics which were spoken by Gottsching's girlfriend Rosi Muller in a childlike voice. It perhaps conveys a little the musical aura behind the song. The track would have fit perfectly well onto any of Klaus Schulze's 70's albums. I just can't get enough tired of stuff like this one. It's a wonderful track, really. This and the first album are, decidedly, Ash Ra Tempel's best albums.

Conclusion: With Schulze again on keyboards and drums, the novelty and intuition came with the entry into the band of Muller, a young muse who for years became an inseparable companion of Gottsching. Her presence, indeed, actually marked a definitive achievement of a more effective sound team and Ash Ra Tempel took advantage of her highly fascinating and evocative voice to create what it's rightly considered by many their most balanced album, convincing and mature, "Join Inn". In many ways "Join Inn" could be seen as the first Ash Ra Tempel Mk II. It too had a side of intense psychedelic rock and a side bliss-out. With "Join Inn" the band has left their experimental phase and has consistently performed well and well worth a listening of it from start to finish. For me, "Join Inn" is the most beautiful work of the band and the most coherent in itself. So, overall, "Join Inn" is a very pleasant and unique Krautrock album.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)