BEHIND THE GATE

3.5 stars. This was a tough one to rate as there's so much great music on this double album during it's over 100 minute length. Some misses too as this is improvised Jam music of the Space Rock variety. What really appealed to me was the abundance of keyboards in the form of piano or organ. The piano especially gave the music a different flavour to a lot of the music I own in this style.

On disc one "Stardreamer" is the only track that really stood out to me. Almost like a sad ballad with the electric piano, bass and a beat leading the way in this all instrumental piece. The guitar starts to trade off with the piano. Then what sounds like melloton arrives. The guitar takes over well before 4 minutes. The organ arrives late.

I really like the first three tracks on disc two. "Music Is God" opens with atmosphere as different sounds come and go, almost like they are warming up. A beat with bass and electric piano starts to take over around 1 1/2 minutes, guitar too. This is fairly slow paced. Organ 3 minutes in. This is great as the guitar and organ lead the way. The tempo picks up after 5 minutes.

"Blue Alert" is jazzy to start with drums and piano standing out. The organ then comes to the fore as they jam the rest of the way. It picks up around 8 1/2 minutes then calms right down before 10 minutes with drums and keyboards as the guitar comes and goes. It starts to pick up again around 11 minutes. Excellent track!

"Summernightdrive Part 1" is my favourite of the other parts of this title. A catchy tune but the music doesn't represent the title of the song. Great sounding tune regardless.

Most fans have rated this as their least favourite when it comes to this German band's discography which excites me because they have put out quite a few albums in the past and I'm off to pick up a couple if I can.