GEYER-SYMPHONIE

This may be one of the shortest reviews I ever write. My take on this album is fairly simple: if you like politically-tinged Krautrock with lots of spoken German-language dialog and what might actually be some sarcastic humor, you might like this album. If you don’t speak or understand German, you are going to be lost. This album was a somewhat misguided attempt to stretch my horizons out to include Kraut music. I think I may have chosen the wrong album to start with.

This isn’t symphonic music by any stretch of the imagination, despite the title. The influence of Mr. Zappa is readily apparent in both the musical arrangements (such that they are), and in the socio-political tone. It seems to me that there were an awful lot of Eastern bloc people listening to Zappa music back in the Cold War days, and from what little I’ve read about this band, they seem to fit more into the RIO category than anywhere else.

There is a whole lot of spoken dialog, as I’ve said, and since I don’t speak German I don’t know what much of it is about, so let’s assume it is politically-charged and somehow deep. There is much less music, and what little exists is fairly minimalist. Most hearkens back to the Mothers of Invention, although some sounds almost martial in tone. On the longest track, the twenty minute-plus “Satz-Serenade Des Bautours (Leichenschmaus)” there are a few spoken-word passages that sound like a Monty Python skit, so I’m going to assume they are supposed to be funny.

That’s about it I guess. The album cover is pretty cool too. I’m really lost on this one, and can only say that it is probably a great album for Floh de Cologne fans, but for the average non German-speaking prog fan, this probably won’t do much for you. In deference to Krautrock fans, I promise not to write any more Kraut album reviews any time soon. Two stars.

peace