DSCHINN

The music of Dschinn is basically a vintage (classic) hard rock with some prog elements especially with the facts that the structure sometimes are not quite straight forward. One think I enjoy about the music around this time of release is on the sound quality, it's so vintage and really old time sound. I can sense the analog kind of recording technology. In addition, the music itself is really enjoyable, combining the kind of The Beatles but in heavier sounds. If you know another Germany band called themselves as TEA, it's basically the similar kind of music. Or, if you know Popol Ace or Popol Vuh. I really enjoy with this record. All over the passages, the music flows nicely with tight and dynamic basslines as main rhythm section, combined with dynamic drumming and stunning guitar solo. The singing style is also great.

The first track "Freedom" (04:48) is a high energy hard rock music with great bass guitar playing (I like it very much) and dynamic drumming combined with nice riffs and also guitar solo. Bass guitar plays important role in creating the rhythm section and augments the great singing line. The next two tracks "Fortune" (04:56) and "I'm In Love " (04:46) move in similar vein like the opening one. "Train" (04:56) starts off nicely with harmonica in upbeat style. "Let's Go Together" (03:11) starts off with a percussion work and moves in The Beatles style, followed by nice harmonica solo. It has an intense progressive element. "Smile Of The Devil" (04:24) is a mellow track with tight basslines and guitar fills accompany wonderful singing. Again, the bass guitar solo is stunning followed beautifully by guitar solo. The two concluding tracks "I Wanna Know" (03:34) and "Are You Ready" (04:03) are all performed in fast tempo and upbeat music. The bass guitar solo and guitar solo at the end of "Are You Ready" are excellent. Unfortunately it has to fade out .

Overall, the music of this album is really great hard rock music with some progressive elements and I tend to give it a five stars rating. But I have to be fair that there was already Genesis "Foxtrot" had been released and this album by Dschinn is not measuring up to that level yet. But let alone, this is a great music. The disc contains bonus tracks that are good also. Keep on proggin' ..!!!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

DSCHINN were a German band who released this one album back in 1972. It's a hard rocking record with two drummers apparently and a singer who sings with passion, and his voice has a lot of character. For some the vocals might make or break their enjoyment of this recording but I really like them. He certainly loves to let it rip and he sings in English and while there is an accent it's not really that noticeable to me except on the one bonus track that my 2004 re-issue has which is THE YARDBIRDS "For Your Love". While I feel this is a 4 star effort I think a lot of Prog fans would go 3 stars or lower just because of the straight-forward nature of this music and also because all the songs are under 5 minutes. Great cover art though.

"Freedom" certainly caught my attention the first time I heard it with the opening loud spacey sounds before it kicks in hard with riffs, drums and bass. Rough vocals follow in this catchy and melodic track that is contrasted with the crazy vocals and that grungy sound. Some backing vocals here as well and I like the two instrumental breaks. Those high pitched spacey sounds from the start end it. A top three. "Fortune" is another top three and it has an almost SABBATH-like feel with the low end intro then the vocals join in and they quiver. This song has a CREAM-like sound including the vocals at times. Nice guitar solo before 1 1/2 minutes followed by a vocal melody. I like how prominent the bass is and we get a big finish. "I'm In Love" has some killer bass and drum work throughout and the vocals kick in early. Again the instrumental breaks are fantastic with the upfront bass and guitar leading the way.

"Train" is a bluesy number with harmonica that comes and goes. I like the train-like rhythm at 2 1/2 minutes after the vocals stop. "Let's Go Together" is the shortest tune at just over 3 minutes and it opens with a cymbal clash followed by a catchy beat as bass and vocals join in. The harmonica comes and goes. "Smile Of The Devil" is my other top three. It's actually quite laid back with the focus on the vocals. Some cool lyrics to this one. "I Wanna Know' is a great contrast to the previous track as it kicks in hard from the get-go. Aggressive guitar and drums as passionate vocals join in. "I wanna know how much time will it take, I wanna know when will the world get a better shake". Kicking ass right here with a nice scream to end it. "Are You Ready" is probably the most commercial sounding track, it's hard not to move to this one. Fuzzy guitars, pounding drums and those great vocals lead the way. I like when he stops singing before 1 1/2 minutes and the tempo picks up. Excellent bass lines and ripping guitar here with those driving drums.

Well I agree with Gatot with the 4 stars, this album really connects with my tastes in music despite not being very proggy.

Another one of the many short-lived bands that jumped into Germany's Krautrock scene in the early 1970s was the Marburg based DSCHINN which originated in a response to the Beatles-mania that took over the world in the 1960s. Starting out as The Hurricanes, the smitten group of Bernd "Capo" Capito (lead guitar, vocals), Peter "Eddy" Lorenz (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Silvio Verfürth (bass, vocals), Athanasios "Jacky" Paltoglou (drums, percussion) and Uli Mund (drums, percussion) were successful in scoring live gigs all throughout Germany including the famous beat clubs such as the StarDust in Hamburg.

All of this touring caught the attention of a successful businessman who became one of the band's biggest fans and proceeded to fund a few singles but under the condition that the band changed its name to Dischas under which three singles were released including the first one "Here What I Say/Come Back To Me" which actually made it into the top 10 on the Austrian singles charts. Unfortunately the band was unable to continue the momentum and changed its game plan altogether as the pop rock beat and mod styles of the 60s were quickly falling out of fashion.

The band not only changed its sound to a more progressive style of heavy psych but adopted the more mysterious moniker DSCHINN or in English, jinn or jinni which in the Koran and Muslim traditions is a spirit often capable of assuming human or animal form and exercising supernatural influence over human beings. Likewise the band developed a more sophisticated sound and although lumped into the early world of Krautrock was in fact a hard rock band with heavy psych influences from the late 1960s. The band released this one self-titled album in 1972 with a trippy Dali-esque album cover which featured nine vocal oriented tracks that featured heavy bluesy guitar riffs, beefy bass lines, intricate percussion sounds and even a harmonica part or two.

Unlike much of Germany's Krautrock artists who were entering the twilight zone with freaky tripped out sounds designed for a trip to the cosmos and beyond, DSCHINN was much more down to earth and in reality sounded much more like an Anglo / American hard rock band of the same era with lyrics about freedom, love and other everyday affairs. The music wasn't particularly complex and instead revolved around catchy blues based melodies. While the music itself was fairly average by the era's standards, DSCHINN did stand out in the fact that it had two percussionists and delivered strong polypercussive grooves that adopted some of the ethnic influences of the Middle East somewhat in the vein of Agitation Free only in the context of bluesy hard rock.

Another immediate standout was the vocal style of Peter Lorenz which sort of sounded like a more exotic version of The Guess Who's Burton Cummings only with a slight accent. The band itself seems to have picked up a few tips from bands like The Guess Who or Grandfunk Railroad and was clearly looking to the English speaking world for inspiration. This all but forgotten obscurity from Germany's diverse Krautrock scene may not go down in history as the most essential of artifacts from the early 1970s but it is an interesting slice of heavy psych laced with period pop rock along with a few Krautish elements that remind me of Amon Düül II at times but these are just accents and only complement the staunch blues rock worship. Not a bad album at all but not extremely creative either.

3.5 rounded down