THE END / THE PAINTER

One of the many singles released only bands that emerged in Germany in the 1970s, WATERLOO formed in the northern city of Lübeck in 1973. The band featured an on again off again sort of existence with different members picking up after others left and although existed for several years never released an album.

The band is notable for including seasoned drummer Peter Miklis who played with many bands including Carthago, Citaur, Tat Traum & Tod, Shotgun and Pax Domini and future Novalis guitarist Fred Mühlböck as well as another drummer named Paul Pfisterer who would play in the band Bullfrog.

The band recorded a few songs but the only two released came about in 1976 with this single "The End / The Painter" which was self-published and limited to a mere 500 copies. Any earlier recordings were completely lost so this band probably wouldn't be remembered at all had it not released this mere sole artifact.

It's a true shame that WATERLOO did not release an entire album's worth because this is exactly the type of prog that i love. While these two songs only add up to a bit over 10 minutes of music, this is prog paradise with heavy guitar driven rock tracks that implement crazy time signature changes, mood shifts, hairpin turns and other crazy sophisticated pomp.

While a great deal of the two tracks is instrumental, they do feature vocals and alternate between heavy prog rock and slower plodding tension building teasers. It's clear that these musicians were at the top of their game and even the singer is more than competent with an effortless rock vocal style that sort of reminds me of the vocals on Pink Floyd's "Animals."

While totally obscure, these two WATERLOO tracks appeared with two others on the 1999 various artists compilations "Psychedelic Gems 4" which if even half as good as these two tracks has my interest. Simple reminder here that there was a lot of talent lurking in the underground and not every band had the opportunity to bring it to fruition. Excellent 10 minutes here.