PROSPER

Extremely obscure German 5-piece Prosper issued one long player, the curiously and aptly titled Broken Door, in 1975. Reissued in 2003 by Garden of Delights, the best tunes on the album use fusion licks surrounded by Kraut sensibilities. The record almost exists out of time, as if all labels and sounds used for classification don't apply. Songs are guitar-based, brooding, mysterious rock and roll, then in the middle you get the countryfied your country as if someone threw it in there just to have enough songs for completion. Vocals are very effective and mellotron is prominent.

King Crimson fans should find a lot to like here.

++++-

Self-published by the band, Prosper's debut Broken Door really deserved more attention. Bridging three distinct musical worlds of the 1970s - the avant plains of Krautrock where the tripped-out psychedelic spaciness of the 1960s never quite went away, the gorgeous melodic realms of the softer symphonic bands like Camel, and the whimsical, jazzy territory of latter- period Canterbury - it's an album which prog fans are certain to find something new and unexpected to enjoy on every listen-through. Gets within a hair's breadth of snagging that fifth star, that's for sure, and it's a real shame the band don't seem to have persisted after this release because who knows what they could have accomplished with proper support.

I'm happy to announce I've changed my tune when it comes to this album. I'd tried for years to get into it, after reading the glowing reviews from several respected reviewers I had to jump to the conclusion there was something there. That something was never there for me until one day, giving Broken Door it's fiftieth or so spin on my turntable, It hit me first with Beginning, then the title track and Dance of an Angel knocked me out. I had to sit down and soak it in. Your Country, so out of place, gives the album a detour from the dark almost melancholic feel to the rest of the record. It's like a championship golf course with one hole that doesn't match the others. Your country gives the album true character, you know? Well, the last three songs are great, this cohesive set is an obscure treat I'm so glad grew on me. That's the feeling that keeps me coming back to these albums, and what makes progressive archive such a terrific reference site. That moment when an album hits you and POW you're hooked.

The lineup that recorded this album was actually the second incarnation of this band.The original drummer left to play in AERA while the bass player moved onto WALLENSTEIN before PROSPER recorded this their first record.These guys sound like a top of the line Jazz / Rock / Fusion band playing within that Krautrock style. I love listening to the guys playing on this album.The drummer is so intricate and fluid but powerful like many of the great Jazz drummers.The bass is prominant and fat like I like it.The guitarist really impresses me, in fact he shouldn't be one of those unheralded and unknown axe-men. And I can't forget the electric piano and mellotron. It's like this album was custom made for me.

"Beginning" opens with atmosphere including mellotron and it's building. A guest female violinist joins in as the bass throbs. Great sound after 2 minutes with guitar. It's more intense 3 1/2 minutes in then it settles back before 5 1/2 minutes with piano and drums standing out. Nice. It's intense again with guitar before 7 minutes then back to the piano and drums again to end it. Mellotron too. Fantastic track ! "Burning In The Sun" is a short vocal and acoustic guitar piece. A mellow tune.

"Broken Door" is fairly dark with low end sounds as the raw guitar solos over top. Amazing ! Vocals and mellotron before 2 minutes. Killer track. "Dance Of An Angel" is dark with a beat early on then it kicks in before 1 1/2 minutes. So good with that Jazz flavour. Love the bass and electric piano, and the drumming is lights out as the guitar solos over top. It settles back before 6 minutes as it turns dark again. Man that's another incredible song.

"Your Country" sounds nothing like the rest and yet it's great as well. It's like they decide to go all ALLMAN BROTHERS on us.The vocals and intricate guitar standout in this catchy track. "Birds Of Passage" is interesting with the mellotron, bass, acoustic guitar and cymbals all creating a cool atmosphere throughout. "Master's Inspiration" is a short drum show.

"Where The Sun Touches The Water" opens with wind and electric piano as guitar and drums join in as it slowly builds.The wind continues at gale force until it dies at around 2 1/2 minutes. Guitar, drums and bass sound incredible before 4 minutes. Electric piano too.That strong wind is back to end it.

This is one of those "Where have you been all my life" moments. A treasure.

Prosper are a Krautrock obscurity that have an interesting range of songs on Second Running The Basement Tapes, dominated by sax and fast drumming. Each track offers something special and it is based in jazz rock and AOR. The singing lets it down somewhat with a very haphazard approach similar to Joy Division. There are some excellent moments on this however.

Let Us Fill Our Empty Day has a nice brass section with jazzy nuances tempered by frenetic percussion. Turbulence is a sax domination with offbeat time sig and jazz tuning. The xylophone sound is particularly cleverly integrated. Melt Down is almost free form in places and unreservedly jazz. The bassline is wonderful on Out And Dry, one of my favourites on the album, though the vocals still feel like an afterthought. The keyboard solo is quite incredible, a real blaster.

So that sums it all up for me. Moments of excellence mixed with mediocrity, thus justifying a 3 star rating for this little treasure.

Here is a real cool album that I am sure 70's Prog jam fans will love from start to finish! Proposer is not a typical Krautrock outfit from the 70's and sound a lot more British than anything else. Musically Prosper is a mix of King Crimson with bits of Mahavishnu, Ash Ra Temple and Pink Floyd. Overall a pretty strong stylistic album with tons of uniqueness and a tendency to wind out into a jam rock approach. There are some pretty trippy parts with wild guitar solos and complex support (bass, drum and keyboards). Lead Vocalist Fritz Fey has a very fitting voice and supports the quirkiness of the music. Prosper were heavily influenced by jazz and incorporate strong learnings into their music giving an almost Canterbury feel to the album. I love the keyboardist and the sounds he adds on all the songs (Highlight for me is "Dance Of An Angel"). Highly recommended gem form the depths of Progland Germany.

I like this album a lot! The music is mostly a fusion of Krautrock and Jazz-Rock, with touches of Psychedelic/Space Rock and Symphonic or Eclectic Progressive Rock. This album features dark, heavy riffs/progressions like '73-'74 era King Crimson as well as heady fusion jazz sounding similar to Mahavishnu Orchestra with vibes in most songs and some great guitarwork reminding at times of John McLaughlin, and sounds at times somewhat similar to Message's 'From Books and Dreams', Guru Guru's 'Dance of the Flames'. These comparisons only reflect part of the music, though, as there are other styles I'm not sure how to express and Prosper have their own distinct sound. Each song varies in style and this works well for the album, as the heady or darker and more progressive instrumental songs ("Dance of an Angel", "Beginning", and "Where the Sun Touches the Water") are interspersed with the more melodic, vocal-containing songs "Burning in the Sun" and "Your Country" and the more low key jazzy instrumental "Birds of Passage", while "Broken Door" contains some of both. All songs are excellent with the exception of "Birds of Passage" and "Your Country" which, while still very good stand out less, though they are both very welcome differences in style. The 1 1/2-minute drum solo "Master's Inspiration" is pretty straightforward for a drum solo and doesn't add much to the album. Its hard to describe exactly what i like about the album--it is full of great melodies and great orchestration, excellent playing, a very inspired sound (most of the time), tactful songwriting, and good variety of style and mood. Its a bummer these guys only made one album. This is a classic of both Krautrock and Jazz Rock/Fusion that deserves much more attention. Highly recommended!

4.5

Yes - this is prospering a lot ...

For a self-released debut this album is really well done and might compete with every professional production without a doubt. Limited to 500 copies 'Broken Door' is a very rare and searched vinyl coming from the early german prog rock history. Many thanks to the Garden Of Delights label which released this diversified album on compact disc in 2003. PROSPER was a band from the northwestern part of the german Ruhrgebiet, founded in 1973, first undergoing some heavy line-up changes until five musicians finally managed to consolidate. The music is somewhat jazz rock respectively fusion dominated, mainly forced by Evert Brettschneider, a jazz guitarist who seemed to be influenced by John McLaughlin, Gary Boyle and Robert Fripp whilst recording this album. Other attractions to point out are the compelling use of several key instruments like e-paino, mellotron, moog and a very nice twin guitar work during some parts.

Beginning is an excellent opener working as a mix of jazz rock and psychedelic with wonderful piano accompaniment and some mellotron impressions - immediately followed by the short twin acoustic guitar song Burning in the sun with good english vocals. Broken door, the title song, remembers me at Eloy a little bit whereas Dance of an Angel sounds like pure jazz rock in the vein of Isotope or Soft Machine. And then - somewhat contrary - Your country is provided as a very psych drenched song with reminiscences to american westcoast bands and country folk influences. Great guitar work! Birds of Passage comes as a melancholic acoustic guitar driven song with sparkling piano. The mandatory but short drum solo is put into Master's inspiration and Where the Sun touches the Water finally rocks with a jazz orientation, initiated and closed by some storm and water imitating samples.

Unbelievable - another nearly unknown gem of the prog history in Germany which deserves to be famous - a big hand for this album and a must have for jazz rock and kraut fans! 4 stars really.