Grobschnitt

I dont think this band gets mentioned enough.  I own their s/t and Rockpommels Land, both are fantastic, especially RL.  I plan on getting Ballerman soon because I hear the Solar Music song is amazing.  I might as well pick up Solar Music Live, just because of the praise Solar Music gets.  I have very high expectations of that that song, t better not be let down.

so yeah, talk about Grobshnitt and stuff

Aaron

nobody likes Grobschnitt?

Aaron

I got the Solar Music Live album a while ago.....not quite my cup of chai, but it certainly has its moments, and if the live photos are anything to go by, I think they out Tap'ed Spinal Tap

Well I`ve mentioned it before so I`ll mention it again. First off I`ve been a huge Grobschnitt fan since the early seventies and own most of their albums. I attended the show which was recorded for the Solar Music Live album in Mannheim just by chance. By far this is THE Grobschnitt album to have. Try and obtain a remastered CD edition which is missing about 15 minutes from the original vinyl realease as well as the initial CD edition. The album only contains about half the show. I also highly recommend the Volle Molle live album which was recorded a couple of years later. The drawback from listening to a band like Grobschnitt live is that there is so much going on visually during a Grobschnitt show that a lot iof it`s essence is lost when just hearing and not seeing what is going on. As far as I could remember ( I was only 16 years old at the time ) there was a lot of pyrotechnics, lights and props and  a lot of people  tripped out on drugs. It was really freaky but at the time I really didn`t understand much of it.  It was at the time of the release of Rockpommel`s Land and they did a lot of material from that album. They had a recreation of the pteradactyl like bird flying around above the stage at one point.
 These are my favourite Grobschnitt albums:

Grobschnitt (first album)
Ballerman
Merry Go Round  ( Die Schaffts Das Nicht is one of my favourite instrumentals )
Rockpommel`s Land
Solar Music Live
Volle Molle
Illegal
The Last Party Live  (See my review in the archives)

When crazy drummer Eroc  left in 1980 the band sort of streamlined their sound to conform with eightie but still managed to come up with some gems here and there. If you have the money go for Die Groschnitt Story if you really have it for this band. I also have two of EROC`S solo albums but don`t expect them to be anything like Grobschnitt. They`re very weird and contain a lot of speaking parts in German.


Edited by Vibrationbaby

Aaron wrote: (i thought grobschnitt was a more popular band, apparently i need to make a ELP thread to get any replies) Aaron

hilarious

Well, I've only really listened to Rockpommel's Land, and after owning it for like a week, I must conclude that this is symphonic prog at it's very VERY best! Totally amazing music !! Not much more to say about that. I can't believe this band isn't more recognized. 

Grobschnitt was very popular in Germany mainly due to their live shows. In the beginning they played school auditoriums and small venues. I saw them several times and sometimes they played up to 4 hours. One of their roadies Tony Moff Mollo was a fulltime band member and was responsible for comic action on stage. There were a lot of fun elemnts in their show and they joked a lot with the audience. The second half of the concert was normally 'Solar Music' the long suite from their 'Ballerman' record. On stage it was the  soundtrack to an  orchestrated theatre show with costums, soundeffects and pyrotechnics. I prefer the 'Solar music' version on Ballerman, the live recording of 'Solar music' tends to be a little too long without the visual elements. After the release of their concept album 'Rockpommels land' they became really popular and played in bigger venues, loosing the charme of the early concerts where they integrated the audience.At the end of the 70's they moved into pop-rock. My favourite records are 'Ballerman',' Jumbo' and 'Rockpommels land'.

Well, "Solar Music Live" is the only Grobschnitt album I've ever got - and it is very good. Highly recommended, I do not think you'll be disappointed.