A YOUNG MAN'S GASH

Short-live Kraut obscirity from the city of Bremen.In their one year of life Gash produced the highly collectable LP ''A Young Man's Gash'' on the Brain label along with a single on Metronome, both were launched in 1972.The official formation was Jochen Peters on keyboards/vocals, Frank Feldhusen on guitar/vocals, Manfred Thiers on bass/vocals and Reinhard Schiemann on drums/vocals, although during the recordings of their sole effort they were helped by guitarist, Atze Barth, Dicky Tarrach on congas and The New Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Hecht.

This is an extremely uneven album, containing standard Blues Rock and a sidelong epic, progressive track on the flipside.The three tracks on the opening side are not progressive, they are Blues/Psych Rock pieces with some heavier overtones and occasional guitar tricks by Frank Feldhusen, especially in ''In the sea'', propelled by the guitar rhythms and solos, Peters's omnipresent Hammond organ and the British-styled vocals.Fans of the style should deep into Gash'es bluesy side, although this is far from original music.The 21-min. track though is an excellent Kraut Rock/Prog composition with all the typical values of the German Rock scene compressed in a single musical attempt.Close to NEKTAR, ''Atom heart mother''-era PINK FLOYD and MESSAGE, this one contains great guitar/organ moves along with classical orchestrations and some Teutonic-styled experimental touches.There are also some certain flute strings and harmonica appearing in here, but the sound is mostly dominated by the guitar and keyboards.Its excellence can be found in its atmospheric depth and musical complexity, passing from rockin' tunes to minimalistic edges, from symphonic colors to Heavy/Psych pounds and from a lyrical power to a raw, guitar-driven sound.Lots of changing moods, Kraut-flavored rough rhythms and solos and an orchestral finesse, definitely a beautiful, overlooked epic.

When Gash became part of history, Manfred Thiers went on to play with the Funk Rock band Randy Pie and even joined To Be in early-80's.Peters released a solo album in 1987 under the name of Lu Lafayette and passed away prematurely at the age 50 in 2003.

Uneven Kraut/Blues Rock, highlighted by a monster epic piece, among the best attempts on a sidelong track by an early-70's German band.Recommended, the title-track alone is a reason enough to hunt this rarity.