DANCE OF THE FLAMES

GURU GURU were one the pioneers of the Krautrock genre playing a trippy, hypnotic brand of music with outbreaks of heaviness.Their guitarist reminded me a lot of Hendrix. "Dance Of The Flames" was released in 1974 and the band had just changed guitarists, and at the same time they have changed their sound to more of a Fusion flavour. By the way the new guitarist is Houschang Nejadepour from EILIFF. This isn't what i'd call a power trio, more of a cosmic trio. Mani the drummer who has a Free-Jazz style is still amazing, and the new guitarist is excellent. This was remastered by EROC.

"Dagobert Duck's 100th Birthday" opens with silly duck vocals before the cool drum patterns come in. A guitar solo a minute in that comes and goes. Some ripping guitar 4 minutes in and the vocals return a minute after that. What a fun, catchy song this is. The duck sounds are back to end the song. "The Girl From Hirschhorn" is my favourite song by far. It opens with birds chirping. Drums keep a steady beat with some tasteful guitar soloing along for the ride. The guitar gains strength 3 minutes in just cutting a swath through the soundscape. This is so good ! It settles back down and we get vocals 7 minutes in for the first time. "The Day Of Timestop" has a bombastic intro and then the guitarist just runs with it. It's all about the drums and guitar on this one. He sure can play that guitar fast as he offers up another solo. This is followed by a bass solo and then a drum solo. Birds are singing to end it.

"Dance Of The Flames" opens with bass but the highlight is the blazing guitar solo as the bass throbs relentlessly. "Samba Das Rosas" is a lighter song with percussion, guitar and vocals. "Rallulli" opens with percussion and strummed guitar. The guitar stops leaving the cool percussion sounds. The toilet flushes to end it. Where did the birds and ducks go ? "The Juncture Of Light And Dark" features intricate guitar melodies throughout. "God's Endless Love For Mankind" is my second favourite. What a title ! This is just a great jam that twists and turns as the guitar and drums lead the way. The bonus live track "Doing" features some outstanding guitar and drum work 5 minutes in.

This is a really good record but I still prefer their first album "UFO".