1976

After some long time I finally acquired, at last, this "kind of underground", GAM's first 1976 album.

Having listened and liking very much their second release,"Eiszeit", 1978, my expectations were high but not unrealistic.

The first track "Gam Jam" as it title reveals is a spacey/electronic//Krautrock, with a "Hendrix like funk (without the Funky or Motown tone)", jam. Therefore it will be absurd to think of it otherwise. Add to that some kind of splashes which resemble Led Zeppelin's live Jimmy Page's bowed electric guitar solos. Its true beauty is found in between the lo-fi and crappy stop overs recordings in the form of 3 intense sections of creative and bombastic communion among the three musicians. 2.5 stars.

"Abricot Brandy", the second track lets simplicity step forward and lowers the thunderous previous aftertaste. A dream and drunken like heavy/metal mood eventually evolves, with GAM's detached sense of giving explanations or being liked. Its experimental nature is quiet groundbreaking if we consider that in 1976 nobody was talking about Post Rock/Math Rock, Shoegaze, etc.. 4 stars.

"Für Elise Und Alice", the closing track, is the kind of composition that makes some releases worth acquiring or at least being known. As its title also reveals, brings Ludwig shortly to the beginning and last scene, in the form of a comic like music box rendition of his famous composition, mismatched with GAM's own intentions. A fast paced, pulse driven, symphonic thought construction, which can be pin pointed as the blueprint of their future and most commonly known and very good rated, second and last album. 4.5 stars.

The real deal about GAM, as both of their releases show, are its non-existent or detectable close connections with the USA's R&B and Blues roots found in most Krautrock bands and musicians. Opposite to that (and to my benefit) they were strangely close to the electronic side of it. This marks a very clear distance between this trio and their other contemporaries of the genre.

As for rating it things can get kind of messy. A 3 track release, which first and longer track is by far non-essential, among almost, half the time each, very good and essential compositions. Not being a butcher....

***3.5 PA stars.