CALW LIVE

Famous German poet, author and painter Herman Hesse was born in Calw in the northern Black Forest in 1877. His best known book was probably "Siddharta", and his stories tend to resonate with adolescents, distilling the peaks and valleys of that age before they are smoothed out by adulthood. One of his short stories was a fantasy called "Piktors Verwandlugen", meaning "Pictures Metamorphosis". In 1981 the popular Stuttgart- based symphonic prog group ANYONE'S DAUGHTER released a live album with narration based on this story, and it proved to be their biggest seller as well as a catalyst for their own metamorphosis from English to German vocals.

Fast-forward 20+ years to the 125th anniversary of Hesse's birthday and a special concert in Calw which apparently included Canadian rockers STEPPENWOLF (named after one of Hesse's other popular novels). German poet Heinz Rudolf Kunze was cast as the narrator for the "Piktors" segments of this 90 minute concert by Anyone's Daughter, which deftly blends the old and the new. This recording was not released until almost 10 years later, but it was definitely worth the wait.

While I still have the same reservations about the Piktors part, chiefly in the pervasiveness of the narration that is lost on non German speakers and the limited development in the instrumental parts, I do find a vast improvement in the clarity of Uwe Karpa's guitars, which might make this the definitive version. Then again, I have always found Anyone's Daughter worth hearing live, even if the surviving poor quality videos confirm that they were not showmen by any stretch. Hence their facility with old chestnuts like "Between the Rooms" and "Moria" is hardly surprising, with every instrument and word mainlined to your listening space, and minimal clutter and live distortion. While the music from the more recent "Danger World" lacks the sophistication of their 1980s classics, it too is performed well, with "Nina" and "Helios" (the only quasi progressive piece from that album) being especially luminous. I'm not as keen on the elongated version of Lennon's "Imagine" which served as encore but don't deny it was a symbolic coup, with Kunze singing verses in German.

With the proviso that their vintage era live albums are more highly recommended, "Calw Live" captures Anyone's Daughter's different phases with fitting dignity and respect.