DIE GRÜNE REISE (THE GREEN JOURNEY)

4.5 stars. A.R. & MACHINES is the solo project of one Achim Reichel. The A.R. are of course his initials while the MACHINES are those elctronics and tape recorders he used to create this psychedelic sound.This album was released in 1971 and the press at that time roasted him for it. Achim you see had been this teen idol who was very well known in Germany. He was the founder and guitarist of the most popular Beat band in that country called THE RATTLERS. He grew tired though of strumming his guitar to this simple 4/4 beat and was looking for something more challenging. It would be like one of the Jonas brothers deciding to make this experimental, Psychedelic Prog album. No matter how good it was you know he would be ridiculed for this non-commercial nonsense. Right ? Well all these magazines that trashed Achim's debut album would later apologize as it was soon accepted that this was a tripped out masterpiece. He became known for the guitar echo which he came upon by complete accident. "I was just trying something out with my guitar, when out of the blue the Akai X-3300 began to repeat endless cascades of guitar echoes. My guitar suddenly sounded like ten". He found his new direction. I've known about this band for years but until recently have been unable to find any of his recording. I have the EROC remastered version from 2007. The title of this album means "The Green Journey". Julian Cope would call this record "...the final result of a kind of higher awareness..." Brian Eno said this was his main source for inspiration for his "Another Green World" album. And how about that album cover !

I'm going to use the English song titles. "Globe" opens with strange sounds then this catchy beat takes over.The song continues to change. Lots of electronics 2 1/2 minutes in. Great sound. "In The Same Boat" opens with this guitar riff as drums then vocals join in.It turns very psychedelic a minute in then that riff and beat returns. "Beautiful Babylon" sounds so cool to start out. Drums before a minute. It's all about the electronics before 3 minutes. It's laid back late. "I'll Be Your Singer-You'll Be My Song" is a short tune with vocals, strummed guitar and percussion. Psychedelic stuff. "Body" features percussion along with vocal and other sounds.

"A Book's Blues" is bluesy with a beat, vocals and guitar. "As If I Had Seen All This Before" has a very freaky intro with cool vocal expressions that are manipulated. Electronics and a beat take over as guitar and drums join in. Great sound. It's crazy psychedelic 3 1/2 minutes in. The beat returns then it's far out again. "Cosmic Vibration" sounds so good the way the guitar echoes. What a trip this song is. "Come On People" is led by vocals and drums. Vocal melodies and clapping join in. "Truth And Probability" is the perfect drug track. It made me laugh and wonder and I wasn't even high. The sounds echo and check out the vocal expressions that are manipulated. Just hilarious at times. Insanity !

A Krautrock classic !