TANZ DER LEMMINGE [AKA: DANCE OF THE LEMMINGS]

What an achievement! I wouldn't have thought Amon Düül II could have outdone Yeti, but the follow-up Tanz Der Lemminge is even more wonderous! The classic line-up of Chris Karrer, Renate Krause, Peter Leopold, Falk Rogner and John Weinzierl certainly deserve far more credit than they ever got for their individual musicianship, and I believe that this is the ultimate Kraut rock album. Do check it out!

This album's first song may be called March Of The Roaring Seventies, but it's very much rooted in the 60s. Dominated by some great acoustic guitar playing and an overwhelming hippie vibe, the song becomes an acoutic progressive folk jam after the 6 minute-mark (but not before some of tose heavily accented German male vocals make their mark!). It should appeal to any one who likes Pink Floyd and Comus and has a strangely dark, incredible improvised feel to it, yet is too good to be improvised. Around about the 9:30 mark, the vocals come back but it's still a stomping acoustic rock song. I swear by the end there's even diversity and angularity to win over a Gentle Giant fan and yet even bluesy jamming to get a Grateful Dead fan going. What a song!

Restless Skylight-Transistor-Child is another heavy blues jam affair with an odd mix of electronic sound effects to keep a listener on his/her toes. There's a repeated ascending riff which leads to a sparse stoner jam with sitar leading the way, eventually vocals over a heavenly choir. Around the 7 minute mark it threatens to become a Zeppelinseque rocker, but that dies out as some of the great violin playing that coloured Yeti makes its presence felt on this record. It slows down into another spaced out section, with the delightful acoustic guitar work returning. I don't know what to say about this sort of eclectic genius!

The Marilyn Monroe Memorial Church follows on from the second half on the Yeti album in that it is pure atmospheric exprimentation. It is also one of the most brilliant examples I can cite of improvised music. The sort of unearthly vibes this group could create when the need arose is quite astounding. With washes of sound, tinkling piano, crashing drums, ominous bass and a seemingly ever present organ. a stellar soundscape is created. It's no joke to keep this kind of thing going for nearly 18 minutes and not bore your audience (and maybe even yourselves!). This would be a real treat to those who enjoyed the live half of Pink Floyd's Ummagumma.

After the three epics you might not have much energy left, but if you do then this album concludes with some bite-size Amon Duul jams for you ... the psychedelic blues-rock of Chewinggum Telegram, the Zappa-esque Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight (which still fits in a few distinct sections) and Toxicological Whispering which closes the album out with more duelling lead guitars. Tanz Der Lemminge is not flawless (oddly enough, the blues rock on the shorter songs was what started to bore me!) but I think it is essential psychedelic progressive music. ... 82% on the MPV scale