THE WORLD WILL END ON FRIDAY

Duisburg-based SHAA KHAN began their career in 1970 as a school band,initially having a heavy rock sound close to the likes of Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin,soon to add some jazz elements to their music.However it wasn't until 1974 when the band finally had a stable line-up with the addition of Heiner Waldmann, Horst Schlechtriemen and Klaus Grandt next to founding members Roland Soltysiak and Walter Kaulhausen and the bassist Jochen Gutermuth (who was a member since 1971).In 1977 SHAA KHAN enter the studio to record their first album "The World Will End On Friday",released in 1978 on Sky Records.

STYLE: SHAA KHAN's music is very melodic,yet it maintains a typical Kraut feeling throughout,maybe because of the vocals and the obscure organ work.Opener ''White room'' has an impressive spacey/kraut feeling well hidden under the melodic guitars and the light keys,while the eponymous track is driven by acoustic guitars,haunting mellotron and the fantastic vocal work.On ''Graveyard'' the band sounds very British,again the track lies somewhere between Space and Kraut Prog with heavy bluesy riffs,smooth rhythm section and plenty of organ deliveries.Surprisingly ''Ocean'' is a number with lots of theatrical sides,featuring nice spoken parts and Hackett-ish guitars.''Season'',the longest of all tracks,alternates between melodic acoustic instrumentation and typical Heavy-Kraut Rock riffing along with the usual organ solos,trademark of the band.Five mostly long tracks with plenty of emotional tastes.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: It is almost impossible not to think of ELOY listening to this album,while the heavier moments contain hints of BIRTH CONTROL.Add also some GENESIS elements to the mix to get the full picture.

PLUS: A very strong and uncommercial album for 1978,seems it was recorded around 1974,1975.Intricate and romantic acoustic passages.Very decent vocal work despite the somewhat accented vocals.Good and melodic work on guitars,even better is the keyboard work with some great parts.A nice mixture between Space,Kraut and Symphonic rock.

MINUS: Again we have to deal with a band without a strong personal sound (however to record a pure prog album in 1978 is alone a triumph).The same atmosphere dominates all tracks.The album lacks a bit in energy,propably due to the mellow rhythm section.

WILL APPEAL TO:...as the album comes like a mix of different styles it should certainly appeal to Classic Prog,Symphonic-Space and Kraut Rock fans.

CONCLUSION: ''The World Will End On Friday'' is not an exceptional album,yet it hold lots of interesting moments to satisfy the prog listener,while the year of its release makes it even more attractive.Very nice but definitely not absolutely essential...3.5 stars in my books.