ADAPTIONEN

1975 sees Electra-Combo changing their name simply to Electra, changing also their style and having some important line-up shakes.The band was heading towards an instrumental sound, so singer Stephan Trepte left to join the newly established Reform along with ex-Electra-Combo bassist Michael Demnitz.Gone were also Hans Peter Dohanetz and Peter Sandkaulen.They were replaced by new keyboardist Rainer Uebel and guitarist Gisbert Koreng.The same year the group releases their first album as Electra under the title ''Adaptionen'', again on Amiga.

As the title indicates, in this album the East-Germans take six classical arrangements and transformed them into rock compositions, drawn by some of the most important Classical composers: Alexander Borodin, Johann Sebastian Bach, Aram Chatschaturjan, Sergej Rachmaninov, Edvard Grieg, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.Electra use their music as the basis of their compositions and add their own character through strong organ jams and hard-driving flutes, among them the listener can find tons of sudden breaks and virtuosic solos, particularly led by Aust'es flute and Uebel's organ.The sound is very close to the likes of E.L.P., considering the heavy use of Hammond organ, although the strong and massive flute parts bring to mind bands such as OSANNA or NEW TROLLS.Today the album sounds a bit dated, the chosen style being the main reason for the fact, on the other hand the music here is tremendously consistent and solid all the way.The powerful electric guitars of Koreng add a Hard Prog flavor to the album, the Classical-inspired passages are adapted in an excellent deegree and the original touches next to them fit brilliant with the masters' Classical enviroment.

No real highs or lows.''Adaptionen'' should be considered a masterpiece for all those, who love Classical Rock adaptions, but I can strongly recommend the album to any Prog fan in general, as there are no weak points in here, on the contrary, this is 100% high quality Classical Rock...3.5 stars.