Amon Düül II--Classic or Dud?

listening to albums one, two and three will be a chore -- maybe i think of a golden period for that band -- Dadamais, Can had a golden period and are forgiven for their mid '70s burn out crap -- i think both bands are the same in lot of ways -- maybe communal bands have a cell structure that means some cells are self defeating, lots of little marching cans from nonwarholia, but that's as good at or better than the marching music of some Kraftwerk and some Can (who sometimes sound too uptight or too mellow)

oh, hush.

so, avoid the first three jam lps (well the ten jam sides, like the greatful dead, no synths, a waste of time)
(and avoid all jam lps obv.)

The only crap Can album is "Out Of Reach", certainly Can never plumbed similar depths to ADII. ADII were always really just a rock band, Can weren't.

Mr Gossett, I like Wolf City shitloads, esp the last track (title eludes me) & I'll have to get it again soon I suppose. IIRC as well as the synth, they had an optigan, or its high-end spinoff (I forget the name, I'm very tired) as well. "Vive la Trance" I've never got around to buying, b/c a lot of the later stuff is so lame, and I always lumped it in w/that for some reason. Poss I shd pick a copy of that up as well.

Once again I agree with Pashmina, a worrying development for both of us I feel - title of the last track: "Sleepwalkers Timeless Bridge", written, sung and mostly played by everyone's favourite drummer/guitarist, Daniel Secundus Fichelscher. As for the objections to "Lemmings" being based on a "knee-jerk reaction to the more superficially "prog-rock" sound" - well, if we leave the knees out of it, the fact that it's more prog rocky than the earlier albums is indeed one of the main problems with it except that "Wolf City" is much more proggy and is much better.

Cope's book is entertaining yet frustrating. I really wish he made his top 50 list in order of preference rather than alphabetical. Occasionally he would make a solid statement, like, "this is my favorite Can album" (Ege Bamyasi). I made a top 13 of Cope's picks, gauging them by the amount of hyperbole he spewed.

1 Ash Ra Tempel
2 La Dusseldorf
3 Neu! 75
4 Can - Ege Bamyasi
5 Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen
6 Neu!
7 Amon Duul II - Yeti
8 Popol Vuh - In den Garten Pharoas
9 Harmonia - Deluxe
10 Tangerine Dream - Zeit
11 Cluster - Zuckerzeit
12 Can - Tago Mago
13 Tangerine Dream - Alpha Centauri

I need to check to see if there have been any exceptional remasters of any of the above in addition to Amon Duul II. Anyone know?

I don't know that anyone will answer, as I don't know that anyone will find this with both the Search and New Answers functions broken. I found this thread with Google. Sigh.

these albums were already re-mastered in '02. read the thread linked above

"Vive la Trance" is so f'in great. I don't see many folks vouching hard for anything thereafter, but I just gotta check more stuff out... if the SONGZ stay even 1/2 as good...!

Also, as mentioned above -- the last track on "Wolf City" = 8-)))

My favorite Krauts by far!

I have at least one later than Vive La Trance called Hijack. It's awful.

See, I may have bought that once and then returned it, I can't remember! Maybe I'll skip to "Made in Germany"; the allmusic write-up on that one makes it sound pretty great...

Something about the funny/serious, clever without being too goofy, great songwriting that's self-confident without taking itself too seriously, thing on those later albums really hits a sweet spot for me... I'd try to name a few other bands that kinda work the same way, but it'd seem flighty, they're all so dissimilar. (I guess Guru Guru does something kinda equivalent for me, without the songwriting part; they're similar enough.)

It's like this certain vibe -- adult musicians at the peak of their playing and songwriting prowess; so great at what they do that they can be totally relaxed, though focused and totally on-point; a little dryly "whimsical," almost underplaying their hand, but also "nailing" it somehow...

it's been a while, but I'm starting to appreciate the post Wolf City stuff.

1978's Only Human doesn't get nearly enough love. It's my favorite AD2 release post-Wolf City.. very different, but still well crafted. Some songs work better than others. "Kirk Morgan" is so ahead of its time as far as the guitar playing and electronic beats.

APOCALYPTIC BORE

Amon Düül >>>> Amon Düül II

Yawn

Amon Düül >>>> Amon Düül II

APOCALYPTIC BORE

I will take this opportunity to once again rep for live in london. yeti and lemmings are great but live in london is loud.

Did you ever get Made In Germany morris? I like that one more than Hijack but not as much as any of the earlier ones.

"Hijack" is rubbish. "Made In Germany" is actually quite good if you cherrypick the good tracks, it's a guilty pleasue of mine.

I don't think "Hijack" is entirely rubbish. I love the tape-loop disco of "Da Guadaloop," "Lonely Woman" sets lyrics to the (uncredited) Ornette Coleman melody, and there's another couple quirky pop tunes here and there. Not as good as "Made In Germany" though, which I really do like front to back.

Is that the full double-lp "Germany" or the single version?

The one I like front to back? American single LP. I've never heard the double.

WHY DIDN'T I GET INTO THESE DUDES EARLIER???

i had heard stuff at friend's houses and shit and liked it but only today bought this The UA Years 69-74 comp cuz it was in the CD cutout bin at electric fetus...

so good!

The thread should have been titled Classic or Düüd, though.

I still haven't checked out the original AD, nor acquired Yeti. I did pick up a Krautrock DVD at the Tower closing sale but haven't played it yet (ADII are on it).

Only Human!

After Kraftwerk, the best Krautrock band by far. Yes better than Can!

Wau I dunno if I feel ya on that, though they are absolutely fantastic. Top 5 kraut for sure.
I am actually more of an AD I guy. Longer jams. More hippie vibing.

Not saying they're more important/influential. Just more consistently rewarding.

The wonders of personal preference.

Touring next year… could be exciting or maybe not?

I hear they're pretty good! I mean it's an oldies act, but most of the original lineup iirc

Okay thanks! Going to buy the tickets. Will give me a nice run up to spend the time with their music.

please report back! very cool.

And what's with that song where he just lifts entire lines of lyrics, unchanged, from Mott the Hoople?

It's worse than that, there's actually TWO songs on this album ("Hijack") that lift entire lines of lyrics, unchanged, from the same Mott the Hoople song!

Maybe the clue is in the album title; a détournement.

For the record, the Mott song is "Hymn for the Dudes" which is quoted in both "I Can't Wait" and "You're Not Alone"; the former also contains a line lifted from Leonard Cohen's "Stranger Song", which maybe does suggest this is a conscious repurposing.

I only heard this album this year but I found it a lot easier to digest than Vive La Trance; the band just seems a lot more confident about their efforts even as they scatter their energies. They're not "trying too hard" but the creative decisions seem less contrived; I was touched to hear Chris Karrer contribute a long sax solo to "You're Not Alone", or to hear elephants trumpeting over a "Shaft" funk groove. For what it's worth, this is probably the best of their "non-classic" records (though I haven't heard Made in Germany because only the single-disc version is streaming).

I quite enjoy Made In Germany

"Hijack" is terrible.

What you call a "conscious repurposing", I call lazily stealing some lines to fill out a lyric - and it's not like it's they're referencing some lines from a classic song, it's from a contemporary song!

idk i like "hijack"

What you call a "conscious repurposing", I call lazily stealing some lines to fill out a lyric

It just makes it more interesting for me, more than if Lothar Meid had scrambled his brains to come up with two or three more lines of English lyric.

made in germany is interesting because it's one of those records where a completely different guy takes over and then vanishes, in this case a guy named nando tischer

i guess it's kind of the end of "classic era" adii tho... lothar, falk-u, and renate's last '70s outing with them, right?

Lothar's not on it I think? It's the bass player from "Vive La Trance", Robby Heibl, but Danny Fichelscher is on at least one track!

The comings and goings in this band make Hawkwind seem steady and sedate.