Amon Düül II--Classic or Dud?

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.

I'd put Can ahead of Kraftwerk, and both ahead of ADII.

Can is fucking awesome, but you have to admit they are pretty damn awkward more often than not. Tago Mago is not exactly fun to listen to... and I love difficult/extreme music.

But I am definitely talking personal opinion here.

This is kind of new - http://www.furious.com/perfect/amonduulII.html

I was listening to Wolf City, Vive La Trance, and Made In Germany last night as my vinyl was being sold off. Wolf City is just so so good. Vive La Trance isn't perfect, but it's highlights.. holy shit. "Mozambique" and "Mimikry" are two of AD2's best songs. I'm not so much on the Made In Germany wagon, although there definitely are moments.

By Pyrogany 10th, they pretty much changed into a prog/pop rock band, but there are always good moments on all these albums all the way to and including Vortex. Only Human is definitely slept on.

BTW, this has to be the FULL version of "Mozambique". Huge difference.. the second half of "Mozambique" = :-O

For some reason I've never liked these guys... and I'm a sucker for most any krautrock out there. They are probably the only "important" krautrock band that I just don't get.

whoah that is some major dissing of the Amon Duul records in that Weinzerl interview.

"Very important: we are NOT a Krautrock band."

Oops!

"Eye-shaking king" is still one of the heaviest/ more fucked-up/ plainly weird songs ever.
Yeti = the real soundtrack to Jodorowsky's Holy Mountain (unintentionally funny bits included).

"Very important: we are NOT a Krautrock band."

Oops!

Has any 'Krautrock' band ever said, "We're a Krautrock band"?

Just Faust.

I put on Carnival in Babylon in hopes of liking it, and I'll admit I liked it more than I did last time I tried it, but it was still eh to me. What do I need to hear instead?

I like everything up to and including Wolf City.
― hstencil, domingo 16 de noviembre de 2003 03:39 PM (5 years ago)

i.e. YETI

i <3 yeti...i need to give tanz der lemminge more time...

still, someone go nominate AD2 in Sven's best band ever thread RIGHT NOW!!!

I like a lot of Yeti, but I don't like all of Yeti. The last two tracks (one of which is 18 minutes long) sort of lose the plot. At least, the plot I was following.

I put on Carnival in Babylon in hopes of liking it, and I'll admit I liked it more than I did last time I tried it, but it was still eh to me.

yeti yeti yeti

CiB is pretty eh to everyone, i think, it's got a couple of good songs but it just feels flabby and unmemorable.

OTM. Whereas "Wolf City" is sheer entertainment from start to finish.

Wolf City is a masterpiece. Even if the band doesn't agree.

since when has a band's opinion mattered

Yeti >> Wolf City >> Carnival In Babylon > Phallus Dei

And Dance of the Lemmings?

Haven't heard it

get on that, colonel.

also it's

YETI>>>>WOLF CITY>>>TANZ DER>>>>PHALLUS>>>>>VIVE LE TRANCE>>>>CARNIVAL

not to imply that any of them are terrible, though, they're all worth listening to.

I think Carnival is certainly better than Viva Le Trance. The first few songs on Viva are really good, but then it falls off...

Anybody want to buy my Hi-Jack LP?

i was actually going to put them as tied

but you're probably right, now that i think about it.

I can't really argue with the rest of your hierarchy. Yeti is spectacular and Wolf City purrs along like a dream.

I find this band perplexing. I like various chunks of their catalog but sometimes I am baffled that the term krautrock is used to encompass acts as disparate as Amon Duul II, Cluster, and Neu!, all of which seem wildly different for the most part. have had Wolf City and Yeti (never heard any of the Amon Duul stuff) and they're okay - not as goofy/fun/random as Faust. Kinda of a piece with Hawkwind but not as conceptually together.

AD2 had more range than Hawkwind. Tanz der Lemminge, one of my favorite albums of all time, zigzags thru a panoply of psychedelic flavours. Restless Skylight Transistor Child goes from awkward Teutonic boogie to sitar-addled psychedelic folk idyll to distorted overdriven acid rawk to impending doom. The next track, Marilyn Monroe Memorial Church is a stagnating pool of echoey Goth bleakness.

I love Hawkwind and can see the comparison but I think it sells the Duuls short and ignores just how much they could do well.

Amon Duul II is def more all over the place than Hawkwind (who pretty much just cycled between one or two modes for the bulk of their early career). whether or not that's a virtue... eh, I'm undecided. I find the sprawl of Amon Duul II's stuff a bit off-putting.

Yeah well that sprawl is the essence of the band. No other band combining Jefferson Airplane, Incredible String Band, Velvet Underground and Night on Bald Mountain

So I guessing Stefan Zauner, singer of Freiheit, is the only former member of Amon Duul II to have appeared on Top of the Pops? (This could have gone on The Rolling "Top of the Pops" BBC4 Revival thread, er thread).

Amon Düül II--C, because

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqxH2aU9z-Q