Amon Düül II - 1975 - Made In Germany

Amon Düül II 

1975 

Made In Germany

Disc 1 (34:30)

01. Overture (5:12)

02. Wir Wollen (1:32)

03. Wilhelm Wilhelm (3:10)

04. SM II Peng (2:16)

05. Elevators Meets Whispering (1:26)

06. Metropolis (3:37)

07. Ludwig (2:32)

08. The King's Chocolate Waltz (2:28)

09. Blue Grotto (3:33)

10. Mr. Kraut Jinx (8:44)

Disc 2 (35:10)

11. Wide Angle (4:06)

12. Three-Eyed Overdrive (1:17)

13. Emigrant Song (3:21)

14. Loosey Girls (5:13)

15. Top of the Mud (3:45)

16. Dreams (4:08)

17. Gala Gnome (3:52)

18. 5.5.55 (1:39)

19. La Krautoma (6:08)

20. Excessive Spray (1:41)

1975 US single-LP & 1991 CD releases:

01. Dreams (4:08)

02. Ludwig (2:33)

03. The King's Chocolate Waltz (2:32)

04. Blue Grotto (3:33)

05. 5.5.55 (3:13)

06. Emigrant Song (3:23)

07. La Krautoma (4:45)

08. Metropolis (3:38)

09. Loosey Girls (5:20)

10. Gala Gnome (1:18)

11. Top of the Mud (3:44)

12. Mr Kraut's Jinx (8:48)

- Renate Knaup / vocals

- Chris Karrer / guitar, violin, banjo, vocals

- Nando Tischer / guitar, vocals

- John Weinzierl / acoustic & electric guitars

- Falk Rogner / organ, synthesizer

- Robby Heibl / bass, violin, guitars, vocals

- Peter Leopold / drums & percussion

With:

- Jürgen S. Korduletsch / backing vocals, co-producer

- Thor Baldursson / keyboards

- Lee Harper / trumpet, brass section

- Bobby Jones / saxophone solo (14)

- Helmut Sonnleitner / violin, string section

- Karlheinz Becker / percussion, timpani, gong

If you took this album, and ADII's first album Phallus Dei and played them both for an unknowing listener, they would never even suspect it was the same band! How did these guys make such a radical evolution into spotless pop craftsmen as is evident on this album? You won't believe me until you hear it, but songs like "Ludwig" have an almost Beatlesesque quality to them (albeit on MUCH more drugs). Ambitious vocal harmony arrangements, pristine production values, orchestral flourishes... Amon Duul?? It blows my mind. Anyway, this album is a masterwork of a completely different sort than their earlier releases, so naturally many fans will not still be onboard at this point. Short, vaguely Floydian spacy instrumental breaks replace the full-on sonic assaults of yore, and the main feature is... songs. Beautiful, sometimes achingly melancholic, sometimes witty and humorous, always honed like a gem... this is top-notch songwriting without ever losing ADII's keen eye for ambition and, ahem, stoniness. As is noted by my fellow reviewer, the boys (and girl) in the band handle the English language splendidly here, and Renate Knaup's voice is in peak form. This is a veritable shipload of music (double lp) so I can't even begin to describe songs, but rest assured that if you appreciate gems of songcraft and brief, spaced out instrumental voyages, you will love this music. Yet another stunning accomplishment by this sneaky little band.

A far cry from early Amon Duul II recordings which comprised extended psychedelic instrumental freakout explorations. After making the transition to more structured music with albums like Wolf City, Hijack and Vive La Trance Made In Germany was Amon Duul at it`s creative peak. It revealed solid songwriting abilities which featured orchestrations and an array of guest musicians with an underlying theme of old world traditional Germany in the new world. And unlike many European bands such as Omega, Jane and Eloy there`s no problem with the English language here and a lyric sheet is even provided. Originally released in Germany as a double album it was cut down to a single unit for North American release which suprisingly doesn`t detract from it conceptually or musically. If there is one Amon Duul album which captures the essence of 1970`s prog-rock this is it. Renate Kanup one of the few female voices to appear in progressive rock really shines here on compositions like Metropolis, Ludwig and the Blue Grotto. No comprehensive library of 1970`s progressive rock would be complete without this magnificent Krautrock gem.