Almost Alive: & Looking Fine

Amon Duul II | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Revisited Records
• ASIN: B0007WV9VU
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,148 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, but a necessary purchase for Düülheads, March 9, 2006

By 

S. Mcausland "Meistro" (Lake Worth, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Alive: & Looking Fine (Audio CD)

The good news: Crisp, clear sound brings out the subtler nuances of this album, making it more fresh and alive than the slightly dull and murky sounding original LP from 1978. The keyboards and guitars sparkle brighter than I ever heard before, and the band sounds "more alive" than when compared to the vinyl LP. The gatefold with booklet digipack is excellent, with plenty of additional photos of the band from the 1978 era. Also includes three tracks of psychedelic hard-rock jams with prominent Lothar Meid bass heaviness. OK, now for the not so good news. Sigh. 1. There is a low grade snap-crackle-pop most noticable during quieter parts throughout the CD (but not the bonus tracks) that sounds like this CD was either mastered directly from an old LP or that there was some serious digital errors occuring throughout during the mastering process. It is not audible during the louder parts, but when things quiet down (or listening on headphones) it can be very distracting. Ach! 2. There is a prominence of analog tape hiss that was not eliminated. Either that, or, if this was mastered from an old LP, the deficiencies of this kind of archival transfer result in a generational loss of fidelity resulting in more hisssssss. 3. The end of 'Jericho' does an abrupt "tape-stop" end during the solo synthesizer "airplane" swoop which occurs just 1 minute before the true end of the song on the LP. The whole last minute of the song is missing! Also, the double end-stop of 'One Blue Morning' is missing. There is just the single last abrupt chordal chop (on the LP there are two). 3. Admittedly a minor quibble, but the three bonus tracks are not from the same era as the band that recorded 'Almost Alive' and don't have as much relevance to the album as other material (if it survived) from the 'Almost Alive' sessions. ...But to end on an upbeat note... I still think the cover art is the best of any D??l album (or any other Krautrock, for that matter) and is graphically beautiful (despite the smaller media size).

4.0 out of 5 stars Great later period AD2, January 26, 2007

By 

Michael L. Knapp (Placerville, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Alive: & Looking Fine (Audio CD)

I've been a fan of AD2 since Phalus Dei and like all their albums to varying degrees with Almost Human being my least & Viva most favorite. Like many bands with long a long history they have had many personel changes leading to no two albums sounding quite the same. When this came out I was leery not because of change in line-up but because they had been dropped by their US label, Atco & this album was only available as a higher priced import. Quite a few of their albums take time to grow on you (took 6 months till I "got" Carnival in Babylon) but I liked this one right out of the bag. It along with Pyragony X are ironically (in light of their being dropped by their US label)some of the most accessable songs they ever recorded. Not that these songs are mainstream by any stretch but are great. Maybe not the place to start an introduction to AD2 but a must have to their fans.

4.0 out of 5 stars Time For Lift-off, January 21, 2007

By 

Thaddeus B. Rosemyer "Thad R." (Massena, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Almost Alive: & Looking Fine (Audio CD)

Play this one as part of a trifecta w/Parogony X & Hijack...very proggy but balanced w/equal parts jazz & hard rock. Tough to compare to anything c/o it's in that misty, mysterious mid-70s Krautrock era. Maybe if you mixed Caravan, Steely Dan & Hawkwind...LOL Anyways, I enjoy this one LOUD after a brew or two. Makes me wish I hadn't been 6 yrs old @ the time it came out!