Customer Reviews

Manana

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Another so-so compilation,believe several of these tracks are available on other Amon Duul releases.As I listened to this CD,I sort of dug the live cuts like "Ladies Mimmikry","Kanaan" and "Green Bubble Raincoated Man" and then it hit me...wait a minute!Aren't these the very same songs that are on their 'BBC In Concert'(see my review)?Unless I miss my guess,they are.Not a bad disc,but strictly for collectors and die-hard Amon Duul fans.

This album has the group playing live in the BBC studio, probably when "Vive La Trance" was new, as they feature tracks from this album. They also played songs from the early "Phallus Dei" and "Wolf City" in the BBC studio recordings. Two outtakes for "Danz der Lemminge" (a.k.a. "Dance of the Lemmings") recording sessions round out the collection.

Recording quality is generally excellent, except that the mix is poor in the first two tracks. Performance quality is variable (a few moments are just awful, especially in the vocals, but overall it's pretty good) generally not as good as the albums they draw from. They vary somewhat from the recorded versions, making it interesting to listen to if you're familiar with the originals. I assume that at BBC they must have done these "live in studio" as single takes, and there's always a certain energy in such genuine performances.

If you're new to AD2, I suggest you start with one of their psychedlic jams like "Dance of the Lemmings" ("Tanz der Lemminge" is the German version) or "Yeti" (often regarded as their best, although it's not my favorite, and I like "Lemmings" better), or the more song-oriented "Wolf City". While I have always loved "Vive La Trance", it does not seem to be the most popular of their albums for many fans, and albums after it fall into a slump.

(My star ratings are conservative: two stars means that it has some good songs and is worth listening to at least a few times.)

Made in UK in 2000, Serial# SFRSCD-097, Playing Time 62:13

If you're avid collector of AM2, the first 8 tracks on this disc were originally released back in 1992 on the "BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert Plus" album; the last 4 tracks on this disc were recorded for the John Peel radio show.

As is the case with most recordings done for the BBC, the recording quality of these "live in the studio" documents is near perfect, especially if you consider that this was back in 1973. The renditions on these latter tracks are significantly different from their twins on the first half of the disc.

The AM2 of those early days generated original, somewhat off-the-wall, progressive music. Unfortunately, the style sounds somewhat outdated, but remains a great page in the history books of german music.