Customer Reviews

The UA Years: 1969-1974

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

 

 

Being a fan of psychedelic music, I have always heard of this band, but aside from the occasional song on some compilation, I have never given Amon Duul 2 a chance. Now I know what I've been missing! This group is incredible. It's progressive psychedelia that ranges from totally out there and lysergic to very melodic and accessible, sometimes within the same song! The vocals are an acquired taste, but the music is always compelling. The album lacks the extended jams from early albums like Phallus Dei, Yeti, and Tanz, but the song choices provide a good, albeit brief overview of the group's early '70's efforts. Now that I have listened to this disc many times, I find myself seeking out Amon Duul 2 albums. It's a good compilation, but this group needs to be heard in album format. As an introduction to the band, the CD is excellent.

Amon Duul II as a singles band? You better believe it! This album might make the case for the best psychedelic band you are ever going to hear with their powerful riffing blurring into indefinite textures and explorations. In some respects, I'm reminded of Jefferson Airplane's great compilation 'The Worst of JA' in that both albums reveal the commercial strengths of bands which were psychedelic to the core, initially at least. Amon Duul II,IMHO, were a much more challenging band which through their drugged haze seem to have much more linear strength in their compositions. And more progressive by nature. Probably a more accurate comparison would be to 'Saucerful of Secrets' era Floyd with experimental and kaleidoscopic instrumental color; but here again Amon Duul II were a more rocking band and for this reason I feel they were able travel deeper into their sonic explorations, which conjure up some kind of jeweled, crazed drifts into sonic netherworlds and leave the listener deliriously acid - fried after traveling through time, space, and dimension!

Another good krautrock compilation release.This was more or less my first Amon Duul II disc I ever bought.Sort of reminds me of a more rocking Gong.Ironically enough,like Gong,they have a female vocalist,Shrat Kroten who really seems to shine on tracks like "Archangel Thunderbird","Surrounded By The Stars" and "Henriette Krotenschwanz".Guitarist Chris Karrer appears to be the band's mainstay.Other cosmic gems here are "Soap Shop Rock",the tripping "Wie Der Wind Am Ende Einer","Utopia No.1","Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight" and the semi-unbelievable "Race From Here To Your Ears".A darn fine anthology of this long-running German ensemble,who to this very day still exists.A should-have.

I grew up with them, I left them and this compilation brought me back to them. The UA years is a very good introduction to the band, Amon Duul II. The UA years is also as good as it gets for a spacey and drawn out band, a commune of musicians whose song structures took a whole album to state and even then leaves the listener wanting more. This kind of approach makes for great music. Amon Duul II, as offspring to the more jazzy and drum oriented Amon Duul, expressed themselves as more of a rock band than an experimental conglomeration.
If you have any interest at all in why Kraut Rock and Prog rock were so important to so many of us then use this release as a starting point. Who knows, you might even move on over to Hawkwind: Space Ritual and discover a whole new way of not only listening to music, but of making music as well.

I first heard the music of Amon Duul in 1972 when I bought a 'various artists' album of top groups that were around at the time on the 'United Artists' label which included groups like Canned Heat. I was immediately enraptured by a style of music which I have never heard before and this album 'The UA Years' is certainly no disappointment. They seem to have the qualities and styles of groups such as King Crimson and R E M plus touches of 'far east' culture hearing instruments such as the sitar and tabla. This music is food for the hears, a complement of a new dimension in my music collection!

Sometimes it takes seeing the gleam in someone else's eyes to produce the motivation to give a second shot at something that seems not immediately accessible. I have a friend who works at a record exchange who is enthusiastically applying her vast musical knowledge towards recording experimental sounds. Amon Duul represents the cornerstone for her component of ecstatic experimentation to the palette. I had to get over my bias towards awkward accents and Hawkwind primitivism to catch a glimpse of the same sonic chalice that motivates her pursuit. I'm not sure if my next move is to see if I can lose myself in one of their longer pieces, (Yetl or Tanz) or move on to Ash Ra. (Meanwhile, I'm starting to really put some work into a little sculpting with the TimeWarp 2600.)

I first heard the music of Amon Duul in 1972 when I bought a 'various artists' album of top groups that were around at the time on the 'United Artists' label which included groups like Canned Heat. I was immediately enraptured by a style of music which I have never heard before and this album 'The UA Years' is certainly no disappointment. They seem to have the qualities and styles of groups such as King Crimson and R E M plus touches of 'far east' culture hearing instruments such as the sitar and tabla. This music is food for the hears, a complement of a new dimension in my music collection!

I first heard the music of Amon Duul in 1972 when I bought a 'various artists' album of top groups that were around at the time on the 'United Artists' label which included groups like Canned Heat. I was immediately enraptured by a style of music which I have never heard before and this album 'The UA Years' is certainly no disappointment. They seem to have the qualities and styles of groups such as King Crimson and R E M plus touches of 'far east' culture hearing instruments such as the sitar and tabla. This music is food for the hears, a complement of a new dimension in my music collection!

I don't like compilations and compilations do little justice to an album oriented band like Amon Duul II. Don't get me wrong the music contained herein is amonst their best however "Kannan" sounds out of place when not contained on the great lp "phallus dei" and this is the problem with the rest of the songs--they seem out of context slapped on a compilation album. the suggestion here is to pass on this and buy "Phallus Dei" and "Yeti" and if your still inclined to listen then search out the rest of their records.....