Made in Germany [PA] [Digipak]

Performer: Amon Düül
Distributor: Ryko Distribution

Notes: Amon D��l: Chris Carter (guitar, banjo); John Weinzierl, Nando Tischer (guitar); Peter Leopold (drums); Renate Knaup. Amon Duul II's MADE IN GERMANY is considered a classic by many Krautrock aficionados. This 1975 release aims to capture a rather scattershot overview of German history, but if this goal is ultimately fuzzy and unrealized, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is the organic textures the collective creates--all from space rock to cheeky Euro-pop--with remarkable ease. Fun, challenging, progressive, and smart, MADE IN GERMANY belongs on the shelf beside other prog essentials by Hawkwind, Slapp Happy, and Faust. There is a lovely moment in "La Krautoma," after the surf music intro gives way to a strange Peter Leopold drum solo and moves on, that the sound begins to mutate into early-'70s Hawkwind, a gleeful nod from one notable space rock outfit to another. "La Krautoma" is more than that, though; it's a six-minute distillation of acid rock, space rock, and Krautrock that shows the band's knowledge of their own history. It is also an eyebrow-raising moment in the midst of this particular, which spends more time getting into the same space as mid-'70s Europop, providing an antimatter universe version of an average Eurovision song contest lineup -- think early ABBA in vinyl raincoats, singing ditties about old King Ludwig and the like. Equally perverse, the Blue Angel motif of the cover fits completely with this approach: life as a cabaret, the decadent edges visible through the veneer. In many respects, it's a neat record, though sometimes a bit too glossy and clever for its own good -- nowhere near the sprawling Tanz Der Lemminge, for example. One of the essential set, however. ~ Steven McDonald

Spin (p.87) - "[E]voking a heavier, disenchanted Mamas and the Papas."

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