TockTockTock

I have (I was the one who nominated it for the prog album club), but I don't see why it matters to be honest.
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First Utterance is so amazing that it has to be reviewed to two separate threads... problem solved.

Blarobbarg

I didn't.

Howard the Duck

^^neither did I

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Sneer

Can, possibly my favourite band... But more importantly, I fucking hate The Who.

I don't understand why Gainsbourg got no votes, it's a brilliant album.

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Paedantic Basterd

Holy hell, it's Saturday again, meaning:

Howard the Duck

1) What are this albums' strengths?

It certainly is a shining beacon of Krautwork, melding Stockhausen, musique concrete and motorik into one satisfying whole.

2) What are its weaknessess?

None, I would say, though I do admit Hallehluwah drags on for a bit.

3) How does it compare to the artist's other work?

Their best of the few I heard (all the Damo Suzuki ones)

4) Favourite songs?

Peking O and Augmn - they're just totally "out there".

5) What feelings did this album evoke?

all sorts - but mostly a dread of going insane, if that makes any sense

6) How does this album fit into your regular rotation?

I play it once in a few months.

7) What stood out to you about this album's themes, musically/lyrically?

Mushroom - impending doom about nuclear holocaust?

Peking O and Augmn have no precedent in 1971, and still sounds pretty "out there" today.

8) If you've had any noteworthy experiences with this album, what have they been?

Damo's nonsensical garbling in Peking O, which is rather funny.

9) What do you know about this album's creation? Any interesting facts or anecdotes?

None.

10) How does this album represent the chosen theme?

Insanity? - pretty well.

11) How does this album compare to other albums nominated for this theme?

I still prefer Who's Next, despite the hate for it itt.

12) How does this album compare to others in its genre?

cream of the Krautrock crop

13) Can you recommend similar albums to this?

Neu!'s Neu (1972)

14) What does this album's artwork say about it? Is it well paired with the music?

It's an album about madness. Yes, it is.

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

Paedantic Basterd

I always find with classic albums that I respect their work, but seldom appreciate them as much as I feel they are owed. Time and time again I find myself listening to something that's been hailed as a masterpiece and thinking either "that was okay" or "that was kind of dull".

Couple that with my tendency to be impatient with psychedelic rock and Tago Mago has intimidated me, because all I have known of it before this club was a number of people saying "fuck Aumgn, shit's bad". I'm looking at the track right now. 18 minutes. I'm mildly concerned. Things have been pretty good so far, Oh Yeah is a great song, but from what I've heard, it all goes to hell at that point.

Halleluhwah isn't disappointing either, but so far I'm feeling like this album works best as something you'd relax to or put on as you multi-tasked some other activity, probably due to the length and repetition of it.

Aumgn. I thought I was going to hate this song. It's honestly not that bad, and contains some of the more interesting moments of this album. It's pretty much just drone at normal speed. I was expecting to have some sort of brain bleed after some of the things people have said about it, but it's one of the more intellectually stimulating tracks. I don't think I would have the patience for it regularly, but I appreciate what was done here. I think I actually have less patience for the track that follows it, which is pretty irritating, if I'm being honest.

I definitely felt like I needed a palate cleanser after Peking O, and was grateful to find that the final track was one, which was a smart decision.

I'm glad to have done this album in the club, because it means I am now so slightly more educated than I was, but I don't foresee myself listening to this album again any time soon, if at all, and in that respect I feel like I let the team down. Shame, because I do get so much pleasure from discovering that albums are classic for a reason, but a person can't love everything, can they?

Paedantic Basterd

I want to hear from Eric and Stu on this one. C'mon!

Blarobbarg

Someone mind loading this onto Grooveshark? That's about the only way I've been listening to music lately, since my computer crashed and Ipod crapped out on me.

Electrophonic Tonic

1) What are this albums' strengths?
-For being 74 minutes long, it never becomes tedious or boring to the point where you want to move on to hit the skip button and pause and finish it later.

2) What are its weaknessess?
-Maybe it's because I haven't "listened" to it in about a year, but it sounds much more dated than I remember, even compared to their first album Monster Movie.

3) How does it compare to the artist's other work?
- Almost every opinion I've heard says this is their favorite Can album. Personally, I prefer Monster Movie, their debut. It has a faster pace and more of a tribal feel... almost in ways like their "German" counterparts, the Monks.

4) Favourite songs?
-The album is very consistent, but 'Halleluhwah' stands above the rest. I'm guessing because it has the most resemblance with the material on Monster Movie.

5) What feelings did this album evoke?
-Mostly confusion, chaos, with a glaze of sanity all over.

6) How does this album fit into your regular rotation?
-Not too much. I have a thing about having to listen to albums all the way through. And at 74 minutes long, finding that uninterrupted time does not come easy.

7) What stood out to you about this album's themes, musically/lyrically?
- Found myself not really interpreting the lyrics, but hearing how the sound fit with the music. And on that level, it works very well.

8) If you've had any noteworthy experiences with this album, what have they been?
-It was the first album I listened to on an airplane.

9) What do you know about this album's creation? Any interesting facts or anecdotes?
-I can't remember the name of the origina; lead singer on Monster Movie, but he had a nervous breakdown and left the band. The guy that replaced him sang on Tago Mago, sounds like he's having nervous breakdown.

10) How does this album represent the chosen theme?
-It was released in 1971... so pretty well.

11) How does this album compare to other albums nominated for this theme?
-If they were released in 1971, it's a shame it wasn't a 9-way tie.

12) How does this album compare to others in its genre?
-This is like Krautrock's jazzier avant-garde side. Imagine a kind of hybrid between Faust and Soft Machine. Tago Mago is pretty much that.

13) Can you recommend similar albums to this?
-I think this shares a lot in common, actually, with Soft Machine's Third.

14) What does this album's artwork say about it? Is it well paired with the music?
-I imagined that orange-alien-man-thing with a speaker in it's mouth playing this album... so yeah.