Electrophonic Tonic

Considering the string of newer releases we've had, I think it's time we take a look back to the height of prog in the early 70's. I enjoyed this album but it's been a while since I've listened to it, so I'm going in about as neutral as you guys. For your convenience, in the spoiler below, I've included youtube links to all 4 songs on the album.

Trollheart

Oh- kaaayyy... Never even heard of these guys but I'll surely give it a go.

Edit: Incidentally, just for the record, if you look back you'll see they haven't all been new releases. I've suggested Twelfth Night's 1982 "Fact and fiction" and Alphataurus' 1973 debut. Plus of course It Bites was from 2009. And then there was Captain Beyond's debut, that was 1972 I think. In fact, as a ratio we've had less new/recent albums than older ones reviewed here.

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Electrophonic Tonic

I was just going by Pain of Salvation, Riverside and It Bites as the most recent three. Either way, this was going to be my first choice.

Trollheart

Ok, well not meaning to nitpick, but PoS was a 2002 album, It Bites 2008. The only release from this or last year was Riverside. If you look back into the history of the club to date, I think there's only Riverside and Big Big Train that are anything that could be classed as recent.

Not a problem, just wanted to make it clear we cover a wide selection of years and eras here.

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Unknown Soldier

Just to remind you guys that you need to be listening to the Frumpy album, its only four tracks and from what I'm hearing at the moment it's impressive!

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

I'll get right on it...

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Big Ears

Their seventies albums are all good, including the live one, as is Jean-Jacques Kravetz's self-titled solo album. The first two Atlantis albums are also worth a listen, but are bluesier.

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My Journal: Rabbiting On

Trollheart

Frumpy 2 --- Frumpy --- 1971

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
After a typically bombastic proggy opening it settled into a sort of cross between early Genesis and mid-seventies Floyd. Pretty laidback really considering the big opening. I was put in mind of "Fearless" off "Meddle", oddly. Great keyswork. Never listened to an album with only four tracks before. Interesting.

2. What did you think of the opening tracks?
Let's make that opening track, as there are so few. I liked it: had a real organic seventies prog vibe to it, the sort of thing some bands try to reproduce now but most fail because you have to have the feel from the times, and for that you more or less need to have come FROM that time. This sounds genuine prog.

3. What did you think of the later tracks?
Second one was more uptempo and rockier, with some great organ work but I'm not sure two ten-minute tracks following each other was the way to go really. "Take care of illusion", the shortest track (just over seven minutes!) was the fastest and most uptempo one with a lot going on at the organ and also at the frets. Lots of power in there. Some nice strings effects in the closer, and it's more relaxed than any of the others: a twelve-minute ballad? No, far from that. Probably the best of the tracks really.


4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
Definitely reminded of an early Roger Waters; bit raw in some ways but quite melodious. Wiki tells me it's Inga Rumpf; I always thought Inga was a girl's name? Christ! It IS a girl! Well she certainly doesn't sound like any female singer I'VE ever heard!!

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
Yes, very much keyboard driven of course, almost to the exclusion of everything else. That said, there are some really great guitar solos.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?
Started off well, sort of stayed that way. The lengths of the tracks sort of threw me a little though.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
Not a lot really. Very little of it made sense to me. "How the gypsy was born" was a retelling of an old Native American folktale, and "Duty" was pretty unsettling. Don't know what the hell was going on in "Take care of illusion"! I am surprised though that given the length of three of the songs that the lyrics are so short and sparse.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
I don't think this was clarified, but this is meant to refer ONLY to FULL instrumentals, so if the album has none, ignore it. As I will here.

9. What did you think of the production?
Very seventies: big and brash, a little over the top at times, bombastic and maybe just a little overblown.

10. How well do you already know the band/artist?
As Manuel said, "I know nothing"....

11. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?
Classic Progressive/Space Rock.

12. On repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
I only listened the once, wasn't too bothered about giving it a second shot.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
Probably "Duty", due to the big instrumental jam ending.

14. And the one you liked least?
The rest were all ok, nothing I hated.

15. Did the fact that this album is a debut/sophomore/middle period or later period allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
Again, this question should be ignored if the album is NOT a debut, only. This isn't, so I'm passing over it.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing other albums by the band/artist?
Meh, not really. It was okay but I doubt I'd seek out any of their other material.

17. Did you get, thematically, the idea behind the album if there was one?
No I did not. Can I say Hippy ****?

18. Did the album end well?
A twelve-minute closer is always asking a little of the listener, but in general, yes I think they pulled it off. "Duty" went through enough changes to keep in interesting right through, great jam session about the midpoint (nice to see the guitarist getting his licks in) which goes right to the end. Mind you, I don't like the pitchbend ending so from that point of view, no, but generally yes, it was a good one to end on. Just the track itself should have ended better.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
I'd liked to have seen what they did with shorter songs. I do like epics, but three out of four tracks is pushing it a little for me.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
I wouldn't call it cohesive as such, but not quite hit-and-miss either... hmm.
Ratiing: 7 out of 10

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Big Ears

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?

First, that Inga Rumpf has a masculine voice, which is, by turns, bluesy and psychedelic in style. Second, Jean-Jacques Kravetz's keyboard playing is amazing and the overall feel is very dynamic.

2. What did you think of the opening tracks?

The dissonant slide guitar and Hammond organ of Good Winds is redolent of Yes's much later Shoot High, Aim Low, making one wonder if the latter stored away memories of their support act for future reference. Inga Rumpf's voice is almost masculine in its depth and psychedelic in the use of echo, while also being buried in the mix. At around 3:40 minutes, the noisy first part gives way to a lengthy instrumental passage beginning with the classically trained keyboard player Jean-Jacques Kravetz's church organ-like Hammond. After two minutes, he is allowed free reign, with a rising solo sounding like a combination of Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. Rainer Goltermann's production adds dynamism and the passage is propelled by the rhythm section of Carsten Bohn and Karl-Heinz Schott. Kravetz is joined by Rumpf's aaah-ing and the section culminates in a guitar solo. Rumpf closes the track with a final chorus.

If Good Winds predicts eighties Yes, the next track, How the Gypsy Was Born, reflects Stones of Years from ELP's contemporary Tarkus, although Rumpf is bluesier and grittier than on the opener. A cult figure of German heavy rock, Rumpf's raw blues technique seems partially at odds with Kravetz's symphonic progressive leanings. Kravetz and guitarist Rainer Baumann, on the other hand, play solos off of each other in a similar style to John DuCann and Vincent Crane of Atomic Rooster. At the halfway mark, Good Winds, appropriately enough, becomes a heavy version of Paul McCartney's Eleanor Rigby, before becoming another whirling Hammond and Jon Lord-style 'Space Truckin' workout. Bohn's bouncy drumming compliments the organ perfectly.

3. What did you think of the later tracks?

Kravetz hits the ground running on Take Care of Illusion, which continues where Good Winds left off. This is Rumpf's show and she provides a powerful performance, enough to send shivers down the spine of this listener. Baumann adds a great guitar solo, before the track closes on the vocals following the keyboards.

Rumpf gives a folk-blues feel to Duty, a song about a deserter betrayed to the Nazis by his parents. Kravetz compliments her with a touch of mellotron strings. Whereas Take Care of Illusion belonged to Rumpf, this is Baumann's tour de force, on which he plays an extended, but tasteful, guitar solo with plenty of wah-wah - in a Jimi Hendrix/Robin Trower/Tony McPhee style. By the second half he is soloing over a basic beat, which sounds like a cross between The Groundhog's 3744 James Road and Roxy Music's Bogus Man (both of which came later). The keyboards re-enter giving an indication of what it would sound like if dancehall star Klaus Wunderlich were to join the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Carsten Bohn and Karl-Heinz Schott's playing is particularly original and devoid of cliche on the closing track, but they deserve credit for being the driving force of the band. Bohn went on to work for jazz-rock lumineries, Jan Hammer, Jack Bruce and Colin Hodgkinson.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?

As strong as they are, Inga Rumpf's vocals do not quite fit with Frumpy's symphonic approach.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?

No instrumentals on this album. With the modern trend of releasing instrumental versions of tracks as bonuses, it would be interesting to hear these without vocals.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?

Better if anything, but it is pretty incredible from the start.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?

They are like folk songs, but given a blues feel. I found them fascinating and I tend not to pay attention to lyrics as a rule. They are made all the more astonishing, when one considers that English is Inga Rumpf's second language.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?

I loved them.

9. What did you think of the production?

Exciting and brought out the best in the band, although it is occasionally murky.

10. How well do you already know the band/artist?

I had heard of them, but never heard them. In the late seventies I was aware of continental bands like Guru Guru, Jane, Birth Control, Accept, etc. But, how Frumpy passed me by I will never know.

11. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?

Heavy progressive with a blues feel.

12. On repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?

This album is a revelation to me and it just keeps getting better.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?

Difficult to choose, but probably How the Gypsy was Born, for the Jon Lord-style Hammond and the belting rhythm section. It sounds like the organ was put through a wah wah pedal, or is that a guitar?

14. And the one you liked least?

Not applicable. I loved the whole album.

15. Did the fact that this album is a debut/sophomore/middle period or later period allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?

It was their second, but stands as their benchmark.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing other albums by the band/artist?

After hearing Frumpy 2, I set about listening to as much Frumpy, Atlantis and Kravetz solo as I could get my hands on.

17. Did you get, thematically, the idea behind the album if there was one?

I do not know if the band has ever explained the pastoral and WW2 references in their songs. I would be interested in reading about them.

18. Did the album end well?

Duty is an intriguing and strong piece to close the album. The reel-to-reel tape effect at the end would have sounded futuristic at the time and serves as a reminder of the good old days.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?

Inga Rumpf's vocals do not quite fit with the rest of the band, but she's one hell of a singer. I am tempted to suggest a list of alternative singers, but then again, perhaps not.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?

It seems that Inga Rumpf's blues passages are separate from the progressive instrumental sections, although they are part of the same track. But, she is a powerful singer nevertheless.

Overall Album Rating: 9 out of 10.

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My Journal: Rabbiting On

Trollheart

BE, the breadth of your knowledge of music never fails to amaze me. You seem to know things others could only guess at, and you're sort of on a par with US in that regard, making me feel like Roddy Doyle in the shadow of Shakespeare, or something. Great review; I wasn't crazy about the album but it was interesting, though I'm glad to see you got a lot more out of it.

Great job as always.

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