AMON DÜÜL II – Tanz Der Lemminge (Liberty – LBS 83 473/74 X – 2LP-1971)

Label: Liberty – LBS 83 473/74 X

Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Album / Country: Germany / Released: 1971 

Style: Krautrock, Psychedelic Rock, Free Improvisation

Printed in Germany by Carl v. d. Linnepe, 1971, Lüdenscheid.

Engineer – K.-H. Hausmann

Mixed By – Kalle Hausmann

Producer – Amon Düül II, Olaf Kübler

Original Film-Musik Cham Sin mit Maria Schell

Written-By – Karrer, Rogner, Weinzierl, Meid

Matrix / Runout (A-side, stamped): C 83473 A-1 Made in Germany

Matrix / Runout (B-side, stamped): C 83473 B-1 Made in Germany

Matrix / Runout (C-side, stamped): C 83 474 A-1 Made in Germany

Matrix / Runout (D-side, stamped): C 83 474 B-1 Made in Germany

Side A

"SYNTELMAN'S MARCH OF THE ROARING SEVENTIES" ..................... (15:51)

A1 - In the Glass Garden ......................................................... 1:39

A2 - Pull Down Your Mask ....................................................... 4:39

A3 - Prayer to the Silence ........................................................ 1:04

A4 - Telephonecomplex ........................................................... 8:26

Side B

"RESTLESS SKYLIGHT-TRANSISTOR-CHILD" ......................................... (19:33)

B1 - Landing in a Ditch ............................................................ 1:12

B2 - Dehypnotized Toothpaste ................................................. 0:52

B3 - A Short Stop at the Transylvanian Brain-Surgery ............ 5:00

B4 - Race From Here to Your Ears .......................................... 5:20

        a)  Part I - Little Tornadoes

        b)  Part II - Overheated Tiara

        c)  Part III - The Flyweighted Five

B5 - Riding on a Cloud ............................................................. 2:33

B6 - Paralyzed Paradise .......................................................... 3:07

B7 - H.G. Wells' Take Off ......................................................... 1:26

Side C

"CHAMSIN SOUNDTRACK" ........................................................................ (18:05)

C  -  The Marilyn Monroe-Memorial-Church ...........................18:05

Side D

"CHAMSIN SOUNDTRACK"......................................................................... (15.00)

D1 - Chewing Gum Telegram .................................................. 2:41

D2 - Stumbling Over Melted Moonlight ................................... 4:33

D3 - Toxicological Whispering ................................................. 7:45

Personnel:

Renate Knaup-Krötenschwanz – vocals, tambourine

Chris Karrer – electric guitar / acoustic guitar, violin, vocals

John Weinzierl – guitars, piano, vocals

Falk Rogner – organ, electronics

Lothar Meid – bass guitar, double bass, vocals

Peter Leopold – drums, percussion, piano

with:

Jimmy Jackson – organ, choir-organ, piano

Al Gromer – sitar

Rolf Zacher – vocals

Through the trials and tribulations that life has to offer comes a vast wealth of inspiration and karmic balance and thus the members of AMON DÜÜL II were collecting their just dessert after having a series of setbacks. One of the most terrifying events was at the Keks Club in Cologne, Germany in 1971 when a fire not only destroyed all of their musical gear but snuffed out four youths in attendance and then soon thereafter their new equipment was ripped off which lacking any insurance and not totally paid, ended up bankrupting the band as royalties for their previous two records were garnished to pay off creditors. As can be expected, such incidents create extreme tensions with members of a fledgling band simply trying to make their way in the cult recesses of the music scene and as a result bassist Dave Anderson was the first to bail and immediately hooked up with Hawkwind while founding member Chris Karrer (violin, guitars) would take off to join Embryo. Meanwhile Renate Knaup who never really left the band, only contributed when she felt like it and pretty much sitting this one out with the exception of the one teeny weeny track "Riding On A Cloud" which she clearly was and found that more interesting. Likewise Falk Rogner stuck around on a part-time basis and as a result organ playing duties are shared.

Such was the rotating door lifestyle of 70s commune life yet all the turmoil resulted in a very different creation process for TANZ DER LEMMINGE than "Yeti" which only came out a year before but sounds light years away in sound and overall feel. No longer were Anderson's signature bass playing style present as Lothar Meid took the helm and had a completely different artistic direction. However, despite all the odds stacked against them, the collective commune that had garnered much attention with their first two albums retreated to the eye of the hurricane and reformed, took a deep breath and still managed to release their second double album in a two year timespan. The very first startling thing you will notice when putting on their third album is how very, very different it sounds compared with the previous two. But despite it all, it wasn't only a bloody miracle that it was created at all but actually stands up as one of the band's most varied, creative and ambitious releases of their entire career. This album came out just months after their series of catastrophes under the German title TANZ DER LEMMINGE but was released in the US as DANCE OF THE LEMMINGS. It also found a repackaging in Italy where it was retitled VIAGGIO IN UN SOGNO ("Journey Into A Dream").

The evolving aspects from "Yeti" to TANZ DER LEMMINGE also reflect the turbulence of early 1970s Germany as idealistic hippie and leftist values turned to full-fledged violent revolutionary attempts to use terrorism in order to protest the state apparatus. The Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang) shook the entire country to its core and inevitably the arts and musical culture were equally affected. While "Phallus Dei" and "Yeti" were more free flowing and psychedelic rock oriented with a sense of naive innocence running through their course, TANZ DER LEMMINGE is not only more sophisticated in the musical sense but runs the gamut of the emotional spectrum equally as if the band just like the land in which they resided was facing the most uncertain of futures and in the process were throwing any zany idea possible at the wall to see what would stick. The result of this nosedive into the world of fastidious experimentation resulted in a sprawler of a concept album that contains four progressive rock suites with each offering completely different moods and objectives. While these grails convene to take the listener on a wild roller coaster ride of musical diversity, they all coalesce into a larger sense of creating a surreal and psychedelic narrative of the era.

TANZ DER LEMMINGE is most certainly a more thoughtful and provocative album than what came before and will require ample periods of uninterrupted attention with plenty of after time rumination. Upon first listen i was actually disappointed with this album, big time, as i was expecting a clearcut continuation of "Yeti." While i may have put this back on the shelf for a while, it had planted its seeds and summoned my nonjudgmental return. Upon reflection and ample listening time i have fallen under its hypnotic spell as it mesmerizes my restlessness while stimulating my creative cranial cortex. The diversity of sounds, tones, styles and twisted tales of the imagined or not comes off as a playful nerdy paradise of sounds that slinks and swirls in every foreseeable direction of the sonic palette while earning an A+ for tenacity on the trip-o-meter. No you don't need drugs to enjoy this but then again, maybe you do. You without doubt need patience and above all a very open mind. This is certainly a grower as it strives for a 10 on the progometer but really only scaling up to a 9. For 1971 this is some pretty daring stuff. It far outreaches other Krautrock contemporaries. While Can and Faust were limiting their respective sounds to a certain niche market, AMON DÜÜL II were taking the rock approach to the jazzy stellar other worlds of Sun Ra and his Magic Arkestra as if they were abducted by alien beings and implanted with creativity chips. Man, that commune idea really worked for these guys at the time but like all good parties it must come to and end and such is the case with the highest peak of their career as the following albums incrementally became tamer and commercial. TANZ DER LEMMINGE, however was and remains one of the highest peaks of the early Krautrock world.

(Review by siLLy puPPy / Prog Reviewer)

If you find it, buy this album!