Amon Duul II Review (off-topic)

[Keith A Henderson]

Hey there, all you ADII fans...I know there must be a few of you out there:

Just thought I'd post this review of their latest (reunion) release FWIW...I
originally posted it on rec.music.progressive.  Here goes:
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Hi Folks:

For those of you who are interested (or haven't heard about it) - Amon Duul II
(the *real* one this time), has reformed and has just released a full-length
album.  Here is some pertinent info and a short review FWIW:

Amon Duul II -- Nada Moonshine # (pronounced as 'number')
Schneeball Records (Germany) -- Cat. # 30562
Length -- 61:10
Year -- 1995

Amon Duul II (1995) is:

Chris Karrer -- Guitar, Vocals, Sax, Violin
Renate Knaup -- Vocals
Lothar Meid -- Bass, Vocals, Percussion
Peter Leopold -- Drums

Guests include:

Peter-Paul Kuen -- Synth.
Felix Occhionero -- Guitar
Uwe Mullrich -- Bass
Hans Peter (?) -- Drums

Track Listing (Authors):

1 -- Castenada da Dream (Kuen/Karrer)             7:49
2 -- Nada Moonshine # (L. Meid/Knaup)             8:42
3 -- Speed (inside my shoes) (L. Meid/Knaup)      4:22
4 -- Sirens in Germanistan (Leopold/Karrer/Knaup) 5:56
5 -- Lilac Lillies (A. Meid/L. Meid)              4:59
6 -- Kiss Ma Eee (A. Meid/L. Meid)                8:18
7 -- Carpetride in Velvet Night (Karrer)          5:18
8 -- Black Pearl of Wisdom (Karrer/Knaup/Leopold) 5:05
9 -- Ca Va (A. Meid/L. Meid)                      5:39
10-- Guadalquivir (Karrer)                        4:58

O.K., other than the mini-reunion of sorts that produced the album 'Vortex' in
1981, this line-up (the classic line-up) of Amon Duul II hasn't really recorded
together since 'Made in Germany' in 1976 (other than the two new tracks on the
1993 compilation 'Surrounded by the Bars').  The late 70's material (what I
call the Stefan Zauner-era) was true Amon Duul II also, although it was quite
different than the original classic lineup.  All the 80's releases, of course,
were pretty bogus, as far as using the name is concerned.

Anyway, so what would a reunited ADII of the 90's sound like???  Well, first
off, the conspicuous absence of John Weinzierl first made me think that
something would certainly be missing in the sound/songwriting, but then I
realized that Karrer would be missed even more (because of his sax and
violin-playing, a necessity IMHO to their unique style).  But this truly does
sound like the old Amon Duul II in many ways....such as:

- The dichotomy in the vocals of Renate Knaup...sometimes deep, strong voice,
and sometimes a very high (almost falsetto) ultra-feminine voice

- The whispered, low vocals of Chris Karrer, and the semi-spoken, semi-sung
vocals of Lothar Meid

- The eastern influences on several songs -- 'Carpetride' sounds much like
'Flowers of the Orient'

- The abrupt and complete change in direction that several of the songs take;
although none have the typical "a. b. c. d. etc." sections like on early ADII
albums, several tracks seem like two songs stuck back-to-back

- Karrer's violin and sax are prominent, and some real good guitar work, which
made me miss Weinzierl less

- Lots of "tribal" rhythmic stuff.....reminiscent of Da Guadeloop

But there are some differences, also, as the classic ADII sound has definitely
been updated to the 90's;  the music is greatly electronic-sounding, although
it is not overly synthesised, if you know what I mean...just lots of heavy
rhythmic lines that underlie the rest of the sound.  This is actually only true
for the first half of the album or so.....the last four and a half tracks (Kiss
Ma Eee changes gears midway through) sound much like 'HiJack'.  The music is
not very similar to Yeti and Dance of the Lemmings anywhere I don't think, but
as I say, much more like the 74-76 years (HiJack through Pyragony).  All in
all, it's a decent album (very creative, but kind of hit-and-miss), although
I'd admit it's not among their very best.....at least not after only a couple
of listens.

But it is fantastic that they're recording again after all these years...I just
hope that someday, I'll get a chance to see them live...I doubt it though.
Just in case, though, would someone please post dates if they ever tour
anywhere???  Even Europe....I might be there early next year.
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Keith A. Henderson                                  Byrd Polar Research Center
khenders at magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
"Have another stick of gum."   (I. Kilmister)