Amon Düül II

Distilling the insane sprawl of the "Yeti" and "Tanz" into a more concise, song-based affair, Amon Duul refine their sound without watering it down and turn out one of their best albums (they began this process on the previous quite good in its own right transitional album "Carnival In Babylon". The new formula is clear from the opening bars of "Surrounded By The Stars". Chugging guitars build to ecstatic organ swells. The first side continues in solid form with the appropriately bubbly "Green Bubble Raincoated Man" and the somewhat ominous "Jailhouse Frog" and title track. By the time we get to the atmospheric "Wie der Wind am Ende einer Strasse", which ranks among their most powerful soundscapes, it's almost too much. In a good way