NEVERGREEN!

Graced with a usual rather ugly artwork (this is only confirming the German trend as opposed to the much more refined British, Italian or French counterparts), Missing Link's sole album is something of a lone gem just lost in the middle of nowhere, but fortunately, it was rediscovered a while ago. A rather short album versed in a rather rocky-oriented jazz- rock (if you can understand this), recorded in at the unavoidable Dieter Dierks studios, this Munich sextet had a rather unique sound, in mixing jazz and rock in their own terms much like the cross-town rivals Out Of Focus did.

Somehow much closer to Colosseum or Burnin' Red Ivanhoe than to Miles or Nucleus, this album is also fairly close to some Kraan (and somehow to a lesser extent the sadly forgotten Ardo Bombec) due to a slight psych element still present throughout the album. The album is very varied in moods ranging from the almost acoustic (piano-dominated) Song For Ann to the full-blown jazz fused with rock of Time Will Change (with its great funky guitar) to the dramatic Only Me. A good cross of Colosseum and Kraan with some moments making you think of Atomic Rooster (the opening of Kids Hunting), the album never really raise the hair in your neck, but you will find plenty of good rocking and many progressive joys in successive listenings. The album has just received a GOD reissue with a non-album single A-side as a bonus Friday On My Mind.

Unfortunately, the group would stop at this album, and keyboard man Miekausch would go on to join Embryo and Missus Beastly, but and drummer Brandt headed for the superb Sahara. While not really essential per se, this album does deserve its fourth star because of its relatively equivalent-free sound, and its refreshingly happy feels and its original tone