IN BLAU

In late-1981 comes the first major departure for Anyone's Daughter.Kono Konopik decided to leave the band and he was replaced by Peter Schmidt, who had previously played with the Psych Rock band Lazarus' Bra and veteran Kraut Rockers Message.At the fall of the year the new formation visited the Tonstudio Zuckerfabrik to record ''In blau'', mixed at Conny Planck's own studio in January 82'.Another product on the Spiegelei label.

As with ''Adonis'' and ''Anyone's daughter'', ''Piktors Verwandlungen'' and the new album seem like another pair of albums by Anyone's Daughter, where the precursor work has a big symphonic sound and the following effort follows the same lines albeit with a poppier and more modernized feeling.As so, ''In blau'' sounds closer to ''Anyone's daughter'', it's ethereal and sweet Symphonic Rock with some pre-Neo qualities, however this was the second work in the row by the band to feature German lyrics.Good thing is, unlike many prog survivors of the era, Matthias Ulmer still focused on keyboard parts performed on organ and some electric piano instead of dominating a poor synthesizer.The result is that ''In blau'' still holds the stylings of their first album, although the production reveals the latter recording days.At this point the band had decided to surround the light symphonic tunes with a new dimension, that contained some folky touches and even smooth Fusion exercises, recalling compatriots FLAMING BESS.Nice melodies, emotional vocals, soft but progressive musicianship sets the sound in the same league as ROUSSEAU, even if all tracks are equal in terms of music value.The 3-part ''Tanz und tod'' dealt with the death issue and clocked at 15 minutes, becoming the album's highlight and the closer thing to early Anyone's Daughter.Romantic and energetic Symphonic Rock with an updated sound due to the New Wave-ish rhythms and synthesizers, but also featuring lots of organ smashing, piano interludes and grandiose orchestral moves.

Not the most convincing album by Anyone's Daughter, but a great work nonetheless, especially when taken into consideration that this was created in 1982.I love the fact they did not say goodbye to their 70's roots and this work sounds very fresh and clean until today.Warmly recommended.