AMENOPHIS

I wanted to like this 1983 cd more, and it does tend to grow on you after a while. But this debut cd from Amenophis suffers from a certain lack of originality and technical proficiency that I've come to expect from most of the German bands. It's not an album that displays a lot of "chops", but rather a more dreamy and symphonic atmosphere, perhaps somewhere close to Barclay James Harvest and early Genesis. Vocals are done well with a slight accent. There are certainly some enjoyable moments on the first four songs that comprise the original album (around 44 minutes), especially from guitarist Michael Rossmann. Keyboards are not the highlight of this cd, as they are dubbed in by the other three instrumentalists and take kind of a background role (the exception being the Wakeman-like grand piano playing that begins the cd). The music tends to be a little ponderous at times, though it kicks in a little at the end of both Suntower and Venus, and certainly in sections of the 24-minute epic "The Last Requiem". I don't care much for the 15 minutes of bonus tracks that are mostly classical guitar and string synths. This cd is remastered - it doesn't sound bad, but I suspect the original tapes were not produced at the highest level of technology available at the time. When the rhythm section is cooking, and Rossmann is wailing on his guitar, one gets a glimpse of the potential that this band might have had. Alas, I would have preferred to have heard more of that here on this cd...

3-1/2 stars for me.