THOUGHTS

Certainly it's proved to be interesting to set oneself apart from the rest in Germany's music scene at the time, specifically from the Kosmische/Krautrock movement, but to additionally be considered representative of "Canterbury" is a whole other affair. Zyma has been placed here, not too remote from the Jazz Rock and Fusion stylings of their contemporaries, such as Kraan and Out Of Focus. Even still, there are more than murmurings of the Psychedelic Space Rock of that local scene. [This will be a review for the 20th anniversary 1998 reissue of their '78 debut with the two additional bonus tracks. On second thought, since there is upwards of four years between this and the bonus material, I will not be rating the latter, this also due to the stylistic differences between them and the rest.]

Our album begins with its title track, "Thoughts", a warm, jazzy number with beautiful female vocals, reminiscent I would say immediately to Hatfield and their Northettes vocal ensemble. The keyboards are an equally warming Rhodes, it sounds like, matched with cool-then-blazing drums, spacy synth and vibes [I definitely could have gone for more vibraphone throughout the album]. The bass booms out from all corners of the room. A lot of rhythmic nuance to latch onto. It's jazzy and funky, and at the same time undeniably calm and collected. Our lead vocalist, Dorle Ferber, is also responsible for the sweet, folksy violin in the second half. What's fairly striking is the shifting of the mood to a bright, poppy number, as though it were a track by Carly Simon or... Carole King? In my opinion, this sweetness weakens the track notably, but not enough to bring it below assuredly "Excellent".

Mysteriously, the near-13 minute mini-epic "Business Man" is nowhere to be found on Spotify. Starting with a greatly-effect'd Mellotron, from what I can tell, we delve into space. Very familiar feel to me, though I hesitate to just guess that it's one band of another; perhaps Nektar or Eloy, but regardless we stay Deutsch (if anything it's Fusion-adjacent). Almost all low to the ground, despite hasty speed from the rhythm section. The synth certainly shines, and whatever the hell happens around minute 5 is just wild (maybe similar to some of the magic we've heard from Keith Emerson?), the sub-section just before the verse[s] (more group vocals, please). Is this all-round-percussionist Udo Kübler on lead vocals then? He has a pretty powerful voice, like much of the grit happily found in the early-70s. This track does not let up--a surefire strength in this case--that is until 9:30, and this, too, I'm pleased to report, is brief. I can't shut up. I'm glad to be here.

"One Way Street" is a... quirked up musical reaction to the news? I certainly dig the overarching concept here. At the start, it sort of feels like if "Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast" was a bad trip haha. Or more or less if the insane skits and interludes off Lumpy Gravy or Läther by Zappa were longform song-forms. Once again, the winning factor is the rhythm section. The bass slinks along more-than-expertly and the drums are blitzing through my eardrums. Overall, I think this is an interesting mix of Canterbury with the daring of what I've always considered its sister-genre, Avant-Prog. It would be even better if it felt a hair more cohesive. "We Got Time" is a bright number! And we get real harpsicord?! Sounds awesome; and a very memorable melody, too. Even so, fantastic in its own right.

For what was the original closer, "Wasting Time" is Canterbury Scene, pure and not-so-simple. Spacy, beautiful, majestic even. Funky shift around minute 3, but I could have listened to that opening bit for longer. And like nothing, we get some exemplary group vocals, like if Carpenters matched up with Manhattan Transfer? Delicious stuff. The maximal, all-at-once approach, with violin to match, had me comparing this to moments from Gentle Giant, interestingly enough (in style, maybe closer to the likes of Magma?). Of course, there is a lot of violin in much of Fusion's greatest moments. In my opinion, this is the star of the show; this is essential; this must be heard.

For bonus material, we glance back to some 4 years in the past. And "Law Like Love" feels like an approximation of Heart. Big vocals, big Hard Rock instrumentation. The recording fidelity of this track is significantly worse than the album material; in fact, I almost sung the production's praises earlier. Pretty cool track, though. Just feels like an utterly different band. And finally, much nearer at first to the Zyma I just came to know, "Tango Enough" has synths slicing through the mix. We chill out and then ramp up with a sick guitar solo. Fin, I guess haha. Definitely recommend this album. Nothing I didn't like, and in some cases, even inspirational and exciting.

True Rate: 4.5/5.0